short takes

[cellio]

I have a theory about meetings at my company. For any meeting that does not involve food or take place in a room with too few chairs, assume the offset from the scheduled meeting time is is 2 minutes plus 1 minute per attendee (in the late direction, of course). This actually seems to track with my previous few companies, too.

Cheat out, an essay that siderea wrote about one particular SCA group, has a lot of application in other groups, SCA and non-.

This explanation of "shabbos goy" made me giggle in places but is basically right (link via almeda).

A while ago I wrote about the contrast in attitudes between two (I thought) 80-something women in my congregation. Last Shabbat I learned two surprising things: the one with the great outlook on life, who seems young (despite having lost her husband of 65 years not long ago), just turned 93 -- and the cranky shrew for whom nothing is ever good enough, who seems "old", is only in her mid-70s. What a difference attitude makes!

Comments

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

o/~ Please push that button
Shabbos goy, please push that button o/~

[siderea]

What a difference attitude makes

About 20 years. :)

[hopeness.livejournal.com]

Thank you, I enjoyed reading that. I have always been relieved that I never fell under the distinction of "shabbos goy" prior to being really interested in converting. My biggest problem with the idea is that one of B's cousins reasoned that since their son was under 3, letting him push the elevator button was okay. I understand why they don't believe his "formal" religious training should begin before age three, but I find it hypocritical. And on a practical note, have you ever tried telling a toddler they can't do something anymore that they've become accustomed to doing? Yikes.

[roadnotes.livejournal.com]

Glad you enjoyed it. Every so often, I run smack against the fact that being curious about other cultures is not always the norm. (I've had to explain Ramadan and the Feast of Epiphany, too. Oy! My head.)

[dvarin.livejournal.com]

the one with the great outlook on life, who seems young (despite having lost her husband of 65 years not long ago), just turned 93 -- and the cranky shrew for whom nothing is ever good enough, who seems "old", is only in her mid-70s. What a difference attitude makes!

Or genetics. There are chemical causes for aging, and there are a few chemical causes of crankiness, and it wouldn't surprise me at all to find out that they're related.