Situational Morality

Three Moral Dilemmas I faced today:

6:12am Garbage disposal day in my neighborhood. My recycle bin was full. My neighbor's was not. Cool to take the one bag of cans that didn't fit and toss it in my neighbor's bin?


1:02 pm Office neighbor leaves 3 cookies unattended in her space. Those will likely get eaten at any given moment by unscrupulous passerby. Should I eat those, as she'd be happier knowing that someone she knows ate her cookies and not some random stranger?


3:20pm Notice that stall#2 in the men's room is out of paper. Just then, a person I don't know bursts into the bathroom with a distinct air of urgency about him. He beelines straight for stall#2, dives in, and locks the door. Should I offer a warning, or wash my hands of the situation (literally), and walk away?

Doing much better, thanks

"Good to see ya back at work -- how're you feeling?"

"Oh, about 30ft, thanks"

Recovery from this year's little epidemic is measured in terms of radius from the nearest, um...public facility.

urg...

Double the Fun! Low-grade cold but too much to do that I don't wanna call in sick. So the solution?
An Airborne tablet dissolved in office coffee! Now I can get my 500x dosage of vitamin C and antioxidants in a de-li-cious blend of sludgy 2-day-old coffee with a hint of effervecent citric flavors! Effects: Staves off cold, may cause nausea. Best idea since meat flavoured ice cream topped with anchovies.

Remember who PWNS you

This morning, the all-too-common combo of time-crunch, hunger, and mental weakness conspired to have me walk into McDonald's for Breakfast#3. As I received the 38 cents in change, I say, "Thanks. Have a good one." Expecting either a vague forced smile or a "You too!," I was taken aback by what the cashier said.

After a barely perceptible pause, the teenage avatar of Ronald the purveyor of reconstituted beef products seemed to look into my soul and intoned, "...see you again SOON..!"

How...does...he...know? Sudden...craving...for...Quarter..Pounder..with...Cheese.

Shout out to our peeps in Chicago!

Why, do you ask, do we put up with a highway system that doubles as a parking lot, and housing costs that are measured in terms of how many times one has to die and collect life insurance?

Oh I dunno. But I must say it was chilly n San Jose, CA this morn; temp dipped 60F (17C). Brr...better break out the long-sleeve T-shirts.

Back in Black

phew. Been a while since I posted.

Hectic times!!

I had the kids solo while Harumi was outta town. Sure no prob, I said to her as I dropped her off at SF Int'l. That last statement mockingly echoed thru my head over and over for the next 8 days...

First off, both our kids have carpool arrangements with two different sets of families. So it's like this: Mondays, Anna goes to school with her buddies Annabella and Samuel, but I only pick up Anna and Samuel. Tuesdays, Annabella's mom picks up and I pick up Anna and Annabella and two bags of groceries. Each day is a different iteration of who does the pickups and which kids get picked up. For our son Rei, something similar -- a combo of playdates/carpool/after school activity.

Oh yeah, I was stressed as hell. Nightmares of coming home with the wrong set of kids danced in my dreams. Harumi thoughtfully provided a dossier by day, of everything I needed to know, complete with pictures and warnings. "Don't turn on the DVD for too long or Rei gets carsick." Next line: "Since you ignored my previous note, the wipes are under the front seat."

At any rate, I'm back in the office. Doing budget, playing with pictures on Powerpoint, and generally re-laxing. Because all this, my friends, is INFINITELY easier than being a full-time homemaker. So if you have a stay-at-home spouse, go home and thank them today!!