Somebody stop me. I'm looking at GPS devices and thinking about buying one. Partly because I'm a gadget guy and partly because I'm an idiot. The two wouldn't seem to work together, but when it comes to direction-finding devices, they're a perfect fit. The reason you have to stop me is because they're still kind of pricey and I'm not altogether sure I'd get the full usage out of it. I mean, what would I do - roam around the countryside aimlessly with this thing in my face telling me which way to turn? Pointless.What I would like is an LPS. A Life Positioning System. Something to tell me which way to turn when things really matter. When Garmin makes one of those, you'll drop me a line and let me know.
Meanwhile, local law enforcement is hot and heavy against distracted drivers using cell phones in their cars, eating and drinking, smoking and otherwise looking at something that isn't the road ahead. I'm seeing a lot of these GPS deals on the dashboard of the cars ahead of me, and I'm usually looking for an escape route. How long do you think it will be before we see laws against these things? Maybe never, since the auto makers are putting them in cars now. Somebody tell me the difference between using a GPS in your car and talking on the cell phone.
I didn't think so.
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Another zoo animal escaped its holding cell and attacked some people in San Francisco Zoo on Tuesday. This one was (past tense) Tatiana, a Siberian Tiger, who inexplicably jumped its grotto and attacked three visitors, killing one; before being shot to death by local law enforcement.Anthropomorphism is the assigning of human characteristics to animals. We lose sight of the fact that animals are ... well, animals. Tigers are carnivorous predators who take up great expanses of land. They're my favorite animals to see at the zoo, but it makes me sad to see them penned up pacing in a circle or sitting idly waiting for some keeper to throw food at them. They're hunters and I imagine that they don't like being held in a pen any more than we would. They prefer wild boar and deer, but when given the chance they will attack anything that moves.
They're not cuddly cats or stuffed play toys. They're beasts of the wilderness, and when we cage them it goes against their primal instinct to roam and hunt. OK, so one of them killed somebody and maimed two others. It's a tiger. That's what tigers do. It wasn't the first time that Tatiana attacked. Last year, she tore the right arm off one of the keepers who was trying to feed her. The zoo was fined $18,000 for inadequate safety precautions, but tigers don't place any value on money.
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And now, here's a little video for my friend from Ohio, who could use a laugh after dealing with these people all day ... It's Brian Regan.
9 comments:
y'know, i heard that about the tiger and i don't blame the poor thing one bit. i hate seeing animals in cages. i'm turning into a tree huggin' animal lover and that's okay ya know? but sheesh. i hate going to the zoo anymore. i just want to let them all loose...one of these days you'll see me on the 6 o'clock news-i'll be chained to the penquin aquarium.
thanks for the laugh and thinkin of me. i'm tellin' ya-if it wasn't for you today my day would have dragged...so thanks for being my email penpal today. i owe ya one.
hi Anthony - you probably already saw this: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17611103
I can't decide if GPS thingies are going to make people smarter or stupider... they are quite fun tho - my brother has a garmin which he delighted in showing me the other day... pret-ty pret-ty good!
I've heard it was the hottest gift this Xmas. Of course, I didn't get one.
They are pret-ty pret-ty pret-ty good, though [casting the David skeptical eye-look] but I think I'll wait till the prices come down to cell phone level.
kimmyk: You're talking to a guy who just spent $30 on various forms of cat food, in an effort to make his little furry buddy happy. Real fish and organic crap - better than what I eat.
Hopefully, he won't gouge my eyes out.
The 'one' benefit to a GPS? You get to learn street names you never knew about. My Dad has one in his truck. It tells me that the highest speed it recorded was 148km/hr, or somewhere around 90mph. My Dad just shook his head and shrugged his shoulders as if he had no idea who could have done that....
I wouldn't mind one but I already know the way to work.
we got one for my Brother in Law ... he jsut graduated Truck Driving School we thought it would be great - he wasn't that happy - Oh well - you can get a Garmen or you cna get a new car, they all come with one now ... haha
I'd buy that LPS too. God only knows I need a heads up in which way to go next. Jeez.
And for the tigers everywhere, WHY ARE PEOPLE SO SHOCKED WHEN YOU EAT THEM? YOU ARE AN EFFING TIGER FOR EFF'S SAKE!!
I'd buy that LPS too. God only knows I need a heads up in which way to go next. Jeez.
And for the tigers everywhere, WHY ARE PEOPLE SO SHOCKED WHEN YOU EAT THEM? YOU ARE AN EFFING TIGER FOR EFF'S SAKE!!
I understand and agree about caging the animals at the zoo. But.......
on the other hand, there are a lot of animals that would cease to exist if we didn't keep them there (thank your fellow humans for that). I will try not to preach but I used to work at a zoo so I'll try to briefly say that while animals in the wild do have large territories, it's usually because they need such a large "home" because their food roams, hence they need to roam to find their food. So in the zoo they don't need such a large territory. Not that all zoos have great exhibits but a lot are really good facilities. I'll stop now.
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