Taken from Lannie

BOLD the ones that apply to you:

I am 5′4″ or shorter
I think I’m ugly
I have some scars
I tan easily
I wish my hair was a different colour
I have friends who have never seen my natural hair color
I have a tattoo
I am self-conscious about my appearance
I have/I’ve had braces
I wear glasses sometimes
I’d get plastic surgery if it were 100% safe, free, scar-free
I’ve been told I’m attractive by a complete stranger
I have more than 2 piercings
I have piercings in places besides my ears
I have freckles

=Family/Home Life=

I’ve sworn at my parents
I’ve been kicked out of the house
My biological parents are together
I have a sibling less than one year old
I want to have kids someday
I have children
I’ve lost a child

=Embarrassment=

I’ve slipped out a “lol” in a spoken conversation
Disney movies still make me cry
I’ve snorted while laughing
I’ve laughed so hard I’ve cried
I’ve glued my hand to something
I’ve laughed till some kind of beverage came out of my nose
I’ve had my pants rip in public

=Health=

I was born with a disease/impairment
I’ve had stitches
I’ve broken a bone
I’ve had my tonsils removed
I’ve sat in a doctor’s office with a friend
I’ve had my wisdom teeth remove
I had a serious surgery
I’ve had chicken pox

=Traveling=

I’ve driven over 200 miles in one day
I’ve been on a plane
I’ve been to Canada
I’ve been to Niagara Falls
I’ve been to Japan
I’ve Celebrated Mardi Gras in New Orleans
I’ve been to Europe
I’ve been to Africa
I’ve been to France (isn’t France a part of Europe?? ;))

=Experiences=

I’ve been lost in my city
I’ve seen a shooting star
I’ve wished on a shooting star
I’ve seen a meteor shower
I’ve gone out in public in my pajamas
I’ve pushed all the buttons on an elevator
I’ve been to a casino
I’ve been skydiving
I’ve gone skinny dipping
I’ve played spin the bottle
I’ve crashed a car
I’ve been skiing
I’ve been in a play
I’ve met someone in person from the internet
I’ve caught a snowflake on my tongue
I’ve seen the Northern Lights
I’ve sat on a roof top at night
I’ve played chicken
I’ve played a prank on someone
I’ve ridden in a taxi
I’ve seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show
I’ve eaten sushi
I’ve been snowboarding

=Relationships=

I’m single
I’m in a relationship
I’m available
I’m engaged
I’m married
I’ve gone on a blind date
I’ve been the dumpee more than the dumper
I miss someone right now
I have a fear of abandonment
I’ve been divorced
I’ve had feelings for someone who didn’t have them back
I’ve told someone I loved them when I didn’t
I’ve told someone I didn’t love them when I did
I’ve kept something from a past relationship

=Honesty/Crime=

I’ve done something I promised someone else I wouldn’t
I’ve done something I promised myself I wouldn’t
I have lied to my parents about where I am
I am keeping a secret from the world
I’ve cheated while playing a game
I’ve cheated on a test
I’ve run a red light
I’ve been suspended from school
I’ve witnessed a crime
I’ve been in a fist fight
I’ve been arrested
I’ve shoplifted

=Drugs/Alcohol=

I’ve consumed alcohol
I have smoked cigarettes
I’ve smoked pot
I regularly drink
I’ve taken painkillers when I didn’t need them
I’ve done hard drugs
I’ve been addicted to an illegal substance
I take cough meds when I’m not sick
I can’t swallow pills
I can swallow about 5 pills at a time no problem

=Mental Health=

I have been diagnosed with depression
I shut others out when I’m depressed
I take anti-depressants
I have an eating disorder
I’ve slept an entire day when I didn’t need it
I’ve hurt myself on purpose
I’m addicted to self harm
I’ve woken up crying

=Death=

I’m afraid of dying
I hate funerals
I’ve seen someone dying
I have attempted suicide
Someone close to me has attempted suicide
Someone close to me has committed suicide

=Random=

I can sing well
I’ve stolen a tray from a fast food restaurant
I open up to others too easily
I don’t kill bugs
I curse regularly
I sing in the shower
I am a morning person
I paid for my cell phone ring tone
I’m a snob about grammar
I am a sports fanatic
I play with my hair
I have/had “x”s in my screen name
I love being neat
I’ve copied more than 30 CDs in a day
I bake well
My favorite colour is either white, yellow, pink, red or blue
I don’t know how to shoot a gun
I am in love with love
I am guilty of tYpInG lIkE tHiS
I laugh at my own jokes
I eat fast food weekly
I believe in ghosts
I am online 24/7, even as an away message
I can’t sleep if there is a spider in the room
I am really ticklish
I love white chocolate
I bite my nails
I play video games
I’m good at remembering faces
I’m good at remembering names
I’m good at remembering dates
I have no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life
I’ve been honest while filling out this meme

With the NIST report about the WTC7 building collapse just published, the 9/11 conspiracy theorists are out in force again.  These people are like religious zealots. They completely ignore any evidence or facts that counter their theories, claim that theories are facts, and structurally require of others that they prove things don’t exist. They often fall down to ad hominem attacks: “anyone with any intelligence will see that this couldn’t have happened“. Sorry, but I dare say I have above average intelligence, and I fail to see their point. Not only because they provide no credible evidence for their statement, but also because in my (admittedly amateur) perspective, the events went down as I would expect them to.

• Why some people expect that the buildings should have toppled sideways in beyond me. Pancaking is what will likely happen if structural steel supports are weakened by fire. Especially if those supports were additionally damaged by, say, a largish airliner crashing into it?
• The only thing controlled demolition and the WTC collapses have in common is that both were essentially powered by gravity, and that both produced a huge cloud of dust. The idea about controlled demolition is that it’s, well, controlled. Because of that the debris is contained in a surprising small area, often within the actual footprint of the building. The WTC collapses weren’t. The debris was all over the place. Yes, it did go fairly straight down; it had to.  Basic physics require it to…
• “There is no evidence an aircraft actually hit the Pentagon“. Except for dozens of consistent eye witness accounts. And many pieces of actual aircraft. And damage to the building consistent with a 767 flying into it (if you’re expecting a cookie-cutter outline, think again)
• and so on, and so forth.

Then there are the logical fallacies surrounding their theory that the government was behind it all. If the government was indeed behind, and was able to actually keep it a secret, would such a government actually allow people to talk about it as openly as they are? People seem to believe the internet is some sort of neutral zone, untouchable by the powers-that-be. In reality, the internet can be taken out as a whole fairly easily (when you’re talking about evil governments). Also, why such a huge elaborate scheme? A scenario with a large bomb, or even a stolen ex-Soviet nuke would have been much easier to arrange, and much easier to execute.

It seems to me that conspiracy theorists have a very strong desire to place events in a well orchestrated ‘grand plan’. Apparently a known evil makes them sleep a lot better than a rogue element such as Al Qaeda.

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And that’s just 9/11. Unfortunately, the internet doesn’t judge information. So unless you’re experienced in proper research techniques, taking information from internet at face value can be risky. The dark side of an otherwise great technology.

In one of the many discussions on the internet where the trash vents it’s displeasure about pretty much everything, the subject was the Police. One cop responded. Couldn’t be arsed to translate:

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k denk, geachte belastingbetaler, dat u mijn identiteit inmiddels wel hebt vastgesteld. Ik pas vast en zeker in het hokje waarin u mij wilt indelen en u vindt mij natuurlijk ‘typisch’.

Tot mijn spijt kan ik dat van u niet zeggen; ik weet niet wie u bent. Vanaf hun geboorte leert u uw kinderen dat ik de boeman ben en zij zijn dan geschokt, omdat ik met mijn traditionele vijand, de crimineel, vergeleken wordt.

- U beschuldigt mij dat ik de jeugd te zacht aanpak, totdat ik op een keer uw kind de les lees.

- U neemt waarschijnlijk een uur middagpauze en koffiepauzes, maar u beschuldigt mij van luiheid als ik een keer ga zitten.

- U bent erg tevreden met uw goede manieren, maar u vindt het normaal om mijn maaltijd met uw problemen te onderbreken.

- U windt zich op als iemand u in het verkeer de weg afsnijd, maar als ik u op hetzelfde betrap, voelt u zich onterecht behandeld.

- U kent alle verkeersregels, dus u hebt nooit terecht een bekeuring gehad.

- U stoort zich eraan dat ik mij met hoge snelheid naar een plaats des onheils spoed, maar u beklaagt zich erover als het meer dan 10 seconden duurt voordat ik bij uw probleem ben.

- U ziet het als een deel van mijn werk dat ik geslagen wordt, maar als ik terugsla, noemt u dat machtsmisbruik.

- U zult er niet aan denken om uw tandarts te vertellen hoe hij een kies moet trekken, of een dokter te laten zien hoe hij een blinde darm moet opereren, maar vindt het heel normaal om mij steeds te vertellen hoe ik mijn werk zou moeten doen.

- U praat tegen mij op een manier die u in elke andere situatie een bloedneus zou opleveren, maar verwacht van mij dat ik dat zondermeer accepteer.

- U schreewt: “Er moet wat tegen de criminaliteit gedaan worden!” maar u wilt niet als getuige optreden of er op een andere wijze mee lastig gevallen worden.

In uw ogen deug ik absoluut niet, maar het is natuurlijk volkomen terecht als ik uw vrouw help bij het verwisselen van een band, haar op weg naar het ziekenhuis voor een bevalling begeleid, uw zoon met mond-op-mondbeademing het leven red of overuren maak om uw weggelopen dochter te vinden.

Welnu, geachte belastingbetaler, beklaag u over de manier waarop ik mijn werk verricht en geeft mij alle mogelijke scheldnamen. Maar vergeet niet dat uw eigendom, uw familie en ook uw leven van mij of mijn collega’s af kan hangen. Jawel, geachte belastingbetaler, dat ben ik, die waardeloze politieagent.

Saturday morning I did a quick low-viz dive in Maarseveen. Not much to see in the murky 1.5m visibility, but it was another dive. Did see some tiny jellyfish though. Didn’t know we had those in fresh water.

In the afternoon I went with Arno & Wendy to Brenda’s birthday party. Kelly and Ollie were there too, so all in all it was a pleasant evening in pleasant company.

Sunday I went with Brenda and Wendy to the Castlefest event in Lisse’s Keukenhof venue. Castlefest is a similar event to the Fantasy Fair, yet different too. All in all I think I prefer Castlefest.  In general I think there were more people dressed up in CF, although the best costumes at FF were better than those at CF. There was a lot of gothic at FF, including the stalls. CF had many, very diverse stalls, with only a little bit of gothic. Despite the occasional downpour the atmosphere was great. Bought a cloak and a sword for my outfit.

Afterwards I had a lovely dim-sum meal at Asian Delight with Bren a & Wen.