Thursday, May 16, 2002

Attack of the Clones is now tracking at 54%, with 49 "fresh" reviews and 41 "rotten." Ugh. Of course, I'm in the midst of figuring out which show time Melissa and I will be going to tomorrow night, so I can pre-order the tickets. 7:01:20 PM

U.S. Warned Airlines About Possible Hijackings: The White House said on Thursday it warned U.S. airlines that it had received general threats of hijackings in the months before the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington. "Domestically, through normal security channels, the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration were made aware of general information that, while mentioning hijackings, did not include specific and detailed warnings," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said. There is more in this article, more that appears to be only the beginning of some administrative back-pedalling, that details how no one could have expected hijacked planes to be crashed into three buildings, how there was nothing specific about the World Trade Center, etc. I hope this doesn't turn into a lot of "coulda woulda shoulda" debate, but I've got to acknowledge what has me, at least, scratching my head. If you've got a heightened awareness about hijackings, regardless of whether or not you anticipated what the final outcome of those hijackings might be, don't you think there might have been a commensurate increase in airport security? It's almost as if the administration is saying "a regular hijacking would have been okay, but we couldn't have possibly known they were going to do what they did, so don't blame us for anything." Big ol' sigh... 5:09:01 PM

In the week and a half since I've been downtown again, I've bumped into a former manager (from two jobs ago), the wife of a college classmate (twice), a friend of the family (twice), a high school friend of my younger sister-in-law (who helped procure a particularly hot Christmas toy for us), a good friend of my older sister-in-law. I even saw my wife in the skyway, while we were walking between buildings. This doesn't count the familiar faces that I couldn't quite place, that I'm sure I've had some interaction with in the past, or the people I actively sought out because I knew they worked at Target, too. Now, I know it's a small world, but I also think you can increase your odds dramatically: Increase the sample size. There are far more people working in downtown Minneapolis than, say, the office in my house, or even the corporate campuses of a Toro, or a Best Buy. I'm also in a more "active" section of downtown. Increase your activity. I didn't run into any of these acquaintances just sitting at my desk. I'm walking between buildings, or to a lunch a few blocks away. Work for a big ass company. Almost all of my small world encounters were with people who also work at Target. Odds are dramatically increased when you're at least in the same work environment Go to a small local college. You kind of know everybody anyway when you go to a small school. And if they stick around Minnesota, it's likely you'll see 'em in the workplace. Timing. Related to increasing activity, and helps to increase the sample size. Lunch time means everybody else is walking around, too. Given all of this, I'd be more surprised if I didn't run into some acquaintance every day than if I did. Footnote: when I was almost finished writing this, I had to leave for a lunch appointment about six blocks away. I walked outside (as did many others, thanks to a Farmer's Market and warmer weather). I saw three people I knew in those six blocks. Two college acquaintances I knew, but wasn't particularly chummy with, and the aforementioned friend of older sister-in-law. Like I said: it's not really that small. Now, if I'd run into a friend from high school, then I'd be surprised. Everything else seems to fall neatly into the bell curve of expected results. One more update: walking from work to the parking lot, I passed one more obscure college acquaintance. Perhaps another aspect to the formula is awareness: I'm actually looking at faces as I walk past on the street, not just moving toward my destination. 2:54:51 PM