I think you might want to rethink your ad there...

So, this may not be the great return to blogging I had in mind, but I simply couldn't help but post this when I saw it today on an academic newsletter I receive:

"Kill harmful bacteria including H1N1."

Really? Kills bacteria? Even H1N1 bacteria? That's special since H1N1 is a virus. If you can't get that right for the ad, do you really think I'm going to trust that it works? Ha!

Moral of the story? General science literacy is IMPORTANT. For consumers who might get sucked in and Ad Execs who majorly FUBAR.

(Oh, and the (*) there which I thought might redeem it? if you look really carefully it says "When used as directed" not something along the lines of "yes, yes, we know H1N1 is a virus, we were just trying to play off the general panic of the public about swine flu".)

science... always harder than you thought it would be...

Quote of the day:

Every problem is like an infinite goldmine of hard.
~hubby

And so I continue to muddle though, working on this thing that was just supposed to be quick and easy, but turned into a way bigger thing than I wanted right now. Thankfully hubby can help!

Quotes of the day

Fitting with the events of the day:
Me: "The days of everybody's dog having 3 iPods is over"
Hubby: "Yup. The last thing an economist wants to hear: 'I can do without it'"

Totally random:
ISS: worst apartment ever. 3 1/2 without gravity, "cozy", limited access to transit.

random bullets of travel...

I am just returned and still in a jet lag fogged haze from a week and a half in Europe for a conference and a little vacay. Since travel tends to bring up some of the oddest things, I present random bullets of travel (with hubby):

• Hubby looks around and says to me: "Madrid is a going concern." ... Really? I think it probably has been for centuries now.
  
• To airlines (especially StupidJet... I mean EasyJet): Either have a system or don't. Preferably have one. "Free seating" is not a "feature".
  
• It is possible to survive for 12 days on only 45min of internet (that cost 7.50 Euros)... but you don't blog, and don't get much work done.
  
• "Platos Combinatos" was the new theme for travel in Spain this year (last year was "sacacorchos"... it's a good story).
  
• Unlike most restaurant meals in Spain, you can get a "Platos Combinatos" before 9pm, and it more resembles a meal than Tapas.
  
• Finishing dinner at 11:30pm and getting up for talks that start at 9am does not help with jet lag.
  
• I actually kind of like calamari.
  
• If you have a conference posse (of people you like), you could rent an apartment for the week and have a grand old time. Of course we thought of this after we arrived.
  
• When transferring from plane to train in Lyons, you will likely need to take a long bus ride into the main station... even though there is a train station in the airport and it is closer to where you are going... really, you can go ask the guy at the desk there, he'll tell you where to catch the bus and possibly that you are much older than he thought (a compliment, I think).
  
• Glaciers are tricky things to get to (more on that later).
  
• Stay to the inside of the trail when hiking.
  
• 2200m altitude will kick your arse even if you think you are in shape.
  
• European hotels do not provide wash clothes.
  
• Has anyone ever followed those signs in hotels asking you to hang the towels if you wish to use them again and returned to find that the same towels are actually there? Every time I hang them up neatly and I come back to fresh towels.
  
• "ensoleillement" is a word which means "chance of sun"... it is predicted daily in Chamonix, but appears to have no actual correlation with the amount of sun appearing on a given day.
  
• Do not say "hey, why don't we take a different route back" after hiking for 4-5 hours already when you are not sure where you are going and it will get dark soon.
  

To Disgruntled Julie: I will post the meme soon... unfortunately I have work rather than knitting to do today. ;)

I learned a new word today...

STET.

Courtesy of the (very funny) Yarn Harlot's blog today.

stet |stet|
verb ( stetted , stetting ) [ intrans. ]
let it stand (used as an instruction on a printed proof to indicate that a correction or alteration should be ignored).

It is an editing term, derived from latin, that means "let it stand", as in put it back the way I wrote it, as in stop trying to ruin the greatness that I crafted in words.

Today, I am trying to finalize the edits for an article manuscript I just got back from a journal with some comments I swear indicate that the referees only looked at the figures and read every third paragraph. To be fair I get a little overly attached to my writing, and have a tendency to take it rather personally when a referee suggests changes. Ok fine, so sometimes I want to cry and just revoke my submission and say "fine, then the world will just NEVER KNOW!"... possibly including a "nah na-nah na-nah naaahhh". Of course I realize that is just silly, and then go about trying not to sound too defensive and like I am a reasonable being that is at least considering what has been suggested. Sigh.

I wish I could just reply with a giant "STET". No "please" attached.

Seriously.

ps- in all honesty, there are some good suggestions, and I suppose the paper will be better for it, except that now it will be too long. I just hate the revision process, and there are a few really odd comments I just don't know how to respond to besides to say "read it again!".

Quote of the day: caterpillar blood

Girl I work with says today: "Caterpillars have the weirdest coloured blood of any animal I've squished and looked at."

Quotes of the day: life in Montreal

Hammer rats: a breed of rats which are not seen and infest apartment buildings hammering on the walls, floors and ceilings.

***
hubby: "Living in Montreal is like having a roommate you don't like... that follows you everywhere."
***
hubby: "I need to buy a Land Rover, so I can rove the land."

Quote of the day

PC: "Keyboard error: press F1 to resume"

quote(s) of the day

Yesterday:

Hubby: "What?"

Me: "I didn't say anything. It's just the voices in your head... don't listen to them."

For some reason, he thought the fact that I added advice for a course of action regarding the voices in his head was incredibly funny. Why wouldn't you make this suggestion??


Also yesterday:

Hubby: "I made progress today by not going backwards"

Oh how true, how often this is true...


There was something this morning too... but I can't seem to recall.