Don't wait! Eat that marshmallow!
Monday, 21 February 2022
50 years ago, Stanford University psychology professor Walter Mischel ran an experiment to test the concept of delayed gratification in children...
musings
Have you seen a scaly anteater? Me neither...
Sunday, 20 February 2022
Yesterday was World Pangolin Day and here’s what’s going down with our neighbor, Namibia.
Some things just don't feel right...
Thursday, 17 February 2022
An upsetting story from Reuters yesterday. “Two years after she went missing, a 6-year-old girl has been found alive and in good health in a makeshift room underneath a staircase in a house in New York state…”
Now you might well ask why I find this upsetting? You need to read on:
Thoughts on the passing of P.J. O'Rourke
Tuesday, 15 February 2022
I'm wistfully saddened at the news that P.J. O'Rourke died today — wistful because I always wanted to meet him but never got down to doing something about it.
His writing was the single reason I subscribed to Rolling Stone magazine in my student days at Princeton in the 1980s — a path which introduced me to Gonzo journalism which in turn led me to discover Hunter S. Thompson.
I'm not going to go into his life story as there's enough of that documented elsewhere. I'm just going to briefly quote some of his work.
The price of doing business…
Saturday, 12 February 2022
An acquaintance of mine has become the southern African partner for nice piece of European technology in the off-grid energy space. He asked me whether I would be willing to spread the word to potential customers, and I responded: "Sure. What's the entry-level price per unit?"
So here we are, on a Saturday afternoon, having a conference call with his German partner who proceeds to tell me about how brilliant his product is and its life expectancy is 20 years or more versus 5 years for the competition before I finally cut him short.
A lesson in intellectual humility I cannot duck…
Thursday, 10 February 2022
Duck l'Orange is a favoured dish at Chez Pillay which is generally reserved for those rare occasions when Dr B and I have the house to ourselves. So, there's usually a pack or two of duck breasts in our freezer.
Matthew 7:3-5 (just because it resonates)
Monday, 7 February 2022
I made one of my occasional forays into Facebook earlier today and was prompted with a memory of a post I shared 5 years ago. It was written by Scott Mednick , when a Facebook friend told him, "We suffered for the last 8 years. Now it’s your turn.” (This, of course, as a result of Donald Trump being sworn in as president of the United States.)
The benefit of social conventions
Tuesday, 25 January 2022
I was stuck in a rush hour traffic jam in Harare, Zimbabwe. The reason? The busy intersection of Samora Machel Avenue and Enterprise Road had traffic lights out of action. As a result, every motorist simply piled into the intersection hugging the bumper of the vehicle in front. Add to this two massive tractor trailers trying to turn across the intersection at the same time…
The logjam meant we sat there for 30 minutes until a single metro police officer pitched up, took charge of the situation, and traffic flowed again.
It's okay...
Wednesday, 19 January 2022
It's okay to not carry a gun but support gun rights.
It's okay to not be gay but support gay rights.
It's okay to be an atheist but support religious freedom.
It's okay to believe in charity but oppose a welfare state.
It's okay to be anti-abortion but support a woman's right to choose.
It's okay to support the right to kill in self-defence but oppose the death penalty.
It's okay to respect someone's decision to change their gender but know biology is real.
It's okay to know Covid kills but lockdowns don't work.
The ten second rule of the microwave
Wednesday, 12 January 2022
If your office has a shared kitchen, chances are that the microwave oven is in use for most of the day; warming up food, warming up coffee, making noodles…
I've noticed a pattern; most of the time when I get to the microwave, the timer shows 9 seconds left.
Why?