“An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way.”
— Charles Bukowski

The U2 Riddle, one of my favorites, has been posted on this site for a few years now. It’s one of the entries that has drawn lots of traffic, and is in fact the #1 result on a Google search for “u2 riddle”.

A few weeks ago, my cousin Erin and I were driving back from Canada from our cousin’s wedding. While stuck in traffic at the border for nearly three hours, I threw the U2 Riddle at her. It’s a beautiful riddle, and at one point was used by Microsoft to screen prospective employees. Based on Microsoft’s demands to find the solution in five minutes or less, it looks like Erin’s got what it takes to be a Windows engineer. She immediately found the key point to the solution (i.e. Adam and Larry cross together) in one try, channeling the critical thinking skills of our surgeon grandfather. The rest was just a matter of walking through the details.

Show me a guy who can do all 100 and I’ll show you the lovechild of G.I. Joe, MacGyver, Grizzly Adams, and Emeril Lagasse. From the editors at Popular Mechanics:

Automotive

1. Handle a blowout
2. Drive in snow
3. Check trouble codes
4. Replace fan belt
5. Wax a car
6. Conquer an off-road obstacle
7. Use a stick welder
8. Hitch up a trailer
9. Jump start a car

Handling Emergencies

10. Perform the Heimlich
11. Reverse hypothermia
12. Perform hands-only CPR
13. Escape a sinking car

Home

14. Carve a turkey
15. Use a sewing machine
16. Put out a fire
17. Home brew beer
18. Remove bloodstains from fabric
19. Move heavy stuff
20. Grow food
21. Read an electric meter
22. Shovel the right way
23. Solder wire
24. Tape drywall
25. Split firewood
26. Replace a faucet washer
27. Mix concrete
28. Paint a straight line
29. Use a French knife
30. Prune bushes and small trees
31. Iron a shirt
32. Fix a toilet tank flapper
33. Change a single-pole switch
34. Fell a tree
35. Replace a broken windowpane
36. Set up a ladder, safely
37. Fix a faucet cartridge
38. Sweat copper tubing
39. Change a diaper
40. Grill with charcoal
41. Sew a button on a shirt
42. Fold a flag

Medical Myths

43. Treat frostbite
44. Treat a burn
45. Help a seizure victim
46. Treat a snakebite
47. Remove a tick

Military Know-How

48. Shine shoes
49. Make a drum-tight bed
50. Drop and give the perfect pushup

Outdoors

51. Run rapids in a canoe
52. Hang food in the wild
53. Skipper a boat
54. Shoot straight
55. Tackle steep drops on a mountain bike
56. Escape a rip current

Primitive Skills

57. Build a fire in the wilderness
58. Build a shelter
59. Find potable water

Surviving Extremes

60. Floods
61. Tornados
62. Cold
63. Heat
64. Lightning

Teach Your Kids

65. Cast a line
66. Lend a hand
67. Change a tire
68. Throw a spiral
69. Fly a stunt kite
70. Drive a stick shift
71. Parallel park
72. Tie a bowline
73. Tie a necktie
74. Whittle
75. Ride a bike

Technology

76. Install a graphics card
77. Take the perfect portrait
78. Calibrate HDTV settings
79. Shoot a home movie
80. Ditch your hard drive

Master Key Workshop Tools

81. Drill driver
82. Grease gun
83. Coolant hydrometer
84. Socket wrench
85. Test light
86. Brick trowel
87. Framing hammer
88. Wood chisel
89. Spade bit
90. Circular saw
91. Sledge hammer
92. Hacksaw
93. Torque wrench
94. Air wrench
95. Infrared thermometer
96. Sand blaster
97. Crosscut saw
98. Hand plane
99. Multimeter
100. Feeler gauges

A special era in my life came to a close two weeks ago as I wrapped up an eighteen-month stint at the North American HQ of a major automobile company that shall remain nameless in this — ahem — opening sentence.

It’s impossible for me not to notice this figurative change of season’s uncanny synchronousness to the actual change of season blowing through the air right now as Mama Nature kicks down to the door to my favorite season of ’em all, Fall. There is, of course, a vague feeling of loss in this departure, but, like time itself, we must move relentlessly forward. Only faster.

Below are some shots I snapped during the final hours on campus before turning in my badge, handing over my gun, dealing with the usual cavity search, getting escorted by armed guards out to the parking lot, etc. (There are still a few grips of photos taken by others during the Last Lunch at nearby Chang’s, so send ’em over, people!) After pulling these shots down from my cell, I noticed a few folks I missed: Lauren, Jeanice, LJ, Colleen, Jim B, Mark, Terri, Emily, Teiko, Ron, etc. (And, perhaps most importantly, Abhijit.) I suppose I’ll just need to drop in again one day.

In no particular order, some faces I don’t want to forget [hum that Barbra Streisand song here]: [click to continue…]

“Liquifry”
Garlic, ginger, soy sauce, steak, asparagus, white onion, red bell pepper, a pear, maybe a splash or two of beer, and Photoshop
2008

Guideline. Use compare to when your purpose is simply to liken — to point out the similarity (or dissimilarity) between — two things. Use compare with when your purpose is to analyze two things on the basis of their similarities or differences.

• You cannot begin to compare [liken] wakeboarders to water skiers.
• I would like to begin my speech by comparing [weighing one against the other] this year’s water skiers with the water skiers we had last year.

Source: Grammar for Smart People by Barry Tarshis.

San Pedro, CA. On a midnight prowl along the sea through White Point and attempting to describe the sensation of walking through the hot fingers of intensely focused Santa Ana winds.

“It ain’t over ’til it’s over.”
— Yogi Berra

Guideline: Use comprise when you mean to “consist of” (as opposed to “are the elements of”). Use include when you are mentioning or listing some or most (rather than all) of the items in a series. Think twice before using is comprised of for anything.

1. The new water ski package comprises [consists of] a pair of Voit skis, a deluxe rope and handle, a ski vest, and (get this!) a shiny MasterCraft ProStar 190 ski boat.

or:

1. The new water ski package includes [has, in addition to other things,] a ski vest.

But not:

1. The new water ski package is comprised of [should be is composed of] a pair of Voit skis, a deluxe rope and handle, a ski vest, and (get this!) a shiny MasterCraft ProStar 190 ski boat.

A closer look: Is comprised of has become so commonly used as a synonym for “consists of” that many [inferior] guides now consider the phrase standard.

Source: Grammar for Smart People by Barry Tarshis.