Jamie Burnside's Articles In Misc » Page 2
December 21, 2005 by Jamie Burnside
I heard on the radio this morning that there is a legal challenge to the city of Minneapolis' photo-ticket program. Apparently the city of Minneapolis has a number of stationary cameras posted around town. If a camera catches drivers commiting some sort of traffic violation, a ticket is sent to the address of the owner of the "offending" vehicle. Is the insurance industry behind this? Sure these tickets can be an economic boon for the cities, but will be even better for insurance compani...
December 17, 2005 by Jamie Burnside
This morning as I was leaving for work, I had an excellent idea for a weblog topic. I was certain that I would remember it! I spent my entire day at a meeting, and I'd be darned if I could remember what my "hot topic" was supposed to be about. I have been spending the last few hours trying to remember what I had to say. Well... Merry New Year
December 1, 2005 by Jamie Burnside
Last night I went to my local K-mart to buy a game for my students to play at school.  I brought the game into work, and put it on my desk. On the box, I noticed that there is a price tag.  I was struck at how rarely one sees an actual price tag these days.  With the advent of bar codes and scanners, price tags have become increasingly rare.  (Strangely, as a marketing strategy, the tags on items at stores like KOHLs don't even reflect the actual price of the item for ...
October 26, 2005 by Jamie Burnside
Yesterday my son and I went to the flu shot clinic at the medical center in our home town. There were all sorts of people there lining up to get their shots. It was certainly the place to be! While we were there, I overheard numerous people proclaiming how they "hate needles." There were many people who were making quite the deal out of getting a little shot. I bet that it makes the nurses cringe every time they hear that (unless they're already numb to it.) I think that it is one of t...
October 13, 2005 by Jamie Burnside
When you're a kid, every year you can expect a new professional photo of yourself.  Once school is finished, that's all done. Now that I teach at a school, I once again receive annual portraits.  Two years ago I was happy with my pictures.  Last year they weren't so good.  My pictures this year weren't so bad.  Here they are.
August 17, 2005 by Jamie Burnside
My wife and I went grocery shopping tonight.  Not knowing what to eat for tonight's dinner, we decided to have curry and rice, since we already had some rice cooked.  My wife decided to get a canned curry sauce to put on our rice.  I was a little skeptical, as I couldn't imagine that canned curry would be any good. Surprisingly enough, the curry turned out to be among the best curries that I have ever had.  I fried up a little bacon at home to mix with the sauce, and we po...
August 15, 2005 by Jamie Burnside
I dare you to knock this battery off of my shoulder.
June 28, 2005 by Jamie Burnside
So I was sitting on the couch, watching a baseball game.  My phone rings, and I pick it up. As soon as I answered, some guy with a southern accent starts ranting and raving about me stealing his newspaper.  He claims that he's my next door neighbor.  I told this guy to just come over and get the paper. Just for kicks, I argued with the guy for a few minutes.  I played along with his joke too for a while until it got too repetitive.  Then I let him go. This guy w...
May 5, 2005 by Jamie Burnside
Last night as I was driving home from work, I was thinking about dinner.  I thought about a restaurant that I used to visit in Japan named "Bronco Billy's". Bronco Billy's is a chain of reasonably low-priced steak restaurants in Japan.  At Billy's, one can order a steak with potatoes and a salad bar.  (Just like a Sizzler, a Ponderosa, or a Bonanza in the USA.)  The biggest difference between the steak house there and here is that the quality of the meat and salad is a lot...
April 23, 2005 by Jamie Burnside
In Japan, English words and phrases are used decoratively on clothing, packaging, and other things. Frequently the English that is used it a bit awkward. (I believe that this is intentional.) The use of over-prosaic, colorful, nonsensical, and oftentimes funny English is an underappreciated artform in Japan. The best source of "strange English" is children's clothing. I have read some good nonsense on clothes at the kids' store. Take my son's t-shirt for example: "Beloved: I'm glad ...
March 17, 2005 by Jamie Burnside
The other day I was at a seminar that was sponsored by the publishing company that makes the textbooks that I use at my school.  During the seminar, we had some speakers tell us how to better prepare our students to read and write.  It was a reasonably good seminar. Something struck me as funny as I was sitting through the writing workshop.  The presenter mentioned that we should teach our students how to differentiate their writing voice depending on the type of writing that t...
March 6, 2005 by Jamie Burnside
Well it is March!  The snow will soon melt, the plants will return to life, robins will return, Spring will be here before we know it, and McDonald's now has Shamrock Shakes.  This is our one chance per year to enjoy those yummy mint-flavored shakes. Sometimes a year goes by when I forget about the shakes.  Then in April or May I realize my mistake, and promise myself to "get one next year!" Fortunately, I didn't forget this year.  I went to get a shake on Thursday nigh...
March 4, 2005 by Jamie Burnside
One of my third-graders wrote a really cute closing paragraph to a paper about penguins.  He wrote:   Penguins are birds that can not fly.  They live in Antarctica.  I hope someday I can be one of them. Isn't that cute?
February 24, 2005 by Jamie Burnside
This afternoon at work (I am an elementary school teacher) I went out to the playground to gather a few of my students.  After looking around a bit, I found the kids whom I was looking for. Two of the kids that I found were playing in a rather animated group of first graders.  There were about fifteen kids picking up handfuls of freshly-fallen snow, rubbing it in their hair, and exclaiming: "Look at me!  I'm George Washington!"  (I took a picture of this, and I e-mailed it...
January 17, 2005 by Jamie Burnside
We use Dish Network for satellite TV at my house.  I am reasonably satisfied with the service.  I see commercials on TV where they're offering four free receivers and a free Tivo-like device for new customers.  I only have one receiver and no Tivo.  I want what's on the ad! We use T-Mobile for cellular service.  My wife and I have camera phones.  We're satisfied with the service, but our phones are a bit antiquated.  I want a camera phone with a flash.&...