Man Lost for 2 Days in Cube Maze

CHICAGO, IL – AP October 30, 2006 – Police reported that local man Michael Tanner who was recently reported missing for over 48 hours was found at work, lost in the maze of cubicles. According to authorities, the local firm where Michael Tanner had just started working has over 5 acres of cubicles in one building. The building is divided into four sections, each nearly filled with cubicles from wall to wall.

Michael Tanner had just started working at the firm earlier in the week. His wife became concerned after he didn’t return home from his first day of employment and contacted the local police. After he was missing for 24 hours, they opened a missing person case and began a local search for Mr. Tanner.

“We didn’t know where to look. Mr. Tanner reportedly commuted to work by bus. This didn’t provide us with any leads to follow,” stated one of the investigating officers.

A co-worker actually found Michael Tanner after seeing an email bulletin issued by the human resources department asking everyone if anyone had any information as to his whereabouts. “I got this email from HR asking for help in finding Michael. They included his badge ID photo. As soon as I saw it, I know who it was. Michael appeared to be working in the cube next to mine this morning when I walked in. He seemed disheveled and out-of-it, so I assumed he was [an] IT [member] setting up the cube for a new employee. Who knew he was actually lost?” reported Imam Wong who discovered Michael Tanner.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s as though this firm’s cubicles actual form some sort of wilderness of technology,” stated the police chief.

Michael Tanner stated he was happy to be found. He had an urgent need to use the restroom near the end of the work day. When he got out of the restroom, he had forgotten which way he came from. He looked around for someone to ask, but couldn’t find anyone in any of the nearby cubicles. Apparently, because of a series of recent lay-offs, over 80% of the cubicles had remained unoccupied. It turns out that the maze of cubicles was so vast, even the Exit signs weren’t any help. When he finally did find an exit, he realized he had forgotten his ID badge to allow him to leave. After spending over half an hour trying to find his way to the main entrance or security, he settled into a nearby cubicle to rest. He fell asleep.

The next day, embarrassed by his predicament, he simply roamed an area of cubicles that were actually only 1000 feet from his own cubicle. “When I woke up, other employees had already come and started work in nearby cubes. I felt embarrassed. I attempted to leave the area to find another group of employees who maybe didn’t see me sleeping. After awhile, I just picked a desk to rest at. I didn’t see a single person the rest of the day. I knew my wife must be worried, so I attempted to use a phone to call out, but didn’t remember the code to dial outside. So I tried to call the front desk, but they didn’t set up 0 to get the operator. The operator was actually a four digit code that would be impossible to guess,” stated Michael Tanner.

After failing to again find his way out for a second day, he again settled in a random cubicle. “I was tired and hungry and not thinking straight by this point,” he added.

Again, he had awoken after nearby coworkers started work. I was even more embarrassed than the day before. “I just sat up and pretended to be working by turning on the computer and trying to get it to logon on. I guess this is when Imam first saw me”, Michael Tanner continued. “He just came up to me and said, `Are you Michael Tanner?’. I replied that I was and he gave me this big smile and said a lot of people where looking for me. I was so happy, but so very embarrassed too.”

“I’m just happy we found him,” his wife elated.

The firm’s HR department issued a statement which read in part, “We are gratified that Mr. Tanner was found safe and secure. Measures have been taken to improve navigability of our complex.”

Asked as to why Michael Tanner couldn’t just look over the cubicle walls, his wife responded, “He’s only 5 feet 3 inches tall. He’s short, but not a little person. I’m told their cube walls are the standard 6 foot tall. Large corporations need to take greater care in designing the layout of their cube mazes. My husband has experienced a traumatic experience similar to that of being lost in the wilderness.”

Alaskan Cruise pre-day

Allie, her parents and I flew up a day early to Seattle for our Alaskan cruise, this past May. My friends Dave and Miriam picked us up at the airport. Because of all our bags, they had to bring both their cars.

They had two rooms prepared for us back at their house. After relaxing for a while at their place, we all headed out to Seattle for some touristy sight-seeing. My in-laws had never been to Seattle. This extra day was a great chance to show them around.

We had lunch at the Crab Pot, which is fun restaurant that service seafood in the family style by dumping a bucket of it into piles on the table. As usual, the food was very fresh and delicious.

After that, we headed over to the Public Market on Pike St. This is where that one seafood vendor throws fish across their store. I think there was also a tulip festival going on, since small tulip vendors filled the sides of the street with their booths.

Later, we all headed back to my friends' house. We had dinner at a nearby restaurant and then settled in for the night. Our cruise ship boarding time on the next day was around noon, so we were not rushed into going to bed early.

Navigation: See all Alaskan Cruise articles here

Expression of Love

(From conversation in 1999)

I love you, Bevie

I love you bigger, my Mattybear!

How can you love me bigger? My love for you is so deep!

Because, I fell in love with you first.
You tripped me.

I tripped you into falling in love with me, my love?

Oui!

Will I ever be able to catch up with you in my love for you?

No!

Why?

Because, I started falling first.

So, I'll just hafta live with the fact that you will always love me more?

Bigger! Oui!
You tripped me, and I fell in love with you first.
You didn't give me any choice but to love you.

How did I not give you a choice?

Because, Matty, you tripped me!

How did I trip you?

I was walking, and you came along and tripped me.
How could I not fall in love with you?

When did this happen?

That night..., the first time we...

Is that when you realized you had feelings for me?

Oui!

Did you have feelings for me before that night?

I didn't let myself have those feelings until I let go that night.

How could I not help but to love you, Beviepie?
I love you more than anything in the Universe!

And I love you bigger than that, my Mattybear.

Bode's Law

Bode's Law, or Titus-Bode Law, is a now refuted law governing planet location with our Solar System. It presumes a relationship between all of the planets in their distances from the Sun.

Formulation

The Law relates the semi-major axis, a, of each planet outward from the sun in units such that the Earth's semi-major axis = 10, with

a = n + 4

where n = 0, 3, 6, 12, 24, 48 ..., with each value of n > 3 twice the previous value. The resulting values can be divided by 10 to convert them into astronomical units (AU), which would result in the expression

a = 0.4 + 0.3 · 2 ^m

for m = − , 0, 1, 2,...^[1]

For the outer planets, each planet is 'predicted' to be roughly twice as far away from the Sun as the next inner object.

Origin

It's name comes from the fact that it was promoted by Johann Elert Bode when in 1768, he wrote the second edition of his astronomical compendium Anleitung zur Kenntniss des gestirnten Himmels, which states the following.

Let the distance from the Sun to Saturn be taken as 100, then Mercury is separated by 4 such parts from the Sun. Venus is 4+3=7. The Earth 4+6=10. Mars 4+12=16. Now comes a gap in this so orderly progression. After Mars there follows a space of 4+24=28 parts, in which no planet has yet been seen. Can one believe that the Founder of the universe had left this space empty? Certainly not. From here we come to the distance of Jupiter by 4+48=52 parts, and finally to that of Saturn by 4+96=100 parts.

History

At the time, Saturn was the farthest known planet. Bode's Law gained credibility when Uranus and then Ceres where discovered. These bodies happened to fall in line with predictions made by the formula. However, this Law become refuted when Neptune was discovered at a location from the Sun that was no where near its predicted location.

Also, to further refute Bode's Law is the fact that other systems exist in our Solar System which do not follow its formula. Although the moons around Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus do follow some sort of pattern, they do not follow Bode's Law; nor do they share patterns with each other.

Status

The discovery of Pluto and more recently other Kuiper Belt objects have proven Bode's Law to be false. It appears that Bode's Law was a misguided attempt to explain an observation that did not have enough data. Given what is known now, it seems that perhaps there is some sort of rule that applies to naturally formed orbiting body systems, but there is no formula that can predict the arraignment of such. Perhaps Bode's Law can be useful in the future, not to predict planet placement in other extrasolar systems, but maybe to point us in the direction to understand planet formation and resonance. We can see there is some sort of resonance. We can also see that a particular resonance is not shared between different systems, and only applies in a limited fashion. It is not useful for anything else. Although it really cannot be called pseudo-science, since it was based on observation and did make some predictions that panned out, it is really not useful science today. Further complicating the issue is that the definition of planet has changed. Ceres and Pluto are no longer considered planets. This means that any use of Bode's Law in the context of what is now known can be called pseudo-science.

Planet Distances from the Sun (from Wikipedia.org)

Mercury factor: 0
Bode’s Law: 0.4, Actual: 0.39

Venus factor: 1
Bode’s Law: 0.7, Actual: 0.72

Earth factor: 2
Bode’s Law: 1.0, Actual: 1.0

Mars factor: 4
Bode’s Law: 1.6, Actual: 1.52

Ceres factor: 8
Bode’s Law: 2.8, Actual: 2.77

Jupiter factor: 16
Bode’s Law: 5.2, Actual: 5.2

Saturn factor: 32
Bode’s Law: 10, Actual: 9.54

Uranus factor: 64
Bode’s Law: 19.6, Actual: 19.2

Neptune factor: 128
Bode’s Law: 38.8, Actual: 30.06

Pluto factor: 256
Bode’s Law: 77.2, Actual: 39.44

Alaska Cruise planning

A couple years ago, Allie and I decided that we'd go on an Alaskan cruise with her folks. The main location that interested me was Glacier Bay. Also, I wanted a cruise that was earlier in the year before the big crowds. I didn't know much about cruises (I've never been on one before) so I had to rely on my research. I wanted to book our cruise last year, though several factors forced us to wait for a 2010 cruise.

The first cruise line I looked at was Carnival. However, they don't have any ships that goto Glacier Bay early in the year. Other cruise lines didn't have round trip journeys (which means we'd have to fly back home on some very long flights with layovers). After researching, I found that Norwegian Cruise Line has at least a couple of ships that go up to Alaska during May with round trip itineraries that include Glacier Bay. They start in Seattle and end in Seattle. As a bonus, my best friend lives in Seattle.

The ship that seemed to have the best itinerary for us was the Norwegian Pearl. The ship, its accommodations and amenities appeared to be modern. After a lot of discussion, we pulled the trigger by purchasing 2 balcony suites for ourselves and her parents. Balcony suites are expensive, but since this was likely the only time that Allie and I would ever go on a cruise to Glacier Bay, we had to get them. By September last year, we were set for an Alaskan cruise aboard the Norwegian Pearl for seven days starting on May 9th.

High School Poems II

Duff
Brown, brush
Lies, burns, moisturizes
Forestial protective top soil
Dirt


Boulder
Common, terrestrial
Sits, cracks, crumbles
Is at the mercy of weather
Big rock


For Extra Credit
Great way to improve my score
Ain't this just so great?!


I had classes that covered poetry for 4 years straight, and by the second year, I just started recycling much of my works,just adding extras to cover differing requirements.

I'm not going to add any other poems from my schools years here. There's over 50 or so, but nufin really any good. Some were very ambitious, and I may revisit them later for future projects anew.