Mishmash Musings

Usually at this time of year people look back for their “best of” lists. But apparently, colors are different. The Pantone Color Institute has named “Tangerine Tango” the color of 2012, which means you can expect to see a lot of clothing in that hue next year.

I don’t know about you, but I have NEVER looked good in any shade of orange. I guess that mean’s I’ll be skipping right over next year’s hot color and sticking to my usual black and navy blue staples.

I just read that a 4-year-old former stray cat in Rome inherited $13 million when its owner passed away a couple weeks ago. The owner was a 94-year-old woman who had no friends or family to leave the money to, and wanted to make sure that her cat was well taken care of after she passed on. So she bequeathed the proceeds of her term life insurance policy to the feline, as well as other cash, property, and other assets. The estate will be administered by the woman’s former nurse — who had no idea her patient was so rich.

As much as I love animals, I think it’s pretty insane to leave that much wealth to a cat! I mean, I understand that the woman was lonely and the cat was like a son to her, but come on. In the end, aren’t people slightly more important than animals? Couldn’t the cat have received excellent care on $1 million (or even less), with the rest of the money going to a children’s charity or cancer research?

Oh, well, I guess everyone’s entitled to do their own thing with their money.

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So some guy wants to pay $50 for a fake doctor’s note saying he had marriage counseling on a certain day, otherwise he’ll get fired? What a loser!!! I really wanted to answer this guy just to find out his workplace and then rat him out. That would be what he really deserves, but I guess that would be bad karma for me…

Wow, how much tragedy can one campus take? I read that two people have been shot on the Virginia Tech campus today, and students have been told to stay in their rooms as police search for the gunman, who is still at large. Since this is a breaking story, few details are available (and those that have been published are likely to change), but apparently the suspect is a white male wearing a maroon hoodie.

One police officer was killed after a routine traffic stop, and then another body was subsequently found in a parking lot.

Obviously the death toll is significantly lower than the 2007 Va Tech shooting that left 32 dead, but that’s cold comfort for now.

Well, this is kind of sad news. The world’s oldest dog, Pusuke, died recently at the age of 26. 26!!!! Can you believe that? Pusuke was a mixed breed dog that lived in Tochigi Prefecture, which is north of Tokyo. This dog was recognized by Guinness as the world’s oldest last December, and managed to hang on for another year.

I always feel sad when animals die, but it’s clear this guy had a long and happy life. I hope his owners are coping well!

It’s almost the end of the year, which means all the “best of” and “top 10″ lists are coming out. I like reading these things and reminiscing about what happened over the course of the past 12 months, which I guess is the point of these things anyway. I found it interesting to see what the top 10 searches of 2011 were. I actually did not search for any of those terms myself because the people, events, or products were always in the news to begin with.

Top 10 Searches of 2011:

1. iPhone
2. Casey Anthony
3. Kim Kardashian
4. Katy Perry
5. Jennifer Lopez
6. Lindsay Lohan
7. American Idol
8. Jennifer Aniston
9. Japan earthquake
10. Osama Bin Laden

Were you surprised that only one male made the list?? I certainly was. Isn’t anyone interested in male celebrities anymore???

Back when I was younger, I used to be one of those people that bounced around from job to job every few months or so. I never stayed anywhere for more than 6 months — until I landed a quality control gig that paid decent money and allowed me to work in a clean, temperature-controlled lab.

For that particular job, I had to learn all kinds of new (to me) skills, most of which had to do with using various measuring tools such as radius gauges, flatness gauges, micrometers, and more. I also had to learn how to read parts blueprints, which I actually never fully grasped.

I was just thinking today that all those practical job skills I learned are extremely rusty now because I have been out of QC for more than 10 years. If I wanted to apply for a QC job now, I’d have to apply as a newbie for an entry-level position despite my five years of experience.

Too bad; I’ve seen some REALLY attractive job ads for QC specialists. The jobs sound pretty cushy and the pay looks highly competitive! Oh, well.