Today is a bad day.  A particularly consistent bad day.  Not an awful day, mind you, but just bad enough to be laughably annoying.  And this got me to thinking…

Why is it that bad luck seems to come in strings… chains… in groups… whatever?

My example today:
- Had bathroom conflicts with roomie and her guest.
- Left in a hurry, forgot both cell phone and Google security card.
- Shuttle on the way to work was cramped, couldn’t work effectively on laptop.
- Due to bridge being damaged *and* another accident, I was late to work and had to push back a 10am meeting.
- Pulling laptop out of backpack at work, I accidentally broke off the antenna on my broadband wireless card.
- Allergies are acting up.  Blech :(.
- There were no communal coffee mugs left this morning.
- In a rush to grab my coffee-comfort (thank goodness for paper cups!), I spilled coffee grounds on myself.

Okay, so none of that is earth shattering.  My dog didn’t die, my wife didn’t run away with my pickup truck and shotgun, and I didn’t get beer spilled on me (admittedly, not having a dog, a wife, a pickup truck, a shotgun, or an affinity for beer makes this example somewhat inapt, but no matter).  Anyway, it’s still enough even-minorly-bad-stuff in a row (and by noon!) to make one wonder…

I’ll keep this (relatively) short and sweet:

I already use a fine to-do list software application (MyLifeOrganized), but since I’m aiming to move most of my life online, I thought I’d check out various online to-do apps.  I’ve been *shocked* at how every single app I’ve looked at falls into one of two categories:

1) Slower than a dog.
Sure, ajax is trendy and so [gag] Web2.0, but it sure beats the pants off having the damn screen redraw after every task add and edit!

2) No way to specify a start date.
Okay, this has to be the dumbest omission imaginable.  I mean, come on, I can’t work on [x] until my friend so-and-so arrives in three months.  I’m not going to start planning a birthday present for my sister until two weeks before her birthday.  I’m not going to start testing out music notation software packages until after the 2007 NAMM show.  Why on *earth* would I want all my to-do’s showing up as something to work on before I either want to or can work on them?!

This is particularly discouraging to me, because Remember the Milk is clearly a very slick service with passionate and smart developers and an active community and so on.  So why on earth haven’t they implemented start dates for tasks?  This certainly can’t rank up there as one of the tough technical problems of all times.  I don’t see it posing a significant UI challenge, either.  Nor, I’d imagine, is this something that users would be scratching their heads over ("Start date? Hmm… that’s so confusing and overwhelming.  Whatever could it mean?!")

Grrr.

So, what do you do when you’re home alone on a Saturday night, you don’t feel like going out, and you also aren’t in the mood to be very productive?

No, not THAT .

Why, you optimize your t-shirt drawers, of course.  Exactly!  And so far, I’ve determined that I have:

• 13 Google t-shirts (fewer than half gotten since I became a Googler, interestingly enough)
• 13 dance-related shirts
• 13 other somewhat-decent shirts that I may actually wear (okay, this is weird… I had no idea my t-shirt collection was so bad-luckedly symmetrical!)
• 5 [whew!] remaining t-shirts that I don’t want to be caught wearing, so I’ll donate these to Goodwill (:cough: unoriginal and oft-oversized swag)

A sampling of some of the stranger ones:

Over some coffee this afternoon, I contemplated what I have now coined the “Filled to All Available” or “FTAA” syndrome.  Here’s what it means, basically.  As humans, we tend towards and often feel more comfortable within defined boundaries.  Ambiguities and uncertain limits force us to think, to apply sometimes-risky judgement calls, and in our rushed and often bureaucratic society, that can be stressful.  So, we thrive in a FTAA environment; we fill up our desks, our closets, our schedules to capacity.  If we get larger desks, bigger closets, or unexpected free time, somehow we find a way to fill or fritter away the excess space.  At an all-you-can-eat buffet, we tend to think of “getting our money’s worth” and—you guessed it—filling up rather than lightly sampling.  We eat until we are not just satisfied, but stuffed.  We store junk until our apartments are bursting at the seams.  We live a life that is “Filled to All Available.”

Okay, so maybe this is a total “duh!” observation, but I’ve just come to the stark realization of how insanely expensive it is to own a car in the Bay Area.

And no, I’m not even talking about gas prices.

You see, my current 1992 car is about ready to join that great pile in the sky (or junkyard) known as Car Heaven.  Let’s just say he’s seen better days.  So, environmentally-concerned and smart-researcher guy that I am, I’ve been learning towards buying a Toyota Prius hybrid gas/electric car. 

But ouch!  Let me share some of the approximate costs with you…

See what happens when I have a really big coffee earlier in the day?
Er, and when I want to procrastinate unexciting / tedious / stressful stuff. Hmm.

I've often ranted here and elsewhere about usability / UI problems with Web sites, software apps, and other geekery. Unfortunately -- and unsurprisingly -- stupid design decisions aren't confined to the online world.

I was reminded of this in a very unpleasant, sticky, and smelly way recently.

With dentists universally recommending soft toothbrushes, why are hard toothbrushes still made?

When the EU made the new Euro money, why did they still go ahead and make a one cent coin, even though it apparently costs more than one cent to produce?

Why do people write checks at the grocery store? Doesn't every bank offer a free Visa/Mastercard check card with their accounts nowadays?

After after signing up for and receiving all sorts of free magazine subscriptions via Internet promotions, I'm now on some sort of "major magazine lover" list. Hardly a week goes by when I don't receive one or more solicitations in the mail for free trial subscriptions to this or that magazine.

Always the curious fella (and one who finds it hard to turn down "free," despite the humungous pile of unread magazines in his closet), I typically agree to the free trials.

But there's one thing I've always wondered.

I'm sure most folks probably don't pay much attention to tiny-print and speed-spoken corporate admonishments and disclaimers and the like, but I find them fascinating all the same.

They generally fall into two categories:
- Warnings about potential socially-undesireable outcomes / safety risks, like "Don't drink and drive" and "Commercial filmed by stunt driver... do not attempt these maneuvers."
- "Small print" restrictions, such as stuff outlining extra fees and taxes.

Does anyone else find this stuff to be completely ludicrous?