Better M*A*S*H Manager

Who's the better Colonel of the 4077 M*A*S*H?


Henry Blake?

Or Sherman Potter?

Quinn

The funniest TV phrase of all time

Did anybody else happen to catch this show on Tuesday night -- The 50 Funniest TV Phrases of All Time?

I enjoy TV, and I enjoy funny, and I enjoy lists, so of course I watched it.

I thought it was enjoyable. Sure, I could argue about the placement of this phrase or that one, but it was fun to watch. I really don't think "Yada, yada, yada" is the funniest of all time, though. Not even the funniest from that show.

I think it's an unwritten requirement that to be considered for this list, the phrase had to be said more than once -- at least several times in an episode, if not across the whole series.

So, here's the list in its entirety:

50. “Hello, Newman” from “Seinfeld”
49. “Missed it by that much” from “Get Smart”
48. “Yeah, that’s the ticket” from “Saturday Night Live”
47. “God’ll get you for that” from “Maude”
46. “Hey, Hey, Hey” from “What’s Happening”
45. “Holy crap” from “Everybody Loves Raymond”
44. “Let me show you something” from “In Living Color”
43. “Nip it” from “The Andy Griffith Show”
42. “Thank you beddy much” from “Taxi”
41. “Do you wanna hug it out” from “Entourage”
40. “Watch it sucka” from “Sanford and Son”
39. “Jane you ignorant slut” from “Saturday Night Live”
38. “Mom liked you best” from “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour”
37. “Sit on it” from “Happy Days”
36. “Now cut that out” from “The Jack Benny Comedy Program”
35. “I’m Larry, this is my brother Darryl…” from “Newhart”
34. “What you see is what you get” from “The Flip Wilson Show”
33. “I’ve made a huge mistake” from “Arrested Development”
32. “I know nothing” from “Hogan’s Heroes”
31. “Here come de judge” from “Laugh In”
30. “You look marvelous” from “Saturday Night Live”
29. “I’m comin’ to join ya Elizabeth” from “Sanford and Son”
28. “Would you believe” from “Get Smart”
27. “Up your nose with a rubber hose” from “Welcome Back Kotter”
26. “Ohhhh Rob” from “The Dick Van Dyke Show”
25. “Kiss my grits” from “Alice"
24. “Nanu, Nanu” from “Mork and Mindy”
23. “Don’t be ridiculous” from “Perfect Strangers”
22. “I’m Gumby, damn it” from “Saturday Night Live”
21. “No soup for you” from “Seinfeld”
20. “One of these days, pow right in the kisser” from “The Honeymooners”
19. “Did I do that” from “Family Matters”
18. “Will you stifle” from “All in the Family”
17. “Eat my shorts” from “The Simpsons”
16. “Hated it” from “In Living Color”
15. “Well isn’t that special” from “Saturday Night Live”
14. “Sock it to me” from “Laugh In”
13. “We were on a break” from “Friends”
12. “That’s what she said” from “The Office”
11. “It’s going to be legendary” from “How I Met Your Mother”
10. “Homey don’t play dat” from “In Living Color”
9. “Excuuse me” from “Saturday Night Live”
8. “Lucy, you’ve got some splainin’ to do” from “I Love Lucy” (even though he never said it quite that way – the closest he came was “Lucy, splain” and “All right, start splainin’”)
7. “Oh my god! They killed Kenny” from “South Park”
6. “Burn” from “That ‘70s Show”
5. “We are two wild and crazy guys” from “Saturday Night Live”
4. “Ayyyy” from “Happy Days”
3. “How you doin’” from “Friends”
2. “D’oh” from “The Simpsons”
1. “Yada, yada, yada” from “Seinfeld”

Some notable ones that I thought were missing:
"What you talking about, Willis?" Diff'rent Strokes
"Dy-no-mite!" Good Times
"Not that there's anything wrong with that..." Seinfeld
"This video needs more explosions" Beavis and Butthead
"NORM!" Cheers
"You got it, dude." Full House
"Woah!" Blossom
"Hello!" Laverne and Shirley (not funny to look at but quite funny the way Squiggy says it)
"Oh, ay....ay, oh!" Who's the Boss
"Schwing!" Saturday Night Live
"Hi, I'm Chevy Chase, and you're not" Saturday Night Live
"Living in a van, down by the river" Saturday Night Live
(In retrospect, you could probably pick 50 good ones from SNL alone)
"I don't think so, Tim." Home Improvement

So, what others would you add to the list?

Quinn

It's a Sabbath Day Miracle

Many of you are familiar with the story of the widow who fed the prophet Elijah. As a result of following Elijah's words, she was blessed with a barrel of meal that never emptied, and a cruse of oil that never went dry.

I have a magical suit coat pocket that never runs out of Cheerios. We only take a small cup of Cheerios to church each week, but when we get home, I somehow pull more Cheerios out of my pocket than we took with us in the first place.

Quinn

Mothers Day and a Playdate!

Well as you can see it's time for an update. I have been spending all of Emma's naps working in my yard. It is coming along nicely and I will post pictures when it's all done. Today I weeded the garden and Emma helped. While I added weeds to the bucket she added little piles of dirt to it. But I'm okay with that, it kept her entertained and she wasn't pulling up anything that she wasn't suppossed to. She also did not eat the dirt or rocks this time so it was great.

Any way, I can now use her nap to catch up on the blog. Emma is growing like crazy and she thinks she is a big kid now and can do big kid things like climbing on things and then walking off them into your arms. She finally mastered the kitchen chairs, time to keep the table clear.

Mothers Day was great. Emma gave me a book (that I can read to her) that is all about mothers. And Quinn gave me the Shark steam mop. Don't freak out, I asked for it. I'm tired of mopping with a bucket and cleaner that I don't think works really well and often leaves the floor sticky. So I asked for the steam mop that only uses water. I finally had a chance to try it out last night and it was easy and work pretty well. Better than the mop I was using. So thanks, Honey.







Last Friday we had a playdate set up but, only Melissa and I ended up making it. We met at a park in Riverdale to let the three kids play. Emma is almost 18 Months and Melissa's daughter is just barly one but they think they are so big. They had to walk up the stairs by themselves and even tried to climb up the slides. We had a great time but missed everyone who was not able to make it.

The "big" kids!

They are so cute!

Emily and her big brother Dallin.

Merit Badge Earned -- Citizenship in the Cubicle

One of my greatest regrets in life is that I never earned my Eagle Scout award. I'm still not sure why I didn't work harder to get it. And, unlike a college degree, you can't "go back and get" an Eagle Scout award. And even if you could, I think that I'm probably past my basket-making or rope-splicing prime.

But you can make up a bunch of funny merit badges that are a little more age appropriate. I'm proud to announce that today I completed all the requirements for my "Citizenship in the Cubicle" merit badge.

1. Discuss with your counselor what citizenship in the cube farm means and what it takes to be a good denizen of your cube farm. Discuss the rights, duties, and obligations of citizenship, and explain how you can demonstrate good citizenship in your cube farm, break room / lunch room, workplace restroom, and parking lot.

2. Do the following:

a. On a map of your cube farm, locate and point out the following:
The drinking fountain that has the best water stream
The drinking fountain that has the coldest water
The candy machine that has Peanut M&Ms
The fire exit closest to your desk
The fire exit you’ll actually use when the fire alarm goes off
The thermostat
Historical or other interesting points

b. Chart the organization of your company or department. Show the top offices and tell whether they are elected or appointed. Point out the ones who are not qualified to be doing their jobs.

3. Do the following:
a. Attend a staff meeting.
b. Takes notes without doodling.
c. Choose one of the issues discussed at the meeting where a difference of opinions was expressed, and explain to your counselor why you agree with one opinion more than you do another one. Explain why your opinion doesn’t matter and is never heeded.

4. Choose an issue that is important to the citizens of your cube farm; then do the following:
a. Find out whose fault it is.
b. With your counselor's approval, interview the person you identified in requirement 4a. Ask him or her what the deal is.
c. Share what you have learned with your counselor.

5. List some of the office supplies that are stored in your cube farm. Tell your counselor why nobody will care if they’re missing.

6. Do the following:
a. Choose a hobby outside of your cubicle that interests you and brings you happiness.
b. Using a variety of resources (including newspapers, fliers and other literature, the Internet, and volunteers), find out more about this hobby.
c. While working on this merit badge, work at least at least eighty hours of overtime. See if you have any time for your hobby. Explain why outside hobbies or interests outside of work are a bad idea. Discuss what you have learned with your counselor.

7. Develop a folder of Internet websites and games that are not blocked by your work’s Internet blocking software.

If you complete all of these requirements, you, too can earn this merit badge and display it with pride wherever you wish. All I ask is that you give me some credit.

Quinn

Dogsitting

Last weekend we dogsat my inlaws' dog. Her name is Sophie, and she has a magical colon. Regardless of how many times, or how often, or how recently, she has pooped in the backyard, she always stores a secret reserve of poop somewhere in her magic colon. So when you take her for a walk, she gets about three houses down and poops in the neighbor's yard.

This makes me wonder...

If I let the dog poop in the neighbor's yard, that makes me a bad neighbor, right?
BUT -- if I pick up the poop with a grocery bag, that makes me a good neighbor, right?
BUT -- if the bag is disgustingly smelly and I throw it in a different neighbor's garbage can -- does that make me a bad neighbor?

Quinn

Public Service Announcement: Radon

When we came home from the hospital with our new baby in 2007, we also came home with a bunch of free swag: diapers, diaper bags, formula, breast pads (tee hee), and, hidden deep in a stack of paperwork: a coupon for a free radon test kit. I had no idea what radon was, or why we'd need a test kit for it, but they had me at "free," so I sent away for the kit, and I'm glad I did.

Radon is a naturally occurring element. It is an odorless gas that occurs naturally in the soil. Exposure to radon is limited when outside the fresh air, but radon gas can accumulate in homes and other buildings.
Breathing excessive amounts of radon gas can cause cancer. According to the EPA, 21,000 people a year in the United States die from radon-related lung cancer.

According to the EPA, radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer, after smoking, and the 6th-leading cause of cancer overall. The EPA has set an action level of 4.0 picocuries per liter of air. At this quantity, about 7 people in 1,000 would likely develop lung cancer. The average indoor level in the United States is 1.3 pCi/L. See the map below for the average indoor levels in Utah: According to this map, each county that is yellow or red (shout out to Beaver County! Holla!) has an average indoor radon level at or above the EPA action level. It should be noted that radon levels can vary by house, though, so please don't let this panic you. Still, if you live in one of these counties, it may be worth looking into.

So, I decided it couldn't hurt to test for this stuff. I sent away for my free test kit. It was a little sealed bag with activiated charcoal inside. I placed it per the instructions (which are quite strict, by the way: on the lowest inhabited level of your home, no closer than XX feet from the wall, the floor, the ceiling, any doors, and without excessive door opening/closing during the 3-day test). 3 days later, I collected the kit and mailed it in the pre-paid envelope to some lab in Texas. The results came back in a few weeks: 4.5 pCi/l, or 0.5 above the action level. Great.

Since short-term tests are by nature slightly less accurate, I ordered another, long-term, test -- secretly hoping that the long-term test would reveal that we were actually well below the action level. The long-term test was a small plastic disc which sat in our extra bedroom downstairs for 8 months. I sent the kit back. The results were 4.1 pCi/l, or 0.1 above the action level. Great again. Now we are not only still above the action level, but only by the slimmest margin. I really struggled with whether or not I should worry about it.

Both the EPA and the State of Utah (and I'm sure other states as well) have lots of good information about radon mitigation. The good news is that there are lots of things that can be done to a home to lower the radon levels. We contacted several companies who came out to do estimates on our home. The bad news for us was that we have a dirt crawlspace under the length of our home: this dirt is likely the source our elevated level of radon, but the remediation for a dirt crawlspace was pretty pricy. Like "Thank Heavens for Tax Returns" pricy. The remediation involved covering the our entire crawlspace with thin membrane and installing piping and an exhaust fan to suck all the air out from the dirt and release it through a pipe coming out of our roof (for homes on concrete pads, there are less-intrusive and less-expensive remedies).

The great news is that subsequent tests in our home have revealed radon levels at 0.3 pCi/L, which is about as close to zero as anyone can get. We can rest a little easier knowing that we've taken care of this issue and that radon in our home will not cause us health concerns.

So, I guess here's my little public service announcement: It might be worth your while to test your home for radon. The risks may not be overwhelming, but in the end -- for me anyway -- I couldn't justify ignoring the risk when I knew there things I could do to mitigate it.

The short-term and long-term tests can be purchased locally in hardware stores, or from any number of places on the internet. They're fairly cheap ($10 -$30, I'd say, which usually includes return postage and lab fees). You can also buy a continuously-monitoring radon detector that plugs in and gives you real-time data. Finally, if you do need radon mitigation, we have the names of several companies that did estimates for us. I'll post some useful links at the end.

Quinn


Here's a coupon for one-time test.

Here's a link to a continuous home monitor.

Here's more information at the EPA website.