Donkey for breakfast?

Doesn't sound very appetizing.

Returning my book to the library

Went to the library to return three books. One of the books I had checked out never had registered on my online library account, so I went to the circulation desk to let them know the issue. Two of the librarians went to scan it back in, and found no library barcode. They looked at me and remarked, "This book isn't ours."

I stared at them, and then down at the book, and then said confused, "Huh...I must've bought this one then."

They laughed hard at me,"Sounds like you've been studying too hard!"

I chuckled a little too, and said,"I really don't remember buying this book."

"Well it was nice of you to try and give it to us!", and they continued laughing.

I put the book back in my bag.

They were still laughing as I walked out of the library.

Growth spurt and jeans

At the beginning of seventh grade, my mom took me to buy clothes for the new school year. We bought three pairs of jeans, the typical amount we would purchase year-to-year. By January, though, my growth spurt had hit, and I no longer fit in any of the jeans purchased in September. So back to the mall we went, and bought three more pairs of jeans that I could wear until the spring. By March I had outgrown two of these pairs. I was left with only pair of jeans that fit, and my mother surely was not going to buy more jeans at this point. So I wore that same pair of jeans everyday until mid-April when it got warm enough for shorts.

Everyday going to school, I was certain that everyone who saw me snickered amongst one another, "There goes the boy who never changes his clothes. He wears the same jeans every day! Poor guy got hit by puberty at the wrong time of year."

Rationing Halloween Candy

Throughout my childhood, I ate candy very methodically after Halloween. Upon arriving home from trick-or-treating around the neighborhood for 3-4 hours, I would dump my pillow sack of candy onto the living room floor and begin to sort it. I would pile the candy by type together, and group them based on how delicious they were. I then filled a large metal bowl with the candy, starting with the my favorite candy (Snickers, Milky Way, Baby Ruth) on the bottom and progressing to my least favorite candy on top (Smarties, Skittles).

With the bowl prepared, I would leave it in the dining room on one of the unused chairs. Every morning when making my school lunch, I would grab precisely two pieces of candy from the bowl and put it in my bag. No more, no less. On days I did not have school, I would only eat two pieces of candy. Through this process, my candy lasted typically until early April. Throughout the cold winter, I would live through the least favorite candies and progress onto the better ones. By the time spring was poking its head, I was on to the best candies of all. Every day was a better candy day than the last.

I felt, and still feel, this fully maximizes the potential of Halloween.

My thesis length

The first draft of my Master's thesis was 314 pages. It was unintentional, but I was real glad that it was 100*π

Where to sit in the back of a car

When three people are riding in a passenger car together, one person is forced to sit in back. Here, they struggle to hear what the two others are saying up front, or just sit quietly for the duration of the ride.

Often, people like to sit behind the passenger seat because it allows them to have more legroom. The driver often sits farther back to be in a comfortable position to use the pedals, while the rider in the passenger seat is able to move their seat forward to provide legroom for a backseat rider.

If one desires to be heavily involved in the front seat conversation, sitting behind the passenger is a bad idea. To have the best chance to be involved, one should sit behind the driver. Although less legroom, this seat provides the best opportunity to not be excluded from conversation. The reasoning is as follows:

*The driver must focus on the road. Thus, when conversing with other passengers, he or she must keep their head pointed forward and thus has a limited ability to engage in conversation. As well, they are focused on driving and may not always be available to chat with.

*The rider in the passenger seat does not have to focus on the road. When conversing with other passengers, this rider can turn their head to look at who they are talking to. When the driver is focused on driving, they can engage in conversation with all others in the car.

Under these assumptions, one should want to locate themselves so that they can easily talk to the rider in the passenger seat so they can have eye contact when necessary. If one sits behind the passenger seat, the rider up there will unlikely turn around to talk to the backseat. If, however, one sits behind the driver, the rider in the passenger seat can turn around to talk with you, and thus including you more in the conversation.

Summary: Sitting behind the driver keeps you engaged in the conversation because the passenger seat rider can turn their head to talk to you. Sitting behind the passenger seat means you get no eye contact and are more frequently forgotten by those in the front seat.