Florida trip: One reason I like geeks

[cjsmith]

When I'm waiting around in an airport, it's wonderful to have someone there who "speaks my language". I've done way too much flying by myself lately, but last Thursday Rob was with me. We blathered about subjects as diverse as challenge square dance calling, the organization of the periodic table, how difficult it is to fly an airplane with funky shoes on and whether anyone has ever taken an ATP checkride barefoot, and the potential joys of kakuro in hex. That last, by the way, I totally want to try.

The gate agent called for the "sapphire" members to board, and Rob mused that they've run out of rare and precious metals for the clubs of all the people with special privileges. He suggested a niobium club, and I suggested a unununium club. I admitted that that might have its own problems, though: "Hi, I'm a unununium club member -- whoops, not any more." For some reason that really tickled my funnybone. Then I decided that since there exist better programmers than me, and there exist better square dance callers than me, my purpose here on this planet is to make unununium jokes. It's not that I do it well, but probably no one's ever tried it before, so now I have a niche.

Hanging around in an airport is a lot more fun with Rob than by myself.

Comments

[tmc4242.livejournal.com]

"Hi, I'm a unununium club member -- whoops, not any more." -- LOL.

Did you hear what happens when String Theorists turn into zombies ?






They shuffle around looking for braaaaaanes...

[rfrench.livejournal.com]

O. M. G.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I adore geeky jokes. A mountain climber is a scalar! Seriously, I actually laugh at that stuff.

[psi-star-psi.livejournal.com]

You refer to the classic one-two punch?

What do you get when you cross an elephant with a giraffe?
- Elephant * Giraffe * sin(theta)

What do you get when you cross a mountain climber with a mosquito?
- You can't cross a scalar with a vector.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Right. I remember it as elephant grape sin(theta), but yeah.

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

doesn't everyone? :)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Wow, if everyone does, maybe airport conversations with random almost-strangers might not be so bad! :)

[klwalton.livejournal.com]

I admitted that that might have its own problems, though: "Hi, I'm a unununium club member -- whoops, not any more."

Okay, that made me laugh. I'm not a geek, but I am a geek.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

It made me giggle nearly uncontrollably, standing there in the boarding line, so much so that I actually thought for a moment (at 9:30 in the morning!) of whether I had had any wine recently. I have no idea why it was that funny, but apparently, right then, it was.

[recordersmith.livejournal.com]

*giggle*

Copied that to Jason, he liked it too. His response: Visa Plutonium Card: When they said money burns a hole in your pocket, they weren't kidding.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Hah! That reminds me of a joke from 1980, patterned after the American Express card advertisements of the era. "Soviet Express Card: don't leave home."

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

Hanging around in an airport is a lot more fun with almost anyone than by myself. :-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Well, true. :-) Except for the sort of almost-stranger with whom I am sort of obligated to make small talk. (Example: new coworker.) I would much rather read or do kakuro than make small talk.

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

definitely!

[veazeyae.livejournal.com]

Challenge Square Dance Calling?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeppers! This hobby of mine is responsible for two of the (so far) three trips across the continent I've done in 2008.