Robots v. Striking Workers --- Woody Allen v. Brad Pitt

I did my first automated grocery checkout yesterday. The machines mysteriously appeared in the same grocery store I wrote about earlier "Inefficiency prevents a massive impending wealth divide" in which the workers revolted over wage cuts. A lot of people complain about corporate greed and the fatal flaws of capitalism yet are they willing to stand in a huge line to keep the lower class employed? People scream bloody murder if someone in India gets their job but what hapens when an acoustically aesthetic android takes over? Customers are happier, prices drop, lines evaporate. Maybe my assumption of a wealth divide failed to take into consideration the ability of people to learn new skills and at the same time fear change. It's like we're all capabable of a hell of a lot but it has taken automation to force us out of our comfy caves (apologies for the excessive alliteration) an into the great outdoors. A lot of people join the military because their parents are unable to provide the discipline they need to succeed. Theory of the day: Robots are grocery store drill seargents.

Speaking of change... I'm thinking of moving to Manhattan. I fell in love with that town last week and I've been thinking about how my lifestyle fits into my current locale. I'm a cave dweller. I'm content with an obese cup of coffee and a comfortable chair with no wheels and sweat pants and computer, cable news on the TV, remote control on my hairy chest, buttons down for more traction and maybe a fat cat. Hmm, I like fat hairy things, maybe it's my destiny to become a mall Santa. This all leads to my post title: Woody Allen v. Brad Pitt. If I ever got really buff and tan I'd have a hard time looking at myself in the mirror and not laughing. It just seems goofy to me. I'm like Woody Allen hitting on Jennifer Aniston in San Diego. I go to NY and chat up some girls about Noam Chomsky and they're all over me. Then on the plane ride back from my trip I saw the trailer for Alfie, which is Jude Law as a womanizing philosopher in Manhattan. It was like a sign.

On another totally unrelated note: There is so much I want to learn: graphic design, writing, C++, 3D Modelling, shell scripting, Perl, guitar, philosophy, women... that I'm frustrated that there are only so many hours in the day. I guess I know a decent amount for a 26 year old man-child but that old quote rings painfully true. "The more you know the more you realize how little you know." I don't really enjoy learning as much as I enjoy applying something I already know to the creation of something new.