What the %#*@&!

I distinctly remember the day that I experimented with swear words. I'd heard my dad use them frequently. I'd heard my grandfather use them frequently. I figured that they were part of the package if I was ever going to be a man. My sister had other ideas, and after a long conversation with my dad, I swore off swear words.

That's probably a good thing, too. Take a look at this article:

http://www.nbc5i.com/news/14352081/detail.html?rss=dfw&psp=nationalnews

It seems that woman has been cited for shouting profanities in her own home. I don't know when foul language became illegal, but I'm sure glad that my dad saved me from a life of crime. Of course, this article does raise some interesting questions. For instance, the woman said that she was dealing with an overflowing toilet. Is it possible that her language was simply describing the situation in layman's terms? So, when she goes to court is she going to have to prove that the bathroom really was full of $#i+?

Honestly, it's surprising to me that this incident didn't foster solidarity between the woman and her neighbor. In fact, it did just the opposite. It created a situation where her neighbor called the police on her (which is odd anyway since her neighbor is a police officer), and this will likely be a rift between the two for years to come. The reason that this surprises me, though, is because it's in direct contradiction with a recent study on swearing at work:

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=071017125814.w6whem5y&show_article=1

It seems from this study that we should allow our employees to use foul language at work because they are going to do it, it helps the build a team, and everyone agrees that the CEO is a &*$#$% anyway. I guess the relationship between employees and neighbors is a little different, though, since outside the organization this activity really turned out to be negative for the woman from Scranton. What might have helped is if she had brought the neighbor over and made him stand in the pile of $#i+ that was coming out of the toilet. Then it would have been just like two employees at many organizations across America, if not literally at least figuratively, and they probably would have cursed together.

I'm still a little old school, though, and I have a hard time believing that foul language at work will really make a difference. The proof is in the pudding, though, and you can't deny the results. Just watch this video of the potential for leveraging foul language in the workplace. It really shows a team the pulls together and works for a common goal with a liberal sprinkling of words that your kids can't hear (the language is bleeped, so don't worry about your kids overhearing something that might scar them for life):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJJL5dxgVaM

If you don't do anything else, you have to watch the video. It's absolutely hilarious.

The Kindness of Strangers

Softball was rained out again. I'm beginning to feel like we're flashing back to the spring where every game and make-up game was rained out for a couple of months in a row. The good news, though, is that means I got to watch Heroes last night with the rest of America. The bad news is that it was a pretty weak episode. Highlight below to see my take:

Who couldn't see the deal with Micah and his cousin coming? Honestly, I thought it was a little lame on the writer's part. How many times does the guy have to mention that he wants $65 before the viewers can see the foreshadowing? And who can blame Micah? He's just a kid trying to make friends and fit in.

Now, Micah's older cousin, on the other hand, I didn't see coming. It was obvious that there was something there when she cut the tomato into a rose at work, but I didn't see her as having a power even until after that. Regardless, what kind of power does she have? Does she "learn" things by watching in general? Or does she have to be watching TV to "learn" things? And wasn't it convenient that the burger joint she works in has a stripper pole right by the register so she could do her newly learned wrestling move on the perp?

Here's the deal. I'm not really interested in learning more about a bunch of new characters. I want to see more development of the ones that we already know, but so far we've got West (flying nerd), Bob (Mr. Midas), Micah's cousin (couch potato), Molly Walker (okay, technically not new, but we didn't know anything about her last season), Maya and Alejandro (The Wonder Twins), Takezo Kensei (swindling samurai), and based on the preview for next week there are more coming. Personally, I like Kensei and I think he has something to do with the murders. I like Molly when she's not whining about a nightmare. I think I'd be okay if West accidentally flew over an Air Force base and got shot down. I know I can do without Micah's cousin. I like Bob fine and his power is cool. Finally, Maya and Alejandro I'd really be okay with a flash flood at the border just about the time they try to swim across and the two of them could just be swept out to sea with all the rest of the garbage; but darn it, they're crossing into California and there's no river there.

So we missed out on seeing any more of Peter's story because we were watching burger girl do wrestling moves on criminals. Too bad. He's definitely the best this season. We did find out some interesting stuff about the Petrelli family, though. Nathan is not only divorced from his wife, but there is apparently a restraining order against him. How bad did things get before she left? And if they got that bad, then what makes him think that he's ever going back home? Or was he just saying that for the kids? Also, thank goodness he finally shaved. He was looking a little like grizzly Adams in a suit there for a while, and it was definitely not his best appearance.

Also, I am glad that Nathan didn't try to deny his ability to fly when Matt pointed it out. That road would have been a whipping for sure. As it was, we had to listen to Matt vomit his life story to Nathan while they searched for a picture. I was just as bored with it as Nathan was. Later in the episode, we saw Nathan looking at himself in the mirror again and seeing his face burned and scarred as if he were in a nuclear blast. I still can't figure out exactly what's going on there, though. How come he sees that and no one else does? How come he only sees it sometimes?

Angela confessed to a crime that she didn't commit and told Matt to let it go. I thought it was interesting how Matt's partner didn't even question her story. Did Angela make him believe it? Or is he just gullible? Anyway, I think Angela definitely knows what's going on, and I wonder if she is going to prison because she thinks it'll be safer for her.

Matt's not going to give up solving the murders especially not now that he knows his dad is connected and that several of the people in that photo are dead. What I don't understand is why he pushed Molly to help him find his father after she said that he was the man in her nightmares. Or did I misunderstand that? At first I thought that she was just saying that someone in the picture was the man from her nightmares, but when I watched it again it seemed like she was specifically talking about Matt's father. Further, when she went looking for him, he could see her and now he apparently has her trapped in her own mind. It would make a little sense that both Matt and his dad would have similar powers related to the mind. It just doesn't make sense why Matt made her go and look. He's a cop. Surely he has other ways to find his dad than using Molly when Molly has already told him that his dad is the nightmare man.

Meanwhile, "somewhere in Mexico" Maya and Alejandro nearly run over Sylar. Too bad they were paying attention because "thump, thump" could have been the end of that storyline. Anyway, Maya (the ultimate in gullibility) believes every word that comes out of Sylar's mouth (well, I guess he's going by Gabriel this season). Thankfully, her brother seems to be a little more skeptical, but it doesn't seem to do them any good.

Is anyone else wondering how they got Sylar all the way to western Mexico from New York with a gaping sword wound in his chest? The best idea that I have is that somehow Candice managed to get him to the airport using the sewers and then put him on a private jet funded by the company. Once they were in Mexico she set about healing his wounds and helping him recover using some fairly sophisticated gear. Point being, someone spent a good deal of money to keep him alive, transport him, and heal his wounds. Why would they have left him alone with Candice when he's known to feed on "specials"? I'm wondering if he's being tracked or tailed right now so that he can be used by whomever it was that saved his life.

Finally, Claire and West are sneaking around town together and somehow manage to not be seen, and the guy is encouraging Claire to lie to her dad. I'm telling you that he's bad news, and I feel sure that he already knows who Claire's dad is. I'm just not sure whether he's working alone or with someone. Mr. Bennett, on the other hand, doesn't seem to know about West specifically, but he seems convinced that the other person in the picture is a boy that Claire might be seeing. I'm just not clear on whether he thinks that boy is a threat or not.

And Mr. Bennett is going to take a little trip. The Haitian says that there is a lead on the paintings in Odessa. Seems a bit odd that it would be there and a bit coincidental that that's where Mr. Bennett just ran from, but that's what he says. I imagine that Mr. Bennett is not going to tell his family what he's doing, and I wonder if he's going to figure out a way to alter their memories again. Just remember that Mrs. Bennett has been reset so many times that she's already been in the hospital once. She can't take any more memory adjustments.