My name is...

Usually, but not always, I can tell how much someone likes me based on what they call me. If they call me "Andy," then either I have just met them, or they are fond of me and are good friends. If they call me "Andy Lin," then they harbor secret ill-will towards me or are merely an acquaintance or are angry at me. If they call me "Lin" then they are racist. If they call me "Guh," then they are my sister and like me the most.

Global warming and the law of averages

It's been, by all accounts, a spring in Seattle that has been colder and wetter than usual. Last year, I am told, it was unusually warm. The year before that, in Boston, it was an exceptionally hot summer having just followed an unseasonably cold winter.

It is inevitable that I will one day experience weather that is perfectly average. I will greet my neighbor and say, "My, this is exactly the climate I was expecting." And she'll say, "Yes, Andy. Do you have something else to complain about?" "Of course."