Whenever I go walking, I like to read every sign I come across. Here are eight more-or-less random things I observed over the past few days.

1. Guaranteed Meat – I saw this package of meat at the Safeway store near my work. I saw the “100% Guaranteed” yellow label, but I have no idea what that means. “Satisfaction guaranteed?” “Guaranteed to be meat?” “Guaranteed not to kill you within three days?”

2. Phone the Water Dispenser – We got new water dispenser machines for the kitchen areas at work. The dispensers have a phone icon. Huh?

3. Mystery Sign – About a year ago I moved to a different office at work. In the hallway, right outside, was a mystery “Remove” sign. It’s still there. Nobody knows what it means and so it has become a famous artifact in the hallway.

4. Data Science is Everywhere – I had take-out lunch from a local Chinese restaurant. My fortune cookie read, “Put the data you have uncovered to beneficial use.” Cool.

5. Demon Puppy – I have a new puppy named Riley. She’s a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, and very cute. But not when photographed.

6. Questionable Soup Mathematics – One of the stores I walk to, Fred Meyer, has a soup bar. Small is $3.49 and Medium is $3.99 and Large is $6.49 — whoa! Go with the Medium size. But when you look at the sizes (12 oz., 16 oz., 32 oz.) the prices kind of make sense. But I bet most people aren’t very analytical and grab the Medium size. (There’s some very interesting math/psychology about movie popcorn too).

7. Who Would Have Guessed? – There are always catered lunches in my office building. The other day, I saw a square bowl of walnuts on a serving table. The walnuts had a warning sign, “Contains Nuts”. Wow, the nuts contain nuts. I’m expecting warnings like, “Don’t forget to keep breathing” next.

8. Is This a Test? – A relatively new street near the Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington is NE Turing Street. Alan Turing is one of the most famous historical names in computer science. Anyway, every time I walk by this street, I feel like I’m being tested. (If you understand this lame joke, you’re a true geek — in a good way).