ending not with a bang

"you have mastered animals!" seems a bit biblical, don't you think? so in that vein: this is how i suspect the universe will end.

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thursday:

i called up an insurance company yesterday to sort out a few things. the first representative was very helpful, but limited in the fields in which she could assist and so she transferred me to another division. apparently the company was under tremendous pressure at the time i called, because i was passed through to "messages"; the woman i spoke to did not make it clear that i hadn't gotten through to that other division and when i began to ask questions, she got really snappy. not just snappy - she actually shouted at me and when i responded in kind (still trying to get a straight answer out of her), she transferred the call to someone else in "messages". i mentioned the shocking treatment before explaining what i needed, and was informed that my account was being operated by a different company, and "it must have been one of them who gave you such terrible service".

if you're going to lie to me, at least don't be so damned bad at it!

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orthodox celts - star of the country down is a good song.

an awkward moment, wherein one of my classmates told me that if she was twenty years younger (and not married with four kids) she would totally have fallen in love with me. flattering? yes. but still awkward.

i joined a session of the capitalism conference, half of which was enlightening and half of which was presented by an "ummer". you know what that means.

one of the participants was a guy that i took a class with in 2003, and is now studying in cambridge. what amused me no end is his statement that i look "exactly the same" as i did then :P

the finale of the anime afternoons: my little pony failed, specifically because of "twilight sparkle", who one of the guys thought was too obvious a twilight reference :P

an hour or two in the park with beers, meat, and a frisbee until some idiot playing golf almost took my face off, during which time we all talked rubbish and celebrated the end of the academic year (or the entrace into exam period, whichever).

year one, contrary to my advisor's review, is a terrible movie.

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yesterday:

late to rise, an excellent breakfast and belgian waffle at la guffre, and an afternoon playing pirate fluxx and thunderstone. we began on the roof, but even with the shelter we constructed it was - just - too - hot. it's air-conditioning season again.

dinner with pg's family was great, and that was followed by waking ned. it's a sweet movie, although sometimes a little bit excessively cruel, but not quite as funny as i was led to believe...

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aside from my previous post, i have a couple of things to note this morning:

i have a bad feeling about japan's anti-piracy measures. why are we still going backwards? it's way past time for all the big companies to figure out how to ride the waves of change. these people are not stealing from you, you're refusing to understand how to operate and profit in a new age.

to all my feminist friends: conflating women's lib with women's crib can't be a good thing.

filthy rich: i'm now officially ready for phone, rfid, or any other type of contactless payments. how about voice recognition paypal payments? that could work.

failure IS our only option. i endorse this message 100%.

there are things one can't do retroactively: designing a product is one of them. there aren't many fixes available for environmentally unsound hardware.