My open letter to my congresscritter. The Honorable Henry Waxman, CA D-30th district.

I note with grave concern a proposed rule from the Franking Commission. http://gopleader.gov/UploadedFiles/Capuano_letter.PDF The rule would unduly restrict house members from communicating about the activities of congress. This rule, if it's implemented, would not only reduce transparency in our government, but would send the wrong message to whomever's actually paying attention.

As a further note, I am very impressed with Rep. Culberson's twitter feed. http://twitter.com/johnculberson It is honest, written by him, and very insightful and I would very much love to subscribe to yours, when you get one.

---EOF---

Whee!

Step 1) Get a really expensive juicer.

This is important, otherwise you won't have really good juice. As we all know, really expensive juicers make really good juice.


Step 2) Repeat the virtues of the juicer to everyone, especially your underlings.
By repeating the virtues, the juicer gains XP. When it gains enough XP, it gains a level.

Step 3) Get some veggies.
It's ok if they're a little old.

Step 4) Assemble the Juicer.
You may need assistance at this point, but aformentioned minions are always ready to help

Step 5) Repeat the virtues again.
Every time you repeat the virtues of the jucier and how good the juice tastes, it gets better.

Step 6) Feed the veggies through the jucier. You should have two containers at this point, mainly because stuff comes out of juicers at two places.

Step 7) Carefully pour the juice into a third cup. This is what we like to call the cup of stuff you'll pretend to drink.

Step 8) Carefully pour the juice from the cup down the drain. Repeated cleanings of the cup are essential for the proper application of well-known homeopathic techniquies.

Step 9) Make coffee. As we all know, coffee contains one of the major food groups: caffeene. Combine this with the homeopathic goodness of veggie juice, and you're all set.

Under no circumstances are you to ever drink the actual juice.

</rant>

I'm posting this from facebook. Now if only my friends page would be updated into facebook... Oh well.

Right. So today was an exam that was 40% of our grade in "Research Topics 1"

I finished the exam in an hour, I was the first to finish, and I didn't actually start answering the questions till half an hour in. (This statement is slightly misleading cause I did spend the first half-hour making an outline, but still, I'm boasting here.) I'm going to be extremely surprised if I don't get an A.

<Imagery>
Me, in the place of Keanu Reeves just after having emerged from Agent Smith in the Matrix. He flexes and reality bends inwards.
</Imagery>

Normally, I'm not quite as arrogant, but this is one of the few areas where I actually claim slight competency. Damn, that was impressive. (The topic was basically looking at the philosophies of science and a few techniques from a social science perspective. This is *what I do.* Well, one of the things.

</Boast>

This is one of them.

G'day mates. She'll be right.

Okay, there are some april fools jokes that are funny. (Howard's joke is most droll.)

There are some that are just... odd. (The XKCD redirect.)

And then... there are some I wish weren't. Virgle is Virgin and Google's planned expedition to mars. I wish it was real. I'd buy tickets in a Mars lottery. ARGH. *Why* must they taunt us so?

Hope is indeed the curse of mankind. Hope born of desperation is worse.

On inspecting the "recipt" of the DHL more closely (and by performing the fucking due diligance that I *should* have performed, it looks like it was fairly crappily edited.)

As I've got quite a lot of good data on the asshole, and he's in the UK, I'm quite tempted to make his life a living hell. I don't suppose any of you folks know a black hat or two?

Apparently tomorrow is Cake Day...

The hell?

"ASB cake day tomorrow (Thursday 28 Feb) and you are all welcome to attend (6th floor business lounge ASB).

In the past I have been privileged by someone bringing me back a piece of cake - but alas..... no more.

We have been advised that all people attending cake day should stay in the ASB lounge and socialise whilst "having your cake and eating it too". Cake apparently should be consumed in the lounge and that "take away" is no longer an option. "


The cake is a lie!!

Desperation is:
Using craigslist to find lodgings.
Being estatic at finding a place that will allow me to move in tomorrow that's a mere *2 hour* commute.
Loving that the place is only $700 a month. Note, this is more than my rent in Rochester.

....
ARRRRRGH!

I mean, yes, I'm going to have a shitton of reading. Yes, those two hours will be useful. Yes, I'm going to have mobile broadband, but still!

So much to blog about, so much depression.

Apathy, too.
...
Oh well, at least my cube is as private as I can make it (since I'm in a rear corner with an awesome view.

I've set my objects d'art up here, so this way I'll actually see them all the time instead of having them hidden under dust.



....

::manic giggle::
And it's a mere 1.5k walk to the train station.


Oh well. It's an address, it's "cheap" And they're ok with me moving in tomorrow. This gives me a month to figure out a *good* address.

Ow. Ow. Ow.
My left ankle and foot are fucking killing me. Ow.

So, got to the hotel last night, was *completely out of it* (up to dreaming with my eyes open on the way here. Very odd.) Took a shower, wondered why my feet hurt so much. Sat down on the bed. Rubbed my foot. "Huh. My skin doesn't usually feel like that..." Looked more closely "I thought my ankle was smaller." ::poke:: "It squishes!"

My flight from EWR to Singapore was bloody fantastic. Easily the best long-haul flight I've ever had. Then I got to singapore. Pictures later when I feel like it. I'll post about singapore later too, I'm complaining now.

Then I got on my flight to Sydney. Take, if you will, the unplesantness of 30 hours of flight travel, and carefully compress it so that it occurs in only 8 hours. (Note, the conservation of unplesantness still applies. All of it's there, it's just concentrated.)

8 hours later, and I'm in the mood to kill humanity on general principles. Immigration was... curiously uncaring. They looked at my passport, went ::thunk:: and there I was. No need for carefully prepared documents. Hauled my 140 pounds of luggage onto a cart (Travelling alone with that much luggage is doubleplusunshiny) Went to quarintine. I think. I was getting pretty damn patchy by that point. In their quarentine zone, they had about 6 lanes. 5 had normal X ray machines and one was about twice the size of the others and had a *long* *shiny* steel counter. Standing in line, I made a bet to myself: "Two gets you two and a quarter that I get the *inspection station of doom*." I won the bet. On the other hand, the inspection was "So, what do you have." I started babbling about carved wood and granola bars. I think the woman behind the counter was very sympathetic because she just asked what country they came from and waved me through.

I was so tired that, when the van driver invited me to sit in front, I kind of felt like I was driving. (They drive on the other side here.) Every 5 feet or so, my brain would go "Shit! We're on the wrong side of the road! Shout a warning." I didn't shout a warning though. Not because I didn't want to, but because my mouth wouldn't move. Got here. Tipped the driver guy 5 dollars. (Heavy fucking bags) Apparently I was such a pathetic looking sack of shit that he helped me take the bags to my room and then waved away the other 5 dollar tip that I tried to give him. Nice people, these.

Oh, and while I'll cover this in another post. The incidence of fucking hot women is entirely to my liking. (And one of my friends likes a certain asian phenotype. She would *very much* enjoy this town.)

Updates later, when ankle stops hurting. Sitting in lobby because that's the only place where they have wifi.

Ow. Ow. Ow. Swelling's gone down, but I think I did something nasty to my left foot. Or I'm just fucking out of shape. Culture shock is settling in.