defective underwear

Marc's is a great place to shop, but sometimes it takes a bit of courage to get the most of the place. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I'm talking about buying "slightly irregular" products. Generally, Marc's has undergarments for sale, but the prices aren't anything remarkable. However, if you're lucky, you'll go to Marc's when they have some in the closeouts section. The caveat is that these garments didn't pass QA and are sold with bright blue brand on them indicating some shortcoming.

So what might go wrong? For undershirts, I've gotten tons without any issue. Needless to say, it boosted my confidence a bit. Never will I spend full price on undershirts again! Then I decided to continue my exploration and dive into the world of defective briefs... mistake?

I wouldn't go so far as to say it's a total mistake, but I've definitely noticed some differences. The one that would bother me the most is the low cut front. No, this is not by design. Sure, it has plenty of room "down there" for a cold day, but I worry that it won't do so hot if I were in a "warmer" situation. The other problem is that there's this extra cloth by where my ass is. I don't think I have a small butt, but apparently these briefs will accomodate a booty that's a few inches bigger than mine.

In conclusion: Undershirts are safe. Briefs - if you have a big butt and a small package, it's your (one and only) lucky day! Otherwise, buyer beware.

netgear update

An update on the Netgear drama...

After the surgery, there was a brief scare when the network adapter lapsed back into being retarded, but it's condition has since stabilized. Although it sports a significant scar (not to mention the huge heat sink protruding from it), it's doing well. Aside from the one relapse the day of the operation, it's been doing well ever since.

Hurray!

fin

So sometime towards the middle of last year I bought a large quantity of books. I finally finished one of them. Yes, four volumes of Romance of the Three Kingdoms is now done. Although I might read it again at some point. Despite the enormous number of characters, poor editing, and plain old biased perspectives, it was a great read.

So what's next? Um... I think I'm going to focus on writing for the next couple of months. Then I'll shift back to photography, and then maybe I'll do a bit of reading. :-)

damn

You know how I've moved every single year since I graduated from college? Finally this year I was able to stay put for over a year (been here since June 2004). I was going to stay here till August 2006, but it looks like things aren't going to work that way. Real bummer, especially considering that I'm trying my best to focus all my time and energy on grad school applications. These essays aren't going to write themselves, you know!

american cheese sucks

I just ate some, but I stand by my assertion that American cheese sucks. Brie is so much better for anything that American cheese is good for....

Although I've never tried Brie on a hamburger... couldn't imagine it being worse though. More fat and cream = better, right?

damnit netgear

Damnit NetGear... you made me do it.

For almost half a year I dealt patiently with your crap hoping that eventually you would end your rebellious stage and behave like a good network adapter.... but no.... you made me do it.

You could have worked flawlessly, or at least only die on me only periodically. But instead you chose to be fickle. I gave you your chances you bastard. I gave you more than your fair share of chances. But no, you had to be a pain in the ass.

My trials with your retarded behavior remind me of dealing with Sprint PCS. Months and months of crap with nothing to show. But finally, I decided to do something about it. I'm not proud, but it's not my fault... you made me do it!

You forced my hand. I wanted to leave you alone, but no. You forced me to whip out the surgical blade, slice you in half, then pry you apart with a screwdriver. Sorry... I didn't use a sterile blade... didn't give you any anesthesia. But hell, you deserve to suffer a bit after all the crap you put me through. Besides, it's for your own good, motherf*cker.

Now you sit in your normal spot, but you look a little different. Where's you're shiny grey jacket? Oh? Gone? What's that there in it's place? I see... a heatsink that I stole off my dead computer. Yes, your friends will all laugh when they see you. "What the hell is that wireless adapter doing with that gross heatsink on it?" they'll say as they point, appalled at the sight they see.

To be honest, I don't know why you need that thing either. Perhaps your true parents (yeah, you're adopted, bitch!) dropped you as a child. Or maybe it's just a birth defect. These things happen these days.

My intentions were good, I assure you. Maybe after you go a few weeks without passing out from the summer heat you'll realize that I'm really trying to help.

You had your chance. I saw you stumble, but I gave you a chance because I thought you could learn to walk on your own. Alas, I was wrong.

travel time

Yep. I just got more plane tickets!

Here's what's going on....
September 24-26: Boston
October 15-17: New York City
November 20 - December 13: New Zealand and Australia (and maybe even a little bit of LA)

Non-plane related travel:
September 27: Detroit
October or November: Alexandria, VA

speechalist

So there is a method behind the madness?

http://video.gprime.net/media/video/presidentialspeechalist.wmv

rsnrx

Yesterday I officially doubled my one of my investments. I had $2,200 invested in the RS Global Natural Resources Fund, and it's now appreciated by over $2,200. Not to brag, but that is simply amazing, especially considering I made that initial investment at the end of 2003, so it hasn't even been two years yet.

Do I feel bad that I didn't invest more? Absolutely not. Sure, it's doing great, but I wouldn't want to put everything I have in some risky sector fund. But heck, this is what I want out of my sector funds!

Am I going to put more money into it? It's tempting, but considering it's already performed so well, not only would it be naive to think it would continue, but the mere fact that it doubled already makes it a fair chunk of my portfolio. So no, I'm not. At least not until I have *a lot* more money.

craziness

Despite what you hear from the mass media, it looks like there's a whole 'nother ugly side to the nightmare by the Gulf that we don't even hear about.

http://www.nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2005/09/hurricane2.html

excerpts from the bible

With our given biblical names, these are the conversations that result....
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Paul: he has speakers
he wants bigger ones.... he doesn't need them
unless you get a hammer to hook up to it that would just pound the floor
....or his crotch.

Joseph: lol

Paul: feel the bass!

biz school websites

This is what I would call a rant... but here goes.

I've been looking at web sites of various biz schools to try to get a better feel of what they offer, etc. etc. Some are good, some are bad. Yes, they're full of surprises.

So far I've looked at Kellogg, Fuqua, U Chicago, Tuck, and Yale. So which one's outstanding?

U Chicago - Great school with a great reputation. Yes, everyone knows you, but you could really put some effort into your site's content. It tells me the most obvious things. Yes... great faculty, looking for diversity, great education. Of course! I challenge you to find a biz school that *doesn't* say any of those things. Would it be so hard for you to do a little bit more and work off the Chicago brand and try to differentiate yourself from all the other top schools?

Tuck - Awesome site. Provides a lot of information that really tries to give the essense of the Tuck experience. None of it was really new to me, but it certainly helped reinforce my image of what life at Tuck would be. The comraderie, the random sports, and the quality of the alumni network. Chicago GSB, you could learn from these guys. Anyone applying to either Chicago or Tuck is clearly looking for a quality program with great academics, diversity, etc. What us prospective students want to evaluate is fit, and other stuff that sets schools apart from each other. Tuck does an excellent job with this. Chicago fails.

Yale - Amateurish site. Not to talk smack, but I really expect a top notch school to have a site that's somewhat up to date. The Yale site has second class graphic design, poor organization, and poor communication design. The pages are a chore to read. The content is dry. It reads like a course catalog. How about something that would lead me to believe that this is a school that real people actually go to? The rational mindset brought me to your door. Now please try to use the emotional aspect to make me feel that it's OK to even consider stepping across the threshold... or at the very least, don't make me feel like turning away!

religious fanatacism, school, birthdays and work

This is another weird dream post. Aside from random work thoughts interspersed here and there (which is disturbing), the other strange thing is that I found myself living in this dorm room with my old roommate Vikas. It was a large, albeit crappy, room -- CWRU style.

I then found myself in this seminar-like classroom listening to some preacher present slide shows with answers to all sorts of questions that non-religious types might use to challenge their faith. I think I spent more time wondering what I was doing there than I did paying attention. They also called on people to ask questions by rolling a roll of masking tape down the room and seeing where it lands. They spilled my drink dammit.

After that whole weird fiasco, I was returning to my room when someone that I didn't know informed me that it was my birthday and that there would be some crazy celebration. Odd, I wondered, since I didn't think it was my birthday. The guy also told me I was from Sweden. I found that hard to believe, but the sign on our room indicated to Vikas and I both were from Sweden (even though he's an Indian from HK).

Awesome, eh?

diversity

Within the last hour:
Read a chapter in [Romance of the] Three Kingdoms
Read a review of MIT Sloan
Beethoven....
followed by some Nine Inch Nails

insurance enthusiast

Me being the insurance enthusiast, I just did a ton of quotes for auto insurance. Here are the sites I tried:

• Progressive Direct
• Drive Insurance, from Progressive
• Allstate
• State Farm
• GEICO
• Liberty Mutual
• esurance
• 21st Century

Best rate? Drive Insurance, by far! Progressive Direct, esurance, and 21st Century did OK too. Allstate, State Farm, and Liberty Mutual had some ridiculous rates. I also got rates from American Family and some other company from Progressive.

Best site? Progressive Direct, by far! Not just because I work there and I do a ton of test quotes. It really was better! Worst? Allstate, by far! I was doing quotes at work while I was sitting in on a usability session. Average Joe was going through a test app for Progressive, I was doing the quick quote at Allstate. Average Joe kicked my ass, by far! He did the whole thing and did the followup survey in the time it took me to get an Allstate quote. Of all the other sites, I think the only ones that had a *full* quote longer than Allstate's "Quick Quote" were State Farm and Liberty Mutual. What's up with that?

link of the day?

Thank you Greg.

I'm not sure how you find this stuff, and I don't really want to know. I do hear that amazon does have a good recommendations for products based on prior purchases.

weird dream of the day

I'm at some place taking a class. Not sure what for. The important thing is that we're about to get off on our lunch break!

At the break, I go over to the dining room. I never see anyone I know there, but I end up going anyway. As I get close to the door I notice that it looks like the room is completely empty. Seems odd, but I don't really care because that means more space for me, right? When I pass through the door though I kind of see why. The place was pretty nasty to begin with - it's more like a restaurant's kitchen than a dining area, but there was a bunch of bacon laid out over all the tables (which weren't wiped down by the way). I also saw that at the far side of the room Darin and TC were huddled down around a giant pile of bacon of their own. Did I mention that each strip of bacon was about twice as long and twice as wide as what we typically see at the store? I walked over to say hello but they just looked up at me and didn't say anything. Meh. They're busy. I go over to the fridge (a walk-in fridge) to get my lunch.

There wasn't much in the fridge, but I couldn't find my lunch. I remembered it was in a brown paper bag, but all the brown paper bags looked like they've been there for a while. I checked one just to make sure. Not mine. Crap. I guess I gotta go buy my lunch.

I go back outside of the that room to where they sell food. They only had one stand and it sold crap like instant noodles and the like. Not for me. I kept wandering around thinking that maybe I would find something else. Sure, it's silly in real life because there was only one store, but in a dream it works! After walking in circles a few times my mind installed a couple of new stores!

This new store sold bread and stuff. Seemed OK. They had a huge sign with pieces of bread attached to it that served as a menu. I ordered a pound of lamb bread (like pepperoni bread... but with lamb?). I got it and had to pay some ridiculous sum like 8.23 or something. I tried to give exact change because I thought that I had some pennies and a couple of $1 coins (clearly I've been traveling to other countries too much... 1 euro, 1 $CAD, or 100 Yen maybe, but one US dollar???). I give the person a $5 and then I dig though my pockets for the coins. Crap. I have three pennies but they're all from different countries. Whoops? I also discover that instead of having $1 coins, I had a nickel instead. Sigh... I give the lady a $10 bill instead.

At this point the cashier starts being retarded. I should have known this when she combined my order with the next person in line for apparently no reason (which was resolved). She took the money, then gave me the change for the $10 without ever giving me back the $5. As I'm about to say something, she starts to question whether I was charged the right amount. The lady really wants to keep that $5 bill I guess. After spending a good number of minutes scampering around, she finally goes and consults the giant price chart. I'm looking at it and see that I was indeed charged the correct price, although I also saw I was supposed to order by length, not weight. After staring stupidly at the sign for a few minutes, she points to the wrong one and says that that one's mine. I tell her that it's not, but it's the other sign to the left. She looks confused and eventually agrees with me.

She finally goes back and tries to make change. She can't count too good. It feels like it's taking forever. I look at the watch. Must be 3:30 in the afternoon or something. Missing class. Not sure what the implications were. Oh well... what's done is done.

Interpretations anyone?

update

OK. I admit that perhaps I was being a bit rash with the whole promotion rant the other day.

At the same time I can't argue with the results. Say what? I got promoted today!

Thanks, Carol. You rule! You knew that already, but I say it again! You rule! Or how about "You rock!"

promotion?

No, but today I did get to hang out with Progressive's entire Board of Directors. Basically spent half an hour in a room with just them and the CIO going through a usability session and explaining what was going on, what we look for, and what we get out of it.

It's funny that I wasn't really nervous at all. I checked myself a few times thinking that I really should be nervous, but I just wasn't. Despite the fact that I didn't get a chance to think about my 5 minute intro speech until half an hour before, and that I didn't have access to my notes (they were on the other side of the room), and that I didn't have my laptop to take notes, everything went really really really smooth. I even knew detailed answered for all the questions that were asked. Not because I studied, but because I've been in my position forever. 3.5 years. Long enough for most people to think that I've been promoted during that time. <hint> <hint>

deja vu?

Fun with GMAT practice tests...

8/14: I can do math, but I can't read!
Verbal: 36
Math: 49
Total: 690

8/17: I can read, but I can't do math!
Verbal: 45
Math: 40
Total: 690

Reminds me of when I took the SATs. One test with a great verbal score, ok math score. Another test with a perfect math score and a ok verbal score. And what did that get me? CMU, baby.

Good news is that it shows that if I don't take the test after a full day of work, I should be able to do good math and read? Maybe? Yeah?