another pointless all-nighter

It's 4:10 am and my accomplishments tonight (since 8 pm Sunday) amount to printing three pieces of paper (the content was already done) and extending (by a few cm) a couple of straight lines representing UTM grid kilometres on my base map, all while listening to the latest "Lost" podcast. It was tough, I needed a ruler. I just finished a four hour session of playing the original 1991 DOS game "A10 Tank Killer". Prior to this orgy of tank destruction I had watched a bunch of Malcolm in the Middle and Sopranos (downloaded Friday). Now I ask myself, what better way to continue to avoid doing any work than making a blog entry? None, of course; besides, I'm way overdue.

It has been 7 days of complete slack now, apart from making those kilometre lines and printing out the coordinates of each station from last summer (now I must put them on the map). Usually I would have posted a couple of contests or perhaps just some amusing photos either from my vast repository or pilfered from the net. However, my motivation is lacking somewhat. I don't know what it is, but it seems that many blogs are cooling down, are being updated less and less frequently. Is it a decline in general interest? Is this trend more global than just among my friends? I doubt it. You start scanning around the blogosphere (I abhor that word but for lack of a better one must use it) and find that blogging is on the increase everywhere. So why are the friends I'm thinking of, and myself, gradually abandoning our weblogs? Maybe it was cool at the time, and now a passing fad? Or perhaps just some sort of welcome distraction that is losing its appeal (as almost all distractions do)? I don't know. I will continue to post, probably on a weekly sort of basis (a far cry from the 10-20 times a month last winter/spring). Also I looked back at those old posts, and is it just me or are they way more amusing than this drivel I'm composing right now? This train of thought has amounted to nothing useful, although I don't think I'll delete it.

I got caught up with events in the blogoverse (any better?) this week, as I said, and saw this most excellent blog. I went the whole hog and watched the youtube video (audio only, it's on putfile as well). Here's the upshot if you're too lazy to go and read the first post on that blog: Dude uses cell networks for data transfer, was going to Canada, wanted to know Verizon's rates for data transfers in Canada. So he does what any reasonable person does, and calls them up to ask. He is quoted "point zero zero two cents per kilobyte" and, knowing this sounded low, asked for a note to that effect to be made in his account. He was charged $0.002 per kb, and had a bill of about $79 from the trip. He expected $0.79, based on the quoted rate, and then proceeded to have hours of conversations with various managers at Verizon call-centres, none of whom could understand the different between 0.002 cents and 0.002 dollars. It's funny at first, then gets more disturbing as person after person (and possibly entire rooms full of people: in one call the girl gets him to hold while she asks around) fail to get it, despite admirably patient hours of explanation. Anyway it's brought up this whole issue of poor math instruction in the states, although it's likely that the people who've held call-centre jobs long enough to become senior managers don't have a lot of other career options. Anyway, the funniest thing to come out of this is this picture from this website (click for big).
If you remember math from first and second years, you might notice that it's all just 0.002.

WHAT NOW, BITCHES?

Hah that still gets me! Next post I'll have some other amusing pics from around the web.

I'm going home on Thursday, my flights aren't actually as complicated as I'd thought (I only change at Regina and Toronto), and I get in earlier than I'd thought as well (8pm instead of 10). Since getting this laptop flying has become way more fun than before; watching TV and movies helps me forget about the horrendous lack of legroom and the inevitable cramps and bruised knees. I just wish that people on 1 hour midday hops would refrain from reclining their seat, or at least do it gently so I get enough time to rescue my screen from being crushed between the underside of the tray and my legs. I swear that on every single flight I've been on (5 days of travel) since my first-class return from europe last year, the old person in front of me has reclined their seat for the whole flight, regardless of the time of day. I don't do that. I'm considerate.

I actually feel a touch of guilt when I recline my chair. Think about it: here in Canada we have loads of space, and individuals' personal space can be fairly large. In a plane it's already reduced to a woefully minimal space. You have to wage intense battles of wits against sweaty overweight guys for your armrest, and you don't even own the space 10cm under your ass - that belongs to the bags or feet of the person behind you (sometimes even your window-side armrest belongs to their now unclad and reeking foot). So reclining your chair is a sudden and blatant encroachment on the personal space of the person behind you (although if their foot's on your armrest your best bet is to try and sever some tendons by reclining). Assuming it isn't some sort of intentional retaliatory strike, you must consider that by reclining you're removing a sizeable chunk of their already tiny space volume. On night flights it's usually fine because everyone puts their chair back (except the poor bastard in the last row against the bulkhead) but if it's a day flight, it's possible that the person behind you can't recline to reclaim their space because of the terrible ergonomic situation they'd be in for watching illegally acquired tv shows (i.e. ME). So Dear T.S. Bundy*, I know you'll be sitting in front of me, so if you must recline, please give me some warning so my incomprehensible new-fangled adding machine isn't damaged. Thank you.

I did enjoy ranting on like that for so long. Tedious though it may be to you, just think that it's all for a good cause. I've wasted nearly another hour writing this pathetic blog entry. And now I suppose I should actually do some work - I'm supposed to present my summer's worth of fieldwork accomplishments to my supervisor today, so it would be nice if I actually knew what I've done. Well, I do know, but I want it to look at least somewhat organised. Hence fixing up the base map and stuff.

See you in Fredericton (those who'll be there); give me a call at home (or the cell, but that'll still be long distance) on Friday, preferably not the morning. Who's up for market Saturday?

Cheers, minions.

* I bet only Joe gets that.