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2007-06-30

 

Jersey

Ok, I admit it. Even though I said I don't care, I lied. I'm still a Rockets fans. Look at my new jersey.



Why 76? No, I'm not a 76ers' fan too. It is just that July 6 is a very important day, as a very important person came to the world on that day...

So I'll expect your gift. I do gladly accept cash or alike.

2007-06-27

 

Exciting...

This exciting thing is coming up really soon... NBA draft? Are you kidding me? After another disappointing season for the Rockets, you think I would care, even if we might have the next Yao Ming in Yi Jianlian? I am talking about the iPhone.

It is not exciting because I would be getting one. After all, I don't have $500 to fork over, my contract with Sprint still has 20 months left, and I can't see any reason to ditch the cheaper and faster EVDO network for EDGE. It is exciting because I got some Apple stocks two months ago for under $90, and now it is going over $120, giving me over 33% profit in two months! And I suspect it can only go up after the iPhone release...

Now can someone tell me when is a good time to sell?

2007-06-26

 

Sprint Coverage

How is it possible that my cell phone sometimes has EVDO coverage and can go web surfing at high speed but has no phone signal?

 

Kitchen Trash Cans

The office kitchen used to have four trash cans, one at each corner. Lately, three of them have been missing, leaving only the large one left. It makes preparing lunch and making drinks pretty inconvenient.

On an unrelated note, I just saw four trash cans outside a special lab office...

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2007-06-21

 

Gas Price Discrimination

In this Internet era, you would think that price discrimination based on location is much less effective. Think again.

On my way home from work, there are two 76 gas stations about two blocks away from each other but with unbelievable price difference. For regular gas, one sells at $3.93 and the other one $3.23. That's more than 20% difference. Yet they seemed to be equally busy.

Why would people still go to the more expensive one?

2007-06-19

 

Work = School?

Development at work is like graduate school. You work on a project your boss wants you to do, do it in a way your boss likes. You keep coding, in many case without agreeing on why and how. The only thing you know is, at the end of the day, you'll need to get the project done, and only afterwards you might be able to do something more interesting.

On the contrary, documentation is like assignments and projects in college. First, you wait for a "source" to appear, and sometimes you need to wait longer for a "better" source. Then, you keep writing almost identical pieces of crap that are tedious and all but meaningless. You have no idea what you are writing and why would anyone with a free mind would want to read them. But, tada, here goes a 30-page word document with some fancy figures...

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2007-06-18

 

Worst Dentist Assistant?

I had some bad experience with my (ex-)dentist. I don't have any complaint on his service. It was more of an issue with his assistant.

Last time when I had the service, his assistant charged me for an amount more than I expected, which I didn't notice before I paid. When asked to show how it was calculated, she put down an amount my insurance company set, but then add my deductible on top of it. Seeing this obvious flaw, my explanation was to no avail, as she was too arrogant and impatient to listen. The only thing she would say is, "This is how it should be computed. Go ask your insurance company if you don't understand." Since I was in a hurry, I left, planning to rectify it later.

A few weeks passed and I have already forgot about the whole thing. Then I got a statement from my insurance company stating the amount I should have paid. I was certainly right and was overcharged. I thought about writing an angry letter to the dentist, but I was too kind and decided to just write a short note to request the difference back. I got the difference back, but the assistant's mail refused to admit her mistake; instead, it was "because the insurance company has changed the policy." I would be interested to know if there was a time the policy was to make me pay the deductible twice, but I digressed.

A few months later, the assistant left me a voicemail remaining me of a routine check. Of course,
I have no intention of going back. Today, I got another call. Probably knowing I am not going to answer her call, she called with her ID hidden. And I was stunned hearing her message. The message was completely normal, remaining me of the routine check and asking me to call back to make an appointment, but instead of saying her phone number, the number she asked me to call back was... my cell phone number!

I would make a sarcastic comment on that, but I am totally speechless...

2007-06-14

 

Survival Guide in LA: Commute

Commuting is not easy in L.A. Even though I live less than 5 miles from work, it could sometimes be a pretty bad drive (read: an hour). From the few months of experience, here I summarize for you a survival guide for commute.
6.If you need to pass through a busy freeway (two for me), try to look for a smaller road that couldn't get on or off the freeway. Usually they are less congested.
5.If you need to pass through a busy intersection, keep left, even if you need to turn right soon. It is because the left lane is less likely to be blocked by the extremely selfish opposite side left turning traffic.
4.Drive like a UPS driver. Avoid left turns.
3.If you really need to make a left turn, ignore traffic rules, lane lines, etc to get to the left turn lane as soon as possible. If you don't do it, the dude behind you would, and probably would prevent you from entering the lane.
2.If driving is that bad, why not let someone else doing it for you? Just grab a phone with mobile web you got when you joined the SERO plan and board on a bus.
1.It is always better not to commute. Imagine if there were numerous untimely fire accidents at office...

2007-06-12

 

WFH

Power outage at work = "Work" from home = ??? from home?

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2007-06-08

 

You Still Come?

You still come to this blog? Why? I haven't updated it in decades!

Anyway, I have to write something now. I have been bored so much at work documenting whatever I had been doing for a while. Documentation really drives people insane, as you just seem to be keep typing something repetitive and trivial. Luckily, the upper management know how painful and hypnotizing it is, and I am given a Tully's gift card for all my caffeine needs! Also, I get to spend some time interviewing some graduating PhDs, which makes my life a bit less miserable.

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