Day: June 4, 2004

Reunion

I’m currently at Alma Mater to attend reunion events, but should have realized that my Saturday reunion plans are about to be de-railed by a dental appointment that I should have known was going to mess me up – so I should cancel, if I’ve any sense (and, likely I don’t). The weather’s nice, I’m on vacation, I ought to relax, but I’m not very good at it. Ugh. (I must be obsessed about blogging if I’m doing it right now, but the beauty of being on campus is the incredibly easy access to internet terminals; and it’s not like I’d blog from my computer at work).

There were links I meant to link to, since the Times had one or two interesting articles. Rather surprised by CIA Director George Tenet’s sudden resignation, but shouldn’t have been. Read a Vanity Fair article on Bill Clinton’s post-presidential life (good grief, was my reaction) and am not eagerly awaiting his book. Etc.

Back to trying to relax.

Instant Gratification

Instant Results (valid for 30 days)

I participate occasionally in the Harris e-surveys. A friend of mine who is in the polling business doesn’t think that they are fair polls, because the participants are self-selected, and tend to attract better educated middle to upper-class people who are computer-savvy. That’s probably right, but I suppose that if they need results in a week, and that is the demographic that the client is looking for, I think for what it’s worth, it’s valid.

As for my partipation, I think that if I’m representing 121,494 people (U.S. population estimate of 293,407,909 divided by 2,415 — some random number quoted in one of their poll results that provides results within +/- 2% for the U.S. population), I might at well pick stuff that I like and further the APA cause. For example, I just took a bank survey, the results of which are quoted above. But the kinds of questions asked actually bring up interesting ones. Banks should be more involved in the community and charity. Yes, I actually would be upset if my customer support is outsourced overseas. I actually care if they can communicate in Asian languages even though I barely can. Well, at least I’m glad that they’re asking.

In other instant gratification, I’m munching on furikake, which is Japanese rice seasoning. Apparently the essential ingredients are seaweed strips, dried bonito flakes, and sesame seads. Often, dried fried eggs or dried fish roe are also added. While it’s supposed to be sprinkled over steamed rice, I’ve — for a lack of anything else to eat — have been munching on the furikake as if they were micro-chips. Recommended, although my sodium levels are probably off the charts.