Always getting better.

[interstice]

Life as a graduate student continues. The mid-terms are all finished. The good word for the class on the last one (Statistical Inference) is that we have earned the right to extra credit for showing improvement on the final exam, although really we should have finished more than two out of six problems in-class and gotten all of the remainder finished perfectly (for half credit mind you) within another 24 hours as a take-home component.

Yeah. But I'm not letting that get me down. There were some hand-wavy excuses made for us by the professor and TAs about culture shock.

Went to a great party with my classmates this past Friday, wherein I learned about the Greek public education system by talking to a native about Kansas, heard "Axel F" again for the first time in many years, and also got to try Icelandic schnapps which is actually cumin schnapps (!). Apparently it was the drink which broke the Icelandic prohibition at the turn of the century - as a compromise with decency, it was given a grim and unappealing label and trademark (which naturally served only to boost wide niche-market sales) and perhaps as a tribute remains the "cheap" liquor in Iceland.

It's somewhat refreshing to see Microsoft and our beloved Department of Homeland Security rebuke Sony over their use of malware to protect their intellectual property. It is, really, the least they could have done, but it served some role.

Finished Neil Gaiman's American Gods a few days ago. It was, of course, "gripping", but a pretty good story otherwise, although the ending was a bit rushed and it has a strangely nonchalant narrative style, periodically reminiscent of a strained table-top gaming session. Maybe I should try to get started on the Golden Bough while I'm still motivated, or maybe let it die on the vine.

ConEdison finally got around to reading my meter a few days ago. Now, rather than owing $165.00 in estimated electrical usage charges over the past two months, I owe under $50 for honest use. If anyone was wondering about the mean electric bill in Manhattan Valley, there you go. Yow! My favorite part is that ConEd put the bill "in dispute" for me (!), but still had a shut-off date in late November (!!).

Last but certainly not least, I just had a great conversation with my long-distance girlfriend, whom I just invited to come spend the New Year's holiday in New York City with me.

Comments

Actually,

[random-walker.livejournal.com]

it's even worse. That $165 estimate was for 40 days, so the average bill is closer to $120 per month. I don't get it. Gas/oil heating is standard here and only the insane would be running air-conditioners. Do televisions really draw that much power, or do my neighbors run meat freezers?

I suppose on second thought, the area might be run by scumbag landlords who don't provide central heat, voiding the gas/oil hypothesis and resulting in a lot of inefficient and dangerous space heaters. That would be a shame.

Boughs

[suicide-sam-e.livejournal.com]

I think I have three copies of the Golden Bough floating around. Two I picked up used and nice crisp one Wheel gifted to me. I have not read much of any of them, alothugh I read in the introduction that the copies I have are, obviously, abridged versions of some mammoth number of volumes which comprise the original.

That I remember. The part of the work itself I have read does not spring to mind.