Mixed Signals

Lost was amazing last night. (And every other night it's ever been shown). So intense.

My mate Nathan cleaned up in the Lotto, guessing three correct numbers for a prize pool of 15 whole dollars! Congrats! Heh heh he. Dude, that's two weeks this season you're the winner! (Two weeks ago it was Best Costume).


In Nerd News...

My iBook is going through crisis again. For those of you who do not know about my mutant powers, I have the incredible ability to shut down any computer by simply touching it, or, in some cases, simply forcing it into submission with my mind.

This power is a blessing and a curse. It was difficult in my design studies – these days computers are fairly integral in the design process – and also for my classmates, who eventually learned to distance themselves from my presence. I lost many assignments and documents because of this knack, and the tech guy in our department soon became my nemesis ("What do you mean you shut down one of my new G5 towers? They don't crash! That's not possible!"). Don't even get me started on 3D rendering or Video Editing assignments. All I had to do in those cases was submit a cover sheet with my student name and ID, and the teachers would stamp it with a Pass, knowing that it was not possible to complete any of the assigned tasks, and accepting the submissions based solely on the design drafts I created.

Anyways, last night, the iBook I fondly nicknamed Mactop experienced power failure, and the cable supplying electricity to the computer finally called it quits. It has been fairly temperamental of late, fluctuating between supplying energy and occasionally throwing me the odd watt when it felt like it.

This means a detour on my way into the city tonight to pick up a $129 power cord. Who knew? My friends at Next Byte always have things in stock, and are so much quicker than getting it via Apple. Anyone with a Mac - get yourself to a store whenever you need repairs. They all know me by sight these days.

$129. Pretty steep. The lengths we go to for that little bit of 'freedom.' We call the ability to pick up a wireless internet connection 'freeing', but really, we are still tripped up - every 2 or 3 hours, you're going to need to plug in the power supply, and you won't be able to get online from any point in the entire city, you need to stay within the range of a known network, and even then not unless you make sure it's secure (so that random passers-by don't make free with your bandwidth).

And we think we're unwiring ourselves and making life easier, when laptops are about 230% more likely to break or have hardware failure than a desktop computer. Not to mention the ridiculous prices you pay for all the accessories you didn't originally know you needed.

So anyways, Mactop is currently sitting beside me on the desk at the studio (I brought it with me on the train), finishing up some crucial downloads here on the wireless network before completely losing signal. It's a bit like an episode of Lost in it's own right, I feel.

We have the setup of a crisis, we have the emotional trauma, and we have the urgency of impending doom. Well, it only means I won't get to watch the 11th and 12th episodes of House til next week, but STILL. Urgent.


In Caffeinated News...

I know I said I'd closed with the whole coffee lady thing, and even I am getting bored with the ongoing trials of that particular situation. But I'm confused – today she was nice. A friend has advised me of the possibility that the Coffee Lady in question suffers from Bipolar Disorder. This would explain a lot!

But then, so does Robin Williams (allegedly), and at least he makes me laugh. I guess we will just have to embrace her unpredictable social behaviour, and roll with the punches. I lay to rest the Android Saga. I am at peace with whatever personality (or lack thereof) she uses on any given day, and will deal accordingly.

I just wish she (and all other women, in a huge generalisation, for that matter) would stop sending mixed signals. We're on or we're off. Don't cancel the five cent surplus for me one day, and then forget to double heat my beverage the next.

Watching an early episode of House got me to thinking about how great it would be to tell the truth. I mean, duh, but actually not ever lie. There was an episode in which the patient and her daughter had never lied to each other, and been completely honest about everything (except of course, the clinching scene in which it turns out that the girl is adopted – other than that, total honesty). One of the doctors testing her had problems with not ever lying, claiming that it provided privacy, and made things a bit easier if you don't always have to tell the truth.

To which the patient replied 'Oh? And is your life easier?'

Man, she nailed him. And me. I know it would be uncomfortable to be totally honest, but after you got over that, imagine how simple it could all be. You have to tell the truth in love. There's no use slamming someone with heavy doses of stone-cold truth if it's going to crush them. But just not feeling the need to tell even the smallest lie to avoid discomfort or embarrassment.

In the long run, it would make things so much easier. People would trust you implicitly to tell them what you really think, and they would know that you really mean what you say - your yes means 'Yes', and your no, 'No'. You would only ever be sending one message to anyone at one time.

None of this faux-friendship stuff that is on offer at Gosh Coffee...


Meanwhile, in the real world...

Having said all that, I now return to my work, (the one in which I get paid to do actual labour, and not idle away hours writing meaningless prose) in order to make the 4:52 train that will get me to the Apple retailers before closing time.


I'll be seeing you. (Not necessarily in any literal sense, mind you)


Joel
– I mean, honestly...