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peterbirksWhen we move offices (as we are now doing on Friday), we have to lock our pedestal (the little set of three drawers that sits under the office desk), to stop the drawers falling open and the insides spewing out, thus injuring the people tasked with moving the stuff between offices.
Needless to say, I never know where the key is, so I set myself the task last night to remember. I found it, attached to a keyring that had other rarely-used items -- a Samsonite key (which could apply to several carrying items), the car keys, that kind of thing.
This morning, I was informed that our pedestals would be staying here, because we are moving buildings. So, that was wasted effort. Then, when clearing out the drawers, I disovered the other pedestal key. You spend years not using them, and then two come along at once.
Needless to say, the emptying out of three office drawers generated a fair amount of unneeded schlock — five stress balls, five notepads, a pack of Flamingo poker cards (used), a baseball, several computer connections that perform I-know-not-what functions, and lots of other stuff that I have already thrown away and erased from my short-term memory.
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I picked up a Fuji Z20 camera today from Cameraworld. 10 megapixels and 3x optical zoom for about the price of a bowl of rice. Fuji seem to be heading down the Easyjet/Ryanair route. Anything above the basic necessities is chrged for. This was the old Apple strategy in the 1980s, wasn't it? Optional keyboard, sir? That will be $300. So, cameracases are extra, screen protectors are extra, memory cards are extra and (and this is the one that really annoys me), AC mains adaptors are extra.
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Needless to say, I never know where the key is, so I set myself the task last night to remember. I found it, attached to a keyring that had other rarely-used items -- a Samsonite key (which could apply to several carrying items), the car keys, that kind of thing.
This morning, I was informed that our pedestals would be staying here, because we are moving buildings. So, that was wasted effort. Then, when clearing out the drawers, I disovered the other pedestal key. You spend years not using them, and then two come along at once.
Needless to say, the emptying out of three office drawers generated a fair amount of unneeded schlock — five stress balls, five notepads, a pack of Flamingo poker cards (used), a baseball, several computer connections that perform I-know-not-what functions, and lots of other stuff that I have already thrown away and erased from my short-term memory.
++++++
I picked up a Fuji Z20 camera today from Cameraworld. 10 megapixels and 3x optical zoom for about the price of a bowl of rice. Fuji seem to be heading down the Easyjet/Ryanair route. Anything above the basic necessities is chrged for. This was the old Apple strategy in the 1980s, wasn't it? Optional keyboard, sir? That will be $300. So, cameracases are extra, screen protectors are extra, memory cards are extra and (and this is the one that really annoys me), AC mains adaptors are extra.
_______________
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Date: 2008-06-18 04:02 pm (UTC)The Sloan Centre for Internet retailing has created... "The 'Web of Misery' is an online forum which is part research project and part game - and is inviting people to predict how much traffic is likely to increase to internet sites devoted to subjects that are often associated with economic distress, such as religion, firearms, substance abuse and GAMBLING."
So, now we need only to calculate the poker posts to sound investment articles ratio on the Birks erudite blog to determine how TU everything is.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7459055.stm
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Date: 2008-06-18 04:59 pm (UTC)I still have a prized baseball from Fenway Park. Also a nodding-head doll.
Some things are more precious than life itself.
(I also have a leaving gift from fifteen years ago, this being a fluffy pink snorting pig.) The idea behind that would escape me, but for the fact that the stupid fat and worthless woman with an MBA paid for through a fifteen person company was left in charge of the leaving do.
I wasn't very happy about mine, although it still says "oink!"
I was luckier than the next bloke out, who was presented with a professional clown (down the pub) singing a quatrain with words interpolated especially to commemorate the contributions that he had made.
My friend resorted to verbal, rather than physical, violence. And I think he was wrong.
Me, I'm quite into physical violence. As long as it's appropriate.