Spooky

My advisor has just scared the shit out of me. She sent me an email asking me to write an abstract for a meeting I didn't remember about. 

The good thing is, I did know about it and I did make my registration. And I did send my abstract - exactly the one my advisor asked me to write. Actually, I'm not sure why my advisor asked me to do that, I think she's probably under some stress and didn't remember us submitting it more than a month ago. Actually, it was even a troublesome submission. 

I sent her my answer, telling her that we have already made the registration and submitted the abstract. This actually makes me feel a bit odd, since usually it's me who doesn't remember stuff.

Actually, I've been feeling a lot more confident about my work. In part, it's because my advisor has been praising my work recently. But it's also because I'm much more self-assured about things I have to know and do. I am feeling a bit guilty, however, mostly because I haven't done a lot of productive work in the past few weeks. I do have to work on my dissertation - I have been claiming to be writing for some time now. It's time I make it true.

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Where are you from?

So I was checking traffic statistics for this blog and a few curious facts came to my attention.

The first of them is that the major source of traffic is not Brazil, but the United States. Brazil is second and the UK comes third.

The second curious thing I found out that the major referrer site is not other than phdcomics's forum. This is really surprising, since I've been away from the phorums for some time (not by choice, mind you).

I'm glad this thing has so many visitors from other countries (like Germany, the UK, Canada, Argentina, even Philippines and New Zealand!), despite the nauseating lack of worthy content. I wish I could be able to write more interesting posts so your visits wouldn't be a total waste of time.

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Sound Juicer Sucks

Sound Juicer looks like a pretty good application for encoding audio tracks. To bad it doesn't work the way it should.

I have never had problems with it before, because I always used its default profiles. When I friend came by and saw a CD he liked and asked for a copy, I said ok. The problem is, he wanted it to be in the mp3 format.

After sometime trying to make it understand that I wanted if to encode mp3 files, I finally gave up. Apparently, there are no workarounds to make Sound Juicer to use custom made profiles.

I guess I'll stick with abcde, or maybe grip. Both of them never failed me before.

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I hate banks. Apparently, the feeling in mutual.

So banks hate me. Or, at least, Santander does. For some obscure reason I'm not aware of, every single time I need something out of the ordinary from them, it's excruciatingly painful to get it. Somehow they find a way to keep annoying me with endless, random problems.

For the last whole month I've been trying to get myself a cheque-book to pay for my driving lessons and overdue rent. I ordered in through netbanking, that little thingy that supposedly makes life easier for everyone. However, after the 5 weekdays it asked for delivery, it still hadn't arrived. I went to the ATM terminal (here in Brazil, due to overall high usage of cheque for almost everything, they are quite common), and it refused to give me some single cheque forms. Then, I went to the manager, in order to ask why this problem was occurring. She answered that, for some reason, there were two books that were ordered that went to the postal service's limbo - four years ago. Assuming that this was the issue, she cancelled those and told me she would order another one the next day, so I wouldn't have to worry about anything, and in 6 weekdays I would receive the book at home.

Approximately twenty days later (that's today), I went again to the ATM to try and get some single cheque forms, which I needed desperately for today - no room for any more delays. However, as expected, the ATM refused to print them. Rage began to accumulate inside. I went straight to the manager, asked what the hell was wrong and demanded five cheque forms today - no discussion.

After several minutes, a crash in the computer (which runs Windoze), and two more people from the neighboring tables helping out, she finally discovered that, due to a R$ 2,70 (about US$ 1,35) tax that SOMEHOW wasn't paid - BACK IN 2003. FOUR years ago! FOUR. YEARS.

The real catch is, their "system" only allows for "negotiation" of values above R$ 10,00 (about US$ 5,00) - which means that, since it wasn't paid, and wasn't enough for "negotiation", it went nowhere else than the limbo. Until, after three managers digging thoroughly the records in their "system", it finally arose to haunt me.

This was the last time I cut them some slack for their incompetence. I finally lost my patience with this crappy hell-hole they claim to be a bank, As soon as I get my stipend for this month (which is tomorrow) I'll pay the goddamn money and close the account.

And to think that they've IMPROVED after privatization.

P.S.: I wish I could swear better in english. Since I can't, I'll do it in portuguese anyway.

Malditos filhos da puta, cuspidos do rabo de uma porca fedida no pântano do Rio Tietê! Incompetentes do caralho, como esses animais de teta conseguiram aprender a usar um computador?? COMO esses débeis mentais aprenderam a FALAR?? Façam um favor ao mundo e se matem.

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The bright side

Now, for some good news. At least, there are some.

I'm finally free from M$ Windows. The last bastion has fallen - Microcal Origin now runs on my Debian GNU/Linux. Last night I removed the NTFS partition from my computer and relocated my root partition there, creating a huge home directory. I don't even have any M$ partitions on my hard disk any more. 

In other news, I'll begin swimming next monday. Already spoken to who I had to speak to, and now everything is set. I've been looking for something like this for some time. I need some discipline for doing some exercise - I've been too much sedentary recently, and I'm beginning to get fat. I will do my best to make this work - I need a change of habits. Hopefully, this will help me get more focused on my work.

In still other news, I'll begin to attend the undergrad classes on Solid State Physics. This has a twice-folded purpose - helping out a friend who needs to really crack it down and learning a few things that went right through me when I did this course in my last semester as an undergrad.

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I don't have bad luck, bad luck has me.

I'll write it down in  one sentence: I haven't done almost any productive work in the last two weeks, because I wasn't motivated or because I was sick - sometimes both.

That said, I came to the conclusion (once again!) that I'm the elemental of bad luck. I just can't believe how things can go so wrong sometimes. In the last weeks I've had serious problems with the TWO banks where I have accounts - incompetent managers, lazy clerks, stupid strikes. One of the problems is actually secondary - I needed something from one of the banks so I could pay for my driver license. But, since I do not own a car, that's not really a big deal.

The other problem, however, was a bit more serious. I needed to set up an account to receive the salary from my T.A. activites during this semester. When I finally had it all solved - after numerous problems and a LOT of stress - I found out that, due to some ridiculous university regulation, I cannot receive the salary. The bastards waited until OCTOBER to say that. Obviously, they couldn't have said that when my application form went to them for their approval. 

I'm still not sure what I'm going to do. I had been counting on that money for various things I had pending. Now, it seems, I'll have to pass without it.

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