The Ring

Okay, first I have to check around Grafton St. in Dublin, and then I am off to Belfast to see if I can take advantage of the depreciating British pound this Saturday, or next if I cannot do Dublin first.

Christmas

Merry Christmas everybody!!  

I know, I I know, I should have asked her by now, but I have not gotten the ring.  On the plus side, I finally have the cash for the ring...

Gig

I am going to a gig tonight with P. This should be fun. Although, she was pretty mad with me this morning for keeping her awake until 1am when she has to get up at 6:30am. Ouch. There will be blood.

Nespresso

WTF is Nespresso? Ludicrously thick crema, disposable aluminium cannisters (the environment, anyone?), and having to go to a specialist shop to get the cannisters appeals to whom?

Preferisco una machina normale.

Snobs

Guy: I ran away to Japan when I was sixteen and finished out highschool there.
Me: How did you fund that?
Guy: It is easy when your parents have money.

Guy: Every year Mont Blanc issue a new red ink around Valentine's day with a special scent for writing your card. It is very romantic.
Me: My girlfriend would be happy with something nice written with a blue Bic biro, and maybe I could splash some aftershave on it.
Guy: No way. She would be very impressed by the Mont Blanc ink.
Me: No, she wouldn't. (I later asked, and had this confirmed. Always being there for her when she is worried or sick is romantic. Buying over-priced ink is just expressing that you have money.)

Yes, it is cold. Toughen up.
Yes, building standards are lower here. Was anybody claiming otherwise?
Yes, nightclubs close at 2:30am and pubs at 12:30. Deal with it.

Buying expensive ink for your girlfriend's Valentine's card is not romantic. She would much rather you were faithful, which does not rank highly in your priorities. Asking me if my friend and I met any girls later on Wednesday evening, when I have made it clear I am not single, shows you up as not being a nice guy. Who are you trying to impress?

Actuarial Exams?

1. I work 9 to 5:30.  

2. I get paid more.

3. Should I do actuarial exams?  It involves about 5 years of part time study.  The exams are notoriously difficult to pass, but perhaps I could do with something to dilute my arrogance?

Could somebody grown up (and successful) please, please, please give this poor boy some career advice?

Ugh

Who are you?

2. Are we friends?

3. Something I have and YOU want?

4. Give me a nickname and explain why you picked it.

5. Describe me in one word.

6. What was your first impression of me?

7. Do you still think that way about me now?

8. What reminds you of me?

9. If you could give me anything what would it be?

10. How well do you know me?

11. How do you see me in the future?

12. Ever wanted to tell me something but couldn't?

13. Are you going to post this in your blog and see what I say about you?

I am employed again!!!

Teehee.  Apparently they are sending me out a 6 month contract starting Monday, on slightly more than I was on the last job.  Perhaps this 'Dr.' business is not such a load of crap after all.  

Antwerp

Apparently the place to go ring-shopping is Antwerp.  Now I just have to convince my girlfriend that I am just going to drink beer with a mate or two in a European city for a weekend without her thinking it is to go chasing girls!!

Dreams Vs. Reality

I sit at my desk, looking out at the, ahem, carpark.  I am a self-made man.  I have fought both physically and mentally every person who has stood in my way.  I have migrated social class, a feat that only 2% of people ever do*. 

Now I have a problem.  Everybody in this social class thinks I got here the same way they did, by following Daddy's advice, and eating Mummy's packed lunches.  They make their genuine recommendations to get a good stable job in the public service, or work on my cv by spending two years in a good Insurance company.  The problem is that that seems nice.  

I did not work this hard to break through economic and cultural battles to stop here.  I need to take this to the next level.  I am scared.  I am terrified.  I am completely on my own in this.  I have nobody to ask for advice.  I keep throwing up in private.  I am getting nothing done.  

Sorry for talking about work, again, guys.  I am going to Nice with P for a romantic weekend if that is more of interest.

* Okay, I have almost been in a fight on two occasions in the last two weeks, but...

She is not Pregnant

False alarm.  However, both of us had gotten used to the idea quite quickly...

Also, it looks like I may be offered a 6 month contract from my first interview.  That would be ideal.

And, finally, I bought a canon printer/scanner/copier, and set up my music equipment so I have my own recording studio.  My home office rocks.  If only I would do something with it.  

I suppose I must comment too.

Seriously, to go in only 200 years from imported slaves to having a member be the supreme leader; WELL DONE GUYS!!

No kidding, that is an impressive feat.  Fair play, and credit where credit is due.  

A few days late

Okay, that could alter plans a bit...

Tick tock tick tock... nothing happening.  Erm...

We know what I am talking about here, right?  Think extreme drama.

Time to Think

Okay, guys, maybe I really should look for a job that tries to do some good, rather than a job that just tries to create cash?

I have all the signs of hippy.

No, that would be giving up. I am going to make lots of cash and then use it to initiate businesses that have a positive influence on the world.

Incidentally, my home office is pretty cool, now that I have moved everything around so that my desk faces the window, and my bed is off somewhere random strewn across the room.

The Ring

Questions:

1. How much should it cost?

2. Should she get to choose it?  If so, then you still have to section off the cash first.

3. What the hell do you do about the poor girl walking around with that much money on her fingers?

4. What does it mean?

Answers:

1. There is the old story of one month of salary.  I assume that is gross, not net.  Apparently that has turned into three months of salary.  I am taking these two recommendations into account, but recalculating based on my answer to Question 4.   

2. Erm, tough decision, because her taste is better than mine (Italian versus Irish, no competition, although, we do have a good tradition where jewelry is concerned... hmmm).  I think I will choose it, largely because of I want to maximise the intrinsic value while minimising the transaction costs, but I do not mean that in a shallow or stingy way.

3. I need to check into the cost of ten years of insurance for loss or theft.  She needs to be able to throw it at a potential mugger and run away.

4. It means, here is enough gold and diamond to support you should anything ever happen to me.  It is a symbol of my willingness to make sacrifices and to provide for you, and it is a permanent piece of independence for you, because it always can be traded in for running-away money.  

So, I am thinking 4-6 months cost of living, plus a plane flight, insurance for ten years, unless there is some kind of permanent insurance, and I choose it.  

Unfortunately, I walked out on the start-up financial firm, because the did not pay me for two months.  I also am currently supporting my brother through a loan facility.  Unless I get another job really soon, Christmas is not looking too likely a deadline, sorry folks!

Job

1. 10 hours a day, with a 20-35 minute break to grab a sandwich.

2. No fun.

3. €33 k a year, which is pathetic, but it is all considered an investment in the potential for the company to make money and me to be an integral part of it.

4. I do not trust them to give me money, no matter what they say.

Therefore, I must leave.

Q.E.D. 

The Global Economy

Remember where you heard it late last year:  The world economy is doooooooommmmmeedd!!

Although, as 1,23..6llll.yobbo commented on my last post, there is a good chance that we will all be okay.  If not, I am prepared to eat the dead.  

If you had to eat the dead, would you be more comfortable eating a girl or a guy, and why?

Tut tut

I could not remember the equation of a line this morning.  I worked it out from first principles.  It took nearly 5 seconds.  I must be tired.

The economy is ABSOLUTELY BUCKLED, but I do not think it will be so bad.  

When there is blood on the streets, sell black pudding.

My Head

We sat on the couches and watched comedy clips and American political speeches on youtube, and then went out for a couple of pints when we ran out of beer.

My head is really pounding.  The brain is 70% water, so when you are dehydrated it shrinks, and gives you a headache.  

My body is shaking.  Alcohol relaxes the arteries, lowering your blood pressure, and giving you the shakes.  

Alcohol also has a neurological affect, which leads to potentially strong feelings of paranoia while hung over.  

Concentration

Okay, it is totally hard to concentrate when your boss and boss's boss are in Vegas at a conference, and you are not even sure if you are going to get paid for the last month.  

I have a tiny bit of money saved up.  I think it is enough for me to invest €1000 in some equipment to stock an office with state-of-the-art telephony (inc. conferencing) and network infrastructure, along with the whole email/calendar/web-site hosting and ftp communications stuff.  If I could then lease that to somebody for €100 a month... 

The idea is to build it all out of freeware and stuff, and see how it goes.  

Hard work being a genius.

Seriously, the company has no money left in its accounts for payday this Friday.  If the deal goes over the line by next week, we have a million and change.  If not, yours truly is on the dole (uneployment assistance) again.  

Fun, fun, fun, 'til her Daddy took the T-Bird away-hay...

Sicilia

Driving in Sicily is a lot of fun.  For a start, you have to drive on the right.  They are all completely mad and pay barely cursory notice to anything like rules.  Most importantly, in the two years since I got my license, I have driven twice, both times when I rented a car for the weekend.  

Driving is so dull and regulated here.

Chrome

So, what do we all think?  Well, it is certainly very quick.  

I spent the day writing corporate sales emails.  

In my job, in the last five months, I have:

* Enabled outside access to our network.

* Restructured the computer network.

* Built a workflow and database system.

* Restructured and expanded the telephone system.

* Conducted consumer and corporate market research.

* Researched patenting, trademarking and copyrighting, with a view to sales of software.

* Not an ounce of statistics.  Tut tut.  

Good Behaviour

Which of the following is correct:
1) True love means you resist temptation.
2) True love means you are not tempted.

A name

What would you call a financial fund aimed at UAE?

Melancholia

Here it is again, and why? I could say it is because there is a higher purpose, and I am drifting from the path, but... seriously, now, we know me better than that.

Life must be for more than this. I cannot get more qualifications. I want to, but that would be the weak option.

Something adventurous and hard.

Something that involves people.

Something with change.

Sweetness and light

I am 29 and my life has only just begun. I no longer live at home, and I am no longer in college.

What the hell am I doing still here? Well, the answer is simple: The Italian. It is more difficult to go travel the world when there are two of you (and hence life is good).

Lots of things I thought I was going to do I will not do.

I am starting a business. As if getting a Ph.D. was not enough to make me no longer lower class, I am starting a business. Cashflows, equity, tax, project management, sales, marketing, business models, resources, employees, and what have I forgotten?

Surprisingly, to me, anyway, I think the web is very useful to me. The key concepts are cloud computing, model-view-controller architectures, and making mathematics for business simple and automated, not in that order. Oh, hell, I am so lost.

Arrogance

I tag everyone who reads this to write either a comment here or an entire post (preferable) on what arrogance means to them, including
1. examples,
2. a discussion of the positive and negative aspects of arrogance,
3. and suggestions as to the root of arrogance.

Mathematics training systems

Finally, there is a project with some hope. A good friend of mine did his Ph.D. in mathematics education, and has in mind a learning system. I am joining up with him. I will do the IT and supply mathematics support.

And, most importantly, this business adds value to the world. Let us not forget amidst all the noise that I am not actually evil.

Things that didn't suck today.

The television told me about an athlete's foot cream that only needs to be used once (I go to the gym; it happens).

I rang the head of the university department and asked him to pay my 800 euro bill and he said yes. It is always worth a try...

I got a tv

Apparently 3 in 5 women suffer periodic skin imperfections, according to the company selling the cream. Last time I checked, 9 out of 10 people were butt ugly. I am having trouble relating these facts.

I do not want to see babies' arses. I do not care about nappies. Please stop showing me babies' arses.

That chick in that ad is completely emaciated. She has an 8 year old kid, and she is completely emaciated. Has nobody told that that is unhealthy? Surely she knows this? Did she diet while she was pregnant too? Get over yourself, love, and look after your poor little girl. She probably is not as obsessed with avoiding food as you.

Old people? Why is all the televison about old people? And animals? What the hell kind of country do I live in where nobody cares about anything but old people, disabled people, and ducks.

Old people discussing their weddings and describing showband gigs in the fifties in stunted Gaeilge with English subtitles must be the cheapest imaginable programming to make.

What is in a name?

Agnon is a modification of non-arab-girl, because when I first commented anonymously somebody thought I was just that.

I stopped blogging for a bit and named myself Shale when I came back, because I was really struggling with this guy not accepting my PhD corrections and not giving me a reason, and shale is a kind of flinty rock. Hence, Shale bin Agnon.

Then I got my doctorate. Hence, Dr. Shale bin Agnon. How cheesy is that?

Incidentally, I do not speak Arabic. Insha'allah, I will learn it some day.

Summer Rain

It is the middle of summer, literally. Today is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. Sunrise is officially at 04:56, and sunset is officially at 21:58, but daylight extends for much more than an hour each way.

It is, however, unfortunately, raining.

Last night a guy told me that he used to go out with a girl who was quite subservient. He said he got a kick out of it and pushed it as far as he could, until he could push it no further, after which he dumped her. What an evil little fuckhead.

Asset Backed Securities.

I spent yesterday trying to figure out the tranching in the waterfall for the collateralised debt obligation. I spent much of today trying to get around the loss of power in the weighted least squares regression of the mortality adjustments due to the fact that the bastard consultant will not cough up the actual observations, and only gives us the ratios of observations to expected.
I spent the rest of the day trying to determine whether party A should be sold put options or call options to make up for the put (or call) futures and who was hedging whom, and for what.

I actually know fuck all about finance. I think I will spend the rest of the evening thinking about breasts.

Hiking

I went hiking on Saturday, with my brother in law and a mutual friend. It took seven hours from Anascal to Dingle, over the mountains. It was nice.

We followed it with a few beers in Tralee. The weather was great. Maybe one day I will live in the country.

The alternative

I met my replacement this evening, in the university. Well, what a fucking nerd. He seems like an alright bloke, but I am hard enough on myself as it is. If I was him, there would be a lot of cutting and general self-harm involved.

It is such a relief to know that there is not a bigger, better, faster, smarter, stronger and better looking version of me out there. I try really hard to be good and do well, and if there was somebody who was just beating me, and I could not understand why, then it would fuck with my philosophy of the world.

I just read his cv. It is pretty impressively written. I might use it as a subsection of mine.

Death

I am going to die, horribly. It might even be slow, taking months, or even years. I might be hit by a double decker bus on O'Conell street on my new bike and disappear in a flash of total pain. Either way, it will not be pleasant.

It is quite liberating to admit that it will happen; to stop denying reality.

Hey

I am a smidgeon fluthered, I must admit. The bacon is cooking on the pan as I type. It is 1:13A.M. on a Monday. I worked until 8:23 this evening, from 8:50. I get paid **** all. Therefore, I felt comfortable and justified having a few beers.

I presented my work today to the company main guys. They were happy with it. Good stuff. I just wish they would stop paying me so little. :)

Is this what it is like to be 'normal people'?

I am not normal people.

This is just a visit.

Nobody mentioned the bike.

Seriously. I love my bicycle.

Birthday

Happy birthday to me. I am 29.

My girlfriend gave me a present of a mountain bike. That is possibly the best present ever. I cycled to work today. I looked ridiculous in a suit on a mountain bike. I am going to the mountains this Sunday on my new bike.

You may or may not know that Ireland's economy has increased vastly in the last 20 years, from shit to one of the best in the world. However, the standard of living is still crap. I have no car. I pay 50% of my wages on rent and electricity. The rest fritters remarkably quickly on food and beer.

Anyway, happy birthday to me.

Probably the most popular blog on the web, in terms of readers, if not comments.

Things today:
1. Bought a 1000 page book by Roger Penrose that attempts to explain most of mathematics intuitively. It was recommended.
2. Left a large diagram on the whiteboard in work for the team meeting on Monday. We will see how that goes.
3. Went for a long walk at lunchtime to try and get a grasp on all of the various interest rate modelling, life expectancy modelling, and system design that I have been doing lately.
4. Looked fucking good doing it. Felt kinda under the weather.
5. Went to get some stuff to make sushi rolls for my girlfriend. I was pretty odd because I have been programming all day and it takes a few hours for my human skills to kick in again. Does anybody else get that?
6. Read every news website on the planet. It was a bit of a waste of ten minutes today.
7. Organised my thesis binding, although dropping off and picking up the stuff is going to cost me some early mornings this week.

Now I am offline for the weekend. Asta luego, nobody.

Politaiocht

So, I had dinner yesterday in the house of parliament. My friend got an invite by a senator and dragged me along. It was interesting. Politicians are a funny breed. By funny, I mean grasping and shifty.

Anyway, I got the distinct impression the senator hated me. My friend's lesbian flatmate postulated that it may have been because he prided himself on being well dressed, tall, articulate and gentlemanly. I am taking the compliment.

Incidentally, lesbians are an odd breed.

PhD

From wikipedia:
The term doctorate comes from the Latin docere, meaning "to teach", shortened from the full Latin title licentia docendi, meaning "license to teach." This was translated from the equivalent Arabic term ijazat attadris, which was a distinction granted to certain Islamic scholars, thus qualifying them to teach.

I am confused

I remembered that R(t) = f(t)/F(t), obviously, therefore f(t) = R(t)F(t), and F(t) is the integral of R(t), so I all I have to do is divide the mort. tables by 1000 and discretise. Obvious... I should have worked it out, rather than remembered. I am really tired though.

That is not what I am confused about. I want to know where I am going. I need goals. Without goals, I get kinda fritzy.

Really funny link - I don't know how to embed without trying at all.

My poor wee hid

My noggin is utterly swimming with probabilities and snippets of vb code, and I seem to be sucking ass at it all. Am I not supposed to be good at this? Why must I be so darn mediocre?

Ph.D.

Six Years.

Two years just being examined and doing corrections, during which I learned nothing. The external examiner decided to wield his power with will. He waited until two weeks after I had been fired because I did not have a Ph.D. to grant me it.

It leaves a bitter taste.

I finally got the report today.

Three lines long.

The guy could not help getting a dig in.

Oh, and, mate, if you are out there, I live in your city now. You took two years of my life. One good turn deserves another.

Fuck Academia.

Live together

I mentioned to my conservative flatmate that the thought has crossed my mind of going, in the future, to the next step with my girlfriend. He said convention was that you live together first, before even getting engaged. (I am not planning on asking in the next six months - don't worry!)

Apparently, modern conservatism suggests you live together first. His argument was that sudden changes are not good.

My argument was the old 'in for a penny, in for a pound' argument. I do not want to live with her to 'test' her to see if we get on well enough. If we live together, sometimes we will fight. Sometimes we will not be so good together. I already know that.

Why would we take a step that is so hard to back out of, unless we were already committed enough to accept that we are not intending to back out?

Anyway, she is in the opposite of hurry, so don't buy your dresses for the occasion. I just like to imagine ahead.

Priorities

I play music. I don't fuck about.

I met some musicians tonight. I can tell they lack a bit of knowledge, but I need some if I am going to play music. I took a number and arranged to meet later in the week to see about playing some music and getting some gigs.

I deleted the number. Chicks like musicians, but they do not want to be seriously involved with a musician. I am not prepared to sacrifice what I have. If I have to cut the tips of my fingers off, and never play a note again, I will, in order to keep what I have. I have learned what makes me happy in life, and what makes me feel good about myself.


I have not written this well. There are no language quirks to emphasise my point, but please take this literally, and see how important this is to me.

Do people really do this?

For the fiftieth time this week, that everybody else in the entire world does it does not stop it from being a bloody stupid idea!!!

Your parents love you. Actually, they might not.

You should work hard at a day job. Actually, sometimes it does not do you much good. Maybe you should quit and change career, or just plain live on less money and have more fun.

You should respect your elders. Actually, sometimes they are quite wrong, and if you can get away with it you should treat them as they deserve.

You should live together before you get married. Actually, this is a fucking stupid idea - a real one foot in and one foot out approach. If you are going to do it, do it. Otherwise, do not do it.

Working

Okay, I have been working in a suit for 3 1/2 weeks now. I like it. It is like a breath of fresh air after working in academia. I am still really pissed off that they kicked me out, because some twat has spent nearly two years neither failing nor passing my phd, but I am glad I am in a different place now.

Also, our office has huge windows, which means there is daylight. People in industry really do a lot more doing and a lot less talking.

Anyway, now that I have some free time, because in industry when you clock off, you stop thinking about work, I can work on some projects of my own. My friend is getting me a copy of .net, because I want to develop some software to simulate random faces - I think it could work for the entertainment industry, and I have the tech from my academic research. It is a rather daunting task, so I am leaving myself a long, long timeline.

Aw, can you blame me?

This was taken on holiday, recently. Can you blame me?

hair

Somebody accused me of having red hair. The nerve!! My beard - now an extremely tidy goatee - is red.

Hmmm

This is not a very loved blog so far. If only I had some news.

How about... I got an email saying that I am unofficially past my PhD exam...

Seven things I PLAN to do:
1. Get really pissed tonight with the lads to celebrate my unofficial end of torture.
2. Get a really swanky overcoat to go with the suits I now wear.
3. Write that software application to simulate face surfaces.
4. Look into doing actuarial exams.
5. Learn Italian properly.
6. Get around to playing a gig.
7. Write those papers.

Seven things I CAN do:
1. Scare people.
2. Be completely unthreatening. I just wish I could choose between when I do 1 and when I do 2.
3. Obsess over the state of my fitness.
4. Play well enough to play a gig.
5. Do torturous things to get what Iwant.
6. Be completely independent from family or friends both financially and socially. I am not sure if that is a good thing.
7. Pick up languages quickly.

Seven things I CAN'T do:
1. Be single without trying to fix it.
2. Ignore my conscience.
3. Lose my obsession with avoiding being poor.
4. Hide my facial expressions, which almost everyone I know agrees that they speak for themselves. No verbal words required.
5. Sleep well.
6. Control my sleep talking episodes.
7. Live without music.

Seven things I SAY the most:
1. Fuck. (I once worked on a building site. I am soft, so I needed to give a tough impression.)
2. Indeed. (I am a pompous arse.)
3. Illogical. (Nine years in univserity studying or researching in maths.)
4. Irrational. (see 3)
5. Feach ar sin (look at that - generally referring to a her rather than a that.)
6. Grrr. (I am a cranky man.)
7. Caffeine. (Probably the reason I am such a cranky man.)

End of my first week at work

I am so bloody tired. It is ridiculous. The alarm keeps going off two hours after I woke up, and 7 hours after I first tried to get to sleep. Ouch.

A catchy title

My name has 8 letters in it. It is on my birth cert. and passport with 8 letters, 3 in the first, and 5 in the second.

My blog is the statistically least memorable collection of six letters, based on a sample of my blog name.

I work in insurance. Today was my second day.

I have been dating my girlfriend for one year this Friday. I want to be with this one girl forever.

A Watch

I bought my girlfriend a watch today. It took about two hours, walking from jewelry shop to jewelry shop, in torrential rain. I have never bought jewelry before. My Mom tends to buy me timepieces, and rather nice ones too.

So, these chicks lay out a few watches in front of me. I have NO opinion. They are girls' things!!! I try to explain that I am too male, and need some help. The younger girl says that that is no excuse. The older woman accepts my excuse.

It is DKNY. Do you like it?

It is her birthday, plus our one year anniversary on the 18th of this month.

From Miss Shoush's Blog, but I seem more guilty.

( ) Crashed a friend's car
( ) Stolen a car
(x ) Been in love
(x ) Been dumped
(x ) Shoplifted
(x ) Been fired
(x ) Been in a fist fight
( x) Snuck out of your parent's house
(x) Had feelings for someone who didn't have them back (oh so unrequited)
( almost ) Been arrested
( x) Gone on a blind date
(x) Lied to a friend
(x) Skipped school
( ) Seen someone die
( ) Been to Canada
( ) Been to Mexico
(x) Been on a plane
(x ) Purposely set a part of yourself on fire
(x) Eaten sushi
() Been skiing
() Met someone from the Internet
(x) Been to a concert (Concerts, plural)
(x) Taken painkillers
( x) Love someone or miss someone right now
(x) Laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by
() Made a snow angel
(x) Had a tea party
(x) Flown a kite
(x) Built a sand castle
(x ) Gone puddle jumping
(x) Played dress up
(x) Jumped into a pile of leaves
( ) Gone sledging
( x) Cheated while playing a game
(x) Been lonely
( x) Fallen asleep at work/school
( x) Used a fake ID
(x) Watched the sun set
() Felt an earthquake
( x) Slept beneath the stars
(x) Been tickled
(x) Been robbed (it is currently 5 attempts with one success)
(x) Been misunderstood
(x goat, none too exciting ) Petted a reindeer/goat/kangaroo
(x) Won a contest
( x accidentally) Run a red light/stop sign
( almost) Been suspended from school
( ) Been in a car crash
() Had braces
( x) Felt like an outcast/third person
(x) Eaten a whole pint of ice cream in one night
(x) Had déjà vu
( x) Danced in the moonlight
(x ) Witnessed a crime
(x) Questioned your heart
(x ) Been obsessed with post-it notes
(x) Squished mud through your bare feet
(x) Been lost
(x) Been on the opposite side of the country
(x) Been on the opposite side of the world, or close
(x ) Swam in the ocean
(x) Felt like dying
(x) Cried yourself to sleep
(x) Played cops and robbers
( ) Recently colored with crayons
(x ) Sang karaoke
(x) Paid for a meal with only coins
(x) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't
(x) Made prank phone calls
( x) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
( x) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(x) Danced in the rain
( x ) Written a letter to Santa Clause
( ) Been kissed under the mistletoe
(x) Watched the sun rise with someone you care about
(x) Blown bubbles
( x) Made a bonfire on the beach
( x) Crashed a party
(x) Gone roller-skating
(x) Had a wish come true
(x ) jumped off a bridge

The upside and downside of class equality:

The downside:
Carting a 25 kilo desk on your shoulder for 25 minutes through town, if you are too lower class to own a car.
The upside:
If you are lower class enough to have no car, then you are lower class enough to have some labouring experience.

The upside:
Getting free education through university, thus not having to work as a labourer (for your entire life).
The downside:
Watching your hard-won savings dwindle rapidly while awaiting approval for your thesis from someone who has never worked a hard day in their lives.

p.s. I had to go and get a 40 kilogram bookshelf afterwards... That was a bit too heavy for me.
p.p.s. The picture is the end of my current running route.