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Tech college career inspires above-average mediocrity
My weekly column from the Technique (back from a two-week hiatus), this time about my motivations for going to Kazakhstan. I kind of liked it, even though I wrote most of it in a semi-exhausted state at the Frankfurt airport.
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Things I did not miss
Some things, unfortunately, are present everywhere. For the non-Cyrillic readers among you, that’s L. Ron Hubbard’s Dianetics, advertised on the side of a bus stop in Almaty.
As seen on the side of a bus stop in Kazakhstan.
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In Kazakhstan
I’m alive and well. In fact so far my experience is fantastic; it remains to be seen whether the honeymoon period will wear off.
I start work Monday, at which point I will have internet access regularly. That’s also the point at which I will write something more thorough, I think.
Meanwhile, tomorrow I will get to go watch the elections for AIESEC Almaty. They have 14 applicants for seven roles, and the whole election process is scheduled to take place from 9:30 a.m. until 7 p.m.! Holy crap, eh?
Finally, I saw on Shanky’s blog that he has been mugged quite badly. Keep him in your thoughts.
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Oops
Did not quite make it to Kazakhstan yet as my flight got cancelled. Rather, spending the night at a hotel in Frankfurt. No major complaints, though. More when I do not have to type on a German keyboard (i.e. not today, since they do not have free internet).
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Relative Expenditures
Last night, I spent nearly $15 on dinner with a group of friends. The food was delicious but it seems like the expenditure is remarkably large considering that it was probably less than healthy and all it did for me was fill me up. From the perspective of having an impact, what did I gain from spending that money?
I’m not saying this from the perspective of being a cheapskate; rather, it made me muse about the things I have consciously avoided spending money on that could make a lasting improvement in my daily life. If I added up my monthly expenses for going out to eat, I could buy maybe 10-15 pairs of “nice” socks. So why am I still putting up with ones that are uncomfortable and, in some cases, developing holes?
Likewise, my laptop battery life has been disgustingly bad lately. An eBay search showed that I could buy a third-party battery for roughly $40. The utility of better battery life for me is significant; I feel like run into battery life-related annoyances several times a week. For the cost of two and a half dinners, I could remove a regular annoyance.
And yet when it comes down to daily actions, it’s always a lot easier for me to convince myself to spend money on dinner than on a new laptop battery. I would make a terrible economist.
Meanwhile, I’ve finally ordered that new laptop battery after all.
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Social media becomes catalyst for rising celebrities
In Brief
My name is Arcadiy, and arcadiy.org is my website. Funny how that works.
I write about life, technology, my random side projects and whatever else strikes my fancy. I make no promises about the utility or entertainment of anything here. However, I would love to hear your thoughts on anything I mention.
In my day job I'm a Program Manager on SkyDrive.
You can read (or look at) more by me in my momentstream.
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- @matthewfong Yep, thankfully Seattle is one of them. #
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