Jenny P (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} anijen21) wrote,@ 2008-04-19 10:50:00 |
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idle ramblings
I was stuck at work for 10 hours yesterday with nothing to do. I almost killed myself. I'm stuck at work again for 10 hours today. I've been here two, and I'm already looking for an outlet.
I actually snuck out for about 15 minutes this morning. I got caught, but they probably thought I was in the bathroom. I just took a short little walk, just to get some fresh air, look at something besides a computer screen. A girl's high school soccer team was practicing on the Midway.
ANYWAY, in order to curb the crazies today, I brought in "The Golden Compass." No, not the movie. THE BOOK. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have decided to read for fun once again. Only now do I realize why that is so hard. Hollywood has a tendency of making popular, if not good, but usually, good, books into movies, and they usually don't give me much time in between to actually read them. And reading a book after you've seen the movie is just the most extreme exercise in monotony and restlessness. And for some reason, putting a DVD in a player and sitting on my ass, or even taking a bus downtown to see a movie, is easier for me than opening a book. There seems to be so much risk involved in reading. It takes so much longer. And if it sucks, you've already invested all this time into it, you know? But actually, I don't know if I'm reading better or just differently, but I can read a lot faster now. Like 80 pages an hour fast. I realized I used to get really into books, but then feel guilty about not reading the "he said"s and "Professor Dumbledore exclaimed"s, so I would end up reading things two or three times. It's great, because you pick up little details that others miss, but it's not efficient at all. I've decided to trade in depth for breadth, as it were.
Speaking of economics, we had a really interesting lecture the other day about how gifts incur deadweight losses. A deadweight loss is a loss of surplus due to the artificial removal of equilibrium from a market, due to a tax or subsidy, or, I guess, a gift. (Surplus is basically the difference between how much you value something and how much you pay for it. Like, if you want a shirt that you're willing to pay $30 for but get on sale for $9.99, your consumer surplus is $20.01) So anyway, gift-giving incurs deadweight losses because you're probably paying for something that someone values less than what they would have used the money for. You buy your mom a box of chocolates for $10, they would have used that $10 to go see a movie or pay down their credit card. The point is, the best gift is cash. Even gift cards incur deadweight losses, because if you sell them on ebay you'll never get face value. I thought that was interesting.
I don't think I have anything else to say right now. I'll edit this entry if I think of something.
Oh yeah there was an earthquake yesterday. I totally forgot. It was like 4:40 in the morning and it pissed me off b/c I had to be awake at 6:00 anyway >:o
Also this morning I learned that "spandex" is an anagram of "expands." DOESN'T THAT MAKE YOU LOOK AT THE WORLD IN A TOTALLY DIFFERENT LIGHT?
I was stuck at work for 10 hours yesterday with nothing to do. I almost killed myself. I'm stuck at work again for 10 hours today. I've been here two, and I'm already looking for an outlet.
I actually snuck out for about 15 minutes this morning. I got caught, but they probably thought I was in the bathroom. I just took a short little walk, just to get some fresh air, look at something besides a computer screen. A girl's high school soccer team was practicing on the Midway.
ANYWAY, in order to curb the crazies today, I brought in "The Golden Compass." No, not the movie. THE BOOK. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have decided to read for fun once again. Only now do I realize why that is so hard. Hollywood has a tendency of making popular, if not good, but usually, good, books into movies, and they usually don't give me much time in between to actually read them. And reading a book after you've seen the movie is just the most extreme exercise in monotony and restlessness. And for some reason, putting a DVD in a player and sitting on my ass, or even taking a bus downtown to see a movie, is easier for me than opening a book. There seems to be so much risk involved in reading. It takes so much longer. And if it sucks, you've already invested all this time into it, you know? But actually, I don't know if I'm reading better or just differently, but I can read a lot faster now. Like 80 pages an hour fast. I realized I used to get really into books, but then feel guilty about not reading the "he said"s and "Professor Dumbledore exclaimed"s, so I would end up reading things two or three times. It's great, because you pick up little details that others miss, but it's not efficient at all. I've decided to trade in depth for breadth, as it were.
Speaking of economics, we had a really interesting lecture the other day about how gifts incur deadweight losses. A deadweight loss is a loss of surplus due to the artificial removal of equilibrium from a market, due to a tax or subsidy, or, I guess, a gift. (Surplus is basically the difference between how much you value something and how much you pay for it. Like, if you want a shirt that you're willing to pay $30 for but get on sale for $9.99, your consumer surplus is $20.01) So anyway, gift-giving incurs deadweight losses because you're probably paying for something that someone values less than what they would have used the money for. You buy your mom a box of chocolates for $10, they would have used that $10 to go see a movie or pay down their credit card. The point is, the best gift is cash. Even gift cards incur deadweight losses, because if you sell them on ebay you'll never get face value. I thought that was interesting.
I don't think I have anything else to say right now. I'll edit this entry if I think of something.
Oh yeah there was an earthquake yesterday. I totally forgot. It was like 4:40 in the morning and it pissed me off b/c I had to be awake at 6:00 anyway >:o
Also this morning I learned that "spandex" is an anagram of "expands." DOESN'T THAT MAKE YOU LOOK AT THE WORLD IN A TOTALLY DIFFERENT LIGHT?
