My first waking thought:

Mon, 21 Sep 2009
1 min read
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There is no inherent evolutionary benefit for small dogs that yip incessantly for no good reason.

I’m serious. I was rudely awakened in the early hours of dawn by a small, yipping dog that stays in the blocks of flats opposite my window. That sucked because I hate having my sleep interrupted. I have trouble sleeping at night and some sleep disorders to boot, so getting a good rest can sometimes be quite a challenge.

Coincidentally, Cowboy Caleb posted a link to a visual opinion piece in the New York Times which provides another perspective on the difficulties of getting a good night’s sleep.

I hope small, yipping dogs get bred out of the evolutionary chain soon.

A kukubird.

Fri, 18 Sep 2009
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That’s what you are if you haven’t read The Time Traveller’s Wife:

or caught the film yet:

I watched it last weekend and actually managed to finish reading the book in camp during periods of lull – while waiting for my turn at the firing range or for CAT 1s (inclement weather for the civilians) to clear.

I can’t stop thinking about the action and the plot during the small moments I have to myself. It’s a beautiful book and it’s a beautiful story, and I’m glad to have had the chance of experiencing both because I’ve learnt a bit more about love and life.

Reward users for loyalty.

Tue, 8 Sep 2009
2 min read
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Isn’t the $3 deposit on each card enough to offset costs incurred in Giro service?
 Letter from Laremy Lee

I REFER to “EZ-Reload: Convenience, peace of mind” (Sept 7).

I acknowledge that there might be processing costs incurred in the provision of the EZ-Reload by Giro service which the company might need to cover. However, this raises two questions.

  1. According to the EZ-Link website, there are more than 8 million card-based transactions daily.Aren’t EZ-Link’s overall profits based on this volume of users enough to cover said processing costs of the Giro service?
  2. At the same time, EZ-Link users currently need to have a $3 minimum balance on their cards before they can travel.The EZ-Link website also states that it has issued 10 million cards so far. This adds up to about $30 million of latent cash. Doesn’t the interest on this already cover the processing costs?

Using the EZ-Link system is one of only two payment options offered to commuters. In light of this fact, I feel that EZ-Link should consider absorbing the processing costs for the EZ-Reload by Giro so as to reward its customers for their loyalty to the company.

~

Please be reminded (or at least be aware) that the tone I have adopted in the last paragraph is one of irony.