self-indulgent birthday post
My birthday was full of ups and downs (but mostly ups!)
Morning: Woke up and read a few articles for my thesis. Built a better understanding of one line of research I'd kind of pursued for a reason which didn't really pan out (although the results are kind of interesting in themselves!)
Mid-morning: Headed out for an outrigger canoe session. It was my first time leading the boat, and um, man is it hard work up there. You can't slack off, since everyone is following you. I really don't envy the lead strokes on my dragonboat team.
Noon: Returned home. My supervisor's left a message for me: "Your draft looks good so far but I'm missing pages 41-50. Can you send me a PDF?" Oops. I'd printed my thesis in batches of ten pages, and I guess I skipped over those.
Afternoon: Read some more of Marcus Aurelius' Mediations. Had birthday cake. OM NOM NOM.
Late afternoon: Headed downtown for a) pants shopping and b) dinner with friends before concert! Unfortunately my shopping was cut abruptly short when my card got declined. I phoned Visa immediately and found out someone had put a nine-hundred-dollar charge on my card for online poker. WHHHAAAATTT. This happened to me a few years ago, so I had them keep my cell number on file in case of strange activity on the account. Why Visa decided my spending $900 on poker is not sketchy I will never know.
The card is cancelled now, so there's nothing left for me to do but wait for a new card and let the investigators figure it out. (And, uh, fervently cross my fingers that they won't put me on the hook for $900.)
I'm kind of half-heartedly trying to figure out how this could have happened. I'm pretty careful with that card. I only use it with reputable merchants; I have a student card I keep around for small online purchases, etc. My brother tells me skimmers will usually wait a while before using your details to make a purchase so it can't be traced to them.
Evening: Dinner was quite nice, with some friends I hadn't seen in a while (and one who's going back to HK soon! She's been here a month and I've only seen her twice. *sigh*) (For what it's worth, local readers: Twisted Fork has good food, but drinks were mostly a disappointment. Dessert was wonderful, though, probably the best part of the meal. Service was fine.)
Late evening: Coeur de Pirate concert! She sounds just as good live as on the record. And her English blows me away. "I'm doing all my interventions in bilingual tonight!"
I'm really glad I finally had a chance to see her. She's also six months pregnant, so I don't think she'll be playing that many more shows....
Morning: Woke up and read a few articles for my thesis. Built a better understanding of one line of research I'd kind of pursued for a reason which didn't really pan out (although the results are kind of interesting in themselves!)
Mid-morning: Headed out for an outrigger canoe session. It was my first time leading the boat, and um, man is it hard work up there. You can't slack off, since everyone is following you. I really don't envy the lead strokes on my dragonboat team.
Noon: Returned home. My supervisor's left a message for me: "Your draft looks good so far but I'm missing pages 41-50. Can you send me a PDF?" Oops. I'd printed my thesis in batches of ten pages, and I guess I skipped over those.
Afternoon: Read some more of Marcus Aurelius' Mediations. Had birthday cake. OM NOM NOM.
Late afternoon: Headed downtown for a) pants shopping and b) dinner with friends before concert! Unfortunately my shopping was cut abruptly short when my card got declined. I phoned Visa immediately and found out someone had put a nine-hundred-dollar charge on my card for online poker. WHHHAAAATTT. This happened to me a few years ago, so I had them keep my cell number on file in case of strange activity on the account. Why Visa decided my spending $900 on poker is not sketchy I will never know.
The card is cancelled now, so there's nothing left for me to do but wait for a new card and let the investigators figure it out. (And, uh, fervently cross my fingers that they won't put me on the hook for $900.)
I'm kind of half-heartedly trying to figure out how this could have happened. I'm pretty careful with that card. I only use it with reputable merchants; I have a student card I keep around for small online purchases, etc. My brother tells me skimmers will usually wait a while before using your details to make a purchase so it can't be traced to them.
Evening: Dinner was quite nice, with some friends I hadn't seen in a while (and one who's going back to HK soon! She's been here a month and I've only seen her twice. *sigh*) (For what it's worth, local readers: Twisted Fork has good food, but drinks were mostly a disappointment. Dessert was wonderful, though, probably the best part of the meal. Service was fine.)
Late evening: Coeur de Pirate concert! She sounds just as good live as on the record. And her English blows me away. "I'm doing all my interventions in bilingual tonight!"
I'm really glad I finally had a chance to see her. She's also six months pregnant, so I don't think she'll be playing that many more shows....