My roommate introduced me to Ebay. I had of course known about the auctioning website years ago, but I was always wary of using the website since I thought that there would be a lot of liars and scammers on the website who would take your money and then give you a used up item. Plus, I didn’t think people actually sold new items; I dislike using other people’s used items unless I know who it belonged to before.
Since learning that Ebay users sell a lot of new items online, I have bought a few items. In preparation for the winter (which is freezing here), I have bought scarves, clothes, and a pair of moccasins. Of course, I made sure that they were brands that I trusted, instead of being a bootlegged brand from China. There are so many sellers from Hong Kong that offer a lot of items cheaply, but they are not the genuine item. It might not matter that much if it’s a scarf because how much better can a scarf get? I’m fine with buying a slightly lower quality scarf for $5 than spending $50 on a brand name, but I’m not so fine in buying bootlegged make-up items. Those items are going on my skin, so I am vary wary of the auctions from China in those sectors.
I also bought a few bootlegged earphones. Although the quality is definitely lacking, it does its job and for $0.50, I can’t really complain.
The next thing I want to buy is a hat. I should have bought a hat last year, but I neglected to. Now, the weather has turned very cold and I am without something to protect my ears. As my roommate says, “That is the ultimate form of procrastination.” Failing to buy an item even though I need it.
I finished taking my organic chem final today! It was not that bad, but I seriously have no clue how I did. I need to have a 75% or better on this test to get an A (yes, I have been doing that badly in class). I studied the most I have ever in my life. I have never studied this much for a test before: four days of non-stop studying. I would stay in my room and study or go to the library and study. Time really flies by when you are studying, especially with the feeling of panic to fuel you.
I did realize, after I studied, that I did not really understand what I was doing in class before. So, I guess the four days of intense studying really paid off. I could compartmentalize the reagents and reactions we were supposed to know so much better after I understood what was actually going on. Before, I had just hard-coded all the reactions into my brain, so it was really easy to forget something.
Well, now it’s time to study for neurobio.
My PS2 grade is also up now, but I missed checking it. The average on the final was a 65…. I have no idea how I did. I skipped questions and was confused on a lot of the other questions. I am screwed for that class, but I can’t do anything about it now.
I’ve been studying from dawn to dusk for the past three days (including today) and I still cannot do those dratted retrosynthesis questions. The final is on Friday.
Should this be the opportune time to say, “I’m screwed?”
Today, I decided to “upgrade” to Microsoft Office 2010 beta. I have never tried out Microsoft beta software before, mainly because they always write on their website, “Please use this on a secondary computer.” I don’t have a secondary computer to test out software on; I don’t have the time to use another computer just to play around with the programs. But I thought that if Microsoft was putting something out in public beta, the software has to be pretty much completed already. So I uninstalled my Office 2007 package and installed 2010 beta.
I have a Chinese essay due tomorrow, so after I installed the new package, I decided to give it a whirl with an actual task. The loading screen of the beta looked pretty neat; it looks sort of like when the Adobe programs load and displays the amount of program loaded. However, when the program actually opened up, the interface definitely did not look as nice. I think the interface no doubt would be beautified before the actual release, but the boring gray or gray tones of the entire program sort of made writing my essay kind of gloomy. Staring at the gray screen actually made me kind of unhappy. I know–weird.
The program also decided to get rid of the microsoft office button on the top left that when clicked would reveal the open/save/print options. I actually grew to like that button but apparently the majority of users did not. In the new version, this button is replaced with a more traditional “File” option in the ribbon navigation bar that leads to another entirely different page with information about the file and other options. I dislike this function because it takes away all the screen from the actual file.
But the major problems I have found already with the program is that the CTRL+Z option does not work and there are problems with saving. When I tried to save my essay first in a .doc file, it cut out half of my essay. I would not even have noticed if it was not for the fact that when I emailed the essay, I realized that when I opened it with Google Docs that half my essay was gone. Thus, I had to go back to the file (thank goodness I had not closed the Window), save it in .docx, and then save it in .doc.
I hope there are updates soon to fix these problems and in the coming weeks that the interface updates would come. But overall, I am excited to be testing a beta product.
I was a staffer at the IBC convention today, which was held by HUWIB. It’s the 5th Intercollegiate Business Convention and there were even more people this year than there were last year. However, I hardly knew because I was busy doing traffic control, setting up, cleaning, etc. throughout the day. I did manage to go to the career fair, where I definitely added to the moral hazard of our society, and heard a bit of the last keynote, who was an executive vice-president of NBC universal.
I remember reading the FAQ sheet handed out to the volunteers which read, “What if I want to go to a breakout but it conflicts with the career fair that I was assigned?” The answer: Although we discourage this, we want you to enjoy the day at IBC. Go to whichever one you would like. I was like, “Oh my god! They are so nice to the volunteers!” Until I realized that was the answer that we were supposed to tell attendees who ask the question.
Highlights of the day: (1) Eating the Bolocco burritos and realizing there was no vegetarian option (2) The break in the staffing room; maybe it was that everyone was sleep-deprived, but we were so giddy and ready to laugh at anything (3) Being at the career fair and realizing my Harvard status actually meant something–I have gone to career fairs or networking sessions before sponsored by Harvard where no one cares if you come from Harvard since everyone else there was also from Harvard (4) Going to the “exclusive” networking session after the convention to get food to eat–the mini-quiches were delicious! I also found it funny when my friends were waiting for me so we could split a taxi back to Harvard. Every time I turned around, they were eating chicken on a stick. It was actually pretty funny–more funny than it actually sounds.
The day overall was not that bad though. I feel like I actually bonded with the other WIB committee girls who were staffing. In the past, I felt like I didn’t really get the chance to because I would see these girls at their events, participate in their events, and leave. Or they would come to my events, participate, and then leave.
It was also an interesting experience being on the other side of such a big convention. Even though I definitely did not feel the pressures the IBC committee must have felt, I did realize how chaotic everything must get at times when there are streams of people just rushing out and rushing towards you for answers.
Also, I met Crystal today. Second person who I met in person who I first met through the net.
