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My other sites:
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Other journals I read:
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= John Gorenfeld
= Lawrence Lessig
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My journal at use.perl.org:
· Restless
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· RPC-XML-0.56.tar.gz uploaded to PAUSE
· RPC-XML-0.55.tar.gz uploaded to PAUSE
· Forgive Me, Bretheren Monks
· Extry Extry: Winer Leaves the RSS Advisory Board
· RPC::XML 0.54 Uploaded
· The Books of Perl
· Good Intentions Don't Equal Good Results
· Errata Tracking Page for PWSWP
· Image::Size 2.992 Uploaded
· Props to Portland PM
· Lightning Talks
· OSCON, Tuesday
· OSCON Plans Now Set



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We will never have true civilization until we have learned to recognize the rights of others. — Will Rogers

I Feel So Dirty 2002.11.12.18:01

I laughed when I saw that Starbuck's shops were popping up in London, thinking that they probably wouldn't be able to compete with the existing café culture here. And of course, I don't even go into Starbuck's at home, I'm certainly not doing so here.

I'm in the Starbuck's on Old Broad St., near Liverpool St. station. Why oh why am I in the lair of corporate conformity?

They're currently doing a trial-run of providing wireless network access with T-Mobile. It's free, and they even have power outlets to plug my laptop into. That's why.

But I'm only drinking a juice. I don't even like coffee, anyway.

# [/misc]

Well Bugger it All 2002.11.12.17:46

I'm determined not to let the last day or so ruin my trip. But suffice to say that this hasn't been as wide-eyed and magical as my first trip to London was.

My problems with the digital camera and its batteries persisted. Then when we got to the RAF Duxford air museum, I found that something had caused corrosion in the battery compartment of my 35mm camera's flash. It was completely unusuable. On top of that, something must have jarred the lens assembly, as it wouldn't focus properly unless the zoom lens was completely inward, at the closest range. So all my indoor photography had to be done with the digital, but I was going through batteries so fast that I had to use the 35mm outside. Then I had to play focusing games.

When I got to my hotel, I found that despite having booked online with a credit card, I was expected to pay at the time, and pay in cash no less. So I had to go find a cashpoint (ATM) and get the funds. Then I found that my room was on the 4th floor, which in English English means the fifth floor. The ground floor is called exactly that, and the next floor up is where the numbering starts. Then I find that they have no elevator, so I have to schlep my baggage up the stairs. And stairs in London are really fucking narrow. And steep. But I made it, rested up a bit, and went out for a bite of dinner and a wander.

Dinner was passable, but I should have known better than to wander. For one thing, my feet were already heinously sore from all the walking at the show and at Duxford earlier that day. But I wanted to wander SOHO again, since it had been so, well, vibrant last time. What happened was, I ended up getting conned by a very slick pair of street-hustlers who led me to believe I was getting a ticket to a sold-out show. Through that con and some good sleight of hand, I ended up out of about £60 ($120). The worst part isn't the money, though that part did hurt. The pisser is that I should have known better, and even ignored some red-flags early on in the conversation that I should have paid more attention to.

Then, to just crown the evening, as I was walking to the bus to get back to my hotel, a blister on one of my feet broke. So now I'm hobbling along, it's well past midnight (hence the bus, rather than the tube), I'm out a notably amount of money, and then it hits me...

I have to climb five flights of stairs when I get to the hotel.

# [/misc]


Who Am I:
Randy J. Ray
Software Engineer

www·rjray·org
<rjray@rjray.org>

Buy my book!

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Programming Web Services with Perl


I've also contributed three chapters to:

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Computer Science & Perl Programming

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Reading and Re-reading
Current
cover
· The Annotated Thursday: G.K. Chesterton's The Man Who Would Be Thursday, G.K. Chesterton, Martin Gardner
· The Feeling Good Handbook, David D. Burns
· Organizing From the Inside Out, Julie Morgenstern
· XML Schema, Eric Van Der Vlist
· BEEP: The Definitive Guide, Marshall T. Rose

High in the queue
· Silk, Caitlin R. Kiernan
· Coldheart Canyon, Clive Barker
· Idoru, William Gibson
· Shared Source CLI Essentials, David Stutz, Ted Neward, Geoff Shilling

Recently finished
· Planetary Vol. 3: Leaving the 20th Century, Warren Ellis, et al

Recommended favorites
· The Cowboy Wally Show, Kyle Baker
· Lost Souls, Poppy Z. Brite
· The Alienist, Caleb Carr
· Quarantine, Greg Egan
· The Authority: Relentless, Warren Ellis et al.
· Planetary: All Over the World and Other..., Warren Ellis et al.
· American Gods, Neil Gaiman
· Good Omens, Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
· Neuromancer, William Gibson
· A Philosophical Investigation, Philip Kerr
· Say You Want a Revolution (The Invisibles, Book 1), Grant Morrison et al
· You Are Worthless: Depressing Nuggets of..., Oswald T. Pratt and Scott Dickers
· Cryptonomicon, Neil Stephenson
· Rising Stars : Born In Fire (Vol. 1), J. Michael Straczynski

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