Are you concerned about this recent merger collapse?

I'm trying out a new idea. I've noticed that lots of times, people wind up getting into discussions that have absolutely nothing to do with the posted topic. So I thought that a new option should be created to reflect that. In order to introduce this idea, I created what I felt would be the most boring survey topic possible. I can't imagine anyone managing to read that link in its entirety without falling asleep!

So please, talk amongst yourselves!

No, not really.

Have you ever gone to realtor.com and looked at pretty houses? It's fun.

Check out this Virtual Tour http://media.homestore.com/MPCGI/A3C675M6-11.htm

well, the link causes Netscape to crash on my comp, so I honestly cant tell you.

zang, you're not trying to steal my idea, are you >

Not at all. Why in the world should I be?

I don't think we caught the jist of the survey right off.

not concerned about the merger collapse as much as that the technology may not work or may be delayed in bigger trials....

Wow! That's pretty impressive! I've looked at other real estate sites (not recently), they didn't have movies. That's cool!

Was that your idea? I'm sorry.

HEY EVERYBODY! MY MISTAKE! THIS WAS SOUTHERNYANKEE'S IDEA!

I hope that settles everything okay.

BTW, you didn't want to read that article anyway...unless you're suffering from insomnia.

OMG! You read that, and were still awake enough to respond?!!

naw, not this idea.

the one being that you hope that people give meaningless irrelanat (not to mention incoherant) comments to a good rated survey hpoing that it will stay alive as long as possible, that idea.

BTW: i really do suffer from insomia (i think). anyway, the article didnt open with netscape, but i never said anythig about neoplanet, which just did just now did quite fine, thankyou-verymuch. now if you excuess me, i am gonna open it up and read it, and then i shall get back to you after i am done......

.... about 2 minutes later. ok, i guess you were right, this is a boring article that i dont give a fudge about. i guess i owe you an apo-- a meaningless comment. but since i cant think of anyth.. no wait, never mind.

For meaningless comment....

step 1: read (read: reread, no pun intended) everything above.
step 2: reread just above this, and this itself, and even below this
step 3; do NOT keep re-reading this over and over again such as that dumb blond did in that stupid dumb blond joke, but instead re-read the whole thing again only once, or maybe not, and just move on, since you have (and are currently) read(ing) a meaningless comment.

Oh that! I didn't make the connection. I guess because that wasn't really what I had in mind. I was thinking more along the lines of those product samples they stick in with the junk mail. "Try this out! If you like it..."

I really have trouble imagining anyone reading that entire article without at least zoning off into lalaland or something...I've tried to read it. My brain strenuously resists. They could have inserted pornographic stories in the last few paragraphs, and I wouldn't notice, by the time I get there, I'm not even scanning the words anymore.

Its snowing in London right now - real big fat flakes. Everyone is going 'Oooooh, Ahhhhhh'. We havn't seen snow like this for ages. It looks beautiful. I suspect I'll feel different trying to get home but here in the warm office looking out the window it looks really wonderful. Yay Snow!

Unfortunately, these are also addicting.

I liked the rec room in that house. I could picture my kids and all the kids in my extended family playing in a room like that. Fun!

I didn't even click.I'm not concerned or interested.I do not care.

Not in the slightest.

Apparently not.

You have kids?

Yeah, it looked pretty nice. Pretty expensive I bet. I didn't browse around the site, I guess the price was in there somewhere.

I'm sure your life won't be changed one iota by that decision.

I believe every little details changes everything.My life was changed by not clicking on that link.Wait...the whole world changed because of that.My philosophy gets weirder as I get older...

Yep. 2 kids. Yeah that house was expensive. The style was too fancy for my tastes, but I liked the rec room. The theater was pretty cool too.

Theater? Wow! The place must be a freakin' palace!

Yeah. When I look at houses on realtor.com, I pick the real high end ones. They are more interesting.

I never knew anything about it so I guess I couldn't be concerned. And now that I read it I'm still not concerned.

Well, I said I am a little concerned. I work with both of these companies and they are both on the 'cutting' edge (no pun intended!) of technology in their field. Being in Florida, we do a ton of cardiac catheterizations, pacemakers, and we are even repairing AAA's (Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm) in the cath lab now. That is very very new and very amazing. So while I am a little concerned, I am sure the technology will carry on nevertheless.

yeah, i guess i beleive you. i have not reason not to. but seriosly, the idea is insane enough for it to have come from me, and beside, it is a strange coinstance, aint it? (i assume it is).

anyway, do you think it might be just possible that you at least subcoinously got your idea based on me tring to keep my rating average up.

I tend to be against mergers on an idealogoical basis. In the long run they are bad for the consumer as they reduce competitiveness in an open market...

They are good for shareholders, bad for everyone else. The worst part is that big shareholders ALWAYS have 'inside information' and are the only people who really stand to gain from such events due to everyone else's inability to predict when such events might occur. It's always nice to see one unexpectedly fall through, though.

I suppose it isn't nearly as much fun to fantasise about dumpy old bungalows.

I'd say the connection is tenuous at best. It weren't really what I had in mind...

Vancouver has been sunny and warm for the past few days, with highs of 8 and lows of 3. Okay, it is a little chilly at night, but the days have been lovely!

So, what about dem Saints?

Oh my gosh. I guess I totally missed the idea of this one! What a dufus, huh? Heh heh. I have to figure out the humor and look out for you jokesters around here I guess, right?

In my mind I always imagined Canada to be permanantly cold! Strange that you should have sun in January - only the Aussies and South Africans etc are getting sun.

No, not really.

I wasn't expecting that anyone would have a legitimate interest. I read your earlier comment, and was surprised that someone actually was familiar with the companies and their products.

That's quite okay. If anyone's a doofus around here it would be me.

Vancouver, and Victoria (our provincial capital) are in a small climate zone in the southwest of Canada that rarely get freezing temperatures in winter.

Its fudging gorgeous out today! Just the faintest amount of cloud, about 8 degrees. There's barely even any snow on the mountains. I guess the skiers won't be happy about that.

Ok, well thanks, but I am sure you are not a dufus!

You mean 8 Celsius?
If so it's warmer than Italy right now

Sunny Italy is warmer than icey Canada
But maybe you meant 8 Fahrenheit which here is fudging cold,but maybe in Canada is like springtime.

I hate it when the pizza guy gets lost.

No I am! Really! Just look at my other surveys:

http://surveycentral.org/?S=441904&Q=33

I'm pretty sure that Americans are the only ones using Fahrenheit these days. I'm not surprised that Italy is warmer. It is, after all, a lot closer to the equator and everything, eh.

Well,if use Celsius then right now Italy is colder.Not too cold anyway.

so, who here likes potted meat products?

Well, the weather has taken a turn for the worst since yesterday. Now it is 5 degrees, completely clouded over, with a light drizzle of rain. This is more typical of Winter in Vancouver. Really typical would be pouring down rain in buckets like a freaking monsoon.

Last night, I was out seeing a band, and I stepped outside for a smoke. I was probably outside for 3 minutes before it occurred to me that it was perhaps a little too chilly for just a t-shirt! Try doing that in Winnipeg, Montreal, or Toronto in January!

Is that like SPAM?

Yes!

I like to fry it up with a tin of beans. One of my guilty pleasures. Fast, filling and tasty...not very classy or healthy however...

I just had to go for the penultimate option.

Random discussion: Is it normal to feel more homesick the second time you go away from home for a fair period of time than you did the first?

I don't think that it matters. In this case, the first time you were probably a little more overwhelmed with the whole experience, thereby distracting you from any homesick feelings. Now you are coming back to a more familiar routine, following some family festivities I suspect, and you probably have some exams looming, or are those all over?

Nope, the exams are still looming. Friday or Saturday I think - great stuff! I'm just taking a break from revising for them now. I'm okay in the day, it's when it gets dark (about 3pm!) that I just want to curl up and not do anything like I could at home.

I have every confidence that you are going to do great on your exams!

People keep saying that Unfortunately the people who say it have mostly been engineers or archaeology students who have no idea about my biology abilities! The other biology students may have a few more doubts I'd be worried about these exams even if I thought I'd thoroughly revised, so I think I should just get on with it and get them out of them way. We're going to see The Two Towers again to celebrate getting them done. Well, we're going the day after we do them so everyone has the traditional evening of drowning sorrows/celebrating with vast quantities of alcohol. Wouldn't want to deprive them of that

Thanks for the vote of confidence though, it means a lot

You know, when I got to the part "We're going to see The Two Towers again to celebrate getting them done.", before I read further, I thought to myself "What? Seeing a film? You're supposed get drunk!"

I was reassured when I read that the tradition is being kept up!

Yeah, but you have to remember that this is me

You're so well behaved...it's almost scary!

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Maybe I just make out that I'm well behaved.....

Nope, actually I think you hit the nail on the head. I don't think that rebelling or being wild would really suit me

Besides, no-one ever suspects the well-behaved ones. At school teachers would have screaming fits at almost everyone who hadn't done an essay on time. At most, I'd get a "Well, it's really not good enough. When can you get it to me by?"

You're right about that, it's true no one suspects the well behaved...or those who can convincingly appear to be well behaved...

I'm actually quite evil. People who get to know me always say that - I don't appear sweet and innocent for very long. I have quite a twisted sense of humour. I'm an optimist in my heart of hearts but I spew so much cynicism a lot of people end up doubting that. For me, optimism is very close to my faith in life/"god"/myself, etc so I hide it away and protect it. It gets covered over in dubious humour Of course, anyone who actually knows me knows very well that I'm not evil at all, but they also know I'm not very sweet or innocent

I can so very much relate to that. Some of my friends still have trouble reconciling the "saint-like" fellow who is so compassionate helping the down-and-out, with the caustic wit that can put someone in their place with one well chosen comment...

I would fear the wit of Zang if I was face to face with you! I just have to put up with the "wit" (very strong " "!) of my university friends. Wish I had a caustic wit, mostly I just manage insulting

Oh yeah?!!!

Uh...yeah......

My first year of college, I didn't want to leave home to go back to school after the winter break. And I didn't even have finals looming over me when I got back!

It's strange because I'm so settled in again now, I don't feel like I've been home at all! I phoned my mum for the first time since I got back yesterday (a week after I came down) and even that didn't make me feel particularly homesick. I think because all my close friends are here now so there's the right balance of people. It makes it feel like it's really a second home

(I may not sound so positive after lectures and practicals start tomorrow and I'm up to my eyeballs in essay!!!)

I'm glad to hear you're back in the swing of things!
Hey, are you still rowing crew?

No, the practices are a bit excessive now that we'd be part of the proper teams rather than novices. A session either on the water or the rowing machine almost every day. I just can't fit that into my schedule. I may go for the novice team again at the start of next year though

I never understood people who rowed in college. The schedule would have killed me.

If I just had anoddoblivion's 13 hours a week schedule, I could fit it in just fine! Just not with my up to 29 hours a week of scheduled stuff plus essays and practical reports!

Time-wise I suppose I could have handled it, but getting up that early in the morning would have been pretty hard!
I think I had about 12 hours of classes a week in college, plus homework, essays, etc, which could add anywhere from one to ten hours a day. American universities tend to be all about the liberal arts experience, and there's a big emphasis on extra-curricular activities. Almost everyone is involved in some group or club, and that often takes a lot of time. It's those pre-med chemistry-major student-government crew-rowing a-capella-group people I really didn't get. I have no idea how they did it.

They're the scary ones! At the moment I'm doing nothing outside of my work. Nothing organised anyway, just hanging out with my friends and cooking. I had a lot of plans to learn Russian and maybe join a current affairs society, perhaps even get involved in student politics but at the end of the day I just seem to have too much scheduled work. Perhaps if I was doing an art or humanities subject and was able to organise my time the way *I* wanted it (and have fewer lectures and no practicals!) I might be able to fit more in.

There's some interesting debates/speakers at the Union though - I'm planning to go and see a few this term

One great thing about college is the quantity of things you can do if you have time. I definitely do less of that in grad school, especially since I live off-campus--the last thing I want to do is stick around campus in the evening and take a late train home. Plus, the university I'm at is more undergraduate-focused; the graduate student association does organize a number of events, but I never go to any of them. My program ends up being fairly insular--the things I do take advantage of are usually within my department. At least they know to schedule most of the guest lectures during the day, when they know we're around!

This is the termcard for the Oxford Union this term: http://www.oxford-union.co.uk/termcard.php?PHPSESSID=8d682bb7f60f3bfbd4fa1b52e2bac8bb A lot of the people speaking or debating I've never heard of, but some sound really interesting anyway. I want to see Major Phil Ashby, Richard Dawkins, the USA debate, and David Dickinson (he's the presenter of an early morning tv show that got a cult following amongst students because of his truly horrendous fake tan and OTT glasses - a very cheesy man, but he should be interesting to see!)

That's quite a lineup! Sir Thomas Allen and Whisky and Cigars sound good, too!

Tries to remember who on Earth Sir Thomas Allen is....Ah yes, I see why I skipped over him

My parents are big opera fans, so I've heard of him through them.

Hey, "Zang". I was trying to reach you, sent you an email this morning. (I picked out your oldest, still-active survey to post to you here.) I was telling you by email how I'll be in Vancouver again starting tonight, and I'll be there for more than a week probably (changing out systems).

I thought I could finally get you and that studio facility director hooked up. The three of us could meet for drinks, if you'd like - it might ease the "introduction" that way. I left you my cell phone in the email. Give me a call - I'll be arriving around 11:30 tonight, staying at the Metro, downtown. Give a call!

Hey there! I tried calling you last night. I was at Mahoney's on Robson, had dinner, a couple of beers then left. I was dead tired. I still managed to get to the facility around seven yesterday morning, in spite of the late hour Thursday, ha.

I'm still working at the moment, unfortunately (out of the hotel). The box I shipped didn't make it past customs so I never received my cell phone a/c adapter, but you can call me at the hotel tomorrow, at the Met, room 1605.

I'll have met up with Scott by 12:00 noon, so if you want to meet up at that same place again some time tomorrow after that, give me a call... (I can't get into my email domain, otherwise I'd have emailed you, plus with my cell phone dead - ain't got your number!)

Gimme a call, we'll set it up. Later!

Yeah, I just missed your call by seconds. I tried calling back, but as you said, it was loud so I guess you didn't hear it.

It's around 8:30 Sunday night right now. I just tried calling your room, but you weren't in. I left a message, but just in case, here's my number again: (604) 723-4974.