Less for more

used to joke that sooner or later the 150ml tubes, which became 125ml tubes, will become 100ml as ‘standard’. In “COVID times” they shrank that to 75ml and finally, yesterday, I saw 50ml tubes. They make these seem bigger than they are.

So we all pay more for packaging materials, not products.

It’s not only Colgate; other companies do the same. It’s just that Colgate became “household name” (or brand).

In some markets they use sachets for toothpaste too.

Restaurant no more

oday we went to many places and ended by going to our much (or most) cherished restaurant, only to discover that it is no more. It did not exactly shock us, knowing the owner must be approaching 80 and is belatedly retired (by all odds). We used to meet her in town and in parties over the years. I went there on my 32^nd birthday with Rianne, who took the photo above.

This day out was for our anniversary. We’re now in our 15^th year.

On the way back home we had snacks instead (didn’t try another restaurant; many are expensive) and suddenly saw almost 500 birds near the road. So we disembarked and left for the roadside, where we fed as many of them as we could. There was even a swan there! Some elderly women nearby were watching. Now we’re back home and catching up with news.

think that based on my records, I started my Ph.D. on “Tuesday 23rd September, 2003″ or maybe that was just my first meeting (21st September was likely my first day). I wrote this report a week later. Prior to that I had met or “interviewed” – if that’s the right term – 3 people in that department regarding a project and/or supervisor (I think that was Jim, Sue, and Chris).

I’m glad, in hindsight, that I chose Chris. Despite him being a demanding perfectionist (months later a student of his, Gareth, committed suicide), he did inspire or encourage certain traits I still have. I remember a prior student, Kate, complaining about his attitude in a dinner, saying he’s “always right” (cynically, something to that effect), but his track record or credentials compensated for this attitude.

Having high expectations can be a burden on others.

23 years later Chris is still alive (in his 80s) and shows up in fairly new videos of the same university where he studied and worked for about 60 years. He’s still professionally active, at 80 or above. That part of him I really appreciate. I hope that I too can do the same things 40 years from now.

Chris was always a heavy drinker of coffee, who clearly didn’t get enough sleep. This seems not to have shortened his life. He did what he loved.

A growing pain

t’s Monday, which means more places are open. Our anniversary was Friday and we decided to go out and travel the following Monday, not the weekend. Trafford Centre isn’t too far away, there are nice places in the east too, and the weather today is fairly good.

Linux has a new RC and Linus (Torvalds) complains about the size, as usual, whilst also taking note of LLMs in the last paragraph. This is becoming a big problem and the press does not talk about it (or talks about this as a positive/benign thing).

I plan to dig deeper into this.

There are many “Big Issues” to cover. If the media turns a blind eye to them, then we can ‘plug the gap’.

Perfect (5 matches, 5 wins; also in the other two tournaments)

am back home to catch up with news and, today being a mostly sunny day, I’m glad we took advantage. Warm days can end any week/day and not come back until spring next year. No more short sleeves.

As noted in the previous post, we kept track of the match remotely and came back with a happy outcome, both in terms of points and goal difference (GD).

Now, for about 3 weeks, City can rest on its laurels, well positioned for a first league win in 3 years.

Like City, we fight ’til the end.

We’ve long supported what we believed in, even with the little money we had

Listening to football (radio/park nearby) costs nothing

t’s easy to take. It’s easy to tell someone, “what makes you happy? What are you taking? (Drugs, medication etc.)

What about giving? How about sharing with others?

That too gives joy, contentment, the memorable blissful moments, fulfillment, happiness.

Last year we gave our money to defend Free software.

This year we give our life and labour to feed the animal kingdom.

It’s about giving, not taking.

The birds’ looks today were gratitude enough.

I think that a society driven by extreme forms of capitalism relies on consumption (“consumerism” makes it sound like a religion), which means people are trained psychologically to take, to hoard, to collect; the notion of giving away or sharing (e.g. better salaries for one’s employees) is portrayed as foolish.

In the Free software movement, we strive to commend people who share while condemning those who work for greedy monopolists. We don’t show much respect to people based on affluence. It indicates a desire to hoard rather than true, objective achievements or professional accomplishments.

In academia, likewise, what counts most is publications, not job titles or salary.

Recent: Now… a Word From Our Sponsor

HE match is about to begin and seeing the above photo shows how football became all about sponsors – to the point where they tell people what to drink and eat based on which company pays.

It is ridiculous. Rianne will have a laugh though.

Notice how they even had the drinks “face the camera” to show the letters and logo in full.