The Lair

Figure out that I am lacking a key reference paper for the stuff I’m writing about now.
Google Scholar and sundry other resources point me towards to the paper.
Determine that I need some special access to get the paper. (University has to have IEEE access, right?)
Try to figure out my (infrequently required) username/password. Fail. University server locks my n00b ass out.
Call university support. I’m told my password needs changing, but it cannot be done over the phone. A personal visit is required.
Grumble about leaving the comfort and shelter of my desk, saunter outside. (in daylight hours! omg. But supermarket has offers on ridge cut random meat flavours crisps and double/triple packs of Bounty/Snickers/Mars. Semi-win.)
Have password reset. I can has login nao? Yes, yes I can.
Head back to the comfort and safety of desk, armed with crisps and chocs.
Login to university account. Figure out account details for IEEE.
Rub hands delightedly, count instances of Gallus domesticus before their emergence and otherwise tempt the cruel gawds.
Visit IEEE, prepare to wield hammer of “download to disk” on the paper’s PDF ass.
You can no has paper for download. Not yours.
WTF?. I have access, damn you. You’re telling me I’m from the University. What’s the problem?
Your subscription type only allows download of full-text papers from 1998 onwards. Aaargh.

Some Mondays, you just wonder why the hell you even bother.

No. I didn’t go this year. I honestly didn’t see the point, since the weather was appalling for the most part. Very cloudy and windy. There was a fair bit of rain too. Instead, I stayed at home and watched out of the window (yes, I live sufficiently close to the airfield to allow this) and occasionally ran out into the garden.

Still, nothing like living vicariously through the Flickred up photos of others so I present –

Paul Nichols. Nice photos of the wingwalkers there.
PhilEAF92 (all photos tagged elvington)

Nothing very fancy – and I didn’t hear very many jets either – so all in all, I don’t think I missed a great deal.

So there’s a famous AI researcher giving a talk today and I’m skiving off. Unshamedly? Yeah. When I was an undergrad, I used to skive off lectures too. Mostly because there was something more interesting (Quake or Starcraft) to do. Some others because I felt they were pointless. In this postgraduate world things are strangely different and somehow quite similar. My laziness and apathy to bestir myself, if anything, has multiplied over the years.

Now that I’ve typed in a few lines, I’ve somehow magically justified the skiving too. I know the line between arrogance and pragmatism can be a thin one; but if I know the talk is going to be uninteresting and I’m more likely to be clock watching than not, it just seems practical to not go. Is it polite though? Probably not. So my self interest in avoiding potential boredom is yet another example of a social trap.

I’m still not going to the talk.