Two down and two to go. I am perplexed to no end by the mysterious St. Andrews grading scale, but I’m fairly sure I don’t like it. In any case, the two-hour exam I wrote today determined 100% of my grade in Forecasting–a scary thought.
Measure theory is going to be brutal…
According to recent polling data, I am the third hottest member of the board of ten. Here’s the breakdown:
And no, I haven’t voted for myself (yet).
As part of my daily commute to Arlington, I park in a garage at the Largo Metro Station. According to the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority this garage has 2,200 parking spaces.
As I occupied one of the few remaining spaces this morning, I noticed something strange; I was one of the only commuters who hadn’t backed into my space. This confused me quite a bit, motivating me to consider my own rationale for not backing in. Here’s what I concluded:
This is a classic economic problem in diguise: intertemporal substitution. I prefer expending time in the second period rather than the first because it is less costly. This cost comes from two sources: social disapproval and my own preferences. I don’t want irritate already angry commuters, but I also like saving a few minutes in the morning.
So here’s the question: why am I the only one? Does this result generalize to other parking garages? Most importantly, why is my life so boring that writing about parking garages amuses me? I don’t think anyone has an answer to that last one…
Ich weiss nicht was soll es bedeuten
dass ich so traurig bin…
Oh wait, yes I do. It’s this infernal cultural studies paper!
My thesis is due at 5:00 PM tomorrow: Good Friday. It’s poetic justice I suppose. Meanwhile I still have to decide what to do about my offer of Admission to UCSD. I’ll be glad when this semester is over.
Two plane flights and some very crappy fast food later, I’m finally in La Jolla. It’s never heartening when your plane has to return to the gate because it’s overloaded. I met one of my fellow recruits immediately upon getting in the shuttle. It’s nice to be able to talk shop with smart people.
The hotel seems very nice, although the pool closed for the evening just before I arrived. I’ll hit it up in the morning.
More to come…
I’m flying out to San Diego this afternoon to visit the UCSD Department of Economics. Meanwhile my thesis looms large. This friday afternoon will call for a good bottle of Champagne.
