Blog by Sumana Harihareswara, Changeset founder
Frustration. I tried to buy some stamps at a…
Hi, reader. I wrote this in 2001 and it's now more than five years old. So it may be very out of date; the world, and I, have changed a lot since I wrote it! I'm keeping this up for historical archive purposes, but the me of today may 100% disagree with what I said then. I rarely edit posts after publishing them, but if I do, I usually leave a note in italics to mark the edit and the reason. If this post is particularly offensive or breaches someone's privacy, please contact me.
Frustration. I tried to buy some stamps at a vending machine in the post office annex on Allston Way. It ate my $4.00 and gave me back 60 cents in change but did not give me my book of ten first class stamps. (What went wrong? I assume the book didn't drop from its holder, but since the machine -- like too much government -- was nontransparent, I couldn't tell.) Since it's the Monday after Veterans' Day, the main post office was empty of all but the homeless seeking shelter from the rain. I might go there to complain tomorrow.
In happier news, I'm going out to lunch with Alexei. Sometimes I like holidays. I'll try to cram in a few more chapters of Fathers and Sons before I leave. I enjoy Turgenev's spot-on characterizations and the philosophical arguments, and I half-enjoy and half-dislike that I can spot where a translator found some awkward phrasing for some Russian expression.
