ideas. i has them.

Hey Stash,

I just read an article in the latest Business Week that I think you'd find interesting. It's on companies' efforts to put information about the carbon footprint of their products on the labels. It talks specifically about Tesco, the large British retailer and some other brands based in England, because this summer it's expected to become the first country to introduce "legally binding [carbon dioxide] reduction targets." Here's the article.

Anyway, it reminded me of your receipt project, because they're trying to distill some really varied kinds of information (like fertilizer or fuel used) into a small amount of space for consumers to read. If you're thinking of expanding your current project, this could be an interesting challenge. It could, ahem, even get you hired to work on the challenge in London, where many companies may soon be working on this! Or it's such a hot topic, it would be a good candidate for design contests and the like. Anyway, just another one of my ideas!

Thanks for listening to my mini-rant on the phone today. It's amazing how exhausting a boring or poorly run class can be. Like I said, it's kind of like trying to communicate with my mom. Except whereas my mom starts a conversation in the middle, without any context, so you're scrambling to figure out what she's talking about, this professor starts at the beginning, and then abandons the thought, mid-sentence even! Many trains of thought, derailed. In any case, same result: scrambling to figure out what she's talking about.

I think I may start speaking up when she goes off on her tangents. Maybe if I say often enough, "I'm sorry, I'm not following what you're saying," she'll gradually adjust, especially if other students start doing it, too. Eventually I may just start amusing myself by seeing how many times I can say it in a class.

Talk to you soon! Looking forward to *seeing* you soon!

[edited] moi

p.s. I just installed TurboTax -- yeeha! Should I bring your paperwork and the CD, or just mail it to you when I get back?