Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Jinxed?

Yesterday was a day I won't be remembering fondly.

It started with me receiving an email statement for a credit card that was supposed to have expired last month. Whats worse is that they've encrypted the file with a password that I'm supposed to derive from my credit card number, which I didn't bother to carry with me when I moved to Lisbon for studies since it was about to expire, and I had no outstanding dues. It might take some time for my folks to locate my card, so in the interim I'd appreciate if someone could help me crack the pdf file. Worse, my dad was not pleased about this.. as it is he thinks I'm the most irresponsible person in his life.

Then at my institute, my department has been having some problems in contacting their counterparts at one of our collaborating universities, where I'm supposed to take a course, but need to apply for a visa to get there.

I thought I'd get some rest at home, but then the wireless router through which my flat-mates and me access the internet decided to stop working. Since I'm the only electronics engineer in our apartment, it was me who had to spend some time in getting it to work again.. it was almost midnight by the time I succeeded.

I was tempted to conclude that all these things were the result of some kind of voodoo hex, but I guess they are mere ant-bites as compared to some problems some people have to struggle with.