What are the odds?

More than my belief in chance and coincidences, I just find it interesting to compute the odds of a seemingly insignificant event or an incident happening everyday.

I got a new pair of running shoes as a gift past Sunday. Considering the nice spring weather and also considering how I hadn't gotten any exercise in winter (except may be the walking to and from the campus) I had been looking forward to resuming my running. Also considering my not-so-old shoes that I usually ran with weren't "running shoes", I decided to take my new shoes for a test drive on Tuesday.

I decided to take Big-Psycho's route (5 miles of steep up and down: going up to campus - back to Ludlow - to Mt Storm park - back home). What I wasn't expecting was for my shoes to meet their twin along the way! I had hardly gotten through the first up-slope to MLK, while passing the couple in front of me, I noticed that the shoes on the guy in front of me seemed familiar. By the time I passed them, I was able to confirm that they were indeed same as the ones I was running with! We exchanged a "Nice shoes" comment and I was on my way but I couldn't help thinking about the odds of that happening.

Here are the list of events all of which had to happen for the two pairs of shoes to meet:

1. I had to pick that shoe! Now this may not seem like a big deal but I had actually picked one from another store that wasn't available in my size and we came to a different store where my original two choices were different. Add to it that I wasn't really planning on getting a shoe in the first place.
2. Me deciding to run on Tuesday at that time and deciding to take that route just so that my shoes would bump into the other pair was very spur of the moment! My running decision was surprisingly spontaneous and so was my route selection (I wasn't sure about running 5 miles all at once considering the last time I ran at all was way back in the beginning of Fall!).
3. The above two reasons for the other person - that guy buying the same shoes and being on my path at that same time on Tuesday when a mere minute or two would have made the difference.  
4. Me noticing it! With my iPod and a whole lot on my mind, trust me, looking at other people's shoes is the last thing I was planning on doing. When I am running, I rarely glance at others' shoes, let alone notice them closely enough to recognize and remember. And on Tuesday I was quite preoccupied and hardly noticed even the things that I usually do.

Well I can add a whole lot more to that list by just expanding on each point, but the bottom line would still be that the chances of that event happening are really slim! I also wonder if it will happen again. Btw, on a side note, the shoes are Nike and extremely comfortable, but are also probably the most expensive pair I have ever owned.

May be I will start noting down more of such coincidences in future.

---

The non-Brown me

If you have a guess on what this post is about, it is probably way off :)

Not only have I read all of Dan Brown's cheesy adventures but I have even seen both the equally cheesy movie versions in theater. In fact, I read The DaVinci Code for the second time to gear up for its highly anticipated screen version. May be it was the disappointment from the first film or my indifference after watching the second film, I was never counting down days for The Lost Symbol. However, I did find myself interested in the book whenever a friend mentioned reading it and not surprisingly, I grabbed a copy of it when I saw one at the library.

I have been on a bad slump with reading books thanks to all the overflowing things currently on my plate. However I was actually expecting to get over the slump by reading this one "at-a-stretch". I can only report that although I began reading it with enough enthusiasm, it lasted for a whole of... one page! (Eh... a little short of a page to be a bit more accurate.) Even before I finished the page I knew that if I continued, it would only be for the sake of finishing it.

Knowing how I very rarely don't finish books or movies - no matter how crappy they are - I must have been really surprised, especially since reading the Dan Brown kind is one of my guilty pleasures. However, I think I was more surprised about how fast and easily I decided to skip the book. I also realized that it had very little to do with that specific book and more to do with the genre. Considering the other non-technical books around me that I haven't given up on just yet are all either non-fiction or are very different from the Brown masala types, I think it might just be the right time to say -- Au Revoir Dan Brown.

---

Go Villains

The new Survivor season is definitely off to a great start. The premiere was a blast and I can only hope it gets better. Since I am very likely to be catching up with most episodes only afterwards, I also have to try hard and avoid spoilers until I watch the episode. (Btw by spoilers, I mean my too-eager-to-spoil-it-for-me buddies here).

Anyways, I am yet to pick my two pre-season picks (which I usually do only *after* the first episode). Considering I know most players well, I am torn between whether to go for who-I-want-to-win versus who-I-think-will-win. For the former, my two picks are quite easy - Russell and Cirie (in that order). Of course, knowing Russell is 99.99% not winning (based on his show at the Samoa's finale) and that Cirie is already a target in her tribe doesnt help the case. Since I still haven't finalized on who-I-think-will-win yet, I think I might just stick with Russell and Cirie. After coming too close to picking a winner in past seasons, I think I ll survive a bad pick this time. Oh, btw something tells me this time it will be a woman winner, much like Micronesia. Lets see.

---

The Countdown

I am officially counting down my last days as the GA at the Engineering Library - the spring break week will be my last week of work. Not only will I run out of UGS credits this quarter (i.e. I won't be registered for full-time student credits anymore, which is a requirement for GA positions), but with the budget cuts a certainty for the next academic year it makes most sense for the library to hire a new GA before the college begins to reconsider the position's funding. I cannot imagine how the library would continue to function smoothly without a GA; I really hope the position is retained.

As a result, work is less fun these days since I end up reminding myself of the fast approaching spring break (no matter how hard I try not to!). Of course, the other parallel threads in my life don't help at all. The only consolation is that I expect to be done with my defense soon and also have a "semi-plan" of what I am going to be doing next. Having worked at the library for 2.5 years and having made so many connections here, I am sure it is going to be really difficult in the coming weeks. However, I am also kind of looking forward to the end of this phase. I hope this will be the last of the student worker positions for me.

To better things ahead... cheers!

---