I'm on permanent leave...

Brainiac. This show is awesome. It is almost entirely dedicated to blowing stuff up. They just had the segment "fizz or bang" where they mixed metal nails and hydrochloric acid to know whether it would "fizz or bang." With the addition of a flame after some compression by doing the reaction in a paint bucket, it exploded (big surprise). Now, they're gluing/stapling a guy to a board and seeing how long he stays. Contact adhesive is better than staples.

Later on, they're going to show the thermite segment. If you've never seen thermite go off, watch here! That stuff is FAN-TASTIC.

They seem to end shows by blowing up different caravans with different chemicals to see what color they burn (you know, copper is green, sodium is yellow, etc).

It is on G4 tv (used to be ZDTV), about 2:30 at night. Watch.

PS - holy crap. This guy is taking a bath in ale! He says bad beer, but it is still awesome!

So yeah. In like... 6 days I'll be boarding a flight and leaving my home. country. I still haven't thought a lot about it. I guess I'll be okay. I went to Kentucky a week ago and survived "outside of my comfort zone" (though, not really). I realize Kentucky isn't exactly Ireland, but they both speak english.

I decided on the clothes I'm taking earlier today; tomorrow I'm packing them. I'm picking up Euros sometime later this week. I need to download/post music so I have access to it "over there." How do you prepare to move 2,000 miles or so away? What the hell am I going to do for 3 days while I'm there before anything starts up?

Anyway, back to programming. This is what I do.

Ryanair Sues Over Stepped-Up Security Seriously... wow. The gist is that Ryanair is suing the British government for money lost from cancelled flights and decreased bookings. To top it off, they're going to give the money from the suit to a charity so that they won't make a profit from an unfortunate event. They just don't want the terrorists to "win" by reducing traffic via increased security.

I just can't follow the logic. Ryanair charges for checked bags... and now they British gov won't allow carry ons. They should already be profitting. Also, the money is already "lost." Where, exactly, do they think the government is going to get the money?

Whatever. I'm just starting to stretch and to practice undressing for the security super screening that will soon be upon me. 9 days, now.

Driving back from the football game tonight, China pops up in my head. I watched this show on Wal-mart's impact on the American economy last night and much of it dealt with China's manufacturing abilities.

The key point was that China is able to keep their stuff so gosh-darn cheap by artificially keeping their currency's value low (I saw estimates tonight saying 40% undervalue). That sets of Vegas-style lights in my head. If it were truely that undervalued, you could shove your money in a bank and hope that it corrected within roughly 7.5 years. And that's just sitting in a bank. What if you bought a CD or bond that could actually earn money while sitting? You know to offset they're horrible inflation (yeah, big hole in my plan)...

Of course, if I'm thinking of this, there are people much smarter than me putting this into practice, right? You bet. And it has the Chinese Central Bank scared. They've cut interest rates twice this year (and these people tend not to mess with rates) in an effort to reduce the appeal of foreign investment. The influx of money was threatening to finance bad business ventures which were likely to default on loans. Interestingly, the cut in rates has created a surge of lending to apartment builders/renters and home buyers (through additional policy shifts). Could this be the time when the Chinese stop saving nearly half of their income (compared with the current American savings rate, which is NEGATIVE) and start spending a little?

It is also worth mentioning that now being a member of the WTO, China is subject to a little more pressure to unpeg its currency, as that is a violation of the rules.

I'm not sure why I think all of this stuff is interesting, but I bet it is because money is such a weird concept to me. If you think about it, it has no intrinsic value. It only has value because everybody agrees it does. Furthermore, it has different values to different people. My recent fascination is that those values change, and by moving money between the systems, you can artificially inflate the value. When you bring it back into the original monitary system, you end up with more than you started with, if you're lucky. And the best part of this whole thing is that it doesn't hurt anybody. In fact, you would be providing capital... benefitting everyone. Weird stuff.

Oh yeah - website I've been looking at tonight (check the pub dates - some are old):
Financial Dictionary - Undervalued Currency
Fox news on china's undervalued currency (old)
NY Times on China's Central Bank
Compound Interest Calculator
Historic S&P annualized returns

With departure time drawing near, I renewed my interest in finding low-cost currency exchange and banking fentures. I dropped off about a week or two ago after my american bank seemed to be clueless about any transfers other than wire-transfers ($30 USD per). Also, I have no idea how to deposit this money into an Irish bank account that is yet to exist. However, one more call to Custom House allayed my fears. Apparently, there is a whole new system of banking of which I was unaware. Automated Clearing House (ACH) transfers -- ACH explained.

With that nugget under my belt, I started looking for requirements to set up an Irish bank account. Turns out, the standard proof of some residency is about all I need. And just buy chance, I stumbled across the fact that their interest rates were like 5%. Surely that's a mistake. Currently, Wachovia is offering .25-.35% (up to 3.5% if you have an assload of money -- way beyond FDIC insurance limits). Hmm... This gets me thinking...

So the Euro has been consistenly gaining ground on the dollar, the European governments aren't allowed to set values of the Euro (because it applies to several countries), and they're not allowed to drastically change their monitary policy due to stability agreements. Why not couple that with a controlling body that is majorly inflation-phobic in an area with massive unemployment... oh wait.

I'd need to do a little more research before I actually committed to this, but it seems like I would be very well served to shove most of my money in high-yeild savings accounts in Europe and use this exetremely low cost transfer service to push and pull money as I need it. I get the benefits of higher interest rates as well as generating some wealth from the continued disseverance of the Euro from the Dollar.

Am I the only person my age that thinks about this stuff?

I'm up to 3 businesses that seem to really care that I'm happy with the product/service they provide. www.customhouse.com/ for my currency exchange needs, www.newegg.com for anything computer/electronic related, and now www.buckle.com.

I thought the sales people at buckle were just trying to make sales (who can blame them). And I don't really like their clothes... but when I did have a question, I called the 800 number and got straight through to a person. THERE WAS NO "press this key" MENU! And actual operator!

Turns out what I had a question about wasn't in stock, so the lady asked me to check the "new" section of the website and call her back if it didn't appear within a week (giving me her extension). I realize that she's dumping a bit of work off on me, but I've done that at work. I'm still impressed.

Funny, I don't think it takes much to impress me anymore. Yet only 3 companies do.

My internet went out tonight and I was pretty bored. So I flipped on the TV and the only thing on was Napoleon Dynamite. That wasn't quite enough to entertain me, so I pulled out my mom's guitar and starting playing around. After my fingers were throbbing (which wasn't long -- I don't play much), I had it on my lap, fiddling on the strings above the nut. I put my pinky on the high E string (the smallest diameter string) and pushed down a bit. I expected it to bend. Instead, I feel the stupid thing slide INTO my fingertip. And then Napoleon fell off the fence and hurt himself. Similarities? You decide. I would go nurse my finger, but it didn't even bleed. Now back to "Dance" by Jamiroquai (dance scene).

I took a bit of a road trip this week. I figured it might be good for me. Turns out that I was more right than I could have imagined.. It really got my head straight and I think I'm finally read for/excited about Ireland. It was a lot to take in, though. I need to get my head straight and thoughts about the trip collected before I really say too much about it. Until then, have a look at a couple of pictures.

I realize that I never update this silly thing. In part, it's due to the fact that nobody reads it. In part, it's due to the fact that I haven't left the country yet. I'm still sitting at home doing nothing for most of the day. When I am doing something, it is usually the boring stuff related to school or moving -- mails, vaccinations, classes. Nobody wants to hear about that. Oh yeah - and reading about my impending doom in the security line at the airport (not that I really mind). I don't think terrorists scare me, they just make me angry. They need jobs. And a beer, if they deem it not to be against their religion.

What I will say, briefly, is that I miss the scenery of the Chapel Hill/Triangle area (and I don't mean the trees). I don't know if it has really gotten out of hand of if I'm just used to super-thin Chapel Hill people (Jeff -- if you're reading, I'm sorry I don't have pictures). And before you say I'm shallow, I'm concerned that a nurse in my doctor's office has trouble moving. Maybe I'm just noticing it.

Anyways - Panthers game tomorrow.

And as always - thanks to Nigel for enlightening me as to the ways of the rest of the world (I feel dumb that international phone numbers confuse me).

I have never called a call center, gotten immediately through, told the person my name and gotten the response, "Oh - let me put you through to Denise, the agent that was helping you just a moment ago." Then bam. Right through. Custom House is rocking my world right now.