the bank

I love going to the bank. You see, there is this branch that is perfectly located on my way home, and every time I'm there it brightens my day. Why? Because it's a beautiful cultural experience. All of the customer service representatives are bilingual, and somehow they know which people to speak to in English, and which people to speak to in Spanish. I mean, I could do a pretty good job guessing, but there have to be times when they try to speak Spanish with someone who is Latino but has grown up in the US and is much more comfortable with English. I've never seen them offend anyone though. I love the fact that I get to listen to them assist about 3/4 of the customers in Spanish, and I love even more that I know what they're saying and they probably have no idea that I do. I'm waiting for the day that they slip up and speak to me in Spanish, but I'm thinking it might not come, so I think I might just walk up to the counter speaking in Spanish someday and see how they react.
That's all. Take pleasure in the small things.

papers

Why do professors give minimum length requirements when assigning papers, especially in grad school? I'm working on a paper right now that's supposed to be 8-10 pages, and I'm onto the seventh page, but I feel like I've covered everything I need to cover and that anything else I add will be merely fluff. :(
Maximum lengths are different. If a professor wants me to cover something in 2 pages that I could write for 10 pages about, she is forcing me to boil my thoughts down to the essence of the issue and get rid of any fluff. That makes a lot more sense, but I guess if the professors want to give themselves a bunch of extra pages of fluff to read, there's not a whole lot I can do about that.

organic part II

Not sure what to do about the organic issue yet, and then the question will be how far to take it. Organic cleaners? Organic clothes? How much is "enough".
Whatever I end up deciding, I think I'm going to be hooked on some organic food just for the taste of it. The top picks in this category are yogurt, OJ, and tortilla chips (so far). Wow.

U.S. Is Top Arms Seller to Developing World

I saw this article in the NY Times today. I haven't even read the story yet, and it pisses me off. Aren't we ever going to learn?