First encounter with local social security / Other issues

First encounter with local social security

I visited the local social security number office with Vineet in the morning. It was far away, in some suburb. I complained about the location to Kumar, when a lady overheard us. She said: "Remember to vote for democrat next time. Otherwise the republican will take all offices away because of security reasons. ". Kind of funny. The office itself opened at 9, we were lucky enough to be among the first customers. But our luck run out soon. It turned out, that one of our documents was missing the employer identification number of MIT. I asked the official whether she knew the number. She answered:"Yes I know, but I do not have to". So, we have to get a new letter. It is really sad and terrible how afraid of terrorists/getting fired/imprisonment these people are. They dare not to take any initiative, not to use their common sense at all. All they can do is to follow a process, whatever that may be. I wonder how they can do any creative work in this country with all these frightened people around. And in general, it is waste of human dignity to live in fear all the time. But I cannot change anything here, I must adopt and stop ranting.

There was a sign in the social security number office saying :" It is a criminal offense to kill, kidnap [] social security official when they are on duty". Sic! There were also several signs prohibiting firearms in the premises. Maybe there has been armed robberies in the past or something else. Otherwise it is a bit hard to understand the need for the signs.

Other issues

I met professor Crawley in the afternoon. He has some preliminary areas, in which one could do some interesting thesis work. I need to think about those in more detail during the weekend.

In the evening, I went shopping with Vineet and Kumar. Shopping is necessary, but really exhausting. I bought enough food for the whole February.

Alun perin julkaistu kuukausikoosteessa "Blogs January 2005".