Friday, September 02, 2005

Four down.

Three to go.

Finally, all these would come to an end, these days of pain, days of stress, days of anxiety. In a couple of weeks, all these would vanish into thin air, with only a filmsy piece of paper as a memory of it all. And what a memory it has been.

I awoke early this morning to embark on my quest for knowledge. After the necessary complimentaries, I made my way to the antechamber of wisdom, only to find scholars already there.

I have to awake even earlier tomorrow.

My quest for knowledge was not an easy one, hindered by fatigue, boredom, and the sheer frigidness of the place. It was not an easy task trying to learn under such conditions, but I tried my best, bearing the hope hour after hour that my beacon of hope will arrive.

Jeremy came today, and he did his best to study as well. Alas, he too succumbed to the hellish conditions that had plagued my being. Despite that, both of us continued to strive on, as best we could. My eyes floated to the door every five minutes, wishfully thinking.

At around noon, both of us went for luncheon. The grilled fish on a platter I had was alright, other than the price of it. However, if a certain factor was present it would taste better than foie gras (fwah-grah) and baked potatoes combined. I'm quite sure the innkeeper implemented cost-based pricing for his product lines, but his higher prices were justified by the quality of his product, which fulfilled its core benefit and the actual product did well in conveying this benefit to the consumers, namely me.

After lunch, we headed back. Theories and facts found niches in my neural network, which, day by day, is being taken over by an identified but sadly unstoppable virus. The theories and facts which managed to wrestle a place in my mind from his deadly virus were the lucky ones, the ones that I would most likely remember for life.

Four in the afternoon:snack time. Jeremy and I proceeded to the shopping arcade to purchase some warm sustenance to satiate our hunger. A certain stall sold curry puffs at a dollar each, ten cents more than what I perceived it would be. Whatever happened to the societal marketing concept? Aren't companies supposed to implement marketing mixes that would serve the individual consumer and improve the society as a whole? And the price of a product is part of that marketing mix. Seriously speaking, I am appalled. The service sector has degenerated as of late, with an attitude-deterioation epidemic spreading like wildfire among the salespeople. If I met another one of these species of salepeople, I'll flip. Unless...

Well, the day did not bring anymore surprises. And I'm brought crashing down to Earth once more. ..