Because I slept really late last night (was it actually last night?), it was a great pity that I couldn’t drag myself up for the morning run today.

The reason is that I scored a bargain on Xianyu (a secondhand marketplace) for a pair of Shokz bone conduction headphones at a very low price. According to the description, there was noise in the right ear and it was sold as-is for spare parts, but when I received it, it looked practically brand new (99% new), so I was secretly delighted. I must test its battery life tomorrow morning; if it can survive in temperatures just a few degrees above freezing, I will have made an absolute steal!

My biggest achievement today was securing my US visa appointment. “I’ll wait for you at the embassy on March 11” (not really). I really have to complain about the crappy DS-160 website; timing out every few minutes truly got me heated up. Luckily, chugging mocha lattes at that free-refill cafe in the morning kept my temper in check, preventing me from shouting out loud in the library after yet another timeout where I forgot to save (

In the end, after paying the fee, I scheduled the visa appointment, but my Alipay account was gloriously out of funds. To make matters worse, when I checked my bill, I discovered I had been mysteriously charged for some insurance. I quickly contacted customer service and was told it was an automatic renewal after a “free trial.” Me: ???

My tireless negotiations (read: refusal to go away) eventually recovered the charge—and even the January renewal fee. (When did I buy this insurance in the first place?) My mood nevertheless remained at a fever of three thousand degrees. Then I found several absurd mistakes in my DS-160, so you can imagine the look on my face. Luckily, I had become separated from my classmates, so nobody witnessed me going OOC. (Or did they?) Sigh. I thought drifting through Beijing might teach me more gratitude, yet here I am complaining anyway…

Then let’s focus on the Art History lecture in the evening! Starting from the origin of “beauty” and using the definition of “art” as a base, it took us on a panoramic tour through the history of humanity, showcasing the brilliant artistic treasures along the way. In particular, a friend mentioned his own life experiences, which left me utterly amazed (omitted out of privacy considerations). Of course, judging by the massive pile of books he hauled over for us, he is also a very powerful (pun intended, as in knowledgeable/physically strong) person.

On the way back, I mentioned the “Law of Conservation of Happiness” to my classmate, pointing out that because I had too much fun on Saturday, I encountered so many annoying things today, using this to explain that there is actually a scientific principle behind the saying “extreme joy begets sorrow” (I almost convinced myself). But actually, on second thought, since conserved energy can be converted into different forms, isn’t it also possible for the joys, angers, sorrows, and delights of life to do the same?