I apologize if I've put this in the wrong place. It is neither important, nor particularly informative, [View all]

It does point to the fact that we are already on the downside of the zenith of civilization, I think.

Yesterday, I had occasion to call MasterCard Fraud to report some fraudulent charges on my card. Not Earth-shaking, but $3000+ is significant to a pensioner, I'd say. During a pretty rigourous ID process, she asked me how old I am, and I told her.

Her next question. "And how old will you be next year?"

It took me far longer to answer this than you might think, because I was stunned. After a couple of seconds and a deep breath, I employed a skill I've had for a while - being able to add "1" to pretty much any other number enabled me to absolutely nail it first time. Impressed with either my encyclopedic knowledge of chronology or advanced number theory, she decided I was legit and we moved on.

After more than an hour of being on hold, or navigating my way through their IVR, I got THAT. Time well spent, I think.