Manager: Can we talk tonight on the phone?
[intentional non-response until the next day]
Erdos: Is there something you need to discuss that cannot be done via email?
Manager: Will you be here tomorrow?
Erdos: Yes.

I just bought a crippled camera which I intend to modify into a very good one, but the operation is very risky. The Sigma DP1s has a very good sensor and a horrible lens. It has the same Foveon X3 sensor used in their far more expensive cameras. The horrible lens is fixed and not designed for a user to change. My plan is to somehow remove the bad lens and convert the camera into a true DSLR by replacing the front case with something that has a lens mount.

Because the surgery is very risky and can make the camera permanently unusable, I will not be doing that right away. Part of the reason that I bought it today is that the owner of the jewelry company agreed to let me take some photos. My current camera probably is good enough to take far better photos than the ones that are on the site, but I wanted some extra insurance. Also, I have been wanting to do this experiment for a long time and the price just got reduced by $170, because the DP2 was recently released.

The photos on the current version of the diamond site that I am working on are horrible. Many of them are blurry and none of them show any color. There is no rainbow of colors in the sparkle. It's just a bunch of overexposed white dots on a blurry grey gem. There are significant problems that make the photos look very amateurish, but they were taken by someone who is supposedly a professional photographer. The worst part is that the photographer is the wife of the owner of the company. This has caused his judgment to be distorted.

The project manager and I have been conspiring to get a better photographer. I had suggested someone I know who worked with me on a different site. This photographer has raised his rates since the last project and the manager doesn't want to pay that much. I could theoretically take the photos. The current photos are so bad that it's very easy to take better ones without any training, and I have prior experience with doing the photography for a different diamond site. However, I can't do the photography because the manager is fixated on the belief that only a professional photographer can do this.

I am getting very close to finishing the diamond website, but I am experiencing tremendous difficulty in finishing it, because I can't stay focused. I think the problem is a diminishing sense of urgency. Now I know that the amount of work left is manageable, so there is less need to rush. This is not good.

I had a dream about being very ill. My mother decided to treat me with acupuncture, but she did not use ordinary acupuncture needles. She used a special type of power drill with small diameter drill bits. The twisting action of the drill grabbed bits of flesh. It was painful and caused some depressions in my skin to become visible. The drill also had the ability to inject an herbal concoction into the holes that were made.