Certain Habits

Longest match in tennis history, still ongoing as of this writing. Isner and Mahut are on serve, with Isner leading 59–58. That’s games, not points. Fifth set, not for the match.

The match has now past nine hours. The fifth set is longer than any other match played at Wimbledon this year. They’re in danger of being stopped for darkness for the second day in a row.

I was reminded last night how little it takes sometimes to create a positive customer experience. I made a small impulse buy on eBay, paid, and thought nothing of it.

This morning, this email was in my inbox:

For further proof that Japan is, in John Maudlin’s inimitable words, “a bug in search of a windshield,” look no further than the advertising campaign the Finance Ministry launched today.

The Finance Ministry is trying to bolster native demand for Japanese bonds. How would they do this? By targeting “the untapped market”, men of marrying age and convincing them that buying bonds will make them, wait for it, more attractive.

For your daily dose of cultural diversity, here’s 16 things Walmart only sells in China.