| Moving lots of money fast is Job. 1 for MasterCard exec
Entering MasterCard's campus in the newly built-up area in St. Charles County east of Highway 40 (Interstate 64) is more complicated than clearing security at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport or entering secured government offices. Guards require a visitor to drive over spikes that can rise up and puncture the rear tires if the driver suddenly hits reverse. Walking into the large reception hall means having futuristic sliding glass walls do a dance as they dip and move out of the way to allow a visitor to pass through. The Pentagon could hardly be more secure, but that is understandable, since MasterCard processes purchases in 210 countries. Roy Dunbar's office, on the other hand, is a simple room. Behind his modest desk were stacks of documents. We talked at a small conference table nearby.
Enviro Groups Develop Opt-out System for Catalogs
Busy consumers, tired of sifting through overflowing mailboxes can take heart: a new free online service gives users the power to choose the catalogs they no longer want to receive in the mail. Developed by a group of leading environmental organizations, Catalog Choice aims to improve the efficiency of catalog distribution by reducing the number of repeat and unsolicited mailings and promoting the best environmental practices in the catalog industry. "Every day, millions of unwanted catalogs clog consumers' mailboxes and are immediately tossed in the trash. More than just an annoyance, they are overflowing municipal waste systems, devouring precious natural resources, and contributing to pollution and global warming," says Laura Hickey, senior director for Global Warming Education at the National Wildlife Federation, which joined the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Ecology Center to launch the new service.
Fate Accomplice
Soon the deluge of letters reduced to a trickle and I was writing to only a handful of girls. Sharanya wrote to me relentlessly and her letters grew lengthier one after the other. After about six months of correspondence, we decided to meet. She flew down to Bangalore and spent a day with me. We got to know each other better and I was convinced that Sharanya was the woman with whom I wanted to spend the rest of my life. She returned to Bombay the next day. We began calling up each other almost every other day. Then on the first of January something happened. I was returning home from a party when I got hit by a truck. My friends rushed me to hospital where a CT scan revealed the formation of a few blood clots in my right brain. I spent few days in the intensive care unit before I was discharged.
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