Reading (For Dummies)

NYC, Here I Come!

Wow. It has been a hell of a few weeks. And I haven't updated at all.

Let me give you the dilly. Left for New Jersey on the 24th (Friday).

Here is my Entry for then:

::

4:08 PM. I was passed on 81 by a green sedan. There was a little girl

with red hair, wearing an orange sweater, in the passenger seat. She

waved at me as the car drove past me.

About a half hour later, an EMT with blue flashing lights pulls onto the

interstate. And old man is driving it. The rain has more or less stopped

at this point. I figure he's left them on by accident. 5 miles up the road,

the traffic has stopped, and everyone is getting into the right lane. The

EMT gets in the left. Lights flash a few hundred feet up the road. I move

forward at the encouragement of a traffic cop waving us by; "Nothing to see

here. Move along." I pass the scene of the crime...that green sedan

is...well...there is not much left of it. A fireman is operating the jaws

of life, but my rubber-necking eyes can see that he is in no hurry. The

EMT's stand around awkwardly, one of them smoking a cigarette. I don't think

I'll ever forget that little girl's face.

::

On happier notes, I went sailing on Saturday the 26th, with some of my dad's

friends. It was an uneventful sailing trip, which meant that it was good.

Lots of people on deck with prior sailing experience. I was probably the least

experienced in fact, and even I know most of what was going on. The skipper

kept trying to dumb things down for me by telling me which rope to grab. I'd

be a smartass and say, "You mean the topping lift? To get rid of that crease?"

So I'm starting to know my way around sailboats. I really need to sail more

often, though.

I then spent some time with Steph (of the old-skool Raible variety), Kat

(of the old-skool best friend variety), Steph (of the Rosenberg lives-in-NYC

variety), Katie (of the psycho animals pets variety), Anferney, and of

course, Cherie, at a little Full Moon Festival. I made a geeky ass of myself

most of the time, pointing out where the moon was or ought to be, arguing

astronomy with people, and otherwise being an ass and giving them fodder to

make fun of me for while I'm not home :). And I couldn't be happier.

I got to see bunches of relatives on Sunday, then my grandparents on Monday.

This week was pretty good. I found a few exploits in the default configuration

of the Sharp Zaurus. I get kudos at work

for that kind of thing; it makes for good press for the University to have

"students" find these flaws :). I helped Annie move into her new house this

weekend. That was a fun time, hauling all kinds of junk around, and scrubbing

out the old apartment.

Tomorrow, I head down to NYC with Keisuke and Yukiko. I may buy a digital

camera while there. We'll see how the money situation is.