November 20, 2002
Interim Entry
I figured I'd post y'all some pictures of my apartment, since you've been so patient...
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| Entering through the front door |
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| The bathroom (door to the left of the entrance) |
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| The bathroom |
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| The bathroom |
Note that the "shower head" is not and cannot be fastened to the wall in any way. The hose on it is barely long enough to hold above your head if you squat in really close; the shower head is fed by the sink...evidently there didn't used to be a shower/bathtub in our bathroom. The old shower rooms are downstairs in the basement, and have been converted to trash rooms and a laundry room. Evidently, during communism, our two-person flat accomodated 6 people. How they even fit in here, let alone shared a single bathroom without a shower, remains a mystery. A little simple math: 6 people * 6 apartments per floor * 14 floors = 504 people. 504 people sharing one shower room. Yeah, that's disease.
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| The closet (door to the right of the entrance |
When I moved in, there was a sack of rotting (possibly fermenting) potatoes in the closet.
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| The oven fan in our fabulous kitchen |
Yes, I'm afraid that the dust packet (I'm unconvined that that thing is actually an air filter) will someday fall apart and land on the stove. I'll put more pictures of the kitchen up later. Too tired to take pictures and convert them and upload them now.
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| The only redeeming quality of the apartment is this Lycos poster |
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| Germans use only the highest quality lead paint on my bedroom windows |
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| The plywood "wall" separating my bedroom from the kitchen |
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Further back...
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Previous Trips...
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Hiking Mount Whitney, 2007 
Spring Break in West Virginia, 2005
New Year's in Paris, 2003-2004
Coming to America, 2003
Protesting in Berlin, 2003
Prague Bier-Tour, 2002
Dresden, 2002
Recent Reading
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Close to the Machine
Ellen Ullman is one of those authors that somehow avoided my radar. Until now...
Close to the Machine is less a book than a collection of loosely related personal anecdotes from Ellen's time as a very rare thing -- a successful female bisexual independent computer programming consultant.
In the course of her work and relationship life, she learns hard lessons about programming, running a business, being lonely, and loving the wrong people. I found it particularly poignant being a crypto-nerd with difficult times in relationships and a more-or-less NDA'd, secret work life.
This book is a must-read for anyone into running their own business, programming, or anyone dating a person that is a business-a-holic or programmer.
Rated 
by reid
on November 23, 2009
by reid
on November 23, 2009
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The Long Trip Home
I had the joy of dining with the author in Florida. We went to a little Brazilian BBQ where he spoke with our waitstaff in (what I can only assume was) flawless Portugese.
Brian Wyllie spent 1969-1971 living in Brazil working for the Peace Corps. His recent book outlines his trip back to the United States via Bolivia, Peru, and the Carribean chain, by way of bus, train, and sailboat. The format comes spattered with observations from the modern day, and makes me think, "this must be what John McPhee's journal looks like."
The trip sounded like a fantastic one, but I was left wanting more detail...where did the gun (being snuck through customs in a variety of places, no doubt) come from? And how did Geneve's hair smell? Alas, we'll have to wait for another book to find the answers.
Rated 
by reid
on April 16, 2009
by reid
on April 16, 2009
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The Curve of Binding Energy
John McPhee follows famous physicist Ted Taylor in this piece that was -- and probably still -- ahead of its time.
Originally published in 1973, McPhee outlined the coming security and environmental issues surrounding the plutonium enrichment processes. For the most part, though, McPhee invites the reader to draw his or her own conclusions, although he does point out the ease with which any number of people could obtain the material (though not necessarily the manufacturing prowess) to make an atomic weapon.
The question still sits in my mind after reading -- are we being too paranoid, or not paranoid enough?
Rated by reid
on October 01, 2007
by reid
on October 01, 2007
UGH! That's about all I can say, Reid. That would be pretty depressing to be around most of the day!
Posted by: Gam on November 22, 2002 01:26 AMLove you,
Gam