Shiatsu

Tuesday: Up around 9, feeling a sweet connection with the disembodied Goddess. Email. Gus. Shower. Eggs for breakfast, listening to suspicions of war mongering involving Iran. Down basement for morning practices and drums. Email. Contacted Urs about a massage. Headed off. My car smells like skunk.

In at the office, B was doing an interview. Unfortunately, it didn't work out, I was later told. Some debugging, then it was off for my Shiatsu Massage. Picked up some water and got cash. Found Urs' place. A lovely session. Reminded me of AT table work, combined with accu-pressure.

Got a crape, which later gave me some stomach upset, dropping the "e." More sorta debug stuff. Listening to deliberations about what gizmos to buy. B had gotten me a new screen, which I set up. Left work a bit after 10.

Back home, snacks (frzn burrito, canned soup) hanging with MB. Guitar. Now, completing the day.

Coffee cup and ruler

Monday: Woke around 9, feeling quite good from last nights work. MB already gone. Up later, email, (remade a dentist appointment), Gus, shower. Unloaded the dishwasher. Had a big breakfast (waffles and eggs). Typed up some notes from the workshop last week, and mailed them off. Shoveled the walk, snow falling lightly. Down basement for morning practices and drums. Put away my laundry. Headed off. Saw neighbor Bill, and apologized for my mom's dog. He didn't seem to want to forgive. Long way around.

At the office, B wasn't in. I completed my work from last week (what to do with two locked devices when the PLLs are ringing.) Spent a good chunk of time working with the software as an end user might, employing several random objects from around the office. An odd creation. Gave Al a ride home. Stopped for some pizza before arriving.

Back home, hello to MB. Ate the pizza and some soup (red pepper, from a box). Some hanging out. Played guitar for a good stretch of time. Email. Now down basement.

3w1m

Sunday: MB headed out early to do some dance rehearsal. Slept until she returned, a little after 9. Up, and Gus. Some hanging out. Shower. Breakfast (oatmeal and yogurt). Suddenly, there wasn't much time before my guests were to arrive. Down basement and brief morning practices. People showed up around 1. A good session, though the basement felt a bit cold. We retreated to the music room for some additional warmth. Wnd stayed after the others left and we reviewed a technique she'd been working on. She left. Drums. Email. Back upstairs, and some food. Briefly back down basement, and then off to circle.


On auto-pilot, found myself driving to the dojo. Found my way to Jane's studio. It turned out that circle wasn't until 7:45, so had to wait. Working with metronome: Third Relation, Eye of the Needle. Also did some work on Victor's circulation, and Invention 1.

Back home, a bit more food. Now, completing the day.

Emergency Mannequin

Saturday: Woke a few times in the morning, having a quite bizarre dream about assisting Pastor Irv with a funeral. We didn't have a body, so we had to use the "Emergency Mannequin." Somehow I did have small mummified feet of the decedent, which I put into compartments in the shoes of the mannequin. When the event got underway, I played synth patches while sitting cross legged on the floor, and pressing invisible keyboards on my calves. Irv told me they wanted a sing-along, but I had nothing to offer, so went to sleep in a stone cubby hole.

A student MB was expecting for a lesson didn't arrive. Shower. Gus. The mechanic called and said they had figured out the problem with my car. MB's folks called to wish her a happy BD. Down basement for mp and drums. Walked out and bought some eggs at the little convenience store. Breakfast with MB: Oatmeal, eggs, soy sausage, toast, coffee, juice etc. Hung with MB opening presents. Practiced guitar. MB headed out to her language class. Laundry. Back down basement for some more personal practice.

MB got home a little after 5. A little later, we drove out, dropping the loaner off and picking up my car. Then to House of Tibet for dinner. Walked down into Davis and saw "Pan's Labyrinth." Very good.

Back home, some more chocolate, and we're hoping to both be in bed by midnight.

Mike keeps the car

Friday: Up around 8 as MB was leaving. Put on kettle. Gus, shower. The kettle, on low, was making intermittent chirping sounds. Breakfast of a couple of friend eggs and such. Down basement for morning practices. Drums.

Headed out: to Union. Was going to drop off the loaner, and pick up my still unhappy car, but Mike talked me into leaving it with them. In to work in the loaner. Testing and debugging. Looked into some performance issues, but they evaporated. Burrito. In the evening I began looking into a long standing problem with callbacks going in and out of phase with each other. Left around 9.

Back home, and down basement for evening practices. Heard MB return. When complete, back upstairs and some food (grape leaves in the microwave). MB said hello. Now guitar and bed.

RbnV

Thursday: Up around 8:30, as MB was leaving. Shower. Gus. Downstairs and leftover coffee and cereal, while Tony Blair was grilled by a BBC interviewer. The British seem to have a tradition of sharp debate with their politicians. Down basement and morning practices and drums. Called RCN and scheduled a visit, since the internet was down again last night. Drove over to Arlington, and had a coffee with RbnV. Interesting conversation, with the potential for future collaboration. Shopping in a couple of stores. In to work, via Rt 2.

Bug fixing and consultation today. The mechanic called and said I'd need to fork over an additional $600 to fix my car. I decided I want a second opinion. In the evening, a burrito, and browsing at Newbury Comics. Left work at 7:30. B was not in today.

Over to Union, and had to circle to find parking. No peoples tonight. Back home, put the garbage out. Had to hack at the ice behind our gate in order to open it, to get the can out. Down basement, and tidying some papers from the trip. Evening practices.

Alone at last

Wednesday: MB said goodbye on her way out. Slept until about 10. Up and hello to mom. Gus. Put on some water to boil while my mom fussed in the bathroom. Shower. Had breakfast with mom, and then saw her on her way. Down basement for morning practices and drums. Almost fell on my arse sitting on the stool. Walked up to the PO and paid my speeding ticket. Loaded the car up.

Drove to the mechanics and dropped off the car. I hope they can fix whatever is wrong with the new starter. Off to work in a beat-up Hundai. Coffee. A day of bug fixing. Some tense moments as Al felt like he wasn't being listened to about the way some code was constructing a legacy file reference. Dv consulted with me about some bugs he was tracking down. Fixed a few things myself. Got a burrito. Jn called to chat. And called back, but I needed to return to work.

Met Shawn at 8:30 or so. Drove to Arlington for rehearsal and catching up. He's been quite busy with archiving and making new music lately. Dropped him back home, talking about an idea for a business venture. Back home, the internet is down again. Feeling pretty wiped out.

Travel blockage

Monday - Tuesday: Got a speeding ticket on the drive to the airport. I beamed friendliness at the officer, which seemed to throw him off a bit. Boarded the plane. A bad relay was bedeviling the cabin lighting, and so the flight was delayed. I got off the plane and found I had just missed a US Air flight that could have gotten me home. A fast typing kid set me up with a hotel room for the night, and a direct flight on Delta in the AM. Found the shuttle. The driver told a story about an accident he'd just been in, where two kids in the car that hit him, who were not wearing seat-belts, were slightly injured. A quiet and slightly useless evening in a Holiday Inn. Woke at 5:20 AM. Sitting, shower, got the shuttle. Was selected by airport security for extra screening. It was sort of funny watching them go through all my stuff. Mostly uneventful flight back to Boston. I told the cabbie he'd better not have an accident.

Back home, my mom (and her dog Max) greeted me. She'd been staying a few days to visit a gentleman, and some other friends. We had some tea. Sorting mail. A walk around the block. Icy out. She headed off to an appointment. Unpacking. Sitting. Some drums. Phone calls. Perhaps the internet has been fixed. Figured out what to do with my car.

Walked out and dropped some clothes at the dry cleaner. Pizza (one slice very salty). Managed to catch a cab. At work, settling back in. Fixed a bug. Mushroom/goat cheese sandwich and coffee. Left around 10 PM. Another cab.

Back home, and hello to MB! My mom had a bit of an adventure driving around Boston. Also saw a black cat that she thought was Gus. A little hanging out with MB and mom. Guitar. Now, down basement.

Wildwood

Thursday: Woke around 8. Jn headed out and picked up some parking permits. Shower. When she returned, I had just enough time to go and find a new parking place and display the permit. Complex parking system they have in this town. Morning practices. Had leftover Pad Thai and coffee for a sort-of breakfast. Headed out on my quest to the office supply store.

Had quite a strange wrangle with the copy machines. Was helped by a friendly lady. I was friendly to her, she was friendly to me. That's the way it should work. Got a message from Joe. Cellphoning. Stopped at Starbucks. The cream that I added to my expensive coffee had lumps in it. Found parking.

Hello Kip! Hanging out, collating and packing. Psychoanalyzing the evil demon cat. An offer to put a toe in a door. Gave Jn a ride to the car rental place.

Packed my car, with Kip's help. Headed off. Shopping. A pineapple asked to be bought. They didn't sell safety pins at the fancy pharmacy, so back to the grocery store. Headed off to SF around 6:40.

It took about an hour to drive across the Bay Bridge and navigate to Joe's house. A warm welcome by old friends. Nice to be back in the old house, where I once spent the better part of a summer. Out for a wonderful Korean meal at "My Tofu House" talking about cats, death, advertising and music. Back to Joe's house, and a tour. Lovely weaving his mother is doing these days. Another cat, and another Buddha image. Joe gave me a chunk of very rare hardwood.

Headed north on 101, then, up an incredible winding road to the Wildwood resort center. Found Kip and Jn, found my bed. Put the flowers in water. Now: completing the day.

Griff's, then Jn's

Wednesday: Woke around 8 PST, in the big inflatable bed, Y just leaving for work. Slept a little more, and had a wonderful dream featuring His Holiness the Dalai Lama as a shoe salesman. Finally got up around 9. Morning practices in the spare room. Shower. Put away the inflatable bed. Some computering, and a disappointing email from someone dabbling in NST. Checked in on Griff a couple of times, but he was still sleeping. Took a drive into town and had a great early-afternoon breakfast at a local diner. Picked out a card to send back home.

Back at Griff's he was still not in evidence. Played guitar for about an hour. Then, it was time to leave. Griff was finally up so got to say goodbye. Wrote a card to MB. Driving. Got on 101 heading the wrong direction, and it took a bit to realize my mistake. Raining. Called Jn. Across the Richmond Bridge to Berkely.

At Jn's place, and hanging out talking about the weekend and the evening. Eventually I went out and picked up some groceries, Thai food, and a chicken leg for Jn. The chicken place was a bit over busy. I gave the woman a $20 bill. She said "Do you have anything smaller?" I gave her two fives. When I said "And, I'll need the $20 bill back." She just looked at me blankly. I had to repeat myself.

Jn and I ate a little, then guests started arriving. We had a good session, and then some food. Hanging out with Jn, and then a relatively early bed, sleeping on a fur rug on top of a shiatsu mat in the living room.

San Jose

Tuesday: Up at 4:45 AM. Shower, down basement, packed the last few things, goodbye to MB. The cab showed up and off. The driver seemed in a bit of a bad mood, but had brightened by the time we arrived.

Fairly uneventful trip to California. A large water was dumped on an unsuspecting passenger by a stewardess. Was this the fault of the guy that handed her the pulled apart newspaper that she was trying to fold when she knocked over the bottle, or was it her fault for forgetting about the bottle after she mostly had the paper under control, or was it the airline's fault for having large open bottles of water, with small bases, as standard "service items?" Slept quite a bit. Did some reading. Landed in San Jose at about 1:30.

Called Jn from the rental car place. Decided not to get the mini-van. Got a bit shafted on the rental price. Drove north, making phone calls. Found my way to the coffee shop where I was to meet my fried J. Had a cup. J arrived. Talking. He's come into some land, and suggests I come build an ashram on it.

Back to J's house. Beautiful large and detailed print of some galactic nebulous formations taken by Hubble. Interesting construction ideas involving shipping containers. A very cool digital camera. J spends his money on interesting things.

Headed north, somehow missing a turn, but finding my way anyhow. To Griff's house. He seems to be doing pretty well. We talked for awhile, and then went out to get food. Met Y at an Italian restaurant. I told them some about my travel plans. They told me about a trip to Bryce Canyon. Yummy food. Griff was passing a kidney stone, so we left slightly abruptly.

Back at Griff's place, he tended to himself in the basement, while I chatted with Y. She showed me some photos. Griff said he was feeling better. We played some music. This was a good experience for me, since it was really the first time we'd made much attempt at improvisation since I switched to NST. Lots of echo and reverb, or course, but some nice stuff. We also played around on the synths: A Prophet and Roland Juno. Then sleepy time. I completed the day in the small room off the living room on the first floor, and slept on a large inflatable bed.

Preparation

Monday: A busy morning in preparation for my trip. Gus (made a spill of tonic, which smelled iron-like), shower, cereal, down basement, practices (extended) and drums. Packing. Headed out and picked MK up at the airport. Had to circle a bit. Gave her a lift home. In to H Sq. Picked up some pizza. I said "I don't want a styrofoam box." The guy put my pizza in a styrofoam box. In at the office and crammed as much work in as I could, basically testing the work I'd already done, and checking it in. B asked me to let Al know I was going on vacation. The tools made my job difficult today. Headed home around 8:40.

Back at the ranch, Indian food with MB. Showed her some stuff about the recording package she's using for the audio books. Packing. Working on the DVDs, attempting to make a rough cut so they can see my progress. Printing directions and so on. Last minute things.

bondo

Sunday: Slept until about noon. I was getting up, and in the shower when MB returned. MB was going through jewelry on the floor when I gave Gus his fluid treatment. Some saline squirted into the jewelry collection on the floor. Had some cheese toast and coffee for breakfast, hanging with MB. Down basement, morning practices (extended) and drums. A bunch of emailing and web updating.

Drove to Home Depot, and bought epoxy and bondo. Back home, and bondoed my Ovation case. Showed MB how to reset the cable modem, which is now mysteriously working. Snacks.

Drove with MB to guitar circle. Back (while waiting for Martin). Askesis. Third Relation. Worked on Victor's new compositions. I presented my way of working with the right hand. Third Relation again.

Back home some more snacks. Hanging out with MB. Waffles. Tea. Down basement. Email. Completing the day.

Energy Share II

Saturday: Woke around 11, listening to Car Talk before getting up. Gus, shower. Down basement, and the internet was working again. Totally weird. Morning practices (heard MB return home). Drums. Upstairs, and hello. Made breakfast for us (eggs soy-sausage coffee toast). MB headed out. Laundry, printing out directions... then I was on my way.

Checked my voice-mail, and the person I was co-leading with had hurt herself slightly and was confused about the start-time. Got that straightened out. Picked her up in Watertown, spending a little time just hanging out. Then over to Woburn. Things were supposed to begin at 4, but we didn't actually get going until 5:30. The transition from my segment to hers could have been a little smoother, but otherwise it went quite well. My friend Mgn is back in town, and pregnant. Saw Jn, and we chatted some. Not really feeling social though. An interesting and useful presentation. Some massage with my friend Ptr. He said he enjoyed my work, which is neat, because I really don't have much formal training. Left around 11. Gave Gc a ride back to Watertown.

Back home. Hanging with MB, who had baked yummy cookies. A veggie burger. Now, guitar and completing the day.

not now

Friday: Woke in the basement. Slept quite well. Morning practices and drums. Upstairs, Gus, shower. Had a phone conversation with Stc, the last in a series. This one was lighter than the previous ones, with a bit of East Coast/West Coast tension evidencing itself. Pulled some stuff together and headed for work. Stopped for a coffee and a pastry. Too sweet.

In at the office, more translation from an old wing of the Mac API. Spoke briefly with Rbt about a project I'm proposing, but he largely brushed me off. MB called to say she was going out to a coffee house. Worked until around 11 PM. Drove home the short way, snowing lightly.

Microwaved burrito, quicky noodle soup and tea. MB came home, and we talked a bit. Her grandfather isn't doing so well right now. Guitar. Feeling sorta wiped out. Soon down basement.

CMaitreya

Thursday: Decided to sleep in the basement last night, as MB was coughing quite a bit. Slept well, waking around 11. Up, Gus, Shower. Last of the very robust oatmeal and coffee for breakfast. Back down basement. Internet not working. Called RCN customer service. They transferred me to tech support. I waited for what seemed a minor eternity and gave up. Morning practices. Drums. Tried the tech line again with similar results.

Off to work, driving the long way around. Some consulting with Dv and Al. J.S. had written me an email asking for a deal on some of our products, and so I looked into that. R called me into the office and made a request for increased efforts. Later B said he was getting me a new monitor. It's nice to know they think I've been doing OK by the company. Began work on a new project, setting the other aside for the time being: ridding the program of a particular old Mac OS idiom, that is unfortunately fairly pervasive in the code-base. Burrito and coffee. Left work at 7:40.

Two people at my class tonight. A couple. Very good session, and a rare treat having the opportunity. They were already quite advanced on several fronts, but it did seem there was something made available for them.

Back home, burned a DVD of audio files for MB, while again trying RCN tech support. Made an appointment for a service call. No luck getting MB's cell phone to connect to her Window's laptop. I think I need a driver CD. This thing that Windows does about needing a removable disk for its drivers seems pretty antique these days. Why can't I just download a file off the net? Why do I need a driver at all for that matter? Played guitar, and talked with MB a bit. Showed her how to use iCal. Ate some noodles and snacks. Soon down basement.

kermit the frog

Wednesday: Woke with MB standing next to the bed coughing and laughing. Half awake, I pulled my head under the covers and said "It's not funny." Later on lounging. Up around 11. Tried to check email, but it wasn't working. Shower. Gus. Coffee and robust oatmeal. Down basement for morning practice and drums.

Headed to work. A big SUV almost side-swiped me, as they sped forward to merge into my lane. I registered my indignation. No rehearsal tonight. In the office, a meeting to discuss our immediate plans. Spent most of the day going over my code. Checked it in in the evening. There was a bomb-scare in Boston today that turned out to be small electronic signs promoting an adult cartoon.

Stopped at the bank on the way home. MB was out at the Middle East. Took out the garbage. Down basement and rebooted the cable modem. Called the internet provider, but they weren't really able to tell me why my system has been so flaky lately. Did some web updates for KKC an OCBC. Upstairs, and made some noodles with cream-cheese-mushroom sauce and ate, listening to the BBC. Now, down basement again, and completing the day. I hear MB has returned upstairs.