Used furniture

Saturday: On MB's suggestion, visited a used furniture store. Found some quite nice pieces and made purchases. The prices were better than new, as was the quality and character. A little grocery shopping. Picked up pizza and a slice of calzone for MB and myself for lunch.

Spent most of the rest of the day helping MB pack. Going through photos. Moved the secretary out to the garage. Ran a telephone wire through the wall into the kitchen. The new cabinet arrived just as I wrapped up that job. Loading stuff into it. Packing the kitchen stuff. Whipped the first floor into pretty decent shape.

MB went out to visit David and Jessica. Paid bills, and sorted through papers. Was about to head out to get some food when MB returned. We went out together, stopping at the close-by and sketchy Chinese place, then to the video store. Back home and eating. Watched an episode of Six Feet Under.

When you're trapped in the cage, all you can see are bars. Once the door has been opened, then maybe you notice, "oh there were nice pictures on the wall."

Furniture shopping and loops

Thursday: Woke around 9:30. Not enough sleep. MB working at home today. Shower. Down basement and morning practices. Drums. Put away laundry listening to NPR. Paid bills. Loaded up the car. MB wanted a ride to H Sq. so off together. Stopped for an egg sandwich at the donut shop. Feeling pretty wiped out today. Hands hurting. We parked in the office lot, and MB walked to her language class. I went looking at a couple furniture stores. Didn't buy anything, but gathered some good information. In at the office. Emailing frustrations about XCode to someone that might actually be able to do something about them. Conversed with Js and Jn about how to handle a change in our support for add-ons that will alter how we interpret existing files. We arrived at the conclusion that I had already reached. Went off and implemented the feature to help users make the transition. Easier than I had been anticipating. At 7:20, headed out to meet Shawn.
Arlington and rehearsal. Mostly focusing on improvisation and looping tonight. Good work... Recorded one of the more interesting loops in to Garbage Band. Dropped Shawn back at his apartment. I arrived back home just before MB got in. She'd been out having dinner with Stc and the Smoking Scotsman. Email. Now down basement to complete the day.

Dinner with Joe

Wednesday: Woke, then back to sleep... had some catching up to do. Finally up around noon. Email, shower. Down basement and morning practices. A bit of drums. Fed Oscar. Laundry. Was about to head out when I remembered that I had just enough for one nutritional smoothie. So, had that. Long way around to work. Sunny and coldish. Again hit traffic, which I now know is due to some roadwork that is ongoing. Detour through Comm Ave.
A good quiet day in the office. Got my "simulated continuously variable program data" feature working... lunch thanks to MB. Talked to my mom, who had tried to reach me several times. B called form CA to discuss any questions I had for Apple. Joe called, and we made plans to get together.
I gave him directions to just outside H Sq. He called when he was getting close, and I walked out to meet him. We drove back to the office lot, then took a walk around, finally ending up at a Malaysian restaurant (that had recently changed its name). After dinner, he followed me driving back to my house. Hello to MB. A look at my guitar (Joe has an interest in woodworking). Joe left for his hotel, and tomorrow CA. Copying MB's data from the home computer to a new hard-drive. She had had some wine with her drumming class. Another fringe benefit of the class: cupcakes. Took out the garbage. Guitar, working on my arrangement. Now to complete the day.

LoCG at the Somerville Theater

Tuesday: Up around 10. Email. Shower. Eggs and fed the Monster cat. Down basement. Packed up discs to return to N. Drove out, stopping at the PO to mail the discs. Went to vote. "Over voted" (picked 5 Aldermen, when I was only supposed to pick 4). Made the same mistake on my second ballot. Third time's a charm. They told me they'd see me next year, and to learn how to count. Around the short way to work. Didn't work much.
At 3, headed off, stopping in Porter Sq to pick up guitar strings. Found parking in Davis, and to the Somerville Theater to act as a FQM for the LoCG show. Vibing. Once an hour had to feed the meter until 6. Gave Luco his goodies. Hellos to many old friends and some newer ones. Quite a good show I thought. No flashes, but a couple of cell-phone snaps. After the gig, helping in whatever way I could. Quite hungry, I was briefly put-out that I had to watch the van... but then, I was there to help, and not to eat pasta. Stood around for 20 minutes until Alex L came to relieve me. Yum, food in good company. Then back outside, watching the two guys lurking by the back-door hoping to get an autograph. I wanted to tell them that we're all Robert, so they might as well sign the things themselves. Ha ha. Bif drove around front. Goodbyes. Gave Alex a ride to the T, relaying the story of the first time Igor met RF. Back home. Feeling wiped out. Ate a mini-cheesecake with MB. Then, completing the day.

Court and movie dates

Monday: MB and I were up at 6. Shower while she had a sitting. Down basement and morning practices. Fed Oscar. We went out and had breakfast at the dinner up in Ball Square. Obla-de-obla-da played as we ate our eggs. Then over to the Cambridge courthouse. We met our guy... first to the wrong court... but then settled on the correct one. A talkative officer got us water. We were first in line, and were done before 10am.
Back home, I took a nap in the basement while MB did some audio recording. On waking, off to work, the long way. A lovely sunny day.
A fairly quiet day at the office. Working on supporting a control function that users have long been asking for, but that is hampered by an Apple API, and our unwillingness to deliver a second rate product... but sometimes, users want compromise. Then, switched gears to, rather painstakingly, determine which formats work and which do not under 10.5. RT asked some questions about code of mine that he had pilfered. Headed home around 9.
Picked up MB, and over to Fresh Pond. Guys in the lobby talking about "great sodas of the world" The kid at the concession stand confessed he was going to study computer repair because he wasn't binary enough for programming. We watched Superbad. Very dirty and also quite sweet. Back home, feeling a bit drained, I helped MB burn a DVD of her audio recordings. Now to complete the day and get some sleep.

Things that didn't happen

Sunday: Up around 9 (after the time switch). MB up and getting ready for OCBC. Shower. Made us some breakfast (eggs, hash-browns). MB headed off to church and other activities. I cleaned up, then morning practices. Began tearing apart the recording studio. Need to do a bit of rewiring and debugging. Called Shawn. Got a message back he had gotten confused about our meeting time. Guitar, working on an arrangement. Feeling a bit at lose ends. Plenty to do, but not feeling terribly motivated. More arrangement, working with the original in the computer, and then overdubbing my guitar parts. Email. Message from Victor: no circle tonight. Carried boxes out to the garage. Drove out to the shopping mall, and bought a few items. Back home, setting up a small stereo, hanging a mirror. MB returned. Our running joke has been to pointedly ask each other "What are you doing?" We processed some emotion relating to her upcoming departure. Such a good friend she is. More packing work. Luckily we have many treats. Her large antique secretary has been unloaded and is ready to be moved.

MB packing/Vinyl rack/NH party

Saturday: MB and I slept in a bit. She did a sitting as I lazed. Shower. Down basement for morning practices. Breakfast (sunny side up eggs, etc). We continued our packing work on the first floor. Going through pictures, DVDs and VHS tapes. Fixed the vinyl rack in the basement. Around 4pm I went out to run some errands. Blustery rainy day; the remnants of hurricane Noel. Picked up cat food. A couple of things at Home Depot. Packing materials. The guy at the packing materials store said "Enjoy the game tomorrow!" I said "What game?" He couldn't believe I was serious. Got a veggie sub at Leone's. Home, and eating food with MB. Down basement, put little no-skid feed on the vinyl rack. Personal practice. Upstairs and some guitaring.
Wnd showed up a little after 8, and we headed up to NH for a party. Fun, but not really "my people." Got back in around 2am... which is now 1am, since daylight saving has ended. Ate a fast food veggie burger. Oscar came in for a brief visit. MB on the phone. Now to complete the day.

This is yours, this is mine

Friday: Slept in a bit. Previous plans had me feeling unsettled. Email. Shower. Downstairs, then down basement and morning practices. Drums. Called Wnd and rearranged things. Much better. Some tidying. Breakfast of eggs and such. Fed the Oscar beast. A sunny day, drove the long way around to work. Hit traffic but was able to take an exit before I came to a stop. Comm Ave to the BU Bridge to Mem Drive.
J had reported a memory leak with my new stuff, that I promptly fixed. Began some new design work. Moved my recent code back onto the "new feature" branch. Some talk with Al and B prior to their departure for the camp in CA next week. Also Dv. Stayed until around 9pm. Picked up Indian food on the way home. The situation with the environment was weighing on my mind today.
Back home, dinner with MB. She had bought some lovely little pastries when we sampled. Guitar with the two of us: Third Relation, Askesis and Eye of the Needle. Then, we played "this is yours, this is mine" with books and CDs. Now down basement on the treadmill, and to complete the day.

Voodoo Dick

Thursday: Up around 9. Email. Shower. Breakfast. Hello to Oscar. Down basement and morning practices. Some hanging around and drums. ST stopped in and conversation. Headed to work, across town. Slow going... lots of traffic. A somewhat short day in the office. Confirmed my new alt in stuff was working, with an actual add-on. Ripped out some debug code, and checked my stuff in. MB had made me a lunch. Headed home earlyish, around 8. Watched Lost on the treadmill. MB came home, and hello. Some food. She told me a joke that Taylor had told her: A pirate walks into a bar with a steering-wheel protruding from his pants fly. The bartender says "Hey buddy, did you know you have a steering-wheel in your shorts?" to which the Pirate replies: "Arrrgh, matie, its drivin' me nuts!" I told her about "Voodoo Dick". Guitar. Working on some arrangements of classic instrumental rock music. Now down basement to complete the day.

Departure plans

Woke around 8, back to bed until 9. Downstairs and email. MB working at home today. Shower. Made breakfast for us (mushrooms red-pepper and eggs). A bit of guitar, then down basement. Morning practices. Drums. Reconfigured the wires around the music room computer.
Off to work, the long way. A sunny day.
Productive day at the office. I got the alt in feature up and running. Lots of little details. To the pharmacy, and picked up a burrito. B and Al continue scheming about Cocoa. MB wrote with details about her departure. Most of her belongings will leave on the 14th, and then she herself will head off on the 25th. The last day I'll see her for now is Thanksgiving.
IMing with Ann, she had concern about a recent dream. Worked until about 10:30. On the way back home, stopped at the bank. Hello to MB. Putting out the garbage, recycling and compost. Down basement and watched an episode of Lost while walking on the treadmill. Now to complete the day.

Fred's Gas

Tuesday: Bad dreams about work and home life, waking me around 4am. Back to sleep, and some disturbing dreams, but not of the previous magnitude. Woke around 9am. Email. Shower. Downstairs and breakfast with Oscar. Guitar practice. Down basement, morning practice, brief drums, and some tidying.
Headed out stopping to have my car inspected. No problems. Then, over to Porter Sq. Finally settled up with the music shop that gave me only half the number of strings I ordered. Friendly guy gave me strings.
In to work and continuing with the new side-input project. Nachos. By the end of the day I'd connected up almost everything... a fair slog. Al and B discussing plans for moving to Cocoa. Enjoying the new Siouxsie CD. Left just after 7pm.
Over to Deerheart's house and a brief meeting with him and An. Realized there was a time conflict with next week, so good thing I wasn't feeling called to co-lead.
Back home, email and IM. Now to complete the day.

Dentist and slog

Monday: Woke around 9. Slept well, but feeling groggy. Brief email. Shower. Fed Oscar (who didn't want to come in, despite the cold). It took 20 minutes to cook eat and clean-up breakfast. Down basement, morning practices. Headed out.
At the dentist's by 11. Waiting, listening to the Moody Blues piped in over the sound system. Cleaning. The dentist said my teeth are in pretty good shape.
In to work, and a long slogging day hooking up a new system for add-ons. Got quite a bit of it done. Mid-day took a walk around, picking up Yerba, black licorice cats for MB, and some chocolate, as well as a burrito for lunch. Sunny and chilly. B bought a copy of Leopard. I installed this on my spare computer at the end of the night. Headed home around 10pm.
At the house: personal practice in the basement. MB came home from her language class. Some hanging out, and discussing her plans. Guitar for about 40 minutes. Soon bed.

Lovelock

Thursday: Woke in the am. Email. Back to bed, sleeping until around 1pm. Much needed. Email, shower. Downstairs and fed Oscar. Some cereal and tea. Reading about James Lovelock's distressing assement of the future of humanity, while they talked about the California wildfires and Huricane Katrina on NPR. Frightening. Down basement. Morning practices, drums. Loaded up the car and headed out. Across town to work.
Again not a terribly productive day. Checked in the window opening work from yesterday, and did some research on a feature that I may soon implement. Got some nachos. Dev came by and picked up my old Ovation to be used as a spare on the LoCG tour. Headed out around 7:30. Met Shawn at the DD in Porter.
Arlington, and rehearsing with Shawn. Using the new Echoplex to mostly good effect. World of difference just being able to begin and end recording with the foot pedal. Some other rehearsing. We're at the point where rehearsing isn't what's really necessary. Dropped Shawn-o at his place. Back home, MB got in just after I did. We hung out a bit, eating a little. Then down basement and email. Soon to complete the day.

Paperwork 2

Woke at 8:30, MB up also. Down basement for morning practices. Rainy out. We drove up to the bank. After a minor eternity (half an hour) she signed some papers. As her pen met the paper, Sting's "If you love someone (set them free)" played on the bank's canned music system. Hugs. I said goodbye as she left for work, then walked back home. Drove over to Everett and dropped off the papers, then back home. Breakfast, eggs and so on. Fed Oscar. Shower. Decimated a pile of papers, and scanned some photos of my (no-longer-with-us) cats from when they were kittens.
Made a deposit back at the bank. In to work. Not terribly productive. Feeling sleepy, and my hands hurting. Had another phone conversation with the 3rd party people. Consolidated some changes on two different branches. Reformed a bit of window opening code.
Back home, and down basement. MB had a belly-dance class upstairs. I took a nap.
Later, she had gone out. I walked out and picked up an eggplant sub and a piece of pizza, which I ate back at the ranch, flipping between game 1 of the World Series, and an episode of Lost. The Red Sox trounced the Rockies 13-1. MB came home, and a little hanging out. I went through the lead of Askesis checking with her if there was anything I was missing. Some more guitar practice, then down basement to complete the day.