 |
July 18, 2000 |
|
Jim needs to go fly a kite… quite
literally. In all seriousness, flying kites is one of his hobbies, not the
run of the mill ordinary kites. Huge kites that have enough pull to
momentarily pull you off the ground. Those are some pretty big kites.
He was designing a new kite and needed to draw some smooth curves, so he
suggested we go to an art supply store. I had taken some classes before
and had even gotten a few art supplies, so I suggested we go to
Bellevue Art and Frame. We took a bit of a break in the
afternoon. I drove.
It was a bright and sunny afternoon and the drive to the store was
pleasant. I wore my shades. It had been some time since I had spent any
time with Jim outside of work, a bit ironic since he works at the office
immediately next to mine and we see each other everyday.
I didn't really have anything in particular to buy at the store, so I just
looked around. Jim couldn't find precisely what he needed, but he found a
curve fitting tool that would work. I found a couple of things that I
found interesting. First, was a caricaturish minature volkswagen bug with
a little wind up motor. Normally, I would be the first to admit this is a
silly thing, but I play Slug-Bug with Pam
and I figured that she would appreciate it.
The other item is one of those little mini books, Baseball: Wit and
Wisdom. It has a collection of pictures and quotes from different
baseball personalities from different eras. I'm sure that the five dollars
that I payed was way too much for it, but it is the kind of thing that
amused me, so I got it. There's a lot to be said about impulse buying.
I was able to talk Jim into going to CompUSA, because we're both computer people. There was just one thing that I planned on getting. Since I had gotten a new Pocket PC, just yesterday I wanted to get screen protectors, they're these little adhesive films that stick to the screen. I had used them before, I know that I even have some at home somewhere, but I would not venture a guess as to where that may be. It would be easier for now to simply buy new ones. You're supposed to change them every month or so, so it's not like they're going to go to waste.
The other item is a serial adapter for the docking station for the Cassiopeia. My new computer has only one serial port, which is reserved for my drawing tablet, this USB adapter promised to connect my Pocket PC without any problems. Cool!
Let's hear it for impulse buying!
Jim struck up a conversation with the cashier… because that's the way Jim is. Not that I have any problems with it, but that's very un-Seattle like. I don't want to say that Seattle people are unfriendly, but… generally, they are. Don't get me wrong; Seattle folk are certainly polite, but there's a difference between polite and friendly. Generally, Seattle folk are not outgoing; I'm not the only person who has made this observation.
Still, while chatting with the cashier, we found that there was allegedly a good Teriyaki place about a couple of blocks down the street on Main. I asked Jim if he was hungry. He was, and we agreed to get dinner.
We went to that very Teriyaki place. It was a hole-in-the-wall place that even lacked air-conditioning. Now, most residences in Seattle do not have air-conditioning, but most businesses do. The place had a couple of patio tables right outside the door, and immediately inside the entrance was a set of stools and a bar that was intended for dining. The place had remnants of today's newspaper, which seemed like a courtesy provided by the proprietor, although I can't imagine they really read it, at least not the English paper. The opposing wall has lined with little advertisements for mostly events, although they also included some businesses.
They had maybe a dozen different items on their menu, some of which were appetizers. Jim and I ordered our dinners. The food was good, although not as noteworthy as the cashier had mentioned. I'm sure that part of the reason that we were eating here is because Jim was hoping the cashier would be getting out of work soon and wander down here for dinner. [Sorry, Jim… maybe next time.]
We sat inside on a couple of the stools facing out, it was a warm day, but the restaurants had some fans that blowed enough air to keep the place relatively cool. We chatted out things in general and not about work. It's funny how that is, when we're at work we talk about work, when we're outside of work we generally don't talk about work. We looked at some of the ads on the wall and noted how some of the events had already passed.
We lingered there for a little while, although the place was closing soon. We wondered out into the afternoon sun and drove back to work. There's always work.
July 18, 2000