 |
August 6, 2000 |
|
I wake at 2:30pm. I suppose that's one of the caveats of coming home from work at 5am. Naturally, I stayed up considerably later doing stuff on my computer. Yes, I understand the irony of this whole setup, but at this point computers have become such a general purpose tool that separating them is a bit of a pain. It is a bit like dealing with all the appliances these days that keep the time, it has become a bit disorienting, but we can always make a list can't we?
- Alarm clocks (obviously)
- Stereos
- Pagers
- Cell phones
- Answering machines
- Televisions
- VCR's
- Coffee Makers (although I don't have one)
- Ovens
- Microwave ovens
- Computers
I chat with Pam and make plans for dinner. We decided to go to I love sushi. I like sushi, I suppose I'm just trying to compensate since Len doesn't like sushi. Okay, technically he just doesn't do sushi, to justify not liking it, one has to first try it and he hasn't. He already has a hard enough time with just seafood… adding the "raw" factor and the seaweed is a bit much for him.
We end up getting a table instead of sitting at the bar. The sushi is good as usual. We do get a green salad and I get some soup. I'm not sure what Pam fascination with getting salad at a sushi restaurant happens to be, but they do serve it, so it can't be that strange. We briefly wondered if they had mis-prepared our Rosanna roll, since it seemed to have crab and we both thought that it was composed of scallops, but it was all good.
We still marvelled at the idea that they claim to serve rum, and they can certainly serve cokes, but apparently they are incapable of making a rum and coke. Maybe they just don't have the glassware?
I had corrrectly speculated that Pam wanted to go to Dairy Queen after dinner, which is only a few blocks away. And we indeed wandered down to the place. I fond of Dairy Queen's; I had one only two blocks from my old house in Fort Lauderdale while I was growing up. Ironically, I rarely went there… maybe it was a side effect of not having any money. I got a medium vanilla cone dipped in butterscotch, and she, of course, got a chocolate cone dipped in chocolate, which seems redundant to me, but then again I'm not the one with the chocolate fetish. I suppose I shouldn't complain, since some claim that chocolate is an aphrodisiac.
We sat outside while we ate our cones. It was a nice day, though considerably chillier than the last time we came here. Again, I teased her by making lewd comments while she ate her cone. I suppose I'm nothing if not predictable. Naturally, I didn't do it while there was anyone within earshot, I wouldn't want to upset her after all.
Unfortunately, I did have to return to work and so I dropped her off at home. At least we wouldn't have to deal with the entire traffic-across-the-bridge fiasco once she moves.
I did eventually make it back to work. It seems that these days all I'm doing is working 'til exhaustion. There is a part of me that is used to this as disturbing as that may sound. Strange, I know.
It must've been about 8:30pm or so when I get a phone call. Not that this is that strange, but I get this phone call on my cell phone. Don't get me wrong, I do give people my cell phone number, but I just figured that they may try me at work before calling my cell phone. It was my cousin Ling. This is even stranger since she was calling from Florida, where it is close to midnight.
I answered the phone and talked to her. Apart from the usual pleasantries, she called me because she was experiencing computer problems. I had her describe the symptoms and try out a few things. I had it narrowed down to it being a problem with her modem; it seemed as if something managed to fry her modem and the phone lines were dead whenever she it was plugged to the phone line. I suggested that she replace her existing one. It wouldn't be too bad since I had two at home that I wasn't using. I had gotten a 56k modem some time ago for my older computer and also got one with my new computer. I have since gotten DSL installed, so I really don't have a need for either of them. I promised to send her one.
The only thing I was concerned about was having her install the modem. It's an internal modem and although I have no problems with installing hardware on a computer, most people do. I assured her that it was going to be fairly painless and that her computer manuals should have step by step instructions on how to open the case.
I stayed at work past 2:30am. Like I said before, I'm pretty busy these days. I was listening to the radio on the internet, to the station that normally broadcasts the Braves' games. This is when I got the news.
Sir Alec Guinness died of liver cancer at the age of eighty-six.It saddened me. He had starred in dozens of films, many before my time, spanning over sixty years. I'm sure that the role I remember him best for, as with most other Generation-X'ers, is his role as the aging Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi.
I'll always remember him as the sage-ish Jedi knight from the first Star Wars films, who talked about the force as if it were a religion. In many ways, he represented wisdom and sacrifice, and in a round about way, he also represented immortality. How ironic that he'll continue to live among us science fiction fans, much like the way he continue to exist in the films. Today many people will weep.
August 6, 2000