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Care PackageI can't believe it's been so long since I last wrote. What's up with that? (I can't believe I just wrote "What's up with that?"!) Ruminating about it, I think I write entries when I feel like writing, not necessarily when I have something to say. So sometimes I write when nothing's happening, because I want to write, and other times I don't write even when I'm doing things, because I'd rather be doing things other than writing. So, here's a round-up of the last week.
My New ToyTuesday I finally went to Best Buy and bought a new film camera. It's a Samsung Maxima Zoom 130 GLM, very similar to one of the top-rated 35 mm cameras in Consumer Reports. It was on sale, and I like it in large part because it zooms from 38 mm to 130 mm. My old film camera is really quite old and lame by these standards, and I've long wished I had a camera with a zoom for some outdoor photos, and to frame certain photos better. So I think I'll be happy with this one.I still have my digicam, of course, but I often want to take photos on film to save, especially if I'm not taking them for my journal. So I decided that this would be a good long-term investment in that way. Can't wait to try it out and see that the pictures look like! But - aargh! The camera didn't come with a battery for the flash! So I had to wait until the next day to play with it, when I was able to snag a battery (and some rolls of high-speed film) on the way to work.
Fixed My ComputerAs I've said recently, the clock battery in my Macintosh died, which meant that I had to set the time every time I booted it up, or I had to leave it on all the time (albeit in sleep). Plus, I had a clock-related disk problem a week ago. Well, today I finally found where the battery is in the machine, pulled it out, and went to Fry's (a regional electronic chain; good selection, half of which is often not immediately in stock, and often-clueless salespeople) and bought a new one. It takes a "1/2" AA battery, which is literally a half-length AA battery. It's an odd thing. Anyway, replacing it turned out to be trivial (and cheap - only six bucks) and it even works! Yay!So after going 32 years without (that I remember) ever buying a lithium battery, I've bought two in one week. Go figure.
More Conspicuous Comic ConsumptionA local comics shop today kicked off a two-week sale, and all the back issues in their bins were 50% off. (For local fans - if I have any! - who read comics, the shop is Big Guy's Comics in Mountain View.) So I rousted myself from bed and drove up there this morning. I didn't buy a whole lot of stuff, but I did find a bunch of good old issues of The Avengers in very good condition! (How old? 1966-69.)I also decided to kick off my latest bout of "trash collecting" - my term for collecting a series of some entertaining comic with probably-limited re-read value, probably to be sold once I've bought and read them all. This time, it's Mutant X from Marvel, which is about a member of the X-Men (Havok, a fringe player on the team) who is accidentally shunted into a parallel universe where Marvel history evolved differently. It looks pretty grim but also pretty clever in a light way, and with 30 or so issues under its belt, if I can find 'em all (and they should be cheap) it ought to entertain me for a few hours. Gosh, I love collecting stuff.
Ceres StormI finished reading David Herter's first SF novel, Ceres Storm, which unfortunately I found tremendously disappointing. The language Herter employs is sophisticated and his setting is moodily clever, but the plot and characterizations are thin, to say the least. Not at all what I'd hoped for. Give this one a pass.
Care PackageMy friend Subrata has been working really long hours for a number of weeks now. When we played ultimate last week he was bemoaning this fact, and I made some slightly snide comment about bringing him a bag of Skittles, to which he said, "Don't even joke about that." (Understand: Skittles is the one food that Subrata says he'll keep eating until either they're all gone, or he gets sick. And since Skittles are basically pure sugar, and Subrata's been working so hard it's been cutting into his exercise time...)Anyway, I wanted to do something nice for him. Being who he is (one of the Legion of Michael's Speed-Reading Friends), my first impulse was to buy him a book. But duh! When would he have time to read it? So instead I pulled out a dozen or so CDs (including the recordings of interviews with old-time baseball players, The Glory of Their Times) that I thought he hadn't heard and might like, and bought a bag of (very yummy) pralines and cream granola (yes, granola!) at Whole Foods and dropped them off in his cube on Friday morning, well before Subrata (a night owl) showed up. He sent me mail in the afternoon thanking me for the package. I think it helped make his day, and he says he owes me one! Gosh, it feels good to do nice things for people (especially when it's appreciated)!
Oof!We've been getting a lot of rain late this week, and it's considerably chillier than it was last weekend. I like rain, although I try to avoid the busy freeways at peak times (even despite my short commute) when it's raining, because California drivers seem to get even stupider (if that's possible) in bad weather. (Aside: Strangely, the main freeway I use to commute - I-280 - has cleared up somewhat in the last few months, even during rush hour. Last fall it was absolutely insane until well after 9 am, and now I can drive it at 8:30 am and it's not too bad. And the evening drive time is also not bumper-to-bumper like it was. Strange. Of course, nearby freeways seem to be worse lately...)Well, yesterday I was driving home, and was on a major street which I'd gotten on after getting off the 85 freeway. I was driving along, and all of a sudden thump! scraaaape!. I feel my car lurch slightly to one side, and hear a scraping sound to my left rear. Yes, a large, beige sport utility vehicle had apparently tried to change lanes into me as we were driving along, and scraped my left rear side. He quickly moved back into his lane, but didn't even start to pull over, but quickly drove up to the expressway and got on it. Bastard! I did memorize down his license plate number (2XSD993; somehow I forgot to check if it's a California plate) and wrote it down when I stopped, just in case. Fortunately, when I pulled into a gas station, it looks like the damage was nearly nonexistent. A very slight scrape on my paint job (but not enough to expose metal) and noticible scuffing on my wheel's hubcap. I don't think he hit me hard enough to damage the suspension or anything (I didn't slide when he hit me). So I think I'm okay. But what a jerk! I hate California drivers. As a group, they're the worst drivers I've ever seen, hands down.
I think that about covers this week. More soon... when I get into a writing groove!
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