Areas of Unrest

QOTD: "Life is better than death, I believe, if only because it is less boring and because it has fresh peaches in it." - Alice Walker

Reading: Charles Dickens, Bleak House

Listening to: Moxy Fruvous, Bargainville

Decluttering accomplishments: did laundry and assorted household paperwork

28 September 2003 - New Year Musings

I always assumed that when I was a grown-up, I would do nice adult things like getting enough sleep. Instead, I'm facing a business trip this week which has me leaving my house at about 4 a.m. one day and returning after midnight the next. There may not be enough caffeine in the known universe to get me through that.

Monday was spent largely on talk about Isabel and it seems that I fared better than many. Nobody I knew had real damage, but a lot of people were without power for longer than I was. The really odd part is that it seems many people lost power hours before the storm really hit. Meanwhile, I read in the news that people in Iraq are complaining that we haven't restored the electrical infrastructure. Why should anybody expect that, when a 35 mile per hour wind can knock out power to Maryland for a week?

The only really interesting thing I did this week was go to hear Dave Barry talk at Olsson's Books. It was pretty convenient, since the Courthouse store is a short walk from work. I just stayed at the office a bit late and then headed up the street. I had expected that he'd read from his new book, but he spoke extemporaneously instead. He was quite amusing on subjects ranging from hurricanes to dogs to telemarketers. The only problem was that the store was completely packed. And, of course, tall people inevitably arrive late and plant themselves immediately in front of normal height people. There were also at least a couple of parents who thought they could just leave their children unattended in the kid's section. You might not be able to hear your little darlings, but everybody else in the whole bloody store can. When your kids have written several best-selling books, we might - mind, you, might - be willing to listen to them.

Which brings me to the subject of Rosh Hashanah. It seems appropriate an appropriate time to comment on at least a few self-improvement goals:

1. I will attempt to have better manners than tall people and selectively deaf parents. This is, admittedly, not a difficult goal. What if I throw in something about moving to the center of the train on the metro so other people can get on? Actually, more to the point, I should have the manners not to whine about other people's lack thereof.

2. Chocolate is not a vegetable. Well, it is, in that it isn't animal or mineral, but you know what i mean.

3. The amount of time spent procrastinating on any domestic chore should be less than the amount of time it actually takes to do that chore. That includes scrubbing the toilet, making the bed, hanging up clothes, etc..

4. Email does not improve with age. I will strive not to be starting such a high percentage of replies with "I'm sorry it took me so long to get around to responding."

5. What was I saying at the beginning of this about getting enough sleep?

And, oh, yeah, could the Red Sox please resolve to win in the post-season? I really want to see a Red Sox vs. Cubs World Series, but that would probably mean the end of the world. It might be worth it, even so.