September 2001 Archives

What a day! Yesterday, during my Portuguese class, Ray called to tell me that we're laying off more people and not to show up at workl until 1pm. The good news was that I wasn't being axed, the bad news was that some of my coworkes were.

So I had the morning free. Since we didn't take Homer for a walk last night (we were sending Shannan off at the Cedar Stree and the finished the night off at Mozart's) I wanted to take him for an extended hike to the Wallnut Creek park. It was a beautiful morning, the park was empty and we explored sections we haven't been to before. Then five mountain bikers showed up and Homer got spooked. He usually runs up a trail, gets out of the way and then comes back once a biker passes. Not this time.

I called and called and eventually retraced our steps to where he disappeared. Nothing. The place where he wanished was a meeting of five trails and many of the quickly branched into other trails within a hundred yards or so. I whistled and called and went down all the trails looking for his footprints - still nothing. I ran into other people and noone had seen him. Eventually I gave up and started walking home, in my mind designing the "Lost Dog" poster and worrying about the lack of recent photos of him.

When I finally got to the house (a couple of miles or so away) there was Homer, sitting happily and acting all innocent. I rejoiced and petted him and was glad that he was found.

So that ordeal made me think of the biblical story of the good shepherd and the lost sheep. Although the Bible never mentions it, I bet the shepherd wanted to beat the shit out of that damn sheep after he's been looking for it for a couple of hours with no success. Sure he was glad when he finally found it (and maybe even gave the sheep a treat) but while he was searching he must have been quite pissed...

So I have my dog and I still have my job. But I lost my office mate and a bunch of other good people at work and I'm about to go to the Drought House to hang out with some that are left. At least the weekend promisses to have gorgeous weather.

Looks like we'll be staying at the Hotel Jangadeiro when we go to Recife for Doug's wedding. Pretty swanky and right on the beach no less!

I had a great walk this morning in the Wallnut Creek park. Although it's humid, it was nice and cool - homer got completely wet from running through the dewy tall grass.

Our gourmet club dinner yesterday was a success. We managed to get the house into shape and the dinner was great. We went to Grape Wince Market for the wine and got a Beaujolais that everyone liked (we also asked about an appropriate Cajun apertif and the best the store experts could come up with was "Miller Light", so we went without). John and Lynn's crawfish etoufe was awesome. We went with Banan Fosters for desert - it's actually not that difficult to make and it's deliciously decadent. Plus, which is always a major bonus with me, fire was involved. So the desert was a hit and now we're stuck with an almost-full bottle of banana liqeur.

Tonight we're having people over for a farewell party of Shannan - we're quite the socialites this weekend.

I've been hit with serious alergies yesterday - damn those evil molds! My nose was running and I was alternately dazed because of histamins and antihistamins (after taking my Walgreens Tylenol Allergy Sinus knock-off). Shouldn't histamins and antihistamins, when they come in contact with one another, cancel each other out and release a huge amount of energy? Or does that only work for matter and antimatter? Anyway, needless to say, mor workday was not too productive. I feel better now, though, so maybe I'll be able to help Jennifer with putting her things away instead of dozing in the recliner hoping that Homer won't notice me and bite my toes.

Speaking of Homer. The thing on his nose is looking better. All the hair on that spot is gone, but it's not crusty anymore. We're supposed to feed him yoghurt with his antibiotics (something about keeping the beneficial bacteria in his stomach). I assumed that he wouldn't like it, after all, plain yoghurt is pretty tart. I shouldn't have worried, though - I guess if you like the taste of turds, there is no reason you shouldn't like plain yoghurt, too. He knows what "kibbles" means, and I think he's now learning the word "dessert", too.

Homer has developed some sort of lesion on his nose which has not been clearing up. He has the tendency to stick his nose everywhere, so who knows where he got it from. I took him to the vet (dogs aren't cheap), but the doctor didn't find anything conclusive. So it's going to be antibiotics, neosporen and cortisone for the next week. Let's hope it'll work, I don't feel like having to deal with yet another thing.

I feel a bit overwhelmed right now. I'm busy three nights a week with Homer's class and Portuguese. Last week's events made me fall behind at work (it's hard to focus) and I'm having a hard time getting back into the swing of things. Then there is all the work with Jennifer's move-in, going over my stuff and getting rid of my junk, and finding space for her things. And then we're hosting our gourmet club this Saturday, which means having the house look decent and coming up with drinks and a dessert. But, besides Bannana Foster, there don't seem to be that manny appealing Cajun desserts out there.

I feel like things are falling between the cracks and I don't like it. We didn't get around to doing our Portuguese homework and I completely forgot about yesterday's "Big Meeting" for Madrigal Dinner which I planned to attend. Not to mention that I don't have any time to work on my website (I have all the hardware for Homer's webcam) nor on the Madrigal Dinner website. I feel stressed :-(

Ann Coulter on Barbara Olson on National Review Online says:

We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.

Yeah, I'm sure that's going to convince everyone in the region to love America. On the other hand, maybe it would be following their application of the golden rule?

We saw "O" yesterday, a modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello. Although, as you would expect from the classic story, it is a bit of a downer, I liked it very much. "O" takes place in a southern elite highschool and Oden (Othello) is the star basketball player on the high schools team. The parallels between war and highschool sports work very well (although both are really just the setting for the main character's leadership and popularity and for Iago/Hugo's jealousy) and the plot stuck closely to Shakespeare's storyline.

There weren't many people in the theater watching this movie and the majority were "older" people (twenties and up) and not the teen audience that I imagine the movie was intended for. That's a pity, because this is a very good and accessible introduction to one of the better known plays and, since it uses contemporary language, I would imagine that highschoolers should appreciate the movie.

BTW, I have read Othello, but have never seen it on stage. I've seen the 1995 movie Othello with Laurence Fishburne as Othello and Kenneth Branagh as Iago, and I've seen Verdi's Otello opera. Of these, I think "O" comes the closest to the true thing.

We moved the majority of Jennifer's stuff into my house yesterday. I've been cleaning out the closets today (I have way too much crap and a lot of it now goes to Goodwill). I'll let her have the walk-in closet, but there will have to be concessions on decorating - quid pro quo is only fair!

The planes are flying again - and every time we see one, we point it out to one another (and I keep wondering if they're on a "usual" flight path, not that I'm afraid or expect them not to be).

I've been listening to the NPR coverage on KUT (it's been wonderful) and they had a call-in program tonight. I found one caller's comment very thought provoking. He said something to the effect that "the terrorists were not attacking our way of life, but rather our international policies that affect their piece of earth". Of course, he's probably right but we never really think about it this way (it's allways about us and not about what's going on in other countries). But think about it: does Usama bin Ladan really care about what we do here? About whether we have our "freedom" or "liberty" or any of the other patriotic terms used in the media and by the president? He probably couldn't give a hoot. He's pissed about our military's presence in Saudi Arabia and our influence in the Middle East, either direct (bombing of Iraq, US troups stationed in Saudi Arabia, etc.) or indirect (support of Israel, cultural (MTV, etc.) exports).

Wired reports that Congress Mulls Stiff Crypto Laws: In a floor speech on Thursday, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-New Hampshire) called for a global prohibition on encryption products without backdoors for government surveillance.

Who's government surveillance are we talking about? US's? Our allies? What about friendly nations that become non-friendly nations in a few years? And whose going be responsible for keeping those backdoors safe? On a global scale? We should be alert about how our liberties might be attacked by our government (I find it ironic that the call came form a Rep. senator). Bush said in a recent speech that 'America was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from shining.' While I'm sure Sen. Gregg means well, his knee-jerk reaction to prohibit encryption is making that light a little darker and plays into the hands of those who attack our way of life.

If you're concerned about freedom online, you may want to support the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union.

I just was on my way to the kitchen to get a soda and heard a call for help. I ran around the corner and there was Leo with our receptionist who was passed out. She had an epileptic seasure, apparently her 3rd this week. I've seen a friend have one a year ago so I kinda knew what to do (which is pretty much nothing, just making sure they don't hurt themselves). Still, it freaks you out and reminds you of how fragile we are. Not like I needed reminding after this week...

[Jerry] Falwell said the American Civil Liberties Union has "got to take a lot of blame for this," [...] winning [Pat] Robertson's agreement: "Well, yes."

According to the Washington Post, Jerry Falwell thinks that God Gave U.S. 'What We Deserve,'. Oh, and it's all ACLU's fault, too. I hope that this is another urban legened and not really true.

I went to the noon vigil over lunch with a couple of co-workers. Jennifer was too swamped at work, so I said prayers for her. There was a bit too much preachin' (and I representatives from other faiths were missing) but mayor Watson read a really nice proclamation (I'll try to add a link when it's online). It was good experiencing the unity with a bunch of other people, kind of a "town hall" meeting - even if the bagpipes playing Amazing Grace were off pitch (aren't they always?) To my shame I discovered that I fudged some words on The Pledge of Alegiance and on the Star-Spangled Banner (I got the meaning across, though).

On the way to work I saw lots of flags on houses - the neighborhoods looked quiet and peaceful and made me happy. I also saw a beat-up pickup truck with a large US flag; as I got closer I saw a dixie sticker and a Nascar sticker - I know I'm probably just generalizing but that image made me concerned.

Omid emailed an article (Blond or bearded - Fanatics of every color and creed are all enemies of free-thinking peoples) from The Iranian reflecting the feeling he's had in recent days. If you hear or see deragotary comments or actions towards your fellow men, please don't stay silent but speak up. Both to educate the person making the statement, as well as to show your solidarity with the inocents who are being persecuted by the ignorant.

You may also want to take a look at No Walls - Why I love America which was written by the same author only a month ago. I remember having the same feeling when I first cam to Texas. It's about the sense of freedom that people get to enjoy here - it's a definite contrast, not just from communist Czechoslovakia where I grew up, but even from Switzerland, considered the bastion of european democracy, where I lived before coming here. I find myself taking this freedom for granted now, just like most everyone living here. I hope that I will be more aware of this freedom, and that the freedom won't change in the future.

I'm tired of the news. I'll listen instead to Fauré and Duruflé's Requiem. It only feels a ppropriate.

According to the Comic Book Resources, CBR News has just received a release from Sony pictures requesting the recall of materials promoting the Spider-Man movie because it prominently features the World Trade Center.

I love that trailer!

I've been spammed twice already with The Americans - by Gordon Sinclair ©. The spams attributed it to "a recent Canadian broadcast". The piece was actually boradcast in 1973 which, if you pay attention to the references - walk on the moon, draft-dodgers in Canada, the franc almost colapsing in '56 (huh?) - it does sound a bit, er, dated.

Also, Nostradamus spams are abounding. I got this interestring view on them at work:

This will give you chills:
"In the year of the new century and nine months
From the sky will come a great King of Terror
The sky will burn at 45 degrees (NY is on the 45th parallel)
fire approaches the great new city
in the City of God there will be great thunder
Two brothers (the towers) torn apart by Chaos
While the fortress (the pentagon) endures
The great leader will succumb
The third big war will begin when the city is burning"
~Nostradamus (1654)

Pretty interesting. I did a little poking around on Nostradamus, cause like Janette, I was wondering a bit myself. For all the conspiracy theorists... try finding more than a handful of Nostradamus sites that are still up on the web--not an easy task. (Of course, for the skeptics, this could also be because many servers went down in light of yesterday's events, or even the decline of Internet portals over the past year due to dot-com failures, cause really, who's looked for Nostradamus sites in the past year?.)

I don't know where the quote in your email came from, but it looks a little fishy. First, Nostradamus wrote in quatrains (four lines); this obviously has more than four lines. Second, the 'King of Terror' bit seemed to be used before. I found this quatrain that resembled the quote you sent...

(first in French, cause Nostradamus was French!)
L'an mil neuf cens nonante neuf sept mois
Du ciel viendra grand Roy deffraieur
Resusciter le grand Roy d'Angolmois.
Avant apres Mars regner par bon heur.

The year 1999 seven months
From the sky will come the great King of Terror.
To resuscitate the great king of the Mongols.
Before and after Mars reigns by good luck.
(X-72)*

(*or, according to the Alta Vista translator, appropriately called Babelfish:
The year millet nine taxable quotas ninety nine seven months
Of the sky will come large Roy deffraior
Resusciter large Roy d' Angolmois.
Before after Mars regner by good hor.)

Don't know where the 'Sky will burn at 45 degrees...' came from, but I found this bit on the web. I am directly quoting from this guy's site (cut and paste, baby)...

"If I make say a thousand prophecies that are fairly abstract for example:

In the City of God there will be a great thunder, Two brothers torn apart by Chaos, while the fortress endures, the great leader will succumb

Well let us analyse this. For Example what does City of God mean? It could be Mecca, Medina, Rome, Jeruselum, Salt Lake City, or any holy city depending on your religion. What do I mean by thunder--a storm? War? EarthQuake? lots of stuff can be described by thunder.
There are a lot of two brothers on this world (I think the Number runs among the Billions) and fortress edure's what--Besiegement, Famine, etc? What Great Leader? How will he succumb? To what?

Now let the prophecy rest for a few years. Add a couple thousand more. Eventually, one of them will fit close enought with events that have happened in the future that the prophecy will appear to come true. If you make enough prophecies and are intelligent enough to word them in such a way that they are abstract you become instant future see-er person. For example those psychics you see every year that make predictions for the year 199-whatever generally get one or two out of ten predictions right. It is because they are good guessers and that there is enough of them to make it seem like people can really predict the future."

"Further more I was watching a 1970's movie on Nostredamus and it predicted that the Third World War began in 1994 and was well on it's way by 1999. (I am holding my breath. Oh no!). The people who "analyse" the Quatrains simply scan through history until they find an event that seems to fit with the quatrain."

These two quotes are from Neil Marshall's website [SR: I can't find the URL].
He may have taken the 'City of God... two brothers torn apart...' quote directly from Nostradamus interpretations (though it doesn't sound like it), but even then we've got two totally separate quatrains thrown together to 'predict' yesterday's events. Fishy, man.

Yes, I have too much time on my hands. But, I like to do a little investigating (damn engineering side of me!)
-Scott

I wonder what it is that makes prophecies so fascinating to us? And why do so many people believe that the Nostradamus predictions are true? Maybe it's just a general lack of familiarity with statistics, probability and our ability to believe that everything revolves around us and our time.

I was reading user comments on the condolences page of the german magazine BILD. All the posts (in german) express sympathy and sadness about the recent events and send their thoughts and prayers to the American people. Most express their full support of the American government in its pursuit and punishment of the responsible parties. Many, however, also caution restraint and express fear of a third world war being set off by this:

Ich hoffe Präsident Bush wird besonnen handeln, und nicht aus seine texanische Herkunft hören. Bei den Cowboys wurden früher schnell der Colt gezogen. Dies sollte unbedingt verhindert werden. Denn ich habe Angst vor einem 3. Weltkrieg und möchte nicht das erleben, was meine Eltern und Großeltern während des 2.Weltkrieges erlebt haben. Ich bete und bitte um Frieden auf der Welt. Wir sind doch alle zivilisiert!

Here's my, albeit awkward, translation:

I hope president Bush will act deliberately and won't listen to his Texan origins. The cowboys used to pull their guns very quickly. This should be absolutely prevented. Because I am afraid of a 3rd World War and would not like to experience what my parents and grand parents went through during the WWII. I pray and ask for peace in the world. After all, we are all civilized people.

Addie took off to pick up his daughter from her kindergarden - apparently they're evacuating the Dell Jewish Community Center where she's attending. It's probably nothing, but it must be terrifying for the parents.

Earlier, the sender of the original "Would anyone miss the Middle East" email clarified his original message:

No, of course "nuking" isn't a tenable position. It's ludicrous. Just as ludicrous as singing, yelling, cheering and passing out candy in the streets because thousands of civilians in another country were just murdered.

I tried to play the ridiculous against the ridiculous. I hope noone for even half a second thinks I actually want any nukes deployed ever, in any part of the world.

I suspect he was just expressing his frustration and anger. Still, words can hurt and lead to other things...

Great, the blamings and irrationality begins. The following was an email from the "devout christian" on our team:

Subject: Would anyone miss the Middle East
if it was a softly glowing wasteland for about 1,000 years or so?
<Link to article on celebrations in Egypt>

Two of my coworkers (with backgrounds from Iran and Israel) replied:

Well, I'm sure I would since I still have family who lives there.

As do I, and hence I would miss it as well. So would many thousands of other Americans and other people all over the world who have family there. Not to mention the millions of innocent people who would be killed, the oil that the western world depends on being destroyed, etc. The US absolutely needs to strike back at those responsible for the attacks yesterday, but I am sure that "nuking" the entire Middle East is NOT the answer.

People, in this emotionally charged time, please put some thought into what you're saying and how it is going to be interpreted. Yes, some people will celebrate this tragedy (would you expect anything different from the streets of, say, Baghdad?) Yes, they may truly feel that this is just punishment for their (perceived) treatement from the West and the US. But this does not give us reason to resort to xenophobic generalizations.

So it wasn't a nightmare. It's day two after the attack and the world is still strange. Again, it's a beautfiul day in Austin - blue sky and a balmy 65F in the early morning. The continuing coverage on the radio is nothing pretty, though. I heard the president's address last night (I wasn't at home to see it) and was very pleased with it. I think that calmness and control were being exuded and I think that's important at this time.

The news reports were equating the attack with Pearl Harbor and other disasters. I talked with Jennifer about this and we don't think that this is the defining moment of our generation. Although I think I'll always remember yesterday - hearing the initial news on the radio and then spending a big part of the day watching TV with my coworkers - I don't think it will affect me or my generation as it my people in highschool and college. Jennifer said she felt that the falling of the Berlin Wall was her "day to remember", she has vague memories of the Challanger disaster and can't really remember what she was doing when Oklahoma broke (me neither). I'm not sure what my moment was, but following the velvet revolution in Czechoslovakia (from abroad) must have been there.

I am glad that people our showing there best face, so far. Outporing of support and no reported looting (I think). I hope it will stay this way and that we'll keep that with us when the disaster is fading in memory.

I heard Tony Blair on TV talking about the terrorist attack on the US. He very eloquently said that "it's not the United States against terrorism - it's the entire Free World against terrorism".

Then I saw Bush warning in his ruminating way to "make no mistake about it" twice in his short anouncement. He did mention that he was in touch with the veep, congress and cabinet, so hopefully things will work out. I truly hope that the US won't take an isolationist approach when dealing with this.

Please go and donate blood today. If you're in Austin, The Blood and Tissue Center of Central Texas at 4300 North Lamar has currently a three hour wainting list. However, they'll extend their hours and you can go tonight (I'll be there with Jennifer after our Portuguese lesson).

Everyone here's still in shock. I can't believe that the World Trade Center buildings have collapsed. It's so surreal - I had a beautiful morning walk in the Park, I hear about some "small" plane hitting a WTC building on the way to work and half an hour later Stinky tells me that everyone is watching TV in the conference center. And then you just see dust and smoke and no WTC buildings under a beautifully blue NY sky and a burning Pentagon in a geogeous DC morning. My thoughts are with the victims.

On the way to work, NPR had a newsflash about apparently a Cessna type airplane crashing into the World Trade Center. An hour later, most of the people at work were crowded in the conference center watching Fox News on TV and learning about airliners crashing into the WTC and the Pentagon. What the hell is going on? And where is it going to lead to?

I got an ICQ from Jennifer telling me that her siter Meredith, who works in Manhattan, is OK. Beside some of Meredith's friends that I've met, I don't think I know anyone else living in NYC. I've been up at the top of the WTC the first time I was in New York in 1988 and we walked past it when we were there this February. The buildings are huge and I can only imagine the chaos that must have ensued after the first and then the second crash. The number of casualties will be staggering, both from the airplane passengers and especially from the office workers.

I am concerned about the reaction that's going to come from the US. When the Oklahoma City bombing happened, everyone was immediatelly blaming it on middle eastern terrorists. I was actually glad when it came out that it was a millitia nut who was responsible. Still, it was scary how quickly people were to point fingers and blame. The current attack is obviously well planned and coordinated and most likely comes from abroad. You know that the US is going to retaliate militarily, and I think that's appropriate, too. Although, with Bush at the helm, who how inapropriate and misguided the response is going to be.

I am more concerned about the internal reaction towards people in America that are (or appear to be) from the region where the attack came from. I'm afraid that people are too willing to single out and accuse and blame. We've seen it in the past towards Japanese and German Americans in WWII and recently towards the chinese researcher at the national lab. It doesn't take much to rail people up and I'm afraid that many will take advantage of it. Be it polititians, militias, skin heads and such. While watching the TV, the comemntator said that we need to remeber that despite this attach, "the US is still the most powerful nation on earth". Well, duh! I don't think anyone would have thought anything less, but rhetoric like this is going to lead to trouble...

We just finished the second and - thank god - final day of Jennifer and Shannan's garage sale. I was only partly involved (I didn't get up at 5:30 am to set up but I was there the rest of the time), however I did manage to score almost $50, I think (some of my loot didn't actually make it into my wallet).

Garage sales are strange. I've never actually had one, although some friends used my house for a couple of them since their house wasn't in an optimally suitable neighborhood (i.e. cull de sack where noone ever goes). This one was different. Jennifer and Shannan live a couple of blocks east of Lamar in a neighberhood that's partly decent and partly hoody and we got the whole gamut of garage sale shoppers (although there weren't that many of them).

I'd group garage sale shoppers into four categories. The first, are the "professional" garage salers that do this all the time. They show up even before the event opens, they know what's a good deal and they come prepared (they have large vehicles and carry measuring tapes and such). They often buy practical items and probably re-sell them at some point. We didn't get many of those. The second category are the neighbors. They just sort of come by during the day, look over stuff (partly out of curiosity, I think) and buy all sorts of things. We had some neighbors over almost all day long on Saturday, especially if you count the kids. The third category are the accidental shoppers. They happen to see the sign and just drop in. They come in different flavors, but they may buy the "unpractical" crap, like Shannan's ornamental pickled peppers or her coffe table leg (that particular shopper belonged into the pack-rat sub-category). They tend to come later in the day, and we didn't have too many of them.

The last type of garage sale shoppers are people that shop there because that's what they can afford. In central Austin this often includes UT students, but at our garage sale it was mostly hispanic families. They usually show up around or after closing time and often buy quite a bit of stuff. They bought a lot of the furniture, clothing, kitchen and garden tools. I'm not a very good salesperson and feel weird about selling crap in general. I felt especially self-conscious about selling stuff to the people that have to shop at garage sales. I don't think I should feel that way - when my family first moved to Switzerland, we bought a lot of our stuff at the Salvation Army stores, too. But it's weird to be involved in the trickle down economy and be the one trickling stuff down. Well, the sale is over now, and most of the leftover things will go to Goodwill and Settlement Home.

The last thing that I experienced yuppie guilt about was Jennifer's sale of her Mac IIsi. She sold it, with monitor and modem, for $80 - which is a decent price for this machine. But again, the person buying had no idea about computers and I hope it won't give her too much trouble. At least Jfer was upfront about it's capabilities - but still it's a crappy computer all things considered. The evil part in me wanted to say that it would run Windows 2000 - but of course I didn't.

Our portuguese class has met twice now. I feel that my brain has calcified since I've graduated from UT. The portuguese language is interesting but I'm not retaining much, yet. I've been looking for some online resources. There seems to be lots of stuff for spanish, like the excellent StudySpanish.com. So far I haven't found a portuguese equivalent, however I think I may have discovered the longest domain name ever, at learn-to-speak-portuguese-language-learning.com.

On his walk this morning, Homer had a joyous bout of coprophagia. He reminded me of a little kid with chocolate smeared all over their face. Well, it wasn't bad, but it sure gave a new meaning to the word "doggy breath".

On the other hand, he's being really good about "heeling". I think he's going to blow the curve when we go back to obedience school on monday.

My XLR8 Interview USB Video digitizer has arrived (MacGurus had the best prize). It's pretty sweet - I hooked up the video output from my digital (photo) camera to the Interview and used CoolCam to publish a test picture.

So now I'm waiting for the XCam2 wireless camera to arrive. Yeah, yeah, I feel bad that I actually patronize a busines that annoys every single web user with their insipid pop-up and pop-under adds, but their stuff is pretty cheap. I just hope that the range is long enough from the back-yard to my computer room.

Overall a nice labor day weekend. After I finished the drawers on Sat. and Jennifer came home from work, we took Homer for a nice long walk through Walnut Creek Park. It was still pretty muddy after all the rain we've had, but the creeks were running with clear water that wasn't too hight. Homer had a blast and we had a mostly pleasant walk. I say "mostly" because I got hit by bad alergies, so I spend the second half of the walk with snot running out of my nose. Apparently the molds are really high right now (big surprise after all the rain) and it seems to affect me. I got some Tylenol Alergy medication now (well, the Walgreens knock-off version) and while my sinuses are clear I'm wheezing like some old asthmatic. I need to get a doctor and some Claritin.

Archie and Jessica came over after the walk and I grilled some mean polish sausage and garlic/rosmary portabellos. It was a nice evening with apple pie and icecream.

On Monday I spent half the day asleep in my recliner hopped up on antihistamines and then we went over to Kat's to grill some more. I hadn't seen most of the people there (Jennifer & Scott, Kat & Steve, Brad) in a couple of months so it was nice to visit and play badbinton.

We also managed to watch two rentals over the weekend - Almost Famous (pretty good) and Bedazzled (pretty aweful). We tried to go see The Others on Friday at the Alamo Drafthouse but it was sold out (this is the second time we've tried to see this movie). So instead we went to the Arbor and saw Ghost World which I highly recomend.

Mission accomplished. I have added pull-out drawers to four shelfs in my kitchen cabinets. If I had to do it again, I would do a couple of things differently.

• Use more conservative measurements when ordering custom drawers.
  
• Order deeper drawers. The sample drawers at the Home Depot are small and the depth is misleading.
  
• Use harder wood for my spacers. I hope the wood I used will be OK.
  
• Drill pilot holes for everything.
  
• Buy some clamps to glue the drawers better.

A couple of things I learned: Pilot holes are your friends - don't ignore them. A hammer can make up 3-4mm in bad measurements :-)

Two drawers down and two to go. The measurements we sent for the dravers were so, er, exact that I had to move one of the hinges so that the drawer would fit. This is getting to be a much larger project then anticipated. On the bright side, after the first drawer was in (last night) the next one went much faster.

Homer was fairly good being left alone at the house. When I got back one of the dining room chairs was toppled over (he must have been trying to read the paper) and he managed to find the treats I take on our walks on the fairly high ledge and somehow retrieved them. I found a torn up and treat-less sandwich bag laying in the living room. I'm rather surprised at all that activity, since when I'm here during the day, he does a pretty good imitation of a corpse. He follows me whenever I move to another room but then resumes his coma impersonation.

The drawers are assembled but I have to go back to Home Depot (I'm just following the rule that says you have to go three times to the hardware store in order to finish any project). I need to buy 14' of 1x2 lumber. BTW, what is it with the way wood is measured? Why is a 2x4 acutally more like 1.5"x3.5"? I think they are ripping off the consuremrs and nobody complains about it! It's about time that stuff was sold by metric units, anyway.

I just gave Homer a bath, too, so I can't let him into the back yard (he would just love to go mudding). I'm going to cross my fingers and leave him in the house unattended. I hope he won't seek revenenge for being bathed while I'm at the store...

Jennifer is working today and I'm supposed to be installing the custom drawers that have arrived this week. My bottle of wood glue is all dried up so I have to go to Home Depot before I even get started...