Tuesday, April 9, 2002

I set up the newly arrived Dell Latitude C400 that our office purchased. It took several hours to verify that the installed hardware and software worked and to install the software we'll be using with it. It was very annoying to have to register Office XP—I had to do it over the telephone because the network connection wasn't set up for it. The process took about 5 minutes and went smoothly, but I didn't feel like I should have had to do it. Patrick and I went to Watergate for dinner. We're celebrating his birthday early because tomorrow is the Lambda Lit reading—a big deal, and we don't want Patrick to miss out on the networking opportunity there. Watergate's menu has about 10 appetizers ($7 each) and about 10 entrees (or "large plates", $17 each) and about 6 desserts. You can also choose a prix fixe meal: 1 appetizer, 1 entree, and 1 dessert for $25. It's like getting the dessert for free, so we both did the prix fixe. Patrick had the warm lobster martini ($5 extra, with cilantro, orange zest, mashed potatoes, champagne jasmine pearl sauce), the Grilled Herb Filet Mignon (Roquefort pecan wonton, baby spinach, bordelaise sauce), the Japonaise, and Graham's 10-year-old tawny port. I had the Dungeness crab salad, the Sonoma Duck Breast (wild mushroom/duck confit/foie gras essence, celery root puree), the profiteroles, and monkey-picked oolong tea. We also shared a glass each of Chateau Sirene cabernet sauvignon.