Sunday, November 23, 2003
Patrick and I both woke up feeling like we had important dreams but we both couldn't remember what had happened. Patrick left early to meet with Aaron at Jumpin Java. Aaron has more feedback for Patrick's novel. I stayed home, cleaned the shower, dusted and vacuumed the whole apartment, took a shower, sequestered the Vornado heater we had been using only as a circulation fan since it smelled funny whenever the heating element was turned on. It had accumulated a huge amount of dust which is all on the inside and cannot be cleaned off without taking the whole thing apart. I realized that this could be a significant source of Patrick's allergy symptoms—it was essentially a dust engine that randomly threw dust into the air whenever physics determined that some of the dust broke apart from the mother dust ball within. It made me wonder a little about the reliability of reviews such as on Amazon. If I had written a review for the Vornado heater, it would likely have been within a month after I bought it, and I would have given it 5 stars with a high recommendation. Now, however, I would give it 3 stars and not recommend it unless you (and your societal conscience) can afford to spend $100 to buy a new one each year to remain both warm and free of dust. I surmise that very few reviewers revisit their ratings and writings 2 or more years after having been posted. How many other products might there be like this? Left the air cleaner on high on the kitchen counter in the middle of our apartment before leaving. Met Patrick and Travis and Erick at La Mediterranee for brunch. It was our first time meeting Erick, a Java programmer originally from Jakarta who has also written two novels on the side but has no agent yet. We (or rather, he and Patrick) talked about writing and the book business. Travis had the steamed two eggs dish with bacon, Erick had the Lorraine (spinach), Patrick had the Mykonos (feta and olives), and I had the Constantinople (smoked salmon and chives). A bargain meal at $10 each after a $5.25 tip. After brunch, we walked through the Castro enjoying the sunny but chilly day. Erick and Travis took off to go shopping downtown at American Eagle. Patrick and I went home. Patrick napped. I moved the air cleaner to the floor, rinsed the car and scrubbed off some bugs from the front that the car wash people had missed. Uploaded various photos to Ofoto: Laguna Beach (from August last year), Blue Angels air show, miscellaneous photos of Jeremy on 4th of July and Tina's apartment when we visited a few weeks ago. These were all photos that I had taken with my brother's camera. I was surprised at how well they all came out, especially the Blue Angels ones. Read blogs. Helped Chris C with tips for his home network connection. Mid-afternoon snack: leftovers from Ha's and Progresso soup. (Yes, we still had leftovers from Ha's, if you've been keeping track. This was the last of it.) Patrick had a bagel with cream cheese. I napped, then woke. Chatted with Chris C again. Late dinner at home with Patrick: porcini mushroom tortellini with alfredo sauce and fresh chive. Watched a flash movie which Tina recommended: themeatrix.com. It's about why and how you should support the sustainable meat industry rather than factory farms. I highly recommend it, if only for the entertainment value. Patrick and I eat a lot less meat than we did a year ago, though it's not always sustainable meat when we do. This movie gives us good reason to reconsider our choices at the grocery store. Installed CDex 1.51 on the Win 98 machine since we haven't been able to rip for over the past month on the Win XP machine due to last month's troubleshooting problems.