Wednesday, July 30, 2003
There was a dry storm last night around 3:00 AM. We saw a brilliant flash of lightning light up our bedroom, followed within 2 seconds by loud, billowing thunder, but we heard no rain. Patrick got up, looked outside, found no rain. A few minutes later, a repeat of the same thing: frightening lightning followed by thunder, this time with a shorter delay between the two. Again, we listened for rain, but heard none. Within a few minutes, we started hearing a few drops fall, and then over the course of the next 45 minutes or so there was a smattering of drops—more a light rain than any kind of storm. Patrick was also uneasy because of a strange light that fell through our bedroom window. I believed it to be light from the garage worklamps of our neighbor; the light made its way to our window through a side vent in their house. Patrick insisted that wasn't the case—that the light came more from the front of their house. Aliens? he surmised, but it was the middle of the night and we both were groggy. Oatmeal for breakfast. Fixed a small error on the orientation camping trip page for Joel. Made that and the calendar page live for him and Cindy. Link checking. Bought stamps. Started hiking up 3rd Avenue today to increase the amount of exercise I get each day. It's a very steep hill just one block long. To make it easier on my knees, I take the elevator down, then hike back up. Will try this out twice a day each work day. I'm still taping my knee for patellofemoral pain—it's not completely better still. Lunch at desk: peanut butter sandwiches and cherries. Put in text and photos for the new Bowl of Hygeia Award page. Leftnav work: I'm happy with the progress I'm making. Met briefly with Cindy and Grace about furniture plans for the new office space. Installed Office XP for Joel. Restored a broken Retrospect connection for Melissa. Updated the office server with Windows updates (twice). Dinner at Chow on Church with Patrick. Patrick had lemon chicken with mashed potatoes and a side vegetable, iced tea. I had the burger royale, medium well, with cheddar; fries; and a mint tea. We shared a coconut cream pie for dessert. The food was all tasty. The coconut cream pie wasn't as good as at Kingfish in Seattle, but it was still delicious. Service was extraordinarily slow tonight—unusual. Total was $34.50 after a $3ish tip. We stopped in at Brian, Kelly, and Jesse's place but no one was home. We rang the buzzer at Nico's place, but again no one answered. Took the L train home. Patrick leaves tomorrow to meet up with Sam and their pal Adrienne for a 2-night stay in Los Angeles.