Friday, November 18, 2005
Interactions with strangers: I forgot to mention on the 16th that while I was in the Forest Hill station a man and woman speaking a language I couldn't identify (but would guess Italian) asked me for directions to 5th Avenue via bus 43 and I helped them out. And last night at Market and Noe Street, a man praised the wisdom of my using a flashlight at night to increase visibility while crossing the street. I told him that I especially use it while walking to Market from Duboce Park, but I didn't tell him that the real hazard is dog poop on the sidewalks, not muggers or cars running down pedestrians in the crosswalk crossing when the White Man says it's okay. Breakfast: bagel and cream cheese at home. Started reading The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. After 15 pages of reading, I found that it is immediately reminiscent of The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. Met with Susie. She authorized me to purchase a new Mac Mini to replace the five-year-old digital audio G4 I have. I got the base model but with 1 GB of RAM. Met with student CHK about getting VPN working. Met with drop-in student NB about a laptop hardware problem. Helped Cindy with problems setting up her out of office e-mail auto-reply notice. Did more setup for our new pathway assistant's computer. Coded a new news story for Susie. Lunch: Panda Bowl with cow and broccoli from Panda Express. My fortune: Health and happiness are coming your way. Dinner at home with Patrick: penne with chicken in alfredo. Watched Harry Potter 3 on DVD with Patrick. Patrick has to wake up early, so we went to sleep early. For a few months now Patrick has been waking up at 4:30 AM to practice martial arts. I can't remember if I wrote about this before, so here it is again just in case. He practices the stick, which is a bamboo pole about 8 feet long. Its exterior is sanded smooth, then coated with the powder of babies during practice. Patrick wants me to take photos of him practicing with our brand new digicam. Maybe we can put up a movie or two as well.