Thoughts and Happenings of Several Days
Today was a productive day. I went over to the library, picked out three CDs - a Yo-Yo Ma, one titled "Celtic Psalms," and Jars of Clay debut CD - and bought six books for $1.20, though five were for my brother David. The sixth is Terry Pratchett's Carpe Jugulum. I read his Men at Arms about a month ago and was just thrilled with it; several nights in a row I stayed up two hours more than I planned to just because I could not put the book down.
I left my violin at a music store near the library to have a new set of strings put on. The last time I tried to tune it - early 2003 - I popped the E string. I subsequently bought a new set of strings, but did not trust myself to put the string on and did not get around to having someone else do it for me. The other strings were a bit nasty, so I decided to have the store replace all of the strings and tune it for me. I should get it back tomorrow, and then I can play again.
I stopped at the pool supply store to get some things we need to get the pool in optimum working condition. Unfortunately, the O rings I bought do not fit, so I will have to go back and try again tomorrow. The old ones are not too bad for now.
David "graduated" from middle school tonight. The ceremony was dragged out with false endings, the bleacher seats too narrow, and his Spanish teacher screwed him up royally. But it's alright, as middle school doesn't really "count." The Assistant Superintendent had the wonderful tact to remind the students that next year they will be "writing one third of [their] college resume." No pressure, kids.
I was informed earlier that my attempt to vicariously kick my friend Kevin at RPI was successful. Thank you Dave. I rather enjoy such things. It's a cheap and simple ego boost to have such effect and influence in such far-off places as Troy, NY.
I woke up yesterday morning, walked out of my room, and said, "shit." My mom asked what happened and I repeated, "shit." I had just stepped in dog shit. The dog had stomach problems the night before, I guess.
We gave my dad his Father's Day presents, and he was very well pleased. This made us very pleased, especially since my mom and I had hit up the outlet stores at the end of the earth and two malls looking for something he'd like.
After church, I tried on the outfit that I'll be wearing to a friend's wedding next Saturday and it all went together very well.
I visited a friend in Nyack somewhat last minute on Saturday. She had invited me earlier in the week to visit, but I had made plans with my family to do work around the house and it seemed that I would not get the chance to go. But, lo! we finished what we could do early in the afternoon, so after a quick shower and shave, I was off. It was most fun. We had Indian food for dinner, which I had not tasted for many, many months.
Thursday, I did my own laundry for the first time since I left MIT. My mom used to do all the laundry at my house. But now she will be doing less. With the addition of my brother's clothes to the pile since he got back at the end of March, doing the laundry has become a Great Task. After all, for a while she only had three people's laundry to do. It went up to four with my return, and five with my brother's return. So, she has finally let me and one of my brothers do our own laundry. She had denied my request in the fall on energy grounds.
I like doing my own laundry. There's something relaxing and comforting about it. Doing my laundry is a task that I have very little problem beginning and following through to completion. Several of you can personally testify that I have a problem fulfilling responsibilities or following through on plans I make. Having a straightforward task I can finish is most relaxing in a personal world where I mainly fail at doing so. It is a tiny flame of hope that I can complete things that I set out to do.
I created a couple more NationStates nations, psi-star psi and lambda pi. The former is a corrupt dictatorship whose motto is, "I rule." The premise is that the government outlaws everything it can and regulates the rest. The latter is an anarchy whose motto is, "Leave me alone!" The idea with this one is to have the smallest government possible, not regulating business or people wherever I can. I am putting very little time into these. They are just fun, "what ifs."
I left my violin at a music store near the library to have a new set of strings put on. The last time I tried to tune it - early 2003 - I popped the E string. I subsequently bought a new set of strings, but did not trust myself to put the string on and did not get around to having someone else do it for me. The other strings were a bit nasty, so I decided to have the store replace all of the strings and tune it for me. I should get it back tomorrow, and then I can play again.
I stopped at the pool supply store to get some things we need to get the pool in optimum working condition. Unfortunately, the O rings I bought do not fit, so I will have to go back and try again tomorrow. The old ones are not too bad for now.
David "graduated" from middle school tonight. The ceremony was dragged out with false endings, the bleacher seats too narrow, and his Spanish teacher screwed him up royally. But it's alright, as middle school doesn't really "count." The Assistant Superintendent had the wonderful tact to remind the students that next year they will be "writing one third of [their] college resume." No pressure, kids.
I was informed earlier that my attempt to vicariously kick my friend Kevin at RPI was successful. Thank you Dave. I rather enjoy such things. It's a cheap and simple ego boost to have such effect and influence in such far-off places as Troy, NY.
I woke up yesterday morning, walked out of my room, and said, "shit." My mom asked what happened and I repeated, "shit." I had just stepped in dog shit. The dog had stomach problems the night before, I guess.
We gave my dad his Father's Day presents, and he was very well pleased. This made us very pleased, especially since my mom and I had hit up the outlet stores at the end of the earth and two malls looking for something he'd like.
After church, I tried on the outfit that I'll be wearing to a friend's wedding next Saturday and it all went together very well.
I visited a friend in Nyack somewhat last minute on Saturday. She had invited me earlier in the week to visit, but I had made plans with my family to do work around the house and it seemed that I would not get the chance to go. But, lo! we finished what we could do early in the afternoon, so after a quick shower and shave, I was off. It was most fun. We had Indian food for dinner, which I had not tasted for many, many months.
Thursday, I did my own laundry for the first time since I left MIT. My mom used to do all the laundry at my house. But now she will be doing less. With the addition of my brother's clothes to the pile since he got back at the end of March, doing the laundry has become a Great Task. After all, for a while she only had three people's laundry to do. It went up to four with my return, and five with my brother's return. So, she has finally let me and one of my brothers do our own laundry. She had denied my request in the fall on energy grounds.
I like doing my own laundry. There's something relaxing and comforting about it. Doing my laundry is a task that I have very little problem beginning and following through to completion. Several of you can personally testify that I have a problem fulfilling responsibilities or following through on plans I make. Having a straightforward task I can finish is most relaxing in a personal world where I mainly fail at doing so. It is a tiny flame of hope that I can complete things that I set out to do.
I created a couple more NationStates nations, psi-star psi and lambda pi. The former is a corrupt dictatorship whose motto is, "I rule." The premise is that the government outlaws everything it can and regulates the rest. The latter is an anarchy whose motto is, "Leave me alone!" The idea with this one is to have the smallest government possible, not regulating business or people wherever I can. I am putting very little time into these. They are just fun, "what ifs."