The Knock at the Manor Gate
(4-13 September 2003)

13 September 2003
-Hung out with some former PIRGers & played a little spades.  'Twas a different scene for us, but I'd rather have played poker.  The depths of my poker withdrawal are cavernous.

12 September 2003
-We have the best tickets ever to the Oakland S&G show!!  Wooooooooooooooohoooooooooooooo!
-Otherwise, feeling pretty uninspired of late.  Dunno what's wrong with me exactly, but it'll snap soon I hope.  Just in a perpetual state of groggy grumpiness.

11 September 2003
-If we spent as much time memorializing every violent death in the world in 2001 as we did mourning September 11th victims, how much time would we spend in such mourning?  How bout if we only limited it to civilian deaths since then caused by the US military?
-I have picked up back-to-back wins over Em in the 20th Anniversary Trivial Pursuit, after dropping our first four or five matches in said game.  The curse is lifted!

10 September 2003
-More exhaustion, spilling into everything.  Meetings at work took a lot out of me for their content, if not for their length.  I can't seem to find the handle.

9 September 2003
-So far, the only news about today has been... some of the best news ever!  Simon & Garfunkel are officially back together for a tour!!  The event that I would delay almost any other event in my life for is finally going to happen.  Joy!
-Today wound up fine.  Just a lot of exhaustion.

8 September 2003
-Today, I helped no one at work.  Inspiration drained.
-I have a very bad feeling about tomorrow.  Let's hope I'm wrong.

7 September 2003
Happy Birthday to Beth Mandel
-Berkeley Bowl is an insanely hectic place to take Seneca kids.  On a Sunday, it's simply insane.
-The 15-hour shifts continue to be not-so-bad.  I think I'm settling in pretty well, & working all day has a cathartic edge to it.  Though one is always full of energy after getting off of a 15-hour shift, which doesn't make a ton of sense.  Once the major part of one's energy starts coming from adrenaline, it kicks up a few notches.

6 September 2003
Happy Birthday to Russ Gooberman
-Back to only having half a weekend on normal-people weekends.  But I think the full schedule is worth it.
-The light at Sixth & University in Berkeley is responsible for 80% of the traffic problems in said city.  Though most of the lights in the region run on sensors, this one follows a pattern every time.  But not just a pattern, a very poor pattern that often gives left-green-arrow priority to lanes where no one ever wants to turn left.  The result is that the I-80 onramp to Berkeley sometimes backs up all the way into the regular freeway traffic lanes, while University in the other direction backs up halfway to the school itself.  Simply fixing this light would shave 10-15 minutes off of most trips into or out of Berkeley during most peak driving hours.  Maybe my next job will involve roadway design.
-Went to the Giants game at Pac Bell with Em, watching an 11-inning thriller.  Despite an anticlimactic end (a walk-off... walk), it was a wonderful time.  Standing room seats can always become regular seats after the first couple of innings, & this made all the difference by the 11th.

5 September 2003
-Well scratch my confidence at theme park rides.  The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland just derailed.  Now it's okay to be scared, even on the gentle rides.
-PIRG offices can be gloomy places to spend a Friday night.

4 September 2003
-Amazon has graced LB's page with 2 customer reviews, strangely dating from August.  I guess their system is backlogged on reviewing.  One is short & sweet & anonymous, the other is scathingly critical.  While I will refrain from ad hominem attacks on anyone who chooses voltron6969 as their Amazon identity, I will say that I never thought LB would be attacked for being too idealistic!  I am fairly certain our friendly reviewer failed to read the whole book.
-Just felt an earthquake that they're reporting as being 4.1 & centered in Piedmont.  It's kind of fun to feel like your house is a theme park ride, as long as it isn't too bumpy.
-ABQ gets to be all decked out in the national spotlight tonight as it hosts the Democratic pre-primary debate.  If the electoral votes had bounced the right way, Nuevo could have been 2002's Florida instead of Florida.  It took quite a while to get that recount sorted out, & who NM's 5 electoral votes were delivered to flipped a couple times.  But had that not happened, I doubt that NM would be a center of attention tonight.

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