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Started: 2004-07-17 10:40:57

Submitted: 2004-07-17 11:27:05

Visibility: World-readable

Last weekend Kiesa and I wandered into Boulder Public Library, where we learned that the library features Wi-Fi. (The previous night I wondered if it in fact had such access, but I didn't think to check the library's website so I didn't learn of the existence of the wireless network until I checked out a book and saw the pamphlet sitting next to the desk.) This morning I decided to take advantage of the wireless access, so I headed into Boulder, found The Eyre Affair in the stacks, and headed upstairs to the array of study cubicles adjacent to the 800 section. I think the last time I used a notebook in this cubicle was three years ago when I biked down from CU after my economics class. Back then, I still used Yukon, and no one had heard of 802.11b.

The past week has been one of the handful of absurdly hot weeks in the summer in Colorado. The forecast high on Tuesday was 37°C (that's 99°F for you metricphobes); on Monday and Tuesday, it took until 2130 until the outside temperature was cooler than the 28°C inside my apartment. (We do have air conditioning, in the study (which needs it the most, since that's where Ziyal generates all of her heat), but blowing air into the rest of the apartment doesn't work as well as one would hope.)

The heat finally broke on Thursday, with some evening thunderstorms; after the rain, though, it was still warm and, the added humidity made it muggy. Kiesa and I headed to Boulder to check out furniture at the Danish Furniture Store (we're in need of a coffee table (or a cocktail table as they seem to be known these days) for our pair of notebooks; the couch worked ok for Elssbett, but now that we have two, it's not adequate); we've been shopping since Sunday and haven't found anything that worked. The ideal table would be not absurdly expensive, would match the rest of our furniture, and appeal to both Kiesa's and mine radically different tastes. Kiesa spent the afternoon in Boulder looking at furniture and found only one table that she thought would match our criterion. I took a look and decided that it wasn't speaking to me, and I didn't want to spend US$329 for a table that didn't speak to me.

After the furniture store, Kiesa and I headed to The Olive Garden, where we were seated immediately (which we didn't expect, since it was 1800). Kiesa wanted soft, luscious bread sticks; unfortunately, the provided bread sticks were neither. After eating, I dropped Kiesa off at Bonfils Blood Center and headed south to pick up my father at the Table Mesa Park-and-Ride. (He got on an earlier flight; Mom would have picked him up except Willy had the car without any means of being contacted.) Dad and I headed to the house that would be, until 1600 the following day (Friday, which is yesterday as I write this), my parents' house. I took down the network, which simply involved shutting Defiant down and stuffing it in Yoda's trunk. The rest of my parents' furniture left on Tuesday; my mother wanted to keep the network intact so she could have Internet access as long as possible. (They're staying at a friend's house for several weeks, which lacks suitable Internet access (but may have dial-up). I'll have to inform my mother and Willy of my new-found Boulder Public Library access.)

After taking the network down, and leaving Willy with a bunch of Ethernet cable, two hubs (my original, six-year-old eight-port 10 megabit hub, and the noisy 10/100 hub "with switch" Scott found in CU's dorms four years ago), and the receiver for the terrestrial wireless broadband service my parents used for three years, Kiesa and I headed to Caffe Sole, where we joined with the Hacking Society crowd and managed to amuse ourselves.

Yesterday it was fairly cool and overcast; it didn't start raining until late afternoon. As reported nearby, Kiesa flew to Portland to attend a friend's wedding in Seattle today. I thought about driving her to DIA, and letting her take the bus back to a nearby park-and-ride (where her car would be waiting for her), but RTD's DIA-to-Boulder bus stops service at 2330, which is when her plane gets in on Monday. Instead, she drove to DIA and parked in outlying shuttle parking.

It rained throughout the evening. I played Legend of Zelda: The Wind Walker (which I rented on Sunday; I'll have to acquire this game) on my GameCube until I realized that I should go outside to prove to myself that the real world exists. There is one last Geocache on my list of nearby caches that I haven't found yet ("Walden Ponds", at the bottom), so I headed out for a twilight cache. It was raining lightly as I set out. I had the foresight to bring my rain coat, so I remained fairly dry until I had to push past wet overgrown weeds next to the trail. I had a nice three kilometer round trip to a cache that no longer exists and has not existed for a very long time.

Back at home, I played Wind Walker (I beat the game's first level boss on Dragon Roost (with a little help from a handy walkthrough) and headed to the forest island. I watched two fourth-season Babylon 5 episodes ("Epiphanies" and "The Illusion of Truth"). (This week we finally ended up with fifth season Babylon 5, completing our set. I'm working my way through fourth season's plot lines, and it looks like Kiesa and I may end up watching fifth season concurrently, although she's not nearly as obsessed with watching episodes in strict sequence as I am.)

My plan for the rest of the weekend remains uncertain. In a few minutes I'm going to head off to church (mostly for social reasons; careful consultation of my timestamps will reveal that I'm not showing up precisely on time); after that, I might join any number of people I see for some sort of outdoor afternoon activity. My packaging engineer friend Mike just got a GPS and is fascinated by the idea of Geocaching, or I might try to find someone to go rock climbing with. If all else fails, I'll head home, watch Babylon 5, play Wind Walker, and read The Eyre Affair (which I need to remember to check out on my way out the door). We'll see.

I'm downloading the pilot episode of Stargate: Atlantis, which I'm looking forward to seeing.