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Squishy fuzzy yummy thoughts
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Saturday, October 26, 2002
I just threw away a bunch of socks and underwear briefs that I've had forever. It feels good to get rid of stuff.
posted by wtanaka at 10/26/2002 03:14:00 PM
Today I bought some malaria pills ($70!), attempted ot to go to the bank to deposit my check (it was closed), and purchased some locks.
posted by wtanaka at 10/26/2002 02:17:00 PM
Maggie and I ate at Azie last night. The food was much less inspired and slightly cheaper than the other times that I've been there. I no longer recommend the place. We also dropped off the guitar and the alto sax at Joe Wasson's place. We picked up some of his unused subwoofers for tonight's party.
Joe's got a lot of audio equipment.
posted by wtanaka at 10/26/2002 02:07:00 PM
Yesterday I went to pick up my plane tickets. Everything except the Bombay to Europe leg is in my bag now. I also bought a pair of trail runner shoes as my travel shoes, a mesh bag for laundry, a smaller stuff sack for my stove(s), and an over the shoulder pouch for valuables.
posted by wtanaka at 10/26/2002 02:05:00 PM
Friday, October 25, 2002
Jim Krehl pointed out that the Archos jukebox had hackable firmware, which sounds like a good advantage.
posted by wtanaka at 10/25/2002 02:07:00 PM
Thursday, October 24, 2002
I guess I didn't tell the Tyvek story. The other day (I guess it was the 23rd, looking at my other blog entries), I went to lunch with jtr, jacques frechet and joe wasson at this place called Juan's in Berkeley. They had these amazing deep fried flour tortillas that they gave out as chips. My two caltech lunch buddies called them "loss leaders."
Before we parked to go to the restaurant, I saw a building under construction with a few construction workers wandering around outside. The building was covered with Tyvek. I had read on some ultralight backpacking sites that Tyvek made a great ground cover, so I mentioned out loud that I wanted to go steal some Tyvek after lunch. I asked everyone if they'd prefer that I do this before or after, and the consensus was that I should do it after, "so we could make a quick getaway."
After lunch we went back to the car, and I wandered into the construction site. First, I met the "main man," who said that they would probably have some extra Tyvek when they finished Tyvekking at the end of the week, maybe Friday or Monday. I told him that I was going on a trip around the world on Monday, and I probably wouldn't be able to come back. So he told me to ask the people in the hard hats over there on the other side of the courtyard. I walked over to a mexcan guy in a hardhat and asked him if he had any extra Tyvek. He said that he'd love to give me some, but that it was only his first day on the job and said that I should talk to either of the two guys in the cherry picker because both Mr. Orange Hardhat and Mr. No Hardhat were basically foremen. I avoided making a comment about poor organization asked which one was the real foreman. Mr. Hardhat. I walked over to wait for them to come down from the top of the building. I asked Mr Hardhat if they had any Tyvek. I told them that I was going around the world and wanted some as a groundcloth. Initially they said no, but then one of them asked how big a piece I wanted.
I said, "just about as big as me."
He said, "well in that case, come right over here."
They got down from the basket and we walked into one of the proto-carports where there were some rolls of extra Tyvek lying on the ground. Mr. Hardhat asked me if I wanted a double-wide piece -- was I going with my girlfriend. I told him no, but a wide piece might be nice. Then Mr. Non Hardhat said that I should take this other piece instead, because the piece that Mr. Hardhat was offering was breathable and would let water through, whereas his piece was not breathable. So I took the piece, thanked them, and walked back to the car.
posted by wtanaka at 10/24/2002 06:30:00 PM
A relationship where one of the people (or both) is trying to change themselves to make the other person happy is probably not going to be as happy or as stable as one where both people are truly themselves. There's an interesting transition between dating/getting to know someone and a committed LTR, where you slowly lapse into being yourself, more and more. There are all sorts of jokes in pop culture about this where people get more messy or fat after they are in a LTR. Part of the reason that I want there to be a (casual) dating phase with people I'm meeting now is that I want to avoid this "lazy comfort" that comes with relaxing into an LTR. There are other reasons for wanting a casual dating phase as well, but perhaps in this particular case, it would be better to figure out how to avoid relaxing into someone less attractive.
Being the same person all the time -- as though you were on television 24/7...
posted by wtanaka at 10/24/2002 05:42:00 PM
The dentist identified some 5 or 6 cavities/protocavities. Some of them I had explicity asked a different dentist about the last time too, and he said not to worry about it. Oh well. Unfortunately, my insurance was not yet active, so I am going to have to file a claim. And the dentist suggested that I probably wait until the insurance is active. Just in case... He said that it shouldn't be too big of a deal if I get it taken care of in the next 6 months. So I'll do it when I get back.
The doctor identified the bump on my lip as most likely a cyst (I sure have a lot of those), and said that I could wait until I got back to get it removed if it wasn't bothering me. I got a DT and an MMR booster, one in each shoulder. The MMR-side hand is starting to feel some pain. Most likely I'll end up with a bruise on my shoulder too.
I also have prescriptions for an oral typhoid vaccination, as well as malaria pills.
It's calming, having gotten these things done, even though the doctor didn't give me any Hepatitis vaccinations. His advice was to just stay safe, use condoms all the time, etc. I'll probably just get the Hepatitis A vaccination in Japan or in Hawaii, since it's much more likely that I'll get Hepatitis A than B, and because the vaccine is one shot instead of 3 or 5 or however many the B vaccination is.
I also asked him about syringes and needles, and he laughed... He had a good point, which was if I couldn't trust the needles and syringes in a foreign country to be safe from disease, how could I trust their blood supply or other storage containers etc.
Best not to be too paranoid...
posted by wtanaka at 10/24/2002 05:16:00 PM
I don't quite get the point of this, but it looks good. http://www.flugtagsf.com/. I'm going to go if I have the time.
posted by wtanaka at 10/24/2002 08:56:00 AM
Wednesday, October 23, 2002
I also have a doctor's and dentist's appointment tomorrow.
posted by wtanaka at 10/23/2002 04:49:00 PM
Got a new pair of glasses this morning.
posted by wtanaka at 10/23/2002 04:44:00 PM
My travel agent wrote me:
We got the original seat back, you are all set to go. The ticket is on the way and we are hoping to get it to you in Hawaii. I will let you know as soon as possible where it is being sent to.
posted by wtanaka at 10/23/2002 09:13:00 AM
Tuesday, October 22, 2002
The videos of me jumping didn't turn out as bad as I had feared, but they weren't as good as I want them to be. The NiMH batteries (first ues) and 512MB card lasted the whole time I used the camera which was nice.
posted by wtanaka at 10/22/2002 08:56:00 PM
I will take my camera to shoot videos of me at the public session after skating.
posted by wtanaka at 10/22/2002 06:05:00 PM
a little bit of information from some emails I have:
vision: VSP, just need SSN
dental: GE Financial, group number 454-1155-00
medical: One Health Plan, info on ID card.
posted by wtanaka at 10/22/2002 05:30:00 PM
Burned my pictures so far onto a CD for safekeeping. I was hoping to get up to 700MB, but I don't think I will before I leave. If I do, I'll just burn another CD and throw the old one away.
posted by wtanaka at 10/22/2002 05:23:00 PM
My Bombay to Zurich ticket has not yet arrived at the travel agent, because of the one day layover addition that I tried to add. So I will either have to get that ticket mailed to me somewhere along the way, or I will need to pick it up from one of the airtreks vendors in Singapore. I hope I get to keep the day worth of layover.
posted by wtanaka at 10/22/2002 04:51:00 PM
Card Reader & Memory & batteries have arrived. The problem with getting images off of Maggie's CF cards with my camera was that she had some .TIF images in there that my camera probably didn't understand. Downloading the images now.
posted by wtanaka at 10/22/2002 11:27:00 AM
Monday, October 21, 2002
Peng came over. I thought she was going to take all of my books, store them, and use the ones that she wanted. Instead, she didn't want any but a few of them. Not sure how that misunderstanding propogated so far, but now I have a *huge* pile of books on my hand that I didn't think I would have. I did give her my bookcase though. Luckily, thanks to my new organizational system, the books will simply go in Q2 and Q3 piles.
At worst, I'll just get some long term storage. I'll decide that by Wednesday.
posted by wtanaka at 10/21/2002 10:07:00 PM
My place is getting out of hand. I'm going to divide it into four quadrants:
Q1: The "oh my god why did I want this" Bed
Q2: The "this is going out the window unless someone wants it" pile
Q3: The "I need someone to babysit this" pile
Q4: The "I'm taking this with me" pile
Hopefully this organization will make me feel less insane.
posted by wtanaka at 10/21/2002 09:01:00 PM
I didn't realize I had this much stuff. More desperate measures will be needed if I am to avoid long term storage. The great clothing purge has begun.
posted by wtanaka at 10/21/2002 08:10:00 PM
Peng is coming over later tonight to pick up some books. I'll give her my bookshelf too if I can, as well as some books for people at iSpheres...
posted by wtanaka at 10/21/2002 07:08:00 PM
UPS came today while I was talking to Neil on the phone. I'm not exacly sure why he wanted to talk to me on the phone. Oh well. They're coming again tomorrow.
In other UPS woes, botachtactical claims to have shipped my order. They even triggered a mail from UPS telling me what my tracking number is. However, when I try to track it at UPS, I get a funny looking "TRACKING NUMBER NOT FOUND IN UPS DATABASE. PLEASE TRY LATER. KAXPAMG3:(1044)" error.
Hopefully my package is actually on its way and this is just a software bug.
posted by wtanaka at 10/21/2002 07:06:00 PM
Cooking pasta in a mess kit pot: the first time that this apartment no longer feels like home in three years.
posted by wtanaka at 10/21/2002 06:02:00 PM
Someone wrote me saying they are honestly interested in buying my acryllic paintings from school. Unfortunately, I don't even know where they are.
posted by wtanaka at 10/21/2002 03:36:00 PM
Plans for this week:
Monday
* wake up too early
* much email
* gave away bookcase
Tuesday
* morning: schedule eye exam, dental exam, doctor visit
* afternoon: accept package from UPS (sleeping bag)
* evening: figure skating lesson
Wednesday
Thursday
* 1pmish: neil stopping by to pick up stuff that he might want (he's open all of thursday)
* evening: figure skating lesson
Friday
* evening: Azie, ten15
Saturday
* afternoon: pack up computer table, printer, sauces & other food, laundry detergent, recipe book
* later: stop by joe's to pick up speakers
* evening: Party at Davis.
Sunday
* morning: in transit.
* morning: stop by joe's to drop off speakers
* evening: Meet up with Monty (& Melissa?), give him his books & my computer.
Monday
* Leave for the airport at early o'clock in the morning.
posted by wtanaka at 10/21/2002 03:22:00 PM
To me it seems like a conservative solid black bra is *less* risque than some low cut loose lingerie top meant as sleepwear with lace around the top, even if the lingerie top is solid an opaque all the way down to the waist. Am I wrong?
posted by wtanaka at 10/21/2002 03:18:00 PM
When the heck are all these deliveries coming in? I need to figure that out so I'm not stuck at home waiting for them.
1L Platy should be here today (Oct 21)
Photon lights should be here Weds (Oct 23)
Sleeping bag etc should be here Weds (Oct 23)
Camera stuff should be here "early this week"
posted by wtanaka at 10/21/2002 03:11:00 PM
Then, due to "popular demand," I switched them back.
posted by wtanaka at 10/21/2002 02:53:00 PM
I switched my two pictures below so it looked like I was putting on clothes rather than taking them off.
posted by wtanaka at 10/21/2002 02:48:00 PM
Nikki just identified a really good point -- that when I'm in my "counseling mode," I don't express my opinions about things very often, which may make it harder for people to get to know me. I'm blown away by her ability to identifying parts of my personality and articulating them in a way that I both understand and am ready to hear.
posted by wtanaka at 10/21/2002 02:16:00 PM
It looks like I won't need to take a europe guide book with me on the beginning portion of my trip, which feels like quite the blessing.
Regu says that I should be able to buy the "Europe" Lonely Planet guide while I am in India from:
http://www.fabmart.com/stores/misc/frmMainFrame.asp
?Files=FTS&catalogId=Books&AttribName=All
&KeyWord=%22Europe%20on%20a%20shoestring%22
Vidhya says that I should be able to get it from:
http://www.books-n-all.com/students/books/category.asp?Select=TOUR
or that I could contact these people
STUDENTS' AGENCIES (INDIA) PVT. LTD.
WHOLESALE BOOKSELLERS
at :
102, Konark Shram,
Behind Everest Building,
156, Tardeo Road,
Mumbai - 400034. INDIA
Tel : 490 3334 (4 Lines)
Fax : 91-22-490 4212
E-mail : inquiry@books-n-all.com
It would cost me 25$.
If you are at Bangalore you could buy it at Gangarams Book House , MG Rd.
Phone : 5587277
It would cost you bout 35$.
posted by wtanaka at 10/21/2002 11:41:00 AM
Notebook Entry, 2002 October 20
Lessons Learned
At first, I wondered why the tarp bag was mesh. Now, having to stuff my wet tarp into it, I find myself thankful.
My fleece is a little bit thin for 40 degree weather.
The next time that I pitch my tarp in this fashion  , I should turn the foot end of the tarp towards the wind, in case the wind shifts.
The stick holding up the tarp needs to be *thick," and it should be about hip height.
I need to cut my ground cloth into smaller more manageable parts.
Rocks are good for holding the tarp down.
posted by wtanaka at 10/21/2002 11:24:00 AM
Notebook Entry, 2002 October 19
I just sat on a wooden table at Wildcat campsite "4A" in Point Reyes National Seashore. The fog gets in everything. Vanessa tells me that there are good deals on trail runners and other cheap stuff at Sports Basement at 16th near 3rd. I need to remember to add her to my email list when I get back. She freelance writes for a living, and she wanted to remember the "I will have zero keys" comment I made, so I also need to remember to send her a mail with that comment and the link to that cheap ultralight down sleeping bag, since she didn't have a notebook with her.
posted by wtanaka at 10/21/2002 11:18:00 AM
Naming and uploading the point reyes pictures.
posted by wtanaka at 10/21/2002 11:10:00 AM
I no longer have any cooking equipment in my kitchen. I'll have to live with my mess kit for the next week if I want to cook something.
posted by wtanaka at 10/21/2002 04:28:00 AM
Sunday, October 20, 2002
Played dress-up and took pictures
 
posted by wtanaka at 10/20/2002 10:38:00 PM
Pictures from Pt Reyes turned out pretty well. "Keeper" rate seems to be better.
Point Reyes Photographs
posted by wtanaka at 10/20/2002 08:14:00 PM
Well, I ended up using the socks and both pairs of boxers anyway. The boxers didn't smell at the end of two days (no real chance to wash them while I was out) and they're hanging wet, clean, and smelling of detergent in my shower now.
Maggie brought some soft, springy, spongy Amaretto cookies here. Just now, I ate one.
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