Last Monday I had lunch with my friend again. We saw the Pointing Man. Afterwards I checked out the new Tower bookstore, which is still in very "Pardon Our Dust" mode. Then Rich and I went to buy my 2.3G harddrive, having found a terrific deal. We also picked up a 36X CD-ROM drive for $30 after the rebate. We said no to the service contract: as Bernadette said some years ago, "That's why we have a dwarf."

Tuesday I went along on the walk. I'd found a hike (for children) from a park near here that I wanted to try. Arcade Creek Park is at one end, and you start walking along the creek, under a street, and suddenly you're in apparent wilderness. There are houses on one side, but it's quiet and semi-rural. We saw a couple of hawks. Sailor was thrilled. He saw a squirrel in the ivy on the opposite bank of the creek and launched himself after it. He had failed to note that there was a 12-foot-high cliff between him and the rodent. Whoof! He landed in brush, unhurt, and splashed across the creek to where the squirrel had long since disappeared. Then it was the effort to get back to us. He attempted wall-walking, but it didn't work. He did, however, make it up a really steep (75 degrees?) grade to splash me.
This little incident didn't slow him down at all. We wound up, a mile down the creek, at a nature area near American River College. All Sailor picked up from here was a LOT of burrs. We walked to the edge of the campus and saw a couple of old amphitheaters in the nature area. I wonder if they were built by the WPA, as the bridge (which always floods out) was. By the time we'd finished investigating all the little trails, and walked back to the car, we had gone 3.9 miles.

Wednesday Rich brought home 7 golf balls and 3 softballs. Wow. We went back to the used store and checked out the laptop they'd fixed up. Too expensive, nicer than I need. Darn. We went to a mall, picking up Monica's present (a gift certificate for Crabtree & Evelyn) and a Paddington bear blanket sleeper for Renee's shower. She had said she didn't want primary colors, which put the dinosaur one Right Out. What kind of taste is THAT?
We went to the Gold Rush talk and bought a book. Rich was also given a portfolio of papers about mining camps by one vendor. At home, the guru began to install the new harddrive and CD-ROM. Unfortunately, he got distracted by someone talking to him (no names, but the initials are "Rich") and deleted the system directory. This took some time to recover, and by the wee small hours, it wasn't finished. This is when I didn't have a modem. N-n-n-not that I really n-n-n-needed it. I can qu-qu-quit any time.

Thursday morning I got the package mailed to the shower and picked up birthday cards, while Rich got my modem back online. I tore my hair out looking for my scanner software. Then we went to the maze. That night the guru came with a soundcard for the CD-ROM, as the one the computer had wouldn't talk to it. He also got the scanner working. He was demonstrating, he thought on the maze picture, and ended up getting a 75M picture of a floppy disk.

Since then I've been working on file maintenance and what goes where. I am going to have a lot of fun with this fast computer! I don't see me needing anything fancier (well, software, but I mean in the system) for years and years. (I lived with the XT, the Twonkey, from '88 till '94, quite happily. At first it was supposed to be a loaner, but soon enough it was mine. I gave it to Roni, and then when she got a 486, to my niece, who has never used it. Oh, well. A definite antique, but I loved it.) Rich will be getting the really up-to-date system, so anything I can't do here we can do there, I'm sure.

There was a laptop, a Gregg (?), advertised for $150, but the kid doesn't know anything about it. I will call again, and if he hasn't sold it, we'll look.

The week was OK. I walked only 6 miles or so, lost one pound. It's serious, now, though. I'm making a real effort to lose weight so I can wear these jeans in Pittsburgh! I mailed Renee's present and was delighted to see her reaction. (Rich asked "How did these get up so fast?") I wrote two updates, as I suddenly realized I don't have to compose them online. No letters out, though, and I'm still not done with the Round Robin (something about having a life.) I read 4 magazines, and dented the paper pile.