Storms and Rainbows

[drscott]

It's a bright, sunny day now, which is a nice change from yesterday's storms.

Mike's bf had an Oracle exam yesterday scheduled at an office a few blocks from here, so he dropped by after leaving work early and studied at the kitchen table. I was thrown off my usual schedule a bit by the visit, and it turned out he had been a little overconfident, because he didn't pass by a few points; the exam had sections requiring knowledge of memorized tables of functions, which strikes me as foolish, but not untypical. When he returned, they left for the gym and a celebratory (?) dinner.

So I was late getting started on my field trip. First I dropped in at Fry's to get some advertised DVD+Rs. I know better than to expect anything good from them, but after a few years I forget and return for another bad experience -- in this case, the ones I wanted were mismarked with a higher price, so I checked the stock number to be sure they were on sale, and went to the checkout armed with knowledge. The young lady announced they were $39.95, I suggested they were on sale for $19.50 as per the sign, and she said she'd have to go back to the floor to check it out -- a three minute walk each way. So I stand there fuming quietly musing. When she returned, she said "sign says $29.95, right?" and I tell her she must have missed the sale sign next to that one which has $19.50. So I make the usual "I'll never shop here again" speech and stomp off.

Now I'm really late. I expected to check out some of the models at Rivermark, a planned development between the main Cisco and Sun campuses in the Alviso triangle part of Santa Clara. By the time I get to the area it's after 4, and they close at 5. I drive along looking for signs for The Glens, the part I wanted to look at first. I follow the green arrows, turn right, follow the green arrows... wait, now the green arrow is bent back on itself, telling me I've gone too far! Very clever. So I turn around and drive back. Green arrow, green arrow... wait, now there's no green arrow and I'm at the entrance again. Look very closely at everything on that block. Library being built. No office signs. ... Later I discovered the builder had sold the models and closed his office without updating the web site or changing the direction signs, so I have just been led into a strange attractor zone. Remind me to always get a human being on the phone first, because they may understand the importance of having a web presence, but they don't quite get the importance of keeping it updated.

The models I did look at were okay, the standard townhouse design here these days; 1900 sq. ft. with no private outdoor space for $760K, 2600 sq. ft. with a 300 sq. ft. private patio for $1 million. Ouch. It is hard to imagine giving up my current house (2200 sq ft with 200 sq ft atrium, 1200 sq ft back deck and pool) for that.

So it's rush hour and I get on 101 N to go to the gym. Cloudburst hits at Great America theme park; it's raining so hard cars are pulling over. I set the wipers on double speed and crawl along at 40, and soon there is no one visible behind me -- the gee-I-can't-handle-this folks have blocked the rain-what-rain? folks. By the time I reach the gym the sun is peeking out and there's a nice rainbow.

After the gym, Paul came over and I made us a broiled salmon dinner.

Comments

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

I don't cook very often, so I'm not very good at getting everything done at the same time. Last night's meal had only two components, one of which was a 6-minute microwave item, so it wasn't too tough. I admire people who can get three courses with six dishes to come out correctly.

As for saving money by spending it, I'll leave that to you, since you have so much experience at it. :)

[excessor.livejournal.com]

You did well and you get credit. I can do a big meal now, but oh, the disasters I had along the way.

I'm glad you've come to your senses early and understood about the spending. It's going to save a lot of arguing later.