If today is any indication of what my 2 weeks with the boss away is going to be like, I should really be looking for a different job.

First thing was, one server was dead & another had a horrible screeching fan. While I was figuring out which one was screeching, it shut itself off. So, replaced ram/cpu module in dead one & it came back up, replaced fan in other & likewise.

It kind of went on like that most of the day apart from the delightful lull while I was on hold waiting to arrange exchange of dead tape drive with Sony.

Kids, if you have a choice, don't ever work for anybody too cheap to replace equipment.

All kinds of software, user, file problems too.

When I finally got home, Peretz was so excited he threw up.

Emerged from funk sufficiently to begin laundry, make a peppery basil cream sauce for some fancy German egg noodles I bought from Russian store earlier. Muggy enough that this small spurt of activity left me bathed in sweat, drying under fan now, will shower once laundry is done.

Bring on the fall.

Went to work to do a few routine things, on arrival found tape drive with broken load/eject mechanism, while messing about with that, something went awry with my own mechanism, left me feeling blue & out of sorts, tape drive is, at least, under warranty.

Tried to cheer myself up with exploratory trip to Honey Bee Farms in W. Springfield after, didn't really work, but pretty neat Russian grocery, got some pickles, cream filled cakes, etc. Also picked up some nice coffee & beer at the Table & Vine, could probably use something stronger.

Really need to do laundry at some point, going to lie still for a while first.

More seaside excursion details:

L. & I got yelled at by lifeguard for going out too far, water wasn't even over my head, weird.

Good Harbor Beach snack bar offers sweet potato fries which, while quite tasty, take them longer to make than regular fries.

Happy to report Salem Willows has gone back to using the wooden skee balls, still a quarter a game. Kick ass.

In other news, Peretz now provides a routine 7 AM wakeup call, yikes.

Brunch, maybe?

Celebrated newly repaired car with drive to North Shore, diving through waves in Gloucester, Salem skee ball, etc. Dead beat, sunburned, cheerful. Enjoy the seaside.

Just rinsed off the salt, lying in the cool breeze of a high powered fan with Peretz.

Walked the dogs, a good deal damper for my trouble.

Treasury Dept. was nice enough to send me some money to cover my car repairs. Pleasure universe.

Funny that anybody still bothers to read this, well, hope you're enjoying yourselves, anyway. Greetings from sunny Greenfield.



Had some pizza with bacon & hot peppers for lunch, more pizza on tap for later.

Pizza, pizza.

Should really walk dogs, too darn hot.

Car's finally getting fixed, need to get tires, too. Maybe a trip to Gloucester tomorrow for swimming, maybe Salem Willows for skee ball after. Whoop, whoop!

Maybe real cream bismarks?

Have I mentioned that I enjoy skee ball?

Dull, dull, dull here at work, dismally, dreadfully dull. Could use a snack.

Turns out, this is one of those summers that I rediscover that iced tea is my favorite cold drink.

Was just sitting out on the porch drinking some, eating peanut butter filled pretzels, sharing some of those with the pups.

Thinking about observing slightly drunk, slightly belligerent socialist holding forth at the H & O last night, those people are always a kick, I find their anger lacking appropriate depth, I guess.

Having some more tea.

Sitting drinking coffee, waiting for the support requests to roll in, half asleep.

Supposed to be a scorcher.

So much tedium, thinking about ways to avoid it, seems a little daunting.

Big week for naps for me.

After that, more tasty items from the H & O bar menu, delightful, cheap.

Watching Terminator 2.

Mysteriously released from work early when I said to my boss I'd rather be outside, went & bought some iced tea & lemon cake, home now, watching Beneath the Planet of the Apes enjoying the breezes coming through the windows.

Oh, my, the time-traveling astronaut is being telepathically compelled to attack his mute girlfriend.

Nice to have something on TV I can relate to.

Right knee is bothering me, gets stiff after I sit at desk for about thirty minutes, walk around a little & it improves a bit, over & over. Sad old man.

Not actually particularly sad, on one of these repeated walks, went across the street for a hot dog with kraut. Lovely.

Wish it were Friday already, were it, among other things, maybe I could get that strut fixed.

Had fun trying to estimate what proportion of the audience was old guys in Hawaiian shirts.

Brian was pretty intense.

Back feels funny from sitting in tiny chair.

Just went across the street to get a cup of coffee, poured myself a big cup of what was putatively some sort of dark roast blend. Tastes like fucking hazelnut.

Job seems to be slipping inexorably to a helpdesk position, ridiculous.

Lovely outside, anyway.

Having trouble waking up, pet care responsibilities somehow seem more onerous than usual, after I fed the dogs, they decided to raise a ruckus while I tried to shower, after that had to drag Peretz outside so I could feed Harriet. He's searching the kitchen for her now.

Feeling lately like there's never enough time for anything, days are a bit packed, last night, for instance, got home, started prepping vegetables for fried rice, walked Pickles, walked Peretz, got on with making fried rice, L. got home from yoga, ate fried rice, watched High Society, in the middle of that walked dogs again, by the time the movie was done, ready to collapse in a heap & did just that.

Tonight, it's Brian Wilson, who I fully expect to be fabulous, but one of these days, really need to spend some time just staring into space, thinking.

I'm such an unholy mess of a girl.

Walked dogs in the rain, we all got good & wet, then rolled around in my bed growling. Was pretty fun.

Slow morning at work. Nice little old lady had moved her taskbar to the side of the screen & I moved it back to the bottom for her.

Lots of phony news headlines as spam subjects lately, thinking I should maybe start believing them.

Woke quite early, but didn't get up, sleepyhead, slugabed.

Rainy morning, dogs don't want to go out in the yard, seems like they would appreciate me staying in bed even longer. Nice to be appreciated.

Work is seeming increasingly pointless lately, keep telling myself, with absurdity comes freedom.

Just back from a trip to Nap City. May go back there.

Work's done, restocked on coffee, had a nice brunch.

Planning a lazy afternoon.

No nightmares, but some very strange dreams, mostly pretty abstract.

Have once again allowed us to run out of coffee. Absent-minded professor.

Summer makes me tired.

Tried to watch North By Northwest, dvd fell over midway through the auction scene. Frustrating.

Need to reboot a mess of servers early in the morning, should really be asleep. Relax & find myself in a vaguely distressed state, assume I'll have nightmares. Crap.

Have turned on anime in the hope that it will interfere with this process.

Slept in, lovely that, and things were proceeding along swimmingly after, until I decided to finally do some weed whacking. Weed whacker won't start, just removed some skin from a finger trying, fucker.

Have given up on that particular chore for the moment.

Sweaty.

Some dried up, bitter soul has written a vitriolic Chowhound screed attacking the H & O, apparently she didn't enjoy her pork chop, would rather make a scene than ask for another cooked more to her liking, oh hell, people make me depressed.

Not as depressing as having to be that sort of person anyway.

Had so many pleasant times at the place over the past several months, an easy place to have pleasant times.

Fucking Internet.

For want of some obscure part, struts remain unreplaced. Will try again next week.

Went & did preliminary reception planning, makes me nervous, I'm sure it'll end up being fun.

Hanging out on the porch with dogs.

Car's still in shop, walked home from work, stopped for a burrito en route.

Feeling like I should make an effort to walk to work Fridays, the getting out of the house sooner part seems a challenge.

Going to walk back to town shortly, miss walking around town.

Trying to get through the last of the week's work routine with itchy, sleepy eyes. Making plans via email for weekend getaway to Lake Ontario at end of month, really looking forward to it.

Could use some lunch.

Woke in the middle of the night feeling cold, a refreshing change.

Finally going to get my car's rear struts replaced today.

This afternoon, reception planning.

My mom called while I was eating my lunch, they're back rolling.

Wish I were out taking a walk. Maybe I'll go take a walk.

Air quality has greatly improved, lolling about in bed, enjoying cool breezes.

Driving over to Amherst yesterday, was thinking about things probably best left unthought- the way stresses, even very slight ones as stresses go, can turn intelligent, empathetic people into monsters; the dispersed quality of my energies, rarely forming enough to do something as trivial as writing a sonnet; that it might be better if they stayed dispersed, aimless, hopeless.

Anyway, as I say, probably best left unthought. Probably best left unsaid.

Lovely cool breezes.

Long but easy day at work, after did a brief vocal performance I wasn't particularly happy with, ate some tea rolls, then drove home through the breaking humidity. Hard to see.

Parents still stuck in Salem, VA awaiting parts.

Pickles is looking out the window, strange gurgling protobarks.

Pretty stifling in here.

A thick haze has settled on the valley, making of the mountains strange, low clouds.

Summer without a farm share hardly seems worth it, should make an effort to check out more farm stands, probably, though mostly the heat's been making me feel too bleh to want to cook.

Did very much enjoy handfuls of local blueberries as a late night snack.

Dwelling this morning on Law, Mistress of Tyrants; the angry, craven multitudes.

I suppose stupid & crazy is just how we roll, mostly.

It's straight to Northampton for work today as the boss is on holiday. Maybe a burrito for lunch.

My folks are stuck in Virginia awaiting break repairs.

One big board game.

Knee hurts again.

I'm a very silly person.

On with the hot & muggy.

Trying to do a job involving looking at large numbers of lists with impaired vision, it's a blast, everything's taking about twice as long as normal.

Having some more coffee, hoping it helps.

More soup & games.

Muggy, groggy.

Ugh.

Just watched Stage Door, nice little bit of melodrama, that woman hurls self from window to imagined theater sounds bit. Should make a note of it.

Shoulda woulda coulda.

Slowly emerging from migraine fog, should really take Peretz for a walk.

Welcome, Alice.

Early morning haze resolved into a migraine, made for an interesting experience of the always loud garbage collection, on to the groggy, impaired vision stage now, resting with dogs.

L. is being very nice, brought Vitamin Water, sandwich makings, etc. to me on her lunch break. Takes some getting used to.

Did end up watching that Bond movie last night, pretty enjoyable, definitely closer in spirit to the books, not sure if that's really a good thing, those are some pretty creepy books. Vicious, empty shell. Bang, bang.

Joe's Pizza for dinner, yum yum.

Picked up the last Bond flick on the way home, torn between watching it & falling asleep.

Peretz is watching the sunset out my bedroom window.

Happy trails, folks.

Another fun filled day- tasty brunch, riverside dog frolic, superhero movie. Trying to formulate some dinner plans.

Muscle spasm in my lower back, not too bad as those go.

Thirsty.

Nice Chinese was very nice indeed, dragon skin, pea greens, roasted chicken, stuffed eggplant.

After that, fireworks from the roof of the H & O, strange climb to the roof, many tiny holes, harder backwards.

After that, more Singstar.

Now, anime, blogging, sleep.

Going to go for nice Chinese with my mom shortly, she's brought us sticky buns.

Dogs are raising a ruckus.

First time in weeks I've woken up not horribly congested, makes a refreshing change. Trying to decide whether to get weekend work out of the way today or wait until tomorrow morning.

Folks are returning from Maine today, may watch fireworks from roof of H & O later if they actually happen, raining now.

Voicemail from high school chum gloating over the death of Jesse Helms, the poor old bastard. Not that I don't know how he feels- sick, rotten old bastard.

Could use a shower.

Made chili, made chili cheese chimichangas, showered, dressed in all near white, cloud in trousers.

Dog walk, then off to see another movie, Get Smart.

No, really, get smart.

Sleep, glorious sleep.

Could use some coffee, glorious coffee, maybe some food, glorious food.

L. said, as I was finally waking up, "Aren't you glad we aren't moving you out of that basement?" I am.

Got out of work early, had some nice Thai, then came home & took the longest nap I've taken in living memory. There had been some talk of going to see Wall-E at a 3:30 matinee, but L. didn't get off early enough. We went & saw a later one after I finally woke up. Rather enjoyed it, sort of made me want to rewatch Trigun.

Dogs seemed to enjoy my company for afternoon nap.

Catching up on archiving ads to DVD, wishing I had a little server room nap map.

Going to a house show in Gill later, wondering how late Wagon Wheel is open.

Lingering cold symptoms made it difficult to get up, dogs helped with timely alarm clock supplementation.

Last night, watched Pat & Mike, Revenge of the Sith, had dreams confusing the two.

Feeding the dogs, making coffee, thinking about all the stuff I'm not getting done, not much caring.

Beautiful view out the window.

Stormy weather has brought with it renewed sinus discomfort.

Paper looks pretty off new press, still working out kinks, sounds like.

Messing about with antivirus software.

Sleep, always a delicious luxury, seems more so nowadays, should get more of it.

Lazy morning.

Wish Peretz would calm down about the cat.

Came home, collapsed, was given refreshing drink, revived enough to walk the pup, collapsed again, was fed garlic spaghetti, strawberry upside down corncake.

Would sort of like to go to bed now. May do.

Walking across the newsroom floor, noticed a paper from last week announcing that Herm's had closed. Never went to Herm's.

Went & got some coffee across the street. Still unsuitable outside for people with lingering cold symptoms.

Thickheaded, sluggish, new press goes live tonight maybe, I hear.

Wondering if I've had enough of being a temptation to the curious.

Vile mugginess prevails without, nice & cool in server room.

It seems that, during my brief absence, all area Citgos have become Irvings. Finding it a bit unnerving, trying to take it as a good sign.

About to go bring the ps2 pseudo-karaoke good vibrations to the H & O bartender's going away party.

Ps, ps, unnerving, Irving.

Slept in, coffee's brewing, need to go do a few things at work in a while, might try to work in brunch before.

So, wedding details- we are currently engaged in a plan to mark the turns of the seasons with significant events. The location was a tiny lighthouse chapel in Bernard, the officiant was a nice old man named Irving, the only others in attendance were L.'s son and two witnesses unknown to us. There were difficulties lighting candles. The harbor was fogged in as the ceremony began, but by the end had cleared out a bit.



Anyway, I think everybody had fun.

Back from vacation, been a strange, disjointed one in the course of which, in addition to getting married, everybody had colds, we drove back & forth from Maine to the Cape, etc., etc. Didn't get in as much swimming, eating, gazing at scenery, etc., etc. as usual, still pretty fun & interesting.

Could use a vacation.

OK, going to get back to unloading the car.

I got married, weird.

More about that later, reception in September.

Up in Maine, been fogged in with a nasty cold. Clearing out this morning.

Preparing for departure, sucking on a zinc lozenge.

Strange, disrupted sleep last night, wide awake at 4 AM, vast chorus of birds.

Gray morning.

Brought P. down to T.'s parents' house to visit with her & her new husband. Heard a lot about the world of interactive advertising. Buy now.

Feel like I may be coming down with a cold. Typisch.

Preparing for trip to seaside, doing laundry, have donned absurd seaside costume.

By the sea, by the sea, etc., etc.

Should take the dogs for a walk.

Just back from the premiere of Our American Friend, funny & interesting in a lot of ways, didn't care that much for the music. Got a call from friend who just got married while that was going on, left me feeling unaccountably nervous, like something awful had happened. Checked my voicemail after the show, was thanked for the wedding gifts. Strange bird, I am.

Had some insightful thoughts while the opera was underway, I think, but have now forgotten them, will have to make do with their traces.

Off to read some pulpy scifi about collectors of pulpy scifi.

I am damn sleepy. Knee still hurts.

Have vaguely agreed to play show tomorrow via SMS. Agreed, I mean, will probably be performing in person.

At some point before leaving on vacation, need to do laundry.

Nota bene: my going on vacation is not, as some appear to believe, an invitation to make harassing phone calls, please avoid doing this if possible.

New RIP being tested, about to go into production, nervousness abounds.

RIP, RIP, RIP.

Right knee hurts.

Out in the night with Peretz, feeling sorry for people, thinking about how my feeling sorry for people never did anyone any good.

Full moon tonight, too cloudy to see it.

Would really be better if I could react to the lack of subtlety typical of most suffering with the disgust it deserves. Anyway, anyway.

Grilled some hot dogs, dropped one, Peretz & Pickles split it. Peaceable kingdom.

Going to brush my teeth & put on my pajamas.

Moon, June.

Off to spoon & swoon.

Car needs fixing.

Actually got in some reading last night, stuff on Web about Werner Erhard, then a few chapters of an Ace Double.

Lovely morning for lazing about in bed, looking out the window at the cool sunshine, other things to do, sadly.

L. just cleaned up some dog vomit.

Checking on performance of underperforming web server and



Miniature donkey, miniature donkey!

Some days I enjoy my job more than others, having a big cup of quality joe.

Oil light's on again. Argh.

Gray, rainy day.

Boss's out sick, should be exciting.

Usually, anticipating being on vacation, I'd avoid making major changes to systems this week, unavoidable this time, gives me a bit of a stomach ache to think about it, luckily, cell phones don't work too well on the island.

Oil light has returned to its normal off state.

Feeling vaguely ill, sleepy, achy, mouth dry, etc.

Tried to nap, people kept calling.

Making pasta with an alfredo sauce.

My car's oil light has apparently now decided that being on all the time is the safest bet.

Have I ever told you about my hatred of old BIOSes?

Lots of little cuts on my fingers.

Don't feel like going to work. Need to go to work.

Didn't do a bunch of things I was thinking of doing today, did finally get seriously started unpacking. Gave up on that around 6, laid about lazily for a while, then made some fried rice with broccoli raab.

Humid day, got sweaty cooking, decided I'd take P. for one last walk in the rain, shower and settle into a t shirt & a pair of Looney Tunes boxer shorts I found today while unpacking. While out walking, watched tiny white butterflies flutter nervously above the wet grass, looking for a safe, dry place to settle.

Listening to the rain in my garish boxer shorts.

Foolishly allowed us to run out of coffee, easily corrected, brewing now.

Seems like rain.

Just back from seemingly endlessly deferred art pickup, nice day to be waiting around anyway, wandered around, took pictures, got coffee, snacks, sat on shady lawn, etc., etc.

Etc., etc.

Back home with dogs, walk down to the river planned for shortly.

Used to wander aimlessly around town a lot, now I need a reason, weird.

Just went out for a little nighttime exploration with Peretz, didn't go as far as I'd hoped, nagging toe blister.

In any case, lovely night.

Earlier, we made biscuits with local strawberries & whipped cream.

Off & on, feeling aimlessly, pointlessly sad. Happens a lot, it's nobody's fault.

Trying to think of something fun to do outside later.

Really wishing I were outside now, keep peering at the distant window.

Earlier in the week, it felt like the end of the week. Today I mistakenly thought it was Wednesday.

Strange days.

Just went outside for a few minutes, remarkably pleasant out, decided against hot dog for now.

Would very much like to be lying in a field somewhere, will need to wait until vacation, I suppose.

Should've gotten that hot dog.

Slept for a very long time last night, feel better for it.

Having a Dr. Pepper. In between doing various work tasks, I've been changing my address with a variety of companies & agencies.

Maybe I should go get a hot dog.

Wanted very much to stay in my newly cool & inviting bed, sigh.

Mysterious dog activities on the stairs.

Storm's coming. Very cinematic.

Hope the power stays on, in Northampton, anyway. Here, don't care so much.

Illumined sky, dramatic shadows of violently tossing trees.

Feels good to be at home.

Drove home through the summer heat, eating cold bing cherries.

Nashville's on.

Should really take Peretz for a walk, too darn hot.

Back to exciting work chaos, fucked up web server, archive database, you name it, we've got it.

Having some more coffee.

Back & forth between sauna-like outdoors & meat-locker-like server room = one big headache.

Summertime, summertime, sum, sum, etc., etc.

Jiggity jig.

Car acted a bit flaky on the drive home, steadied out as we went, it's never much cared for the wet & hot. We're a lot alike.

So, weekend jaunt a bit much, but still pretty nice.

Entering Greenfield among trucks towing mysterious devices, was thinking about being used. Basically, as long as I can keep my head straight about it, it's no problem.

Could use some sleep, up early to recover pups.

Ended up enjoying pastrami & cheesecake instead of sushi, as long as it was a southern speciality, I'm satisfied.

Could use a few days' sleep in this air conditioned facility.

Getting ready to pack up.

Lovely day for sitting in the shade on the Parthenon steps, some guy playing Asian-influenced banjo ditties, made me think of "Aja".

Sounds like southern food's going to be sushi, OK, OK,

Feeling lazy.

Hot, hot, hot.

We're going to go sing at the Parthenon with Barbara Jean, get some more ginger glacés.

Maybe some more tasty southern foods before returning north?

Hoping the pups are well.

Endless ceremonial activity, more talk of the Lord than I really care for, catering better than yesterday.

Pretty darn tired, thirsty.

Hearing about indictment in locally famous 33 year old child murder case.

Should get a beverage.

Delightful waffle breakfast, bacon, sausage, strawberries, mimosas.

Some lazing about, some shopping at thrift store, international market.

Just prepared for religious ceremony attendance with improvised song about baby Jesus followed by a shower, felt dirty.

Busy, busy day. Terrible, terrible dinner.

Forgot my pajamas.

Another rainy morning. Lovely, but I wish I were still in bed listening to the rain.

Busy day ahead, a little work, taking the dogs to be boarded, then airport, rehearsal dinner, etc., etc.

First, coffee, shower, maybe some coffee cake.

New a/c unit = freezing cold server room. I can't figure out how to operate the thermostat. Information professional!

Planning on getting out of here a bit early today, doing something fun, laundry maybe.

Somewhat excited to be leaving on a jet plane tomorrow, been a while.

So little going on in my head lately, it's funny.

Slow morning, pottering around with coffee, playing socially networked word games.

Should find P.'s vet documentation, going to board him tomorrow, the poor little guy.

Still feeling dehydrated from weekend's exertions, keep throwing back water, imagine it'll eventually help.

Woken early by call from depressed pal, one of the ones that doesn't think I'm a dangerous psycho. Hasn't been sleeping, thinks everyone hates him. Tried to offer helpful advice. Probably not really much help.

It's a delightfully rainy morning.

After call, got started on wiring my bedroom, alarm clock, reading light, here we come. Further enhancements to follow, stay tuned.

Things continue tiring, weird work schedule made weirder by emergency last night interrupting my enjoyment of free soup & game night, took more crap to dump at lunch, got started with putting the stuff lying all over the house in boxes away after work, took strange lingering walk with the pups, Pickles found an orange kickball. Made some spinach pasta with spicy sausage & cream sauce, watched the rest of Guys and Dolls. Going to take P for another walk down the street, then collapse, I think.

The extent of the disparity between my thoughts and feelings is sometimes quite alarming, but then I think about it for a little while and it seems just fine. Just how it is, just how it is.

Sleepy, sleepy.

Should have another drink of water.

Years worth of debris & detritus have magically vanished from in front of my home, thanks, Greenfield DPW.

In other news, took both dogs for glorious midday walk, bit challenging, but worth it. Wish I were still with them.

Spam, spam, log, log, etc., etc.

Took a little break from work & began my post-move financial recovery by depositing returned portion of my security deposit, had a hot dog with kraut from street vendor to celebrate. Things have been such a blur the past couple of months, I'm not even sure what my moving-related expenses actually were, but they certainly added up. I think a large part of it was just eating out a lot because of excessive busyness.

Anyway, my wealth & corresponding power are on the mend, watch out, Captains of Industry!

Being able to walk to bank, hot dog stand kind of makes me want to work in Greenfield all the time, arrange that, would you?

Have a particularly nasty headache, dehydration, I imagine, been drinking liquids, hasn't helped yet. Maybe sleep will.

Watching Guys & Dolls.

All moved out, not all moved in, soon, I hope.

Woke up stiff, drank coffee, showered, walked dogs.

Going to go for fancy brunch, then complete moving out process. Try to stay civilized, ha ha.

Hiding in plain sight, it's a gas.

Almost done with the moving, a few things to pick up & tidy in the morning.

RLETAAS means relocation leaves everybody tired and ambivalent, sadly.

Peretz is trying to lick the radiator.