Monday

Aug 27, 2001

returning

Looking forward to a flight home isn't a great way to start the day. But FFP and I get up refreshed and jazzed. We clean up ourselves, our sheets, our towels, our dishes and coffee pot.

When our intrepid hosts arrive to pick us up, they say there is a semi that has done a lay over all three lanes of one of the bridges. We go have a big breakfast. (They go to work early and eat lunch about my breakfast time.) Then they drop FFP and I in the northwest part of Portland. We find and patronize a cool local book shop and toy shop and drift through other cool places. Then we take the streetcar to southwest, pouring all the coins I can scrape into the machine and finally getting two dollar and twenty cent tickets. We drift through Nordstrum's and wait in Starbucks for a ride from our long-suffering buddy who has our luggage in his van. We are on our way.

In a bizarre twist at the San Jose airport, they upgrade one of us. But they don't tell us this. (Nor are they out of first class seats.) I tell FFP to take it and read in coach which is thankfully not too full. The 'nerd bird' from San Jose to Austin ain't what it used to be now that the dot comedy is in full swing.

We get home to a bunch of computers in various states of boot. Sadly, the gateway machine's a dark puppy. Nothing doing with power on. I spend a while jacking all the computers directly to IP addresses. Bad me, opening the firewall. Also bad me not having a good surge supressor on every machine. Darn.

Late at night, I have the network so that FFP can go as usual.

one for the road