there’s nothing i like more than a nice 4 day holiday in boston. centered around food. this year was dad’s year, so we all converged in Lexington on wednesday night. I managed to change my flight so I arrived in boston at 7PM wednesday, not the original plan of 7AM thursday. I ran into Hez on the flight (on the way back too), clearly showing that changing the flight was a good idea. PT and Lisa were nice enough to pick me up from the T station and take me out to dinner before driving me out to lexington.
the theme of this year’s thanksgiving was pie. Pumpkin, bluberry, apple, custard. pies everywhere. the secondary theme was, ironically, “weight loss”, as the loconte children are all fighting (and in my case, losing) a battle with our waistlines. if you’re wondering how weight loss and pie go together, the answer is poorly. at least according to the bathroom scale, which i should program to taunt me, since i feel like it does that anyways.
also, we went to the aquarium, where the jellies exhibit wasnt’ so much actual jellyfish but more computer images of what jellyfish would look like if they were on computers.
and i ran into Liz and Eric going through SFO on the way back. because that’s how my life works.
it was monday night. rainy. the air had that certain chill to it that i’ve come to associate with cold weather. I was leaving my house for the evening. my plan was to grab a buddy and head into the Mission, see if we could find some trouble to get out of. I sauntered down towards Beale St., taking a moment to check behind me. it’s not a dangerous neighborhood but you can never be too sure.
I hit the corner and headed for my car, which I had parked there on friday, about halfway down the block. 100 steps in, my stomach fell to the floor. My car wasn’t there. I walked the block a few times, making sure i hadn’t passed it in a daze. No dice. No car. I called up my friend and told him that the night was a bust, I had no wheels. And I began searching for clues. there was no broken glass on the pavement, so it seemed unlikely that someone had gotten in. The neighborhood is really more of a smash and grab joint, at least that’s been my experience.
My first clue was a lonely paper sign, hanging by a string from the fence. It read: “no parking, 11/11, 8AM - 5PM”. Crap. My memory kicked into 4th gear, and I had visions of the Veterans Day parade collecting on Beale St. the previous sunday. I had walked right by it. And somehow missed the fact that my car was gone. I must be getting slow this side of 30.
The car impound lot isn’t a great place to hang out on a Monday night. Neither is the Police Station. But i had to head to both of them, get a formal release for my car, and get out. My previous troubles with the San Mateo Caltrain Authority didn’t come up this time, which is real good, cause i was in no mood to explain that mess.
90 minutes after I started, and $330 poorer, I had my car back. Bastards. I’ll get them next time.
last weekend trish and I went to carmel. we stayed at the Carmel Valley Ranch, which was very nice, except they make you pre pay a $25 per day gratuity charge, to take care of all the tipping you’re supposed to do. oh, except it doesn’t count towards food, golf, or spa tipping. who else do you tip? the guy who brings your bags, but that’s only twice per visit, and i carry my own bags… maybe you’re supposed to tip the bartender? nope, that doesn’t count cause it’s food. anyways. carmel itself is a little dull, we should have gone to big sur for more hiking.
work is fine. thanks for asking. i have some pangs of regret in regards to other opportunities not taken.
i’m playing a lot of weewar. if you want an invite let me know.
i’m finally teaching myself the Processing language. i’m not sure what i’m going to use it for, but since when has that stopped me from spending time learning stuff?
