elkit in wonderland

You Gotta Go There To Come Back

My interwebs at home have been spotty, adding to my excuses for not blogging much lately. Today I came home to working interwebs, so I'm trying to take advantage of that fact. I called AT&T customer support yesterday, because all week the "residential gateway", as AT&T calls my router, has been fickle, alternating between the steady green light that I want, a flashing green light, and blinking or solid red lights in the Broadband slot. 

The customer service lady tried to fix it over the phone, but couldn't, and scheduled a tech to come by tomorrow evening. 

I asked her about the thing that bugged me most - when the gateway is down, I can't access the internet on my laptop, I can't watch television, and I can't even watch shows I've previously recorded. Aren't those just stored on my DVR, I asked? Why would I not be able to watch them? 

She explained to me that they're actually not stored locally - she said they're stored online in my account, so if there's no internet, there's no access to my account with its shows. Meh.

Anyway, so I've been especially grateful for the iPhone and the fact that I can still connect to the interwebs through AT&T's cellular network. I really would be lost without the net. The upside is, I've actually been reading a little more; I'm halfway through Richard Yates' Easter Parade. Odd story, I'm not sure what to make of it.

Never Tear Us Apart

I apologize. I know I've been holding out on you. If it's any consolation: it's not you, it's me.

No, really. I have a new job, with a new schedule, and a new computer and cell phone. All of this has needed some adjusting to. But I think I'm ready for you again. I have an enormous backlog of blog posts in my head (yes, it hurts. Thanks for asking, smartypants!) - there is still reporting to be done on my trip to Chicago for BlogHer, and that was three weeks ago. Oh, and I haven't even told you half of what I did on my week off in early July, when I visited Elke Vineyards, drove along beautiful Highway One, explored San Francisco with my friend Jerri, and ate a bacon donut at Dynamo Donuts.

After Midnight, We're Gonna Let It All Hang Out

It's 1:00 am, and I'm sitting in my friends' dark living room, computing away. I flew to London yesterday, on a fine and two-thirds empty Virgin Atlantic flight. Arrived at Heathrow well and rested at 11 am local time, walked what felt like seven miles through the terminal, got through passport control and baggage claim in less than ten minutes, and found Mary waiting for me with a baby strapped to her chest. The baby looks very much like her husband Charles, and not like her at all. I asked her if she was sure it's hers. She agreed she should probably get a maternity test.

We had tea and hung out and talked, and then I started fading, and around 4pm I finally gave up and went to bed. Slept for a good six or seven hours, and now I'm up again. Checked the interwebs (geek's first order of business), am doing my daily NaBloPoMo blog entry, and listening to Vlad the hedgehog chew on his food and clonk water out of his bottle. And then I'll head back to bed and read a little. "Atonement" seems like a good choice for this time of night.

It's Cool For Cats

I've been saying that there's one household device I would really like to see invented: a cat hair magnet.

And you know what? I got one! That's the good news.

The bad news: it's my favorite sweats.

Do You Want To Go To The Seaside?

Chairs on the Beach
Originally uploaded by elkit

Yes, I know I said I'd tell you all about my trip to Puerto Vallarta. Start here with my photos.
We had a great time! Mahesh had found a great place for us to stay - two units in a condo building right on the beach (the photo to the right was taken from the balcony), one of them the penthouse.
The weather was warm to hot, and even though it was very very humid, that was not too bad, because we had the ocean right in front, and a plunging pool on the rooftop as part of the penthouse. And there was always cold beer and water to be drunk.
People were nice, food and drink were good, and the company was great - we all travel well together.

We made a leisurely time of it. I read three books, sweated like a pig on a spit, drank lots of beer to rehydrate, and stayed close to home and the water most of the time. On our last day, we took a canopy tour, zipping through the forest in the air, harnessed to pulleys and wirelines. I still get giddy just thinking about it; it was so much fun!

The only hiccup was caused by me - can you believe that I forgot to bring my greencard? Luckily, my friend Christine who was cat-watching for me, emailed me a copy, and the gentlemen from the Homeland Security were nice enough to let me back in with just a warning never to do that again, which I promised. I am quite certain I will never ever forget my greencard again.

And Who By Fire, Who By Water

So there I was in Santa Cruz three weeks ago, watching the thunder storm and thinking it was cool. Little did I know how much damage it would cause. 

It's STILL so hazy and smoggy that you can't even see Mount Hamilton five miles away, and the Big Sur and Butte County fires are nowhere near contained. Thank God for small favors - the temperatures have dropped back into the mid-eighties after a week of near hundred degree heat.

Back of my Neck Gettin Dirty and Gritty

It's too hot to blog. See you when it cools down a bit.

Couldn't Stand The Weather

Sarah and I were going to make bacon cookies today, but then that didn't seem like such a good idea. Hmmm, let me consider this brilliant plan ... it's 100 degrees out. My house has no air conditioning. Turning on the oven ... smart move? Not so much.

So we rescheduled, and I checked the weather report and ran off to Santa Cruz, where I found a balmy breezy 84 degrees and a thunderstorm. Thunder and lightning! That is so rare in these parts. I don't think I've seen more than half a dozen thunderstorms in all the years I've lived here.

The other thing I found were three women with a table full of baked goods - they were holding a "Hungry for Change" bake sale. I had my own food and drink in my bag (cookies from Whole Foods, and water in a glass bottle from home, in my bleeding-heart liberal canvas tote), but I gladly bought something. I am not an American citizen, so I don't get to vote - at least not with a ballot, so I'm voting with my money, good taxpayer that I am.

Feelin' Hot Hot Hot

It's 10:30am, and the weather widget says it's 90 degrees out already. The forecast high for today is 100 degrees, about the same as yesterday. Keep cool, people!

Global warming ... what global warming?

Cool, boy ...

I Just Wanna Thank You For The Love

I'm roaming the aisles at Target, looking for filters for my Brita pitcher, when someone behind me says, "Excuse me." I think he's probably talking to a Target employee, looking to find something, but he says again, "Excuse me," and I get that he's talking to me, and turn around.

"Who's in the Air Force?" he asks, pointing to my hoodie sweatshirt which says AIR FORCE in big bold letters across the front. "Not me," I say and explain that I got this as a souvenir after watching a football game at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.

"Oh," says the man, "Well, if you were a vet, I was going to thank you for your service."

Wasn't that nice of him? I told him I'd pass it on, so if you are or were serving in the military: Thank you for your service.