16 NOV 2005 : WEDNESDAY
Paul was in town for a supercomputing conference. I drove downtown to his hotel because our dinner plans were in embryo… eat downtown or not? After a quick discussion, we decided to have dinner at Lark. Dinner itself was good as always.
We talked about lots of random stuff. Apparently, Paul’s dog Sputnik has had some encounters with a rutting buck in their backyard. Their last encounter resulted in some major damage to Sputnik as he had serious internal injuries. Paul called him the $10000 dog as he has had many traumas in his life. I think Sputnik is recovering fine.
Paul wrote me a few days later and said he broke down and bought a shotgun as the buck is also being threatening to himself and Anya. I do not know if he has had to use it yet.
Anyways, after dinner we headed back to my place to play some pool. Someone had run off with one of the cues and two balls were missing, but we played a few games anyway.
We then retired to the apartment and Paul played GTA for a while. He had always wanted to play it, but he does not have time to play video games anymore. I don’t really have time either. Watching Paul play started giving me a migraine, but I headed it off with over-the-counter drugs.
I later took Paul back to his hotel as we both had to work early the next day. It was good to see him.
19-20 NOVEMBER 2005 : SATURDAY AND SUNDAY
I do not remember much happening except enjoying catching up a lot of sleep. We went to the Southcenter Mall on Saturday for I do not know what reason. Amanda ended up getting some clothes. We looked at featherbeds, but did not get anything.
I heard an interesting conversation between a woman and her three young kids: “alright, now let’s see if we can get back to the car without whining, complaining, or getting lost.” I wonder if it actually happened.
I recall being quite amazed at the rude drivers in the burbs. People were just out of control rude with blocking lanes, doing crazy stuff and assuming other people will see them because they’re in a fucking huge SUV or somesuch. Maybe pre-Thanksgiving sale fever was affecting people.
Amanda had brunch with Eve on Sunday while I, um, slept. She later went to work. I am sure I worked as well. Soon, though, my sabbatical will be here.