tow.com

It’s been a tough week for everyone in the nation, and I must admit that after Tuesday, work become a distant concern of mine. I’m probably speaking for a lot of people when I say that I didn’t get much work done after Tuesday. One cool thing that the company did was assemble 200+ Palm VIIx wireless organizers for some FEMA teams being deployed in the New York area. I had an extra, unopened Palm VIIx box in my cube that I donated to the effort. I hope that the devices are useful for those working in “the pile” as ground zero at the World Trade Center is being called.

At any rate, this past weekend, I vowed to bring some semblance of normalcy to my life. I started it out by not watching television nor listening to the radio, as that would have probably depressed me to the point of being useless Saturday. Instead, I researched backpacking equipment for my upcoming trip in October. I’m not sure where we’re going to go, but it’ll probably be out of the immediate Bay Area.

Around 1:00 pm, I made the drive over to the REI store in Redwood City. I was in the fuel cannisters area when I heard a voice to my right call out, “Adam?” Turns out Sandeep Jain was in the REI store at the same time!

Sandeep and I lived in Xanadu together during my sophomore year (his junior year) at Stanford. I used to play Marathon with Sandeep, Jason and Dyron throughout the school year. I fondly recall our death matches during Finals Week in Meyer Library. We’d rent our headphones from Denise and set up shop at the Macintosh computers in second floor cluster. It was classic to see all of us duking it out while everyone else was busily studying for finals! Deadly! Yes! Flamethrower!

I ended up picking up the REI Half Dome tent from REI. It’s a decently well constructed two-person tent that I think will serve me well in the future. I already have a Canyonlands, but that’s a little cramped for two people. The Half Dome is large and it’s a freestanding tent (which the Canyonlands isn’t), making it a pinch to set up.

On the way back home, I dropped off the film that I shot with the Leica, along with a roll that Eric had shot a year ago (when I had short, short hair).

Saturday night, Randy came over for a home-cooked dinner and a sleepover in my newly set up tent in my living room. I haven’t had a sleepover since I was a kid. Even then, I don’t remember having that many sleepovers! It was fun pretending we were camping right in my living room. Unfortunately, Randy had a stomach ache throughout the night. He disappeared at one point in the evening to go to the bathroom. When that happened, I think my sleeping self decided to take over the entire space in the tent. When Randy came back, he had to push me back to my side of the tent!

Sunday was spent lounging at the house until the early evening, when I went to Rae’s sister’s place in Santa Clara. We ate at the Loon Wah Chinese Restaurant in Cupertino before going back to May’s place to watch Chicken Run. At dinner, May, Salim, Melissa, Levi, Rae, and I had a protracted discussion about the recent world events. It was a very civilized discussion where many different viewpoints were thrown about. We’re in uncharted territory, and I hope that the national and world leaders make the correct decisions in the coming weeks and months that will ensure relative peace and security throughout the world. The last thing we need is an escalation of conflict.

On Monday night, I drove up to the Longs Drugs store in Hillsdale to pick up the film that I dropped off on Saturday. I was looking forward to seeing my black and whites from my Leica. The moment of truth would happen when I looked at the pictures. Did I over or under expose the images? Since the Leica doesn’t have a light meter, I had to input all the controls manually, from aperture to shutter speed. It’s a challenging prospect, and I hope that I succeeded. Unfortunately, they were not able to develop that roll of film since I sent it to a processing department that couldn’t handle black and white film. Darn! So, I submitted the film again to another lab and will pick it up in a couple of days. Sarah Kang once told me, “No expectations, no regrets.” I have to admit that I was a little sad that the film wasn’t developed. It would have been like getting a present… such a surprise and wonder opening up the gift!

On the drive home, I gave a call to Randy to see what he was up to Monday evening. He had left his cap at my house, so I figured I could drive to his house, drop off the hat, and grab dinner with him. It worked out since he hadn’t eaten yet. We went to this Japanese restaurant in Palo Alto which had so-so food. I ordered edamane for an appetizer and was a little disappointed that it was cold instead of warm. I don’t know why some Japanese restaurants serve it cold while others serve it warm or hot. I prefer the hot. At any rate, after dinner, Randy and I went over to the theater on Emerson to watch Ghost World. I found out later that Eric was in Palo Alto as well with Mandy, Elliot, and a few other friends. How coincidental!

Today at work, John came by my cube to show me his newly shaved head! He and I have been talking about it for a few years now ever since I shaved it all off in 1998-1999. He always resisted until now! The hair has been growing back for a few weeks, but it still looks pretty cool. I’m proud of him for taking the plunge and bic’ing his head. Now, he won’t have to wonder, “What if?” when he’s old and gray about having never shaved his head!

Tonight, I went to Lucy’s Teahouse to have dinner with Karen Yee. We had a lengthy discussion about the WTC bombings, our increased reluctance or concern about travelling around the world or visiting/living in a foreign country, and Ultimate Frisbee. Ever since I dislocated my elbow in February, I haven’t played Ultimate all that much, maybe less than half a dozen times. When I did play, I was much more tentative going after the disk than before. Guess I’ve been hearing footsteps or something, no? My elbow does get sore from time to time, and I can still feel that it’s “different” than my elbow/arm used to be. I guess I have to resign myself to the fact that it will never revert back to what it used to be. It’s still 100% functional, but it just feels different. Dunno, I guess I’ll get used to it over time.

After all, time heals all wounds, doesn’t it?