Saturday, January 14, 2006

Weekend Thoughts

I have to admit: up to this point, owning a laptop/notebook hasn't made me any more productive, either as a developer or as a blogger. But it sure is nice to be able to sit in the kitchen blogging and reading email while smelling the chai tea brewing on the stove, far enough away from the television that I don't have to listen to Emma's Saturday morning cartoon-fest.

Since I'm enjoying a lazy weekend morning, with Kristi at work and Emma otherwise engaged, I thought I'd drop by, say hello, and update you -- yes, you, dear reader -- on life and stuff.

But not so much about work. As I've already told you, I don't work-blog anymore. And what I said about work in that last post hasn't changed. The new project is still fun and interesting.

Though I can't really blog about my current job, there's no reason I can't blog about my previous one. I just got an unexpected email from Carolyn Kornoff. Carolyn was the administrative assistant (judicial secretary? I can't remember titles anymore) in the chambers of Justice Thaxter when I was a research attorney for him a decade ago, at the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Fresno, California. Carolyn was clearly the brains of the outfit; she kept things running efficiently, no matter how much I tried to screw up. (She also did a good job of keeping Joby, Kathy and the judge in line, though they didn't need it nearly as much as I did.)

Anyway, she forwards the following email from one of the other staff:

On Friday, January 20, 2006 at 5 p.m. the second floor conference room refrigerator will be cleared out and cleaned. If you have an item in it, and would like that item to remain there, please mark the item clearly with your name and with a date that ends in "2006." All contents not marked with a name and a "2006" date will be tossed (even Larry Rubinow's Saltine crackers that have been on the top shelf of the door since the early 1990's).

I will send out two more notices next week, one early in the week and one on the morning of Friday, Jan. 20, to remind everyone in case anyone actually wants to save something that's already in there.

(By the way, Ernie and Clint, even if on January 20 I find the Saltine crackers marked "Larry Rubinow 1/20/06," I'm going to toss them anyway. :) )

Now, in my defense, I don't refrigerate saltines. Never have, never will. And furthermore, I don't recall that there even was a refrigerator in the second-floor conference room when I was at the court; the only refrigerator I remember was in the first-floor break room. Personally, I blame Ernie, because it would be just like him to try to hang something like this on me. Remember this, kids, when people try to tell you that the court system is fair and impartial: it's actually filled with devious, buck-passing Ernies who refrigerate saltines. Litigate at your own peril.

Carolyn isn't the only figure from my past to come calling lately. Within the last few months I got word from my brother Dave in Fresno that two of my old Los Angeles friends, from my days at Emerson Junior High and University High School, had popped up. Glenn Berkovitz, sound mixer to the stars, looked up my brother's phone number and called him, trying to track me down. And Daniel Bluestone, M.D., pediatric neurologist to the, um, kids who need a neurologist, walked into the north Fresno jewelry store where Dave works and ended up buying something from him, having no idea with whom he was dealing (Dave figured out with whom he was dealing pretty quickly, apparently; he says that aside from some gray, Dan hadn't changed much). I've since been in touch with Glenn; still hoping to hear from Dan. If nothing else, maybe we'll all find our way to our 30th (eesh!) reunion this summer.

Or heck. Just visit me in Saint Paul. This has been the second-mildest January on record, surpassed only by 1990. We haven't had a significant snowfall in weeks, and much of what was on the ground is gone. High temps are consistently in the 30s, which feels positively balmy for this time of year (if you're one of my L.A. buddies, it probably sounds brutal -- but really, it's all what you're used to). The sun is shining, bicyclists are out and about, and beach volleyball players pack the shores of Lake Como. Okay, I made up that last part, but still -- come to sunny Minnesota.

posted by MeanMrMustard @ 9:48 AM