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...and I have a 2:30 pm flight, or thereabouts.
In browsing through a copy of the current 2600 magazine, I ran across an interesting article on replacements for the Windows explorer.exe shell. So it was that I started playing with the LiteStep shell, and in between space-to-ground calls today, spent some time getting acquainted with the system. At the very least, I no longer have to stare at the rather cluttered desktop that has (mostly) come up on the VAIO for the past three years.
I also got a piece of work done on a new assignment, which is due next week, but that's a discussion for later.
After work, I tried to hightail it home, only to be stymied by the traffic around the Baybrook Mall, which lies near the strategic intersection of I-45 and Bay Area Blvd. Once home, it turned out that Natalie wanted to go to the Starbucks near - you guessed it - the intersection of I-45 and Bay Area Blvd, albeit on the corner opposite the mall. Barnes & Noble, it turns out, is right next door.
I stopped at the B&N yesterday on the way home, thinking about buying the latest, last, and first Heinlein novel, which was unearthed recently. It's titled For Us, The Living, and turns out to be Heinlein's first novel, which never saw the light of publication during the lifetime of the author (or that of his widow). The online version of B&N has the tome for sale for $16.95, or 40% off the list price, while the best that the bricks and mortar B&N can do is the paltry 10% discount for their card-carrying members. To be frank, I was ready to buy the book yesterday, but only at the sale price. Instead, I got a lecture from the clerk at the checkout about how BN.com did not belong to the same entity as the B&N we were standing in, and how running the latter involved additional expenses, such as payroll, lights, and so on. (I decided not to argue the point, and actually felt a little upset that I had been given that kind of talking-to, and wondered if perhaps I have the same effect on people in the store when I respond to questions about payment for services by mentioning having to make payroll and pay rent.)
Anyway, the traffic from the Friendswood side of Bay Area was even more murderous than from the NASA side earlier, but eventually we made it to the Starbucks, via Papacito's restaurant, where Natalie and I ate dinner. During dinner Natalie raised the prospect of going to see The Last Samurai.
At first, I balked, but eventually gave in. We made the 9:15 pm showing, and I must say I liked the film very much, on a number of levels, despite the occasional lapse into sappy sentimentality. I think this is a definite see-again movie, albeit not anytime soon (I'm thinking the DVD will release be the right time to see it again).
It is departure day as I write this. Natalie has gone to sleep, and now so must I. While I do not anticipate a crack-of-dawn start to my day later on, I don't want to end up having to pack my stuff and get on the road on a rush-rush schedule. An 8 am wakeup sounds about right.
Cheers...
In browsing through a copy of the current 2600 magazine, I ran across an interesting article on replacements for the Windows explorer.exe shell. So it was that I started playing with the LiteStep shell, and in between space-to-ground calls today, spent some time getting acquainted with the system. At the very least, I no longer have to stare at the rather cluttered desktop that has (mostly) come up on the VAIO for the past three years.
I also got a piece of work done on a new assignment, which is due next week, but that's a discussion for later.
After work, I tried to hightail it home, only to be stymied by the traffic around the Baybrook Mall, which lies near the strategic intersection of I-45 and Bay Area Blvd. Once home, it turned out that Natalie wanted to go to the Starbucks near - you guessed it - the intersection of I-45 and Bay Area Blvd, albeit on the corner opposite the mall. Barnes & Noble, it turns out, is right next door.
I stopped at the B&N yesterday on the way home, thinking about buying the latest, last, and first Heinlein novel, which was unearthed recently. It's titled For Us, The Living, and turns out to be Heinlein's first novel, which never saw the light of publication during the lifetime of the author (or that of his widow). The online version of B&N has the tome for sale for $16.95, or 40% off the list price, while the best that the bricks and mortar B&N can do is the paltry 10% discount for their card-carrying members. To be frank, I was ready to buy the book yesterday, but only at the sale price. Instead, I got a lecture from the clerk at the checkout about how BN.com did not belong to the same entity as the B&N we were standing in, and how running the latter involved additional expenses, such as payroll, lights, and so on. (I decided not to argue the point, and actually felt a little upset that I had been given that kind of talking-to, and wondered if perhaps I have the same effect on people in the store when I respond to questions about payment for services by mentioning having to make payroll and pay rent.)
Anyway, the traffic from the Friendswood side of Bay Area was even more murderous than from the NASA side earlier, but eventually we made it to the Starbucks, via Papacito's restaurant, where Natalie and I ate dinner. During dinner Natalie raised the prospect of going to see The Last Samurai.
At first, I balked, but eventually gave in. We made the 9:15 pm showing, and I must say I liked the film very much, on a number of levels, despite the occasional lapse into sappy sentimentality. I think this is a definite see-again movie, albeit not anytime soon (I'm thinking the DVD will release be the right time to see it again).
It is departure day as I write this. Natalie has gone to sleep, and now so must I. While I do not anticipate a crack-of-dawn start to my day later on, I don't want to end up having to pack my stuff and get on the road on a rush-rush schedule. An 8 am wakeup sounds about right.
Cheers...
