A fairly fabulous Friday...

[alexpgp]

Okay, so we started with the ham-as-in-amateur-radio breakfast, where I found out that there is no apparent consistency in the making of the Pagosa Lodge's huevos rancheros, which didn't bother me too much at all. From the Lodge, I went over to open the store, and eventually ended up at home, working on the translation due Monday.

That is, until I was called by my lone, local IT client, for whom I am supposed to make some changes in a Perl script. The changes are pretty much planned out, but I was stymied by one of the requirements, which we discussed over lunch at Tequila's, a quasi-Mexican restaurant downtown, where the river takes a sharp turn thataway, and across the water from the town's "spa" (where one can take the waters, and where locals get a deal in that they pay 'only' $10 for a session at the Springs).

The rest of the day was pretty droll. I got my semiannual haircut (at least it feels semiannual). I finished the translation. I watched some TV.

For the second day in a row, I've thrown out a boxful of old stuff I no longer need (papers). It's easy to throw out papers; I can do it all day long. Books, on the other hand, are an entirely different story.

I just took a look on eBay to see whether books by Murray Rothbard command any reasonable prices, as I have an autographed copy of his one-volume Man, Economy, and State published by Nash in the early 70s. No dice. The only item on sale is going for a buck, although there are 5+ days left in the auction. I also looked to see if there is any demand for a shrink-wrapped copy of the ECCO organizer software, and came up with a goose egg there as well.

Anyway, a box of stuff thrown out here, and a box of stuff thrown out there... pretty soon, I'll have no more junk lying around!

Cheers...

Comments

Creating a vacuum

[daphnis.livejournal.com]

Nature abhors (I've been told) a vacuum, so if you throw out all those papers and send books off to look for new owners, be prepared for a sudden influx of STUFF from other places in the Universe!

Now I, on the other hand, have been getting bits of money delivered to me recently ~ in begging letters in the mail, from the seat of my late father's armchair, from the garden, found on the pavement in a parking lot ~ so I'm thinking that I really must buy a Lotto ticket for tomorrow's drawing. (I've been in the queue for a _long_ time, so it's probably coming up to my turn soon.)

Saw an interesting program on the History channel about secret passageways throughout history, and learned quite a bit about the way Lyon was built, the taboules (sp?) stairways which evolved between the many multi-storied buildings. how the Resistance created secret message drop-boxes throughout the rabbit-warren mazes. With its centuries past involvement in rebellion, subversion of invading overlords, and thwarting the nazi persecutions, it's no wonder the Supercops like the location! Got a million places to disappear to or emerge from, I bet.

Hoo-hoo!

Re: Creating a vacuum

[brenk.livejournal.com]

Traboules, sayeth the nit-picker. And they were used to transport silk (big silk industry), protecting it from the rain. Poor Alex got that little lecture one evening while enjoying a Gastronomic Experience in the old part of town :)

Re: Creating a vacuum

[daphnis.livejournal.com]

I'll bet it was a good story, as told by a person who has considerable respect for accuracy (EWG) and for history. In other words, by a professional nitpicker:-) Ta for spelling correction....

Does the 'boule' part of traboule mean silk? And is the meaning of 'boulevard' a version of 'Silken pathway' or some such? (I probably should have studied languages in my not-very-wicked youth, as I loved finding parallels in derivation ~ almost like thinking in side-by-side lines, just for the amusement of it!)

I do envy you world travellers your cumulative memories of exotic places, expanding horizons, the gypsy life for short periods of time, yet with solid home bases to return to. The freelance aspect is worrying, I'm sure, but it challenges your brains as well as any other profession could, and that keeps you thinking 'outside of the box', as current adv't usage would have it.

Hugs from a non-travelling Begonia, and thanks for sharing stories:-)

Re: Creating a vacuum

[brenk.livejournal.com]

Thought about this while ironing yesterday (to get my own halo softly glowing, there's nothing like a pile of nice, crisp shirts).

I had the feeling the 'tra' in traboule is something to do with 'traverser', i.e. to cross, but then decided that Google is my friend in this case rather than talking off the top of my head. In short, it comes from the Latin "trans ambulare" which means 'walk through". Traboules are thus passages through buildings that link buildings, and 'boule' must thus be 'ambulating' rather than anything to do with silk. So one ambulates along boulevards too :)

And yes, travel - or at least when using those shiny things that have wings, wheels or rails - is indeed a wonderful thing, and in my own mind a huge privilege to be grasped and savoured, warts and all. And shared, yet remaining fully aware this isn't everyone's cup of tea nor that it's accessible to all.

Should you like the idea of a virtual browse round Lyon, try this site: http://www.virtourist.com/europe/lyon/02.htm

And freelancing... yep, a little worrying but you learn to live with it, particularly if that's the only solution given the circumstances. It doesn't stop you wishing for an employer to call in sick to at times, or to have paid vacations, but it has its upsides too. And I won't ramble about the whole subject or I run the risk of being way too philosophical for a break between two pension fund translations :)

[brenk.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Alex. The visions of you eating a plate of ham (with mustard) have finally been erased from my mind *g*.

[alexpgp.livejournal.com]

The rule of thumb at Borland, back when I did a stint with tech support, is that for every one person who mentions an issue, there are another seven out there who have encountered the same issue, but just haven't mentioned it. :^)

Cheers...