July 5, 2002
Dear Everyone:
I know what you’re thinking: “Last week she was early, this week she’s late. Don’t you have any sense of time?” Ordinarily, I do. But vacations and holidays have a way of messing up my normal routine.
As do weekends.
During the week, I have breakfast (a cup of yogurt) at about the
same time each day (between
Last week, we were on vacation in
“Jeannie” even said she enjoyed Titus Andronicus, not a word one tends to associate with gory old Titus.
As for this week, I was in the office bright and not-quite-early Monday morning. One project is winding down, while another is picking up speed due to some impending moves. Plenty to do without having too much on my plate.
However, because a
I wasn’t sure exactly when the fireworks would
start, but the big electronic sign on
I had scouted out a good location earlier in the afternoon. So, after a traditional dinner of hot dogs and chips, we headed over to my current place of employment, with a couple of folding chairs and cushions and planted ourselves near the far eastern end of the parking lot.
The weather was beautifully clear, but the westerly breezes, coming over the hills from the Bay, were a bit brisk. And “Jeannie” was getting cold. So I dug around in the Emergency Supply Bag that I keep in the trunk until I found a thermal blanket that I had got somewhere and added to the bag. The “blanket” is a sheet of Mylar (or something similar) about 52” by 80”, that claims to hold in body heat (if it’s cold out), and repel heat and sunlight (if you’re caught out in the desert).
It’s also silver in color, and very shiny. Wrapped up in it, “Jeannie” looked rather like a very large TV dinner. It’s the Swanson Look. Not Gloria, think shivering in the freezer. But it did the trick, even if the eventual fireworks displays did reflect off “Jeannie” more than anyone else.
Our location turned out to be perfect (make note for future reference). The explosions took place almost directly over our heads. And they were so close that we could actually feel the blast in some cases. You’d hear a faint pop in the distance, followed by a beautiful blossom of fire, followed by a sonic boom that echoed off the building behind us, for added effect.
15-20 minutes (probably several hundreds of thousands of dollars) worth of fireworks later, it was time to head home. However, several hundreds of other families were trying to do the same thing, so it took us about half an hour to get home, even though I live just on the other side of the freeway. We watched some TV and “Jeannie” stayed the night, demanding an additional down comforter because, hey! the temperature had dropped down into the 60’s.
This morning, after breakfast, we walked over to the cinema and watched Men In Black 2. It’s a fast-paced romp with lots of fanciful aliens and amusing sight-gags. We both enjoyed it, so you will probably enjoy it, too. And “Jeannie” has determined that is impossible to watch a Summer Movie without popcorn. Completely impossible. You have been warned.
Love, as always,
Pete
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