magicbeans. nothing if not awkward.

My internet connection was still out when I got up this morning. I tried hooking the modem up to the cable right where it came into the wall, so as to rule out any possible internal problem. No signal.

I called the cable company. Was told that no one can come out to look at until next week. And the first evening appointment that I can make, so that I don't have to miss half a day of work, is next Wednesday, a full week from today. And that I have to be aware that if it's not a problem with the outside line, they will charge me a $35 service fee.

At work, my Wacom tablet wasn't working. I started using it when I was being shifted around from machine to machine as an intern, and ended up one day on a computer with the choice of a tablet or an old 'hockey puck' style mouse. Two hours with the tablet and I was using it fluently. And since no one else seemed to lay claim to it, I've moved it with me since then as I've switched machines. To the point where I don't even have a mouse plugged in anymore.

Sometimes I just have to unplug the tablet and plug it back in. Sometimes I have to restart the computer. Once or twice I've found that I had to reinstall the drivers. This morning none of those things worked. And I just found myself getting more and more frustrated. Eventually, even though there's no moving parts in a stylus tablet, I tried to old method of taking out all the screws and seeing what's going on inside. And it worked.

But. Then Lotus Notes would crash every time I opened it, and I couldn't get into my work email. It was just not a day good day for me and technology.

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Three shots of espresso in half a cup of decaf. More flavour than a triple americano, but less total caffeine than a triple red-eye.

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Last night, when everyone was headed out to Williamsburg and I was headed home to Inwood, I told Garth to give me a call around lunchtime today, maybe we could meet up before he continued home to Connecticut. I called him at one o'clock. No answer. I called him at two. No answer. Left a message that I couldn't wait to eat any longer. At three he called back. 'Sorry, I should have called earlier. We got up this morning and decided to leave right away, so as not to get caught in any afternoon traffic.'

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Stopped by Digital Society after work to see what Dan was up to for dinner. He was headed out to Brooklyn to pack up some more of his stuff from his old apartment. I tagged along, grabbed a little bit more of my stuff, and ended up invited to his parents house in Queens for dinner.

I still think he's probably the most nuts of anyone in his family. But it's a little more clear to me where he gets it from now. They are very nice people though. Stayed late, talking with his dad about religion.