unexpected freedom

it’s the fourth of july long holiday weekend, and i unexpectedly don’t know what to do.

sure, it’s not like i didn’t have any warning. repeatedly people would come up to me and make conversation in passing, asking “what are you doing for the 4th?” to which i would reply, “uh, what? oh, i don’t know. it’s too far away.”

only it’s not because it’s here NOW.

honestly, i kept expecting the call to come out: come down to lost angels. your number is up, you’ve been called up to the big game, you’ve been drafted, you’ve won the last-minute holiday lottery. you see, hmc is down there taking a digital video film production class at usc, and she’s shooting her first film today. i thought for sure i’d have to go to help out or something. or at least, i thought that maybe i should go for moral support.

yet the call never came, and it turns out all the flights were booked anyway.

so i find myself here on this long weekend, oddly unexpectedly.

with nothing to do. not even in a good way like, “hey man, i got nothing to do! i can kick back and relax!” more like, “what am i going to do with all this time? I HAVE NO LIFE OF MY OWN! I AM AN APPENDAGE!”

thus i went on a errand frenzy:

1. got the car washed for the first time maybe this year
   
2. mailed something at the post office
   
3. bought a new dustbuster to replace the 30-second dustbuster
   
4. returned/picked up something at rei
   
5. mailed hmc some other stuff at the other post office
   
6. cleaned out my closet office
   
7. found that other thing that i was supposed to mail buried under some crap but that i didn’t even though i went to the post office twice in two days
   
8. filed all of hmc’s paystubs from the last two years
   
9. two loads of laundry including all of the towels
   
10. cleaned the window blinds. for maybe the first time ever.

although honestly, despite the domesticity, most of my time was spent in the lengthy process of transitioning everything from my old laptop to my new laptop. which if you’ve ever done this yourself, it’s not just your data, but it’s all of your programs and tweaks and tricks and everything. as well as the requisite improvements and culling and deciding what not to bring over or only to archive for “just in case”.

the funny thing is while my old laptop is an ibm thinkpad t30, the new one is an ibm t42, but a lenovo ibm thinkpad t42, made post-chinese firm lenovo buyout of ibm’s laptop business. there’s now a big LENOVO sticker on the box, as well as a strange part of the tag on the bottom of the laptop where it honestly looks like someone xacto knifed the labed, removing the ‘IBM’ tag and putting on a ‘LENOVO’ tag. what the hell? i can get better fakes on the street in new york!

it’s the fourth of july weekend, i’ve been granted unexpected freedom, and i waste it staring into not one, but two computer screens.

god bless america.

or that part of america that china bought.

Posted at July 3, 2005 6:49 PM