Gearing Up For The Big One

So the heat is about all that everyone south of 96th and north of Texas seems to be discussing these days...

"Hey buddy, hot enough for ya?"
"No, I prefer it when people are spontaneously catching fire on the sidewalk...this is actually a pleasant 94 in the shade..."

Meanwhile, my other half is having all four wisdom teeth extracted today...she's actually on her way to the dentist right now, so she'll be medicated and ready by 4:30ish (California time). I feel terrible not being there with her, but for a variety of reasons we decided I wouldn't come out there for the surgery. It's a bit unnerving not being on site, and more importantly, I asked her dad -- via one of our regular, daily e-mails -- to get in touch with me and let me know once she's out of surgery and doing well. Her mom is going to pick her up and drive her back to their house, so she'll be under their care for the next few days. So me flitting about, never having met them, would make our first meeting, and her recovery, a bit more awkward than it would ordinarily be. Or at least that's her rationale; I offered to go but she turned me down, so I can't do much from here other than keep her in my thoughts and check in later...I'll leave her a voicemail letting her know I'm thinking of her and then touch base tomorrow.

Otherwise, the only real news of the day is the depth of work I'm handling; I've got about seven different matters circulating on my desk, plus the ancillary advisory calls I field every now and then (read: every 45 to 90 minutes). I've been handling different types of matters, so when I get a call from client X about matter Y with whom I haven't spoken for a week, he/she delves right into what we were last discussing, but I need to check notes and figure out where we were. It's a decent system, except there are the random occasions when I completely forget what it was we were discussing. How many years, how much money, when do we need to file which papers, etc...it's a lot to keep between my ears, so I don't feel badly using a PDA; the bitch is keeping it up to date and organized. Speaking of which, I actually managed to get an episode of Chappelle's Show on my Palm (the LifeDrive). It's pretty funny watching the "I'm Rick James, Bitch!" skit while riding the bus, and since it has a headphone jack, I can watch/listen while commuting without worrying about corrupting the yoots near and far. I haven't tried cramming music onto it, but I'm thinking of doing a few tunes here and there. The nice thing about this device is that it's got a 4GB hard drive onboard, so I can actually download a tune here and there without meddling with the iPod. Then again, I've got about 14 days of music in the iPod, so odds are good that I can wait until I'm home to listen to the new stuff while the old music suffices.

In the meantime, I've got a CD with a bunch of photographs I took yesterday afternoon at a building inspection on the East Side that I need to take down with me on Monday afternoon to a City inspector. The problem, of course, is that his PC doesn't have a CD-Rom drive built in, so we're going to somehow have to get it onto the City's network and then funnel it into his computer. He asked me to e-mail me the pictures, but these are five megapixel images, which, at their largest, can be printed onto 16x20 sheets (double the size of an 8x10). And since detail -- brickwork, masonry, windows, etc. -- are crucial to his review of the pictures, reducing them in size won't work. Problem is, unfortunately, each picture is about 5.5MB, which is larger than his inbox allotment, so everything bounced when I sent them out. Leave it to the City of New York to make things difficult (even when people try to make things easier).

The biggie question that everyone asks when they hear -- from me, from the inspector, or from third parties (the architect handling the project, etc.) -- that the guy doesn't have a CD drive in his machine, is, simply, why. They don't understand why the City didn't stick one in his machine as a matter of course. And the answer is actually pretty obvious: they don't want employees bringing in their own CD's -- music, games, virii -- and corrupting or abusing the City computers. It makes sense, but it's pretty short-sighted, because by eliminating this guy's ability to accept material on CD-Rom, it pretty much makes pictures null and void. I'm actually contemplating heading downtown on Monday with a USB cable and piping in the pictures that way; it's sort of not the easiest or most conventional way of doing things, but desperate times call for desperate measures. And the truth is, the matter is over $2,000,000, so I could easily spring for a $30 cable and leave it there and not feel too badly about it; the best part, of course, is that I've already got the cable and it would take me less than five minutes to set it up. He's just a bit of a wet blanket, however, and would probably shun the idea. Oh well...I'll keep thinking about it so by the time Monday comes I'll have come up with a good idea, as per usual.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying the A/C, the fans, the new Coldplay disc, and the Mako Shark I bought and received last night from FreshDirect. Also, if I didn't mention earlier, I got lemons, limes, fresh cilantro and a few plum tomatoes -- those in tandem with a five-pack of rockin' avacadoes (from Costco) means some good guacamole. A little salt, some fresh-cracked black pepper, a bit o' garlic, and perhaps a touch of jalapeno or chipotle means good eatin'...and that goes well with the planned pepper jack cabot quesadillas I am going to make this weekend as well. I am sauteeing some shark tonight with either a citrus marinade or a soy/ginger/garlic glaze...tomorrow I cook the rest of it up with the aforementioned marinades/glazes.

The only other item on the docket is the Fair happening in NYC tomorrow a couple blocks from my building. It's supposed to be ultra-hot -- duh -- but I'm planning on walking around a bit and them coming back to my place and getting into a cool shower and relaxing. Some friends of mine are hitting the Mohegan Sun Casino in a couple weeks, and if I can swing it (money, workload, preparation for my other half in NYC) I am going to go. I dunno if I want to be out of town without her, but I've been to both Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods, and both are decent casinos; so I figure if we all have a blast she and I can always trek out to Connecticut another weekend when she gets here (either as a visitor or a resident). I'd prefer the latter, but that's a bit farther down the line. One way or the other, there's -- as per usual -- lots going on, lots to contemplate, and lots to get done. I'm just going to let it slide a bit and enjoy the rest of the Coldplay disc and try and keep cool in this heatwave.

If my PC doesn't melt, I'll be checking in soon.

-B-