It’s pleasant enough to work outside for a little while, and at least I can confirm while typing this entry that this Dell is, in fact, usable in more-or-less direct sunlight. I’m going to work on some side projects today since I’ve been keeping up with core Fedora docs work pretty well over the last week or so. As much as I’d love to work outside all day, the temperature is going up to an unseasonable 89 F today, and still no rain in sight.
I’m looking back at the drainage ditch that runs along the rear property line of our lot, wishing that we could get enough moisture to make it worthwhile to plant some erosion control. We’ve selected some juniper and other low shrubbery to help hold the soil together where the ditch was reconstructed this summer, but without any precipitation, I don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on new flora just to watch them wither away in this extended Indian summer.
The drought here is worsening and mandatory water restrictions are in effect in our county, as well they should be. I’ve been able to use the opportunity to “seize the learning moment,” and show Evie why it’s important that we conserve water and other resources, not just in a drought but as a conscientious, day-to-day activity.
We have a meeting for the Docs Project at 1pm at IRC Freenode #fedora-docs at which pretty much anyone is welcome, although we’ll probably try and stick to some sort of agenda for the first half of the meeting. We might be in #fedora-meeting, so if you don’t see it happening in one channel, try the other. We’ll probably decide at this meeting where to hold future instances.
Yesterday was a whirlwind of activity. The kids had swimming lessons at the Y, after which Eleya zipped home and I met her in the driveway. At that point I took over driving and brought her to her next destination, where she was teaching bellydance at a friend’s studio. When she was finished there, we picked her up and headed up to the nation’s capital.
We were attending the 40th birthday of my friend Arch, a superb musician who seems to have mastered pretty much every instrument he ever picked up. We try to keep Arch away from cloning technology because if he got a hold of it (which, in common parlance, is known as “falling into the wrong hands”), we’d all be out of jobs.
Arch’s SO, Chrstina, planned an afternoon shindig at Lucky Strike Lanes in the Verizon Center. Not only is this a gorgeous, upscale alley, but it has great food that really takes you back to being a kid. I was reminded of the Fair Lanes in Bowie, Maryland, where my parents used to take us once in a while when I was very young.
And if I can digress for a moment, I wanted to point out that the staff at Lucky Strike was AMAZING. It’s very rare to find any establishment nowadays that provides actual customer service at less than top dollar, and even more so to find one that makes you feel so at ease even as you try and corral small children amidst the bustle and brouhaha of bowling. The couple of small spills were met with smiles and a simple “No problem, we’ll take care of it!” In fact, “No problem!” was pretty much their response to any request I heard made of them.
A young lady named Jeanette, who coordinated the day’s entertainment, told me later, as I tipped her for her incredible service, that to her it’s as simple as treating others the way she would like to be treated. What? The Golden Rule in actual use in the new millennium? My hat’s off to Jeanette and the rest of the Lucky Strike D.C. staff for being, hands-down, some of the greatest customer service practitioners in the Washington area.
I also picked up some new music at the store the other day — new records by Iron & Wine, Jill Scott, and Annie Lennox (the last maybe not so hip, but I was there in the early Eurythmics days and have a soft spot for Annie). From an immediate listening standpoint, I like the Jill Scott record best, but I think the others will grow on me.