Man of Science, Man of Faith

After too many years to mention, we here in the broadband no-man’s land finally have DSL. We and our neighbors literally ordered the week it was available. There has been much rejoicing. Ticker tape and confetti, even. Alright, that last bit might be an exaggeration.

The transition to DSL means that my venerable Citynet account will be closed after many years of faithful service. I’ve taken the opportunity to set up a proper blog where you, my faithful readers, can leave comments. You might have noticed the change. I have no idea how much attention anyone pays to my blog.

I may or may not decide to back post some of the material on my older blog.

The pickeroo domain is my own, I made it up last night about 9PM. I eventually plan to set up another blog, not personal in nature, that will cover badly designed stuff. By that I mean objects that are engineered in such a way as to either not be durable or that are simply dysfunctional when you take them out of the package. Keep an eye out for that.

I hate me the crappy engineering.

I won’t pretend that I’ve been so busy for the last month that I couldn’t possibly fit in a moment to write. I haven’t exactly been working 8 hour days and filling my spare time with lots of travel and/or overly exciting projects. The last two weeks have been somewhat more eventful than usual and I feel like mentioning the events.

Tuesday October 2nd, someone thought it would be a good idea to knife my tires. I don’t exactly feel like it was a random act since I was the only car on the street to get the vandalism treatment. On the other hand, I don’t know for sure that anyone on my list of suspects would go so far as to be out late on a Tuesday stabbing tires. One of the tires needed to be replaced anyway.

Sunday the 7th, I met up with Jenn and we went to see Junior Brown at the V Club. For those of you who know of Junior Brown, it would be redundant for me to tell you that the show was awesome. For the rest of you, the show was awesome. I wasn’t surprised to run into Michael Sullivan there and we caught up a bit, so that made for a good time.

Monday was Columbus Day and in accordance with time-honored tradition, the family got together and made this year’s batch of apple butter. Yeah, I know – who cares about some silly redneck tradition? Don’t knock it, though, until you’ve tried the product. It’s good stuff.

Friday I was back at the V Club with Jenn to catch The New Relics. I’ve heard a lot about these guys and it was cool to finally get to hear them play. While I was there I ran into Bud Carrol, so he and I spent a few minutes catching up even though we never really talked that much in high school. I think about the only thing we ever had in common was our mutual affection for Kelly Bader. Only he got to date her. I managed to lose my shot at that in 7th grade.

So that’s pretty much it. Business is slow, but I’m working some. If I could manage a job a day, I’d be pretty good at this point. I’m still looking for part-time work – not very hard, but I’m looking. I’m not particularly happy with my general living arrangements and I think that’s a good thing – it means I’m motivated to make a bigger effort to change them. I made some promises that I thought I could keep but haven’t been able to. That bothers me.

One of my very few goals today was to get my grubby paws on some Tazo Chai. In the past, Starbucks has provided the necessary “hook-up,” as the kids are calling it these days. With business to take care of at the mall and some time to fill, I wandered to Borders and once there noticed that they offer Tazo products. Can you see where this is going?

I like you Borders. There is something about your aroma of warm coffee and freshly minted books that makes me feel smarter just standing there among your volumes. Today, though, today, Borders, you let me down. Standing there today in the midst of your Tazo boxes with their many-colored seals, disappointment washed over me as I realized that you could not offer the orange-sealed box that my soul so desperately needed. Don’t fret though; our relationship is far from over. I forgive you and I hope you’ll forgive me for seeking fulfillment with Starbucks just this once.

Relax Borders. Starbucks just couldn’t produce the goods today, much to my suprise and no doubt yours as well. I had to visit an old friend to fill the hole in my soul. It was Kroger who had the orange-sealed box I so desired from you. Kroger is no threat to you – it may satisfy my physical hungers, but only your ample volumes contain the wisdom and knowledge for which my soul lusts. Nonetheless, if our relationship is to grow, blossom and bear fruit, you’re going to have to better anticipate this man’s Tazo needs.

Over the past few years, a handful of people I went to school with have met early ends of one sort or another. Generally they were just that – I’d neither had a class with them nor had occasion to speak to them. This evening while poking around Facebook, the handy “News Feed” showed that Courtney Saunders and Jill had recently joined a group called “Praying for Erin.” A quick look at the group led to the cold fact that Erin was Erin Adkins Wilson and the prayer was because she had cancer. Sharp eyes will note the past tense verbs. She passed on yesterday morning and in all honesty, I barely knew her. If I remember correctly, she occupied the seat in front of me in Algebra II some ten years ago. My gut tells me that I may have helped her out in class, but I don’t clearly remember.

As tangential as that relationship might be, her death hits awfully close to home. I spent 90 days less than three feet from her and probably helped her learn something. It’s not anything like losing a family member or spouse, but it does leave me a bit empty inside knowing that she is gone along with the weak tie between us.

Erin Renae Adkins Wilson 1980-2006