There is no human problem which could not be solved if people would simply do as I advise

Been a busy couple of weeks. Was going to say rough, but no, not really. There was a lot of "run about. Scream and shout," but that was pretty much the extent of it.

Am headed up to Boston this weekend, for a week. The temps here are projected to be in the mid to upper 70s for a while. It has been in the high 80s and low 90s up til now, so the relief is welcome, but I will believe it when I actually see it.

The Coal Miner's Daughter popped up in a chat this morning and said that it had snowed in Boston. And there I was, all proud of myself for thinking ahead and telling the wife "it will probably be a little cool up there, so pack a light jacket." Well, anyway, forewarned is foreparka packed.

I had to laugh at the wife, for a decidedly unfunny situation. Unfunny for her, anyway. At least a little humorous for me, though I cannot ever say that aloud at home. The story:

(Whrrrrrrrrrr-a-whrrrr-a-whrrrrrrr--the sound of the story fast forwarding to the good part) She had a doctor's appointment that came with the requirement for an enema. The first time I had to explain that to her, which she took with a certian stoic grace, and after she went to the appointment, she was told "we sent you the wrong requirements, so you have to come back to do it again." "Oh," she said, "I did not need to do that then?" "No, the enema requirement was correct. But we should have had you drink 64 oz of water instead of 32." Prior to the second appointment we went to the drug store. We bought allergy medicine and then, as we are prone to do, saw something shiny and got distracted. As we were driving home she pops to attention, a little big eyed, and announces, "Hey! We forgot my enemy!" How could I not laugh?

OK, we don't recount reading that little story next time we meet her, OK? Thanks.

We broke out 2 pieces of plywood and a circular saw. In a little over 4 hours, with a hammer and a suprisingly large number of bent nails later, we had constructed....taa daa...a , um, box. Not really a special box, but a box nonetheless. Hey, manly though we may be, we are not that good with our hands. Therefore we took great pride in our accomplishment. To the point of not even noticing...ok, not even caring....that we had not cut a single edge straight. We feel the gaps add a certian rustic charm to the project.

I plugged my mp3 player that I bought in Taiwan into the USB port of my car. I was thinking to play all of the tunes on it through the car system. I mean, I wear that thing all day a t work and I still don"t think I"ve been through the play list a complete time yet. So I was thinking it would make a great, commercial free soundtrack.

What I should have been thinking was that plugging it into the car's USB would wipe the whole drive, since that's what it did. Took the playlist, the program, the whole shebang right off of it. I messed around and messed around trying to reset the device, but ended up having to go onto the company's website where I lucked into a free download of the firmware Well, technically it was a firmware "upgrade", but I surmised, correctly, it was just going to overwrite with a new program. Which is what I needed. I spent a couple of hours loading 4 gb of music. There is another 2.5 gb to load, but I can do that from the road. So I will.

Dogs are washed, bags are packed. We'll be in New England this time tomorrow. All I have to say about that is: Go Saints! Beat the Giants!

Stupidity is a condition. Ignorance is a choice, out

Ramblin' Ed

------------ 3 August, 1984----Balboa Park----San Diego, CA--------

A Promise Forgotten With Time

I've never had the feeling

Life was anything but real

There's been a couple times I've found it strange

I've been around a little bit

Done some things I won't admit

Sometimes I make my own rules to the game

How can I pass judgement on you?

Girl, I barely even know you

I love your smile, though. That's enough for me

It hurt me so to say goodbye

But ya had to get on with your life

I guess that's just the way its gotta be

Yeah, you'll go one direction, girl

and I'll go one direction

It might be that our paths will cross again

And if it never comes to be

well hell, we've got some memories

Sometimes that's even better anyway

Seems memories grow fonder

as the days apart grow longer

miles, they seperate us like a long, black, dusty wall

them rememberences, like pictures

that we hang up in the kitchen

to remind us someone's out there after all

I don't explain the things I do

Love's a trap for me and you

so often it's a word I seldom use

My heart, much like a spinning wheel

will break sometimes, but always feels

twisted all around when I'm with you

Just say I'll keep your photograph

then let the subject drop like that

I don't feel much like trying to explain

Perhaps I'll disappear a while

perhaps now and again you'll smile

and think about ol' "What's-his-name" again

When you think about me, hope you call me friend

Ed

Balboa Park