Post Kat Arrival.

Kat is back in San Diego and all is well with the world. Her plane arrived early, but I was smart and checked the arrival on-line and showed up in plenty of time. I had a hell of time finding parking at the airport. I finally realized that if the massive Hummers are parking in the stripped 'do not park here' zones the Smart car surely should fit. It did.

While Kat was away I spent much money (in my head) redecorating. We shall see how much of that survives review by somebody with way better taste than myself. The couch still remains in the living room only because it won't fit in the back room without me ripping the legs off and I was wise enough not to do that. I'm still considering it, but more of a 'removal' than a 'rip'. I have to be careful with my verbs.

Why I get this urge to move everything around while Kat is gone is beyond my understanding.

I've unearthed the scooter from its dusty and unused state. The battery is dead but it started on the first kick this morning. I used it to drive around and check out furniture stores, which I love doing. Kat wasn't interested, so I was solo on the scooter.

So as part of the redecorating urge I'm looking for some shelves/storage that will go beside where the cat is fed. I had an image of some low white plastic cubes that would look cool, yet still not dominate the area. I swear I've seen them before, but I've had quite a time tracking them down. I finally found what I thought I was looking for at the container store (which is kind of odd) the Ladora style shelving. Sadly they are a little too high for what I was looking for, and the examples they had in the store didn't pass the Ikea test.

The Ikea test is something I came up with after buy lots of Ikea stuff, taking it home, building it, then realizing that it wasn't that stable (or just plain sucked). Now when I look at furniture I put my hand on the top and push down, then push left and right. If the furniture wobbles, it doesn't pass. If they can't build it stable in the store, it sure isn't going to be stable after I build it.

I also stopped off at the bookstore while I was scooting around and came out with two books, even though I have some already waiting for me to finish. The Road and a steampunk type novel The Affinity Bridge from an author I never heard of. If I've never heard of the author I read the first couple pages and see if I like the style, this one passed, I'll let you know. The Road was mentioned in an interview with one of the main game designers for Fallout Three, a game franchise that I've loved. He said most of the designers had read that book and it influenced the look and feel of the game. That's good enough for me!

Turns out there was a 'movie tie in' version of the book. I've hated those things ever since working in a book store, and from my conversations with the lady in the bookstore it looks like bookstore snobbishness is alive and well. I bought the original trade-paper version and, much to Kathleen's bemusement, scraped off the "Now a major motion picture!" sticker.

Kathleen finally had to come save me. The scooter decided that it didn't want to kick start, and after 20 minutes of trying it (in the increasing heat) I called Kat. While she was driving over I became increasingly inventive in ways to get the scooter started. It's a pain to do because you have to hold the front brake on for it to start (the left brake). You also need to put it up on the center stand to stabilize it, and hold the back rack so it doesn't tip over when you try to kick start it. This means you can't get a really good kick, and you can't apply any gas. By the time Kat showed up I had a bungee cord attached to the front brake to keep it depressed, a really good leverage on the kick, but I still couldn't reach the gas. When Kat showed up and ran the brake and gas for me it started no problem.

Now if it ever stops working again I know to get a random person to help me. The Americans were friendly as ever, with two guys wiling to lend advice such as "Is the key turned all the way?" and "That's good cardio". They may have been willing to help more than that, but we never got that far. We just gazed at the dead scooter in a manly way while I dripped sweat on it.

It's a strange thing, but if I take the scooter short distances I jump on with shorts and shirt, if I take the motorcycle short distances I feel like I have to put the full leathers on.