something I don't get

Here in NP, the preferred choice of fixing very potholey roads seems to be to cover them with a layer of tar and then a thick layer of gravel. Maybe there are other stages coming later, but there are no signs up, either to prohibit driving on the gravel/tar combo, nor to warn us about the enhanced likelihood of skidding, nor to reassure us that the condition is temporary. This is kind of bad in cars, although not awful. It is very bad for bikes. As as the cars drive over the gravel, the excess gets pitched to the side, which is, of course where we bikers (I glory in that phrase) hang. It's bumpy, unpredictable, tire-popping, uncomfortable, and it makes me have to ride with my hands on the handlebars, which I resent. I hope someone somewhere, in cowboy boots, has some kind of grand plan that's merely in the midst of unfolding, despite evidence to the contrary. I hope so.

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my morning call

(This is going to seem like a really boring story about cell phones for a while. Look at the bug if you need to.)

When I moved to NP, I had to dump Sprint for Alltel because they're the only thing going in this several-horse town. Two weeks ago, I signed up and got a sleek green LG phone that I turned out to hate. It seemed fragile, it was constantly asking me if I wanted to go online (I didn't), and wasn't sufficiently programmable (that is, I couldn't change the buttons that asked me if I wanted to go online to point me to more useful functions). So I went back and got a clunky little motorola that is didn't have any of the green phone's sleekness, nor any of its problems. It even has much better text-predictive software. I was pretty happy. So two nights ago, I set the "alert" to wake me at 6:30am yesterday morning (my alarm clock is still in some box). Yesterday morning I woke up promptly at 6:30am to the cheep cheep cheeping of the alarm. No sweat. Except it didn't have a snooze function. So last night, I investigated further into the wee moto's entrails and eventually found a "Morning Call" function. It seemed to have some kind of 5-minute repeat option, so I set it up, plugged it in, and went to sleep.

This morning, I awoke again to the phone's cheeping. I picked it up to turn it off, groggily stared at it for a while, and, while this seemed hard to believe at that hour of the morning, it appeared to be a phone call from a very strange and long number. I stared at it for a while more, still groggy, meanwhile also unconsciously taking in the fact that it's quite a bit brighter in my room than it generally is at the 6:30 at which I usually wake up. The thought occurs to me, slowly, that perhaps "morning call" really is some kind of phone call from alltel, like you get at hotels. So after quite a bit of the groggy staring, I figger, what the hell, and put the phone up to my ear and say, suspiciously, hello? At this point I expected to get, at most, some weird recorded get-the-hell-out-of-bed message, and more likely to hear nothing and to feel like an idiot for saying hello to an alarm clock. Instead of either of those two likelihoods, there's a very perky HI! Thoroughly mystified, I say hi again.

dum dum DUM!

It was my sister! calling from Morocco, hence the odd phone number and the strange hour and the perkiness. I am very impressed with the alltel morning call function--tracking down my sister and getting her to call and wake me up. I mean, yeah, the call was an hour late, but considering the time change, and how difficult it must have been for them to get hold of her, explain the situation, and get her set up to do it (she was boarding a plane back home), it's hard to complain. I can't wait to see who the caller will be tomorrow!

In other news, a junebug has moved in with me. They are really weird bugs. Seem kind of aimless. Right now it's banging into a plastic bag over and over. It makes a little bzz sound every time its wings hit the bag. My house needs a name, but Junebug House won't do. Junebug is a name already way too taken in Nebraska, alas.

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notice and comment

I bought 2 ugly lamps at goodwill last week because I thought they had potential. I've painted one of them. Here's the original:





And here's the painted one.





I grant, the shades have to go. I think the cream is better but I'm not sold. Here's what I want to know: should I paint the glass a different color using transparent paint, maybe blue, hoping for a blue-green result? keep the cream-colored base? Paint it black? paint it some other color? If you have an opinion, please leave it in the comments (or email me). muchas gracias.

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when I grow too old to dream

Alas, one of the most beautiful Junes I have ever seen is slipping away while I listen to cheesy law professors lecture on the most boring crap imaginable. This morning the clouds were lined up in, um, lines. I've never seen anything like it. And the trees that smell like honey are blooming, and so are the gigantic fuchia rosebushes. The western horizon was still bluegreen when I went to sleep last night at 10:30. I'm on the western edge of the time zone, so it stays light forever. (I go to work at the ridiculous hour of 8, which has required some change in sleeping patterns--this morning I actually woke up right at 6:30, anticipating the alarm. it is what it is.) I could probably bitch about studying for the bar exam for at least a few more paragraphs, but it, too, is what it is. Another 37 days and I'll be done, at least till I find out I've passed (every available piece of wood, duly knocked on). Until then, this blog might be rather bland, I'm afraid. I wish there were some good thai peanut sauce around, spice things up.

oh yeah. today's got some good feng shui--it's Doc Yung's birthday and the Rubensteins' anniversaire. I think I'll raise a glass to the three of them right now, and make some flashcards.

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np, ne

As I write, I can hear: little birds tweeting, the little high school marching band practicing, and little kids playing. Few cars and no buses. No car alarms. No loud music from the pizza place across the street. No thunderous construction projects. Nope. Of course, most of those things were largely good in their own right but I don't miss the noise.

North Platte's all right, all right. It's got big wide streets relatively empty of cars, so riding my bike ain't no thang. I pay $525 for a two-BR duplex w/ hardwood floors, a dishwasher, a washer and dryer, and a garage (with opener). Gas is expensive but driving above 1.5 miles any place is unusual, so a tank lasts forever. Kids play outside a lot and people don't lock their doors. Obesity and SUVs are rampant. The sidewalks are empty (of walkers). The downtown is barely alive but the strip of chains is thriving. I am now a Walmart shopper. Everyone is eerily nice and forthcoming with information about their lives and interested in mine (I confess, I sometimes avoid eye contact to avoid the chat). My neighbors on both sides have kids and are all very nice and neighborly. There are at least two health food stores in town , although one of them (run by my landlady) is largely vitamins and food supplements. You have to drop off your recycling somewhere (not sure yet where). My neighbor has a cute new puppy, and so does her boyfriend. Work is good, it's all interesting, I have a gigantic office with a window and chairs for people to sit in and I've started studying for the bar like mad. It's actually been pretty nice not having internet at home the past week. I crave indian food but it's not to be had. Now it's time for dinner and then Professor David Epstein will lecture me on contract law.

. . .

duly noted

I didn't have internet access at home (in np) till now. So don't call it a comeback.
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