Twas quite a warm day today. Luckily, I have air conditioning both at work and at home, so I only had to deal with the heat for my walk to and from the distant orange line. On the way home I spotted a bird that was ‘dive-bombing’ a bulldog. The dog was pretty scared, and its owner was giving the bird nasty looks like “stay the fuck away from my dog”. The whole thing was pretty funny. The bird was pretty small.

Some people enjoy shopping. Some even consider it a hobby. I find it burdensome. I don’t want to have to go around and look at ugly clothes and wonder if they’ll fit in and if they’ll fit me and if the price fits my budget. It’s all about size. I ventured out to downtown crossing to see if I couldn’t find a couple new shirts for work. It was work. The strangest part was the dressing room at Filene’s Basement. It warrants a new paragraph…
If Filene’s Basement really is a basement (and it is), then the men’s dressing room is the dungeon. It’s not that you go down another flight of stairs to get there, but you definitely go down another level. One minute you’re picking through the generally bad clothes (granted, they’re priced to sell) and the next minute you’re entering the prison changing room. See, at Filene’s Basement, there is only one men’s dressing room. Imagine each man’s shock (I bet it’s mostly first timers, I doubt too many come back) when he turns the corner expecting to find a hallway of doors and instead is blinded by the site of ten half-naked men. It’s crowded, so you have to be careful not to bump into anyone as you’re maneuvering the clothes on and off of your body. Overall, there’s nothing wrong with the concept, but I really think Filene’s should warn people what they’re about to get into. Consider yourself warned. (Ladies, I’d be interested to hear a report of the women’s facilities. They no doubt include several leather sofas, an open bar, complementing staff…)

Still no word on our new roommate. Where are you new roommate?
I really don’t understand these window-type A/C units. I finally got around to “installing” mine because the morning heat disrupted my weekend slumber. This things weighs about 60 lbs., almost all of which is leaning out the window. How many of these things fall each year? I swear it’s the most unstable appliance I’ve ever owned. One doesn’t balance a refrigerator on the edge of a window sill, so why do it with an A/C unit?
In my search for installation instructions, however, I came upon a rare gem… The infamous Help Around the House” Episode ARH-133, “Painting a Kitchen”” starring none other than my friend Jody Cole. Unfortunately you can’t download the video, but Jody is featured in one of the still pictures painting the infamous W on the wall. Painting lesson #1: always paint in Ws, no other letters.

I seem to recall that we were supposed to get a new roommate on the 20th. No sign of anyone though.

I’m really impressed with this photograph by Steve Garrigues. He has a whole folder dedicated to trees on photo.net. Really nice stuff.
I bought a couple pears this evening to provide restitution for my lunch stock after one of my golden-delicious (a bit of a presumptuous name I think) committed suicide by jumping out of my cupboard onto the edge of a pan in the sink below. Pears are so weird. They’re beautifully deformed apples, and they taste exactly so (as Dr. Pepper is to Coke). Pears are always overshadowed by apples though – always thought of in the context of apples. People have a problem comparing apples to oranges, but no one objects to comparing apples to pears.
The Pear Bureau Northwest has quite an informative pear website, complete with recipes for “Pear Turkey and Cheese Sandwich”. What is “pear turkey”? Or was there supposed to be a comma in between those words? It sounds… bad. But maybe it’s one of those things that our great society has yet to discover, like the combination of chocolate and peanut butter (“the world would have to wait”) or, as I was noticing today: yogurt covered pretzels. The combination of sweet and salty that tingles different parts of one’s tongue. Brilliant.