The Computer

My current work assignment has me translating one set of codes about bacteria and parasites into another set of codes. I'm not entirely certain that I'm doing it correctly, but it's nice to have something to do that doesn't require a whole lot of brain power (thanks antihistamines). There aren't as many synonyms for maggot as I thought there would be. If I were smarter, I could come up with a way to automate this whole process and save me from the thousands of enter-search-click-find-enter repetitions. So I feel a little like a trained monkey, but it is nice to have something to do.

The Couch

It's ironic that something you like so much can be the death of you, which is why I've been camped out on my couch for two days surrounded by used toilet paper, empty pharmaceutical wrappers, and a very bad headache. I do like trees and have even been known to hug them occasionally, but this week they can all go to hell as far as I'm concerned. I've been moving between allergy miserableness and antihistamine cloudiness for a couple of days now. I'm trying to find a nice balance by taking half the recommended medication dosage, but I think all it's done is ensure that I suffer from allergies and side-effects at the same time. Next maybe I'll try taking twice the dosage.

Yesterday I ventured outside only twice and aborted a walk after a half a block, so B's starting to get that 'I have the ASPCA on speed dial and plan to call them as soon as you lose consciousness' look on her face. The rain today should take care of some of that damnable pollen in the air, but also puts a damper on our plans to go to the dog park. If I don't perk up soon, B's going to be filing for emancipation.

I'm still trying to figure this blog thing out and managed to add the ads to this site. They're content-driven and all day as I've been checking my html work on the site, I keep seeing ads about depression and suicide prevention (including one entitled 'do Christian suicides go to heaven' or something like that). Yikes! I need to start writing more about sunshine and kittens.

Blue Video

My home is not far from Blue Video, which has its advantages. I've never been inside mind you, but since everyone in Seattle seems to know where it is, it makes it easy to describe where I live. On the minus side, people who need funds to rent their movies break into cars and houses in the area.

Anyhow, I wanted to comment on the fact that Seattle ISN'T on the list of most depressed cities in America. We didn't make the list of the happiest cities either, but let's not get too greedy. Really, I'm pleased that we aren't so depressed any more (and it sounds like the methods of measuring this depression are believable - suicide rates, antidepressant sales, etc). I wonder if the results would have been the same if they'd looked into depressed cities back when the dot-coms were falling. There did seem to be a strange dark cloud over the city for a while. A few years later, now that all those unemployed people have found jobs or moved away, I think the mood of the city has changed. And it hasn't hurt that we've got a couple of very mild winters under our belt. The msn article about cities and depression also stated that sunshine may play a factor in high happiness, but in Seattle I would postulate that the relationship between sun and depression is a U-shaped curve. We're not happy when it's raining for days, but people also seem grumpy when it's sunny for days on end. Phoenix did wind up being a depressed city, so I guess sun isn't everything.

Greenlake

On Monday I took the dog for a spin around the lake. Long walks are status quo for the pair of us and since I got an i-pod, they're much more fun. I get a little worried that the i-pod is yet one more device that prevents me from interacting with the real world, but then a New Pornographers song comes on and the trade-off seems worth it.

So we're walking around the lake and an older gentleman walking two dogs stops us to ask what kind of a dog I have (border collie mix I think) and how old she is (maybe 4?). B and I were on the South side of the lake, walking clockwise, so when the gentleman asked if I could give a message to the guy at the coffee stand - you know, the one by the boat rental place - I said sure.

"31"

Huh?

"That's the message. Just tell him 31."

Uh, okay. B and I continued our walk and stopped as promised to give the coffee stand guy the message. While B ate a dog biscuit and stuck her nose into the whatever that an older woman was knitting, I told the coffee stand guy "31" and asked if he knew what it meant. CSG said that it was a "promotional thing" that he had going with the gentleman, a secret number that would get the bearer a free coffee drink. I had an iced carmel nonfat latte.

Two biscuits later, B and I left the coffee stand to finish our walk around the lake and passed the gentleman again. I said thanks for the number and free coffee tip and he asked if I met the CSG. The CSG, he said, likes big dogs and cute girls. Well, it's always flattering to get that sort of a compliment and a little cute that the gentleman is looking out for the CSG. We chatted for another minute and then B and I continued home.

So that was Monday. Yesterday, B and I again circled the lake. We ran into the gentleman at about the same spot as before, and he introduced us to a woman he was with and asked if we were going to stop and say hi to the CSG. No number this time. B and I did in fact stop for a sec - there's a doggy water dish next to the coffee stand - and then continued around the lake where we ran into the gentleman a second time by the other doggy water dish. The gentleman introduced us to more of his friends and then asked if we stopped to talk to the CSG. He invited B and me to join him on our next walk around the lake and promised to teach B to climb trees. (That's one of the funniest things I can imagine - I do love my dog, but she's an ungainly clutz who's afraid of heights. Seeing her climb a tree would be about as natural as seeing one of the Woodland Park rabbits swim across the lake.)

I think the gentleman is trying to play matchmaker. I'm either going to have to start having conversations with the CSG or find another time to walk around the lake.