Went by a hardware store out on San Pablo for a replacement bulb for my quartz lamp. None were stocked. I'd bought three of them three years ago, driving up north of Berkeley on Highway 80 to a specialty lamp shop. Now I'll have to figure out which one it was and go up there again. Buy another three bulbs for another three years (they pop when you knock them over), but not today, not (obviously) tomorrow. Saturday, maybe. Another opportunity to procrastinate. How nice. Wonder if you can find them on the web? It's noon. I'm drifting.

I downloaded some third party VPN software at the office so I could connect to the company network from home. An accelerated project. You wouldn't believe the company ISP bills. It doesn't work. The VPN software. First entry on the evaluation form: "Doesn't work." I'll mention this when I get in on Wednesday. "Doesn't work." Watch the news hour later in the afternoon in bed. Nodding, listening. So far so good. Three days and counting.

My catnip plant is blooming little blue flowers. As I've mentioned, my sum total of plant knowledge is sitting out on the balcony, a potted catnip plant and another creeping vine of some kind that came with the apartment. Three other flower pots were lined up along the banister containing dead dry sticks. The catnip was a house warming present from MSW and is safe as long as I am alive. What the hell, what can a little water and a monthly shot of plant food cost, so maybe the creeping vine has found a friend as well. How much bad Karma is there in letting a plant die? Besides, I've heard plant care is civilizing and encourages the body to pump endorphines into your blood. You can't have too many endorphines in your blood is an old hippie phrase I just made up. I ran with one of the more literate hippie crowds and we knew the word and how to pronounce it, but I couldn't then and I couldn't now give you an accurate definition. This superficial facility with words is excellent preparation for a technical career, by the way. Know the terms, drop them judiciously, and hire a contractor whenever you need to actually implement it. I started as a contractor, but succumbed to paid medical benefits, regular paychecks and holidays. I've never looked back.

Tomorrow I'll check out one of the Fourth of July celebrations, take both cameras. Drive over with a camera bag and tripod and park near Jack London Square. Get some exercise. Break my back lugging the camera bag. Better sleep in late to get ready. Drive over around three in the afternoon. I'm writing this and I'm thinking that's a good idea, but my heart doesn't seem to be in it so maybe I should do something else, at least in the morning. Get on BART and ride over to San Francisco. Wander through the downtown to see what the national holiday looks like when the city is empty. This four day holiday business is nice, but you need four or five days just to relax and get ready for a vacation, to sleep in and get the tension out of your arms and shoulders, pump a few endorphines and clean out the rubbish.