In which we discuss e-mail addiction and other things

So maybe you heard, yesterday Google had a little problem, which for me meant that I couldn't get to my gmail account until after 4pm. I don't do much personal e-mailing from work, but I do keep an eye on the account, especially lately when I sometimes get messages from my lawyer, realtor, or mortgage broker about the condo. Generally, nothing is earthshakingly this-minute-or-it's-too-late important, and they can all call me if need be, but still. I have gotten used to seeing my e-mail. Watching it. Monitoring it. Apparently, I have in fact moved over the edge into addiction. It bugged me no end that I couldn't see it. There was probably something important there! Or maybe a fabulous blog-comment that would make my day! Or a local friend who wanted to get together last-minute, and would assume I was ignoring her!

Like any of these things happen much. Still, it was an eye-opening experience. And one I hope not to repeat any time soon. Be strong, Google, I count on you!

On to other things. It's only been a few days since I posted, not (as I dreamed recently) several months. A lot has been happening, of course: when does it not? I was back in the condo on Saturday, to show it off to family friends and to measure the living room so that I can figure out where the furniture will go. Previously, I had seen the condo "staged" (hello, Pier One), but this time the furniture was gone, which was kind of nice. Easier to picture my stuff there. My beloved digital camera was still suffering from the mystery malaise (in fact I just sent it off to get repaired/replaced), so I brought the dinosaur 35mm camera (if you can imagine) and shot off a roll around the condo. I like to have "before" photos.

We went to lunch afterward at a favorite restaurant, Pearl Street Station in Malden; my family's been going there for easily 20 years, since it was in its former location (a much more basic place, actually more like a bar with food, and actually on Pearl Street). Really good food, then and still: try the barbecue chicken or the steak tips.

It's funny the way my mind works (funny is a kind way to put it). This whole buying a condo experience is confusing and overwhelming and makes me feel like a little kid pretending to be grown up. Meanwhile, what actually makes me feel like an adult? Walking down the hall at work with a cup of coffee in my hand.

I don't usually drink coffee, but once in a while if I'm feeling sluggish, or it's extra chilly, I'll make a cup of hot chocolate using coffee instead of water, so it's a sort of mocha* thing that's really pretty good (I like coffee ice cream, too, and caramel frappuccinos at the evil empire, Starbucks, as well, I'm afraid). The ladies room mirror showed that I was looking as sleepy as I felt this morning, so I got a cup, and darned if I didn't feel more grown up with it in my hand. Maybe if I drank it regularly, it wouldn't have that effect. Weird.

(*Does anyone else find mocha a weird word for the concept, or is it just me? I was truly confused when I first discovered that it just meant chocolate in the coffee. Not as disillusioned as when I discovered what GOP stands for, but still.) (Grand Old Party? Give me a break.) (How do newscasters keep a straight face when they say it? "In Washington today, GOP leaders met..." Do they just never think about what it stands for?) (I suppose I could get out of parentheses for a while now.)

Which almost segues neatly to this: ahh, for someone who can write well even when truly sleep-deprived:

"I suspect that the coffee will be flowing like, um, like a flowy thing. That tastes of coffee."

Onward again. I change subjects a lot, don't I? So in addition to what I did on Saturday, I was continuing to fight off an on-again-off-again migraine, since late Thursday in fact, so no blogging Saturday. Sunday I went in to Boston for the Knit-Out, plus did laundry and dishes and who knows what else. The Knit-Out was great fun, by the way. The weather was better than predicted (some sprinkles, some sun, warm), and it's always a change to be somewhere that not only encourages but expects people to be knitting. It's neat to be knitting in public and, instead of the what-the looks one sometimes gets, to get questions about what you're knitting, the pattern, the yarn, etc. Ruffles was a big hit, and I gave a lot of people the book title and showed them how it worked (one woman cast on right away, which shows a pretty prepared knitter, I think). I hope that telling people about the book balances my karma for getting it from the library instead of buying it. I just want to watch my expenditures during the condo-process, and when something is available for free, it's hard to justify spending money on it. There are lots of interesting patterns in the book, but this one was the only one I really wanted to make. Plus, how stupid would I feel at the closing if I ran out of money because of buying yarn or something? So I'm trying to be good. Where was I? Oh, the Knit-Out. Fun. Come next year. And that's why I didn't blog on Sunday.

So what was Monday's excuse, you ask? Well, I had to pick up the new Dick Francis from the library, and I am very bad at having a book I want to read and not reading it (maybe if I'd left it in the car...). I am also very bad at reading part of it and stopping. When the 5th Harry Potter came out, I got it in the morning but couldn't start it that day, due to other plans. In the evening, I thought, I'll just read some of it ... and I finished it around 2 am. This is me, this is who I am. And I did do other things on my to-do list Monday night, between reading, just not the blogging part. I'm enjoying blogging, but it can't be my highest priority right now. And honestly, it's not like anyone's out there worrying that I've died if I don't post every day.

Anyway, Under Orders was really good. If you haven't read Dick Francis, he's an English mystery writer whose books all have something to do with horse racing (since he used to be a jockey, and rode for the Queen Mother), but from all different perspectives: jockey, owner, trainer, journalist, or something at a remove that gets drawn into the horse world. He's really good, and sometimes great. He stopped writing six years ago, when his wife died, but eventually decided to write again. To which I say, yay! Get thee hence and read him.

Meanwhile, what about the Bruins? Well, after losing their first preseason game, they won their next four games, which feels good. They play again tonight and Saturday, and then it's regular season, baby! [Of course (of course!) they open next weekend, when I'm out of town. Sigh.] The media's been making a Thing of the fact that Chara hurt himself (only slightly, thank heavens) by blocking a shot when he'd lost his stick. Blocking a shot indicates a degree of dedication to the team above yourself, and to do it in a "meaningless" preseason game Bodes Well. Supposedly he is setting the standard high, leading his teammates by example, etcetera. It would be nice to see them living up to the Herb Brooks-ism: "The name on the front (of the jersey) is a hell of a lot more important than the name on the back." (Or have I just seen Miracle too many times? Nah, can't be. That's a good movie.) The team sent a bunch of players down to Providence, and today's article in the Globe was not only on the front of the sports section, it was above the Red Sox article. Talk about boding well. My season begins.

In conclusion, I would just like to say that if you live locally and are in the market for a window air conditioner or a microwave, let me know! With central a/c and a built-in nuke, I'm trying to sell mine. Let's make a deal!