In Demand

Friday, September 18, 1998

I was scurrying around getting various things taken care of at work today. But rather than doing them myself, I was looking over team members' shoulders, "driving that issue," as they say around here. Partly this was because some of the tasks are ones that don't need to be done very often, so it wouldn't have been efficient for me to actually do them with the person who has the knowledge standing over my shoulder. All part of managing, I suppose! But I was wishing I'd been brought in to help on this team sooner! I don't like how long it's taking me to get the hang of things. I've been on my current team so long that I've forgotten what the learning curve was like there.

They had the Microsoft company meeting today, but contractors aren't invited. Most members of my team were too busy to attend anyway! I did attend one in 1993, when contractors were allowed to go, and it was an interesting experience! They take over the local doomed domed stadium. I don't know what they'll do when it's torn down!

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I started off the evening with dinner at Toshi's Teriyaki, a block away from my house. I was so pleased when they opened up in this location! Usually I get my food "to go" there, but this time I ate it on the spot since I was on my way to Friday Night Practice. I read my C.J. Cherryh book, Finity's End, while eating. I've been reading it every day at lunch, and enjoying it very much! I do read a bit more quickly during the parts where one of the characters is learning about the political situation between all the different star systems (a bit dry and complicated), but those sections are necessary to the book, and can't be skipped over, and she ties it up all very neatly at the end. She remains one of my very favorite SF authors.

At practice tonight, I once again got proof that physical exercise can help with at least some irritable, pouty, or pissed-off moods I might have. It amused me that the steps we learned during the lesson (a two-handed charleston move with diagonal kicks for the follow, and some fast one-legged spins!) were probably selected because they spared the sore knee of one of the teachers! But they were good moves to learn, despite my falling flat on my ass at one point. And I was the only one to fall! (Note: foreshadowing for later in the evening!)

My dance buddy Hugh Sutton showed up tonight for the first time in a while. Yay! I hadn't seen him for several weeks, and had thought he was out of town, since I'd seen his car in my neighborhood at around the last time I'd seen him, and hadn't seen it since. But he said he hadn't been away, just hadn't been out dancing (shocking!). He lives about two blocks from me, and had just chanced to park in areas where I didn't see his car. (He has a distinctive license plate derived from his band name, which is why I noticed it in the first place.)

I was very pleased tonight that several folks asked me to dance at practice, even though there was a shortage of leads! My six months of work in this area is paying off, in terms of making me a familiar face. When I mentioned this to Hyper Dan later on, at first he misunderstood me and thought I was talking about the work I've put into being a better dancer. I have worked hard, and I'm pleased with the progress I've made. But I've also put work into meeting more other dancers. As I've said before, people tend to dance with their familiar partners; it's only human! So I try and get to know as many folks as I can: more dance opportunities for me!

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I waited for the bus I would take to the Century Ballroom, and thought about things. I could have walked and been there sooner! The evenings are getting quite cool now.

Second instance of clumsiness (what an odd word!): I was walking up the stairs to the Ballroom, missed a step, and tripped, luckily falling forward and catching myself on my hands, rather than taking a header back down the long flight! Various members of the Savoy Swing Club Performance Group were standing right there, which made it especially embarrassing, but I was OK.

The dance was DJ'd by Hallie Kupperman, now the sole proprietor of the Ballroom and Cafe. There was a good crowd, and I danced enough to satisfy me. The two numbers done by the Performance group were good as always, and seemed to energize the audience! There were many more people up and dancing immediately after each number. My buddy Benjamin made his debut with the group, and did just fine!

I was happy to see Michael Coffey, whom I hadn't seen for a few weeks. We danced several times during the evening, and just as I was about to start taking off my dance shoes he came and asked again. It was a rather fast number, but we had fun. Then, just as we were about to walk off the floor, "Sing, Sing, Sing" started playing. This is a ten-minute number, fast and energetic! But Michael started dancing again, so I had to continue!

So again, I was about to leave (and had even taken my dance shoes off), when my buddy Hugh arrived. (Where had he been for the few hours since practice? I didn't ask.) So of course I put my shoes back on and danced more! In my third instance of clumsiness for the evening, I put one foot up on a chair to fasten the strap on my shoe, overbalanced, and almost fell down! But disaster was prevented, and I wasn't teased too much by the onlookers.