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Dance ContestThere comes a pause, for human strength |
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Friday, October 9, 1998
One year ago: Technolust
I didn't mention this before, but my phone was turned off Wednesday evening (I brought journal entries to work on a floppy, and posted from there Thursday morning.). The reason for this annoyance was because I'm so lame about actually getting things in the mail! I have plenty of money to pay the bill; I just don't make out a check and put it in the mail.
I had made an attempt to get this bill switched to automatic withdrawal, but of course, I had trouble sending in that form as well! But now they've improved the phone company website, so the form is actually right there! I was able to complete the process here at work, of printing out a form, filling it out, voiding a check, putting it all in an envelope, stamping the envelope and taking to the mail/copy room. So I hope this problem won't happen again!
I had figured out yesterday where to go to pay this bill. You can't just go to the phone company office; you have to go to various agents they use, like a certain grocery store or mail boxes place. The list of such places is always changing so be sure to confirm that they still take these payments before going there.
So instead of going straight to work this morning, I drove to Lake City in the North End, to pay this bill. There might have been closer locations to pay at, but I was sure that at least I could find this one. I paid, got the important receipt numbers, and went on to work. I called in the payment from there, and called my house an hour or so later. My answering machine picked up, so I know the phone was turned on, for a while, at least! (Note: foreshadowing.)
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I'm still blocked on the tool we are creating for my work on the SDK. We spent a good portion of the day sorting through the scripting for a combobox that gives users a way to view the source of a file. The samples I'm working on aren't just web page demos, but also the sort of things a developer could download and compile, so a way to view the code from the web without doing that is necessary, but all sorts of things were combining to make the script not work the way we wanted. Finally I sent out a call for help to a former bay-mate and Kris, my former officemate, and they came up with the part that we were missing.
So I tested this tool on a second sample, and we found that our build process was doing something we didn't want or expect during part of the process. D'oh! Guoqing (the developer working on this with me) wasn't able to solve the problem before he left for the day, and I know he won't be able to work this weekend, so I won't be able to buckle down and zip through all these samples as I had wanted to do.
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I drove home and didn't even go inside my apartment; I went straight from my car to the dance studio where the Savoy Swing Club Friday Night Practice is held. One of the men that asked me to dance is a good lead, but I've forgotten his name! I really need to make more efforts in this area. I always enjoy dancing with this man; there's a real sense of ease and flow when I do, and I don't feel like the dance is something he is doing to me, which can happen with some leads, even very experienced ones.
The lesson for the evening was a combination that featured the Hacksaw, which Mike Wendt had been trying to lead me in at Two-tone Tuesday a few weeks ago. It's a somewhat difficult step, perhaps more difficult to lead than to follow, with kicking to the front and back, and arms moving in an odd way. (Heck, it's even difficult to describe!) I chose to start the lesson (we rotate partners throughout) with someone I know is a not-very-skilled lead, since I figured we'd be learning the step together. This backfired a bit, when the next five people I rotated to were high school students that really didn't know how to lindy at all! So there was a good chunk of the lesson when I wasn't dancing with an experienced lead, so I was greatly tempted to backlead my way through the step. This isn't a good way for me to learn the Hacksaw!
When practice was done, I asked Mike for a ride to the Century Ballroom. He delurked to me as a sometime reader of this journal. Hi, Mike! I acted as his secretary as he booked plane tickets for next weekend, since it isn't easy to hold a cell phone and write at the same time. Then we stopped at the grocery store so he could buy a beverage. I don't know why liquids aren't available at the Friday night practice, but there's no water fountain there, so unless you remember to bring something, you are liable to be parched! So I listened to the jazz radio station and relaxed while he was in the store.
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I had such a great time at the Century tonight! There wasn't a big crowd, though. That's better for dancing, so long as the right people are there. Tonight I think that a lot of people went to Portland for the night, to see Indigo Swing! But there were enough folks that I danced most of the dances I wanted to.
I'm not sure the concept of the evening is a good one. It's the second time Hallie (owner of the Ballroom) has put on this "4 Divas, 4 DJs" thing. But the people who are big fans of Hep Jen and Hallie or Leslie$ aren't that fond of Latin music or salsa dancing, necessarily, which is what DJ Sebrina plays. Having four DJs mixes the crowds and raises the ticket cost. I did hear some folks at practice say that they don't want to pay nine dollars, if there isn't a live band.
I danced with one new guy of note, a very large, tall man, named Rob. He said he was from San Francisco, and was in town for a store opening. I should have asked what store! He was a fun dancer.
The highlight of the evening was a jack-and-jill dance contest. This is one where you don't have prearranged partners; anyone who wants to participate puts their name in the hat, then it's a random draw. I truly lucked out: my partner was Benjamin Solomon. Benjie and I have been in class together quite a bit during the past year, and we always have fun dancing together. I met him the first night I was ever at the Century! I know I've written about dancing with him before, but I can't find the exact entry I want. Time to index the site!
The first round was a really fast song, I think from Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. There were about eight couples. Ben and I were in the groove! He likes to get right up close to his partner, and I don't have a problem with that. He knows what I can do, so we went to town and had a blast! We made the final round, which hadn't happened to me in a contest before, I think.
The second round was just four couples, and another fast song. We were both a little tired, and we weren't the winners, but I was very pleased with how we did. What a great guy! I need to get a good picture of him; he's very handsome!
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After the dance ended at the Century, I went with Joe Ross, Hep Jen, and Adam, to the Baltic Room. I was last at this Capitol Hill nighclub in July. Tonight we drove down the hill in Joe's van, and parked a block or so away. As I was walking down the sidewalk, between a car and a dumpster, I tripped, fell, and rolled head over heels. Amazingly, I only scraped one hand a little bit! Even the ankle that I twisted a bit feels fine.
This time at the Baltic Room, I was too tired to dance, but it was fun all the same! Adam (not my Microsoft contractor friend, that's a different Adam) got coerced into singing "Sailing" and did a great job! I think we swing-nicknamed him last night -- "Up and Adam".
When we got kicked out of the bar, we all hung out on the sidewalk in front. Joe moved his van to the spot, and got out his guitar. Folks were singing along to old folk songs and honky-tonk hits. Joe even pulled out some folding chairs for us tired folks! I joked that his van was like Mary Poppin's carpet bag, or Felix the Cat's bag of tricks. He just kept pulling things out of it! Beverages, harmonicas, chairs, a few jackets for those that got cold.
Finally, around 3 o'clock in the morning, I asked Earl to give me a ride up the hill. What a great evening, but I was really tired!
And I was annoyed to find my phone dead again. Rats!
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