Payback

Something of vengeance I had tasted for the first time; as aromatic wine it seemed, on swallowing, warm and racy: its after-flavour, metallic and corroding, gave me a sensation as if I had been poisoned.
-- Charlotte Brontë

Saturday, February 6, 1999

We woke up and got moving in good time this morning. We had to make one stop -- for a phone card so A-----, Jack's older daughter, can use Jack's old cell phone. This way, the cost is up to her. Jack had a frustrating morning. He didn't make coffee before we left the house, since it's rather an involved process -- grind the beans, boil water, use a french press, then wait. After we got the phone card, he proposed eating before we got on the highway, A---- said she wasn't hungry and I thought we should start driving. I didn't realize that he was hungry, and he'd chosen this way of expressing it to get consensus. If he'd said, "I'm hungry! I'll need some food before we get on the road," I wouldn't have had a problem with that at all! When this became clear, we did decide to get some food before starting down the highway.

We pulled into the drive-thru at Wendy's. Jack got coffee, and a spicy chicken sandwich with fries. He decided to start driving, so it was too late to go back when he found that they'd put mayonnaise on his sandwich after he'd specifically asked them to replace it with mustard. The coffee was terrible, and he didn't like the fries either! A disppointing, irritating meal for him, all around! (I was perfectly pleased with my number one combo.) When he topped this off by leaving the gas cap on the top of the truck when he fueled up south of Tacoma, he was sure he was under a dark star for the day. (He saw the gas cap fall off the top of the truck just as we were pulling out of the gas station, so he was able to pull over and retrieve it.)

Even when Jack is griping or swearing a bit, as at the morning annoyances or when a driver doesn't meet his high standards for speed and accuracy, I don't mind it -- so long as he's not yelling at me! He hasn't done that yet.

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After we dropped A---- off at her mother's place, we went to the C.R.A.P (Cut Rate Auto Parts) store. Jack needed to sort out which sequence of events was causing one of his car fuses to blow, when he plugged a battery recharger for his cell phone into the cigarette lighter. The order of what gets plugged into what seems to be the determining factor. We drove to the local multiplex to see what time Payback was playing. Jack wanted to see it, and I didn't mind. But we'd spent enough time at the auto parts store that we'd missed the first show by twenty minutes or so, too late for that time. Did we want to hang out in Olympia long enough to see the next show? We did! So we went downtown, visited the pawnshops (Jack bought a sound pickup designed to fit in the soundhole of an acoustic guitar) and got coffee and cruised Bulldog News. We could have visited that newstand in Seattle! But seeing a movie when you're out of town does give a touch of the exotic to the day. And it's a bit cheaper as well.

We drove back to the movie theater and saw Payback. I think I read recently that the novel the Mel Gibson thriller is based on is by someone who's a noted author. "Richard Stark" is a pseudonym, I think. The movie was well constructed and gripping! Jack would turn to me and talk about how the opening scene was a very clever piece of exposition and scene-setting, but settled down and didn't continue the play-by-play. Good work by the character actors in the supporting cast. I especially liked David Paymer as a small-time hood. The setting is cleverly generalized; no way to tell a particular location or time. I did have to close my eyes during some of the most violent parts.

On our way back, we decided to stop by my place. We were going to Vanguard later, so getting dinner in my neighborhood meant that much less driving for Jack. Two trips to Olympia every weekend do rack up the miles on his truck, and it's not the best thing for his back, either. I liked having him spend some time with me on my home ground! There was also a possibility that we'd give my friend Blunt a ride to Vanguard, but we didn't hear from him. Too bad, because I'd like Jack to meet him!

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We were the first ones to arrive at Vanguard, but we did not go inside before the appointed beginning time for the party. I'm usually careful about that! We talked about nitrogen widgets in beer with Vonda and my friend Tom Lawrence, because Tom had brought a four-pack of stout as his beverage contribution. There was a good crowd, both upstairs and in the smoking section downstairs. The highlight of the evening for me -- Jane put on a video (brought by Luke) called "The Way Things Go." It's a half-hour wordless short, about an elaborate Rube Goldberg contraption. Rolling tires, candles setting fuses alight, little cars on tracks, vinegar and baking soda blowing up balloons -- all in an elaborate sequence that seems to travel all around the interior of a warehouse. The only edits seem to be for time purposes, since it would drive you nuts to watch for fifteen minutes while chemicals foam enough to plop over a barrier and set off the next stage of the puzzle.

Jack geeked out for an hour and a half with Tom Lawrence and Carl Juarez, talking about his latest theories about the future of computing and operating system designs.

I talked about swing dance with a couple that I didn't catch the names of. They live on the Kitsap Penninsula, but spend enough time in Seattle that they'd be able to find some classes to take here. I'm the swing evangelist, now, encouraging people to join in, get out there, and dance!