Hi there, July: Here’s a really long post.

Here’s the short version:

Saturday: sleep, movie, computer game, attempted doing laundry
Sunday: finished laundry, visited park, bookstore and library.

Okay, now the long version…which people who know me will probably find interesting (at least certain parts). People who don’t know me…will probably not be reading this anyways….

Today I found a new place for WiFi…..the Pikes Peak Library (Penrose branch). I’ve got a temporary day permit, I need to apply for a library card to have regular access….and for that they need proof of residence…hmm. I’m going to see if I can use Steve’s address since I’m living there. Then I’ll just notify them of a “change of address” when I actually get my own place.

Saturday was a lazy day. I stayed up late Friday night, so I stayed in bed till about 11 am! Oddly enough, I wasn’t hungry like I usually am when I get up. I didn’t end up eating till 2 or 3. It was kind of odd having no concept of what time it was. I didn’t have anything to do or anywhere to go, and since Steve had to work and Nikki was refinishing/repainting furniture I just played on the computer for a few hours.

Anyways, the one constructive thing I tried to do Saturday was a flop. I had about 2 loads of laundry to do, so around 6-ish I threw a load into the washer in Stikki’s building. I started watching a movie (Aeon Flux) and of course didn’t think about the laundry till the movie was over.

So at about 8, I went to throw the wet stuff into the dryer…uh-oh. The coin slot for the dryer is broken. Jammed all the way in and won’t come out. I banged on it for a while with the handle of a nearby snow shovel to no avail. What would you do in this situation?

No seriously…don’t read ahead…think about it. Like one of those “choose your own adventure” books I liked as a kid.

Do you:

A – Say “Forget it!” and take the clothes back inside to “air dry”?

B – Realize “air drying” is a stupid idea and decide to take them to a laundromat tomorrow (they’ll be okay wet for one night, right?)

C – Decide that they need to be dried as soon as possible, because they’ll get moldy-mildew yucky if you wait till tomorrow. So you drive around town for 45 minutes, and after seeing three places that closed at 8:00 or 8:30 decide to take them to a laundromat tomorrow (they’ll be okay wet for one night, right?)

Sooo…I chose C. Frustrating…but the last place I checked was next to a hole-in-the-wall Chinese food place that looked promising, so I decided I had earned the reward of finally trying a Chinese food place in town. (I’ve seen several, but wasn’t sure if any were good.) I got a combo of my two favorite items: orange chicken and kung pao chicken….and they were pretty darn good, and there’s enough left-over for lunch the next day. Is it racial stereo-typing to say that I had a feeling the food was going to be good, because of the three adults there (mom, dad, and daughter) the daughter was the only one who spoke English, and even that was a little difficult.

So…now it’s Sunday. I left around 9-ish to take care of my laundry, and decided if I pick a place near Colorado College, I might be able to snake some WiFi access while I wait. I end up finding a place a little south, but too far from the college to get WiFi. Oh well.

Now, speaking of stereo-typing, I felt a little out of place here. We’re probably on the lower-end of “middle class”, but let’s just say I felt out of place enough having a cell phone…and didn’t dare whip out the laptop. I was a little confused by the many “No smoking” signs (that used words and/or pictures)…because at first I took it literally. Then I realized I was in danger of getting thrown out because I was the ONLY person NOT smoking. Maybe the sign is to be interpreted: “No smoking, no service”. Huh?

A lady (80% sure it was a lady) rode up to the entrance on a bicycle. She had an interesting fashion sense, and a cat in the basket on her bicycle. As she started to enter, the attendant (who also ran the connected dry-cleaner business) got off the phone long enough to yell at her to leave. I think because of the cat…but not sure. I also noticed that bicycle woman had marks and scabs on her arms that led me to an alleged presumption of drug use.

Anyways…long morning short, I got my 2 loads done and left ASAP, hoping the Bounce dryer sheet would be strong enough to combat the cigarette stench I felt clinging to the place. (I spent most of my waiting time in the car: air-conditioned, clean air…ahh.) I was done around 11:45, too late for church, too early for the libraries that open at 1pm. So I hung out in the park and browsed the used book store across the street.

The park was very nice: lots of shade, families and friends having picnics, and a nice playground area. There was a large fountain that a lot of kids and families, etc. were hanging out at, so I went to check it out. I decided to try and take some videos so I could show Wendy what it was like. But as I neared the playground and fountain, I started feeling a little self-conscious as people noticed me filming…being that I was a grown man by myself video-ing kids at the park. So I cut it a little short.

It looks like a fun place that Connor will certainly enjoy…and then it won’t be creepy for me to take videos and pictures.

Here’s me walking through the park:


Here’s the fountain:



I looked it up on the internet...the park is Acacia Park, and the fountain is known as "Uncle Wilbur":



Oh, and I couldn’t help myself…I bought a book. But it was only $3.00…and I’ve been feeling like should try reading more, rather than just watch movies or play video games on my free time. The Coming of the King is a fantasy fiction novel about the history of the Celts/Britons focused on the person of Merlin. It looks pretty interesting, and standard fare for me. Believe me, I utilized quite a bit of restraint, here’s a list of some of the other items I “almost” purchased:

The Faith of George Bush (About our current president)
Children of Hurin (Christopher Tolkien’s newest book that I’m foaming at the mouth over, but it’s still only available in hardcover which is more expensive. But it’s on my wishlist and my birthday’s in August!)
Dune: The Butlerian Jihad (I’m a huge Dune fan, and this novel is a prequel about the war 10,000 years ago that freed mankind and started the feuds, and…oh I could go on.

So the library opened at 1:00, but because of my foray through the many, many shelves of a great used book store, I didn’t get into the library till 2:00. First thing’s first, check the emails. A weird spam that I deleted without opening had a humorous subject title: “Hot Sexy Christian Singles” Now that’s something we don’t hear every day, huh?

After checking my emails, I did the online testing for AppleOne which only took about 10 minutes. My alpha numeric typing score was 12,364 keystrokes/hour with a 97% accuracy (39 out of 40). I’m not sure if that’s good or not, but I felt like I did well. The other typing test was a typical “type the text you see” and I did what I expected: 70 wpm with zero errors.

So now it’s 4:30 and I’m wrapping up my update, but realized I have to edit the videos and upload them to Sharkle which will take a little time, and the library closes at 5:00. I still have to apply for a card at the front desk, and I’m really hungry. (I ate at 9:30 before going to the laundromat.)

So I’m gonna go home and eat. I’ll try to upload the videos and do the actually blog post tonight if I can snag the WiFi at the apartment…otherwise I might not get this on till Monday.

Adieu.

[Today's WiFi brought to you by the East branch of the Pikes Peak Library District]