Reading: Fire in the Valley, which is about the genesis of the microcomputer industry. I find it fascinating that within a few years in the middle of the 1970s, an entirely new industry was born and that it was created, not by the mainframe computer companies (IBM and its competitors) nor by the minicomputer companies (Digital Equipment Corp., Hewlett Packard, and others) but almost entirely by hobbyists and computer freaks. They worked in garages and basements, and they cooperated and shared information with each other in a way that seems utterly alien now.

Weather: Hot and humid. It started to rain this evening, which was unfortunate timing since we were planning to take the kids to see fireworks. The fireworks have been rescheduled for tomorrow night.

Too Many Bugs

Another hot and humid day here. In the late morning I packed a lunch and took the boys to one of our favorite playgrounds. I sat down at a picnic table in the shade. The boys were hungry, so I let them eat lunch right away. Although it was hot, there was a lovely breeze rustling the leaves in the shady trees that line the playground. It sounded like cool running water. I had my book with me, and a thermos of icewater, and I thought, "This isn't bad at all. I'll happily stay here a couple hours."

But I reckoned without nature in all its myriad, and sometimes disgusting, forms. When I returned to the table after pushing the boys on the swings, I picked up my cup to take a sip of water but noticed there were a half dozen tiny, pale green insects crawling over the top. Yuck. I dumped the water and went back to reading my book. Then I saw several of the same green bugs on the page. I looked around and discovered they were everywhere, including my arms and clothes.

Now, I'm not ordinarily skittish about insects, but I do object to my limbs being used as a kind of bug highway. I brushed them off and went to sit on another bench, still somewhat shaded but not directly under the trees from where I assumed the green bugs were coming. It was no use. They kept landing on my book and on me. Finally, I stood up, brushed them off one more time, and told the boys we were leaving.

Hours later, I picked up my book, opened it...and found two tiny, squashed insect bodies.

The work on our minivan was completed today. In addition to new brakes, the minivan also got new rotors and calipers, shocks and struts, and two new front tires, along with a long-overdue front end alignment. All of this was maintenance we were planning to have done anyway, so Tab scheduled everything to be done at the same time.

This afternoon Tab and Daniel walked three-fourth of a mile to the garage to pick up our minivan. The grand total was around $1000, which was what we were expecting and had budgeted for.

While Tab was paying the bill, the garage owner offered him a calendar. A 1999 calendar. Tab came home, flourished it, and announced, "See what a thousand bucks will get ya: a six-months out-of-date calendar!"

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