Weather: Rainy in the morning, but not enough to alleviate this area's drought conditions.

Reading: Finished Fire in the Valley. I thought it was well written and very engaging. The only drawback to this history of the genesis of the microcomputer is that it was published in 1984. Fifteen years is the equivalent of a millennium in this field. So much has happened since then; I wish Freiberger and Swaine would consider writing a follow-up.

Here's a bit of trivia: did you know that "Fool on the Hill" was the first song ever performed via a microcomputer? Steve Dompier programmed the Altair to play music using an unplugged radio as a speaker at a Homebrew computer club meeting in 1975. For an encore, he performed "Bicycle Built for Two," no doubt a nod to the movie 2001. Background courtesy of
Ace of Space

Norm!

This afternoon, Tab took Daniel to see Norm Abram, who was appearing at Villager's Hardware in East Brunswick. Tab and Daniel like to watch those PBS handyman-type shows such as This Old House and Hometime, and Daniel is a particular fan of Norm's New Yankee Workshop. (Daniel's two current idols are Norm Abram and Darth Maul, a yin-yang contradiction that pretty well sums him up.) When Tab puts Daniel to bed at night, Daniel often requests a "Norm" story. These stories usually involve Daniel's brothers or classmates in jeopardy until Daniel and Norm save them by means of an adroit bit of carpentry.

Tab had decided on the spur of the moment to go see Norm. They arrived at 2:15 and were warned by a store manager that Norm would have to leave at 3 p.m. sharp to catch a plane. There were about fifty people ahead of them waiting to meet Norm; Tab overheard one woman in line comment: "Last week there was no one here to see Steve Thomas." Steve Thomas, the current host of This Old House, replaced the far more popular Bob Vila.

Norm was wearing a mic, so Daniel and Tab could listen to him answer the questions asked of him by people in line, everything from social pleasantries to technical questions about home building. Norm seemed "like a regular guy," commented Tab later. He didn't just sign his name and rush people through the line but instead took time to chat with each person.

Tab and Daniel made it to the front of the line just a few minutes before Norm was scheduled to leave at 3. Norm was wearing his customary "Norm outfit"--jeans and a flannel shirt--but looked thinner in person. Tab introduced Daniel as a big fan of Norm's show, and Norm greeted Daniel directly, "Hi Daniel, I'm Norm."

Daniel said, "We've seen you on TV," and then immediately clammed up with shyness for the rest of the short visit. Norm signed one of the posters the store was giving away, addressing it to the boys at Tab's request. Tab took two pictures of Daniel standing with Norm. I'll try to scan and post one them when we get our film back.

Tab offered to take the boys out to the playground before dinner to give me a chance to get some work done on a rush job for the Press. Then followed one of those conversations that you only have when you are very married:

"Are you stopping for pizza on the way home?" I asked.

"Sure."

"When you're at the pizza place can you go next door to CVS and get me some tampons?"

"Don't we have a whole bunch in the basement that we bought at Sam's?"

"Those are napkins. I'm out of tampons."

"Well, what kind?"

"Ummm, I'm not sure. I just found a new brand I like. I think the box was orange."

Tab sighed with exasperation.

"Oh, wait, I remember. They were Kotex."

"Is that all I need to know? Do they have wings or rocket launchers or something?"

"Just Kotex super, OK?"

"OK."

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