BashUp

A Grand Tour: Loads of fun - family, racing, zoo critters, tons of photos, lots of walking, bushels of laughs. Really nice to have gotten a break from all the work - my stress levels are much lower than they’ve been for a while. Need some time over the next few days to get the photos cropped and build some pages for them, so check back here for a link in the next few days. Other than working and recovering from jet lag, I have two Arcade Fire gigs to see this weekend. Can’t wait! Here’s a photo I took from the top level of Legends Row on Sunday - Davey Hamilton preparing to be interviewed by local media.

Still Around: Just super-busy, per usual. Had to skip Bay to Breakers on Sunday, due to my sore back. I’m slowly getting rid of the bug I had, and am cramming a couple of weeks’ work and chores into this week, getting ready to travel back east this weekend.

Hee Hee: Ira (my musical pals’ tour manager) sent me a funny:

INSTALLING HUSBAND
Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance — Particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5 and then installed undesirable programs such as NFL 5.0, NBA 3.0, and Golf Clubs 4.1. Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. I’ve tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.

What can I do?

Signed, Desperate
———————————————————— —–
Dear Desperate:

First keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, While Husband 1.0 is an Operating System.

Please enter the command: “http: I Thought You Loved Me.HTML” and try to download Tears 6.2 and don’t forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update. If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.

But remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1. Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download the Snoring Loudly Beta.

Whatever you do, DO NOT install Mother-in-law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources). Also, do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0 program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Food 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7.

Good Luck, Tech Support

I told Ira that I never install anything more complex than Boyfriend 5.0 due to the above types of issues. I mentioned that Fling 1.0 - 3.4 usually worked best on my operating system, and I sometimes even download Road Bump 0.99b for very short term use. He said he recently installed Main Squeeze 2.0 and that it was running well, even though it recently got a virus. (Feel better soon, Kim!)

Ouch: Slipped on a little water on the bathroom floor after my shower today, and did a number on my back. Spent the day working from home, sitting on an ice pack. Was due to walk in my first Bay to Breakers this weekend, but that may not be possible now. I’ll get a better read on how bad my back is tomorrow a.m., no doubt. Going to have some chianti and try to think about something besides the ache…

Indy Racing Weekly: When it was announced that Davey Hamilton would return to racing, I wrote an email to the host of the IMS Radio Network (Davey’s the driver analyst for the broadcasts) to cheer Davey on. That host, Mike King, read my email at the beginning of his interview with Davey on this week’s Indy Racing Weekly. *blush* That was cool.

Go Davey!: Davey Hamilton put his No. 02 HP Vision Racing car solidly in the field for the Indianapolis 500 today, and the commentary on both radio and TV has been so fun to follow. Everyone’s celebrating his return, and nothing can wipe the smile off his face. This is such a great story, and so inspirational to see him fight back so hard from his injuries and race again.

Junior Giants: The Giants benched a bunch of the “old” folks for a day off, and the kids did us proud. Cain pitched more like we expect him to, and Lewis, Alfonzo and Franzen lit up the Rockies. Lewis hit for a cycle - only the 23rd rookie ever to pull that off, and something Giants giants Willie Mays and Barry Bonds have never done. The Giants won 15-2.

Runnin’: The last three days of the week were pretty taxing - even now, I’m still under the weather, but I had to get a ton of work done on SLAP and another project became very complex. I think I’m finally done with the latter. SLAP will be a main feature on my plate for quite a while yet. My new guy’s doing great (hi, Jon!) - fortunately he has a lot of experience as a contractor, which means he’s able to work independently. That’s been necessary the last two weeks - many projects have train-wrecked into each other lately that I’ve had to untangle.

Racin’: It’s Pole Day at Indy, and I’ve got the speedway P.A. and WIBC streaming online, plus ESPN and ABC will cover the actual qualifying once it starts. Right now, it’s practice time.

Restin’: I’m going to lounge and nap most of the weekend to try and get rid of this bug. It’s pretty tenacious.

Ucky: Worked from home today and put in over 9 hours, all the while wishing I was sleeping. Still very warm here. Listening to the Giants-Mets game and running all the fans to cool the place down again. Should be better for sleeping tonight - it didn’t get quite so warm today. Gonna have to drag myself into the office tomorrow, no matter how I feel. Just too much going on…

Ugh: It was 90 degrees today, and 190 in my apartment. I stayed home with this bug raging - so much sinus pressure, sore throat, congestion, exhaustion. Dozed on my futon today while listening to proceedings from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and then WIBC for the Talk of Gasoline Alley. Donald Davidson is my hero! That man knows just about every fact, statistic and piece of trivia about the speedway and the 500. I always learn a ton listening to his call-in show. Trying to cool this place down enough to sleep and I’m keeping an ear on the Giants-Mets game. Fifth inning and the Giants have blown it open with a series of home runs - in this inning alone, Molina has hit TWO home runs. Current score: 9-1 Giants.

That Sinkin’ Feeling: Woke very tired with a dry, scratchy throat. Slowly took care of the laundry and kept an eye on opening day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway via IndyCar.com - they have the public address audio and video streaming on their site. Watched Davey Hamilton pass his refresher test with flying colors, and rookie Milka Duno pass all four phases of her rookie test. They paid tribute to A.J. Foyt, who’s celebrating 50 years of participation at the speedway as a driver/car owner. Tom Carnegie came out of his recent retirement to do a little public address work, the weather was perfect, and now it really feels like May.

Even though I’m not feeling well, I went out for a walk today. It was 86 degrees and just too nice not to get out and enjoy it. I got in about two miles, stopping for a Jamba Juice, running an errand or two and ending up at AT&T Park just as the Giants game was starting. Took my camera and got a few shots of the best ball park in the world! Listening to the game unfold as I type…hoping it will cool down in here pretty quickly so I can get to sleep early and hopefully avert whatever bug seems to be buzzing me.

Go Davey!: Delighted to start the day with the news that Davey Hamilton has secured a ride in the Indianapolis 500 with the Vision Racing Team. His No. 2 car will be sponsored by HP. Davey hasn’t raced since a terrible accident nearly cost him his feet several years ago. He’s had something like 25 surgeries to repair them and wants to get back in a car and get going. I’m so happy for him and glad I’ll see his return to racing in person.

Stunning: It was a beautiful day here. I went for an Aveda Tourmaline Manicure at Cinta with my favorite manicurist, Kim Diep. Then I wandered to Naan n Curry for chicken tikka masala, ran some errands, window shopped and ended up walking about 3 miles, all while listening to the Giants whip the Phillies 9-4. I ended the excursion with a stop at Taylor’s Refresher at the Ferry Building for a yummy milkshake, which I enjoyed outside on a bayside bench with a view of the ferries departing for points east and north. No jacket, no goosebumps - it was exactly the right temperature for an afternoon by the water. (Pretty rare for San Francisco, except for parts of September and October.) Tomorrow will be warmer, with possible record temperatures at the beaches. I may have time to squeeze in my favorite seven-mile walk across the city to Ocean Beach. It’ll be good training for Bay to Breakers…

Not Yet, But Soon: My new guy’s getting off to a decent start, especially for someone who’s had so little of my time. But my week is booked solid. My visiting friend has postponed, which means I can return to my leisurely spring cleaning pace. She’ll likely visit in June. So I may actually have a weekend to myself without having to work at all. I won’t know what to do with myself. *grin*