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housecall in line-of-sight
Tuesday, July 4 2006
Today was another day featuring a computer housecall at the residence of a client that is also a friend, and so, again, it ended up being more of a social occasion than work. In such situations I always find myself giving steep discounts because anything else would be unfair. What, am I supposed to charge for the time I sit around reminiscing about 9/11 with a gin & tonic in my hand? This housecall took place at the Craftsman-style home of Bev, Old Hurley's zaniest realtor/journalist. She's also something of a crazy dog lady and I'd asked if I could bring over my girls but she'd said no, there was too much chaos as it was. This (in combination with not being allowed to bring the girls to Penny and David's house yesterday) led me to wonder if the reason people always let Gretchen bring the dogs to their houses is that no one wants to see what she's like when she's been told no. Me, on the other hand, I'm obviously a pushover, and all Gretchen's friends know it.
Not that anyone there was African American, but the July 4th feast was strictly soul food as cooked by Bev's mother using various secret recipes: fried chicken, potato salad, and deliberately-wilted lettuce flecked with bits of bacon. Drinks, as I said, were gin & tonics, though I suspect Bev got the idea to serve these when I'd joked on the phone that all I'd been eating for the last two weeks had been gin and tonic and peanut butter sandwiches.
I spent a good hour or more out in that screened-in porch talking with just two older ladies, reminiscing about a number of things including, as I said, about 9/11. And then I went inside and set up a WiFi network. (I should attempt to connect to it from the laboratory using my parabolic dish antenna; though three miles away, I have line-of-sight into Bev's part of Hurley.)
For linking purposes this article's URL is:
http://asecular.com/blog.php?060704 feedback
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