Category: Just Shelley

I just had a call from the San Fran tax collector. I didn’t need to pay one tax fee, but I didn’t pay my city business registration fee. So now they’re holding the one check until I send the other. I’m not sure if there’s something else I’m missing, somewhere.

Checking my finances, I find that I probably don’t have enough money to pay my rent in April. Screwed up again with trying to handle all the filings in California. It is so complicated and so expensive here. O’Reilly’s cool and I’ll focus on writing as quickly as possible in order to get advances more quickly. It will be touch and go though.

I want you all to send me an email every day and tell me to write on the books, NOW! Nag me for all your worth 😉

Spent the day getting unpacked from the trip, taking care of two weeks worth of mail and bills, as well as getting caught up with my weblog reading and writing. Also had to take a closer look at my financial situation, which isn’t healthy. I must write very consistently and very heavily the next few weeks or I’m going to be in serious financial trouble. I shouldn’t have taken the trip — but I had to get out of my apartment and out of the city. I needed a break.

Speaking of the weblog ring, through it I found and read Elaine of kalilily time, who wrote a wonderful follow up to the posting I did about Bush and the Axis of Evil, as well as a similar posting of Waeguk — Wonder Chicken — Chris wrote. With her posting, Elaine also printed a poem she wrote some time ago, part of which reads:

Someone�s daughter,
leather jacketed, baseball capped,
takes her place in U.N. Square,
lights a candle against the wind, and
joins her voice to the hymn
that pulses like blood
through the streets, through the night,
through the weary dreams of men
reduced to war.

Beautiful.

Time to add new weblogs to my favorites.

Still very tired tonight, very out of it. I looked in the mirror and thought that I couldn’t possibly look more awful than I do now. I tried to go for a little walk for fresh air, but foot is still infected, still not healed. Time to stop ignoring it, and take care of it.

Well, aren’t I Miss Bitchy tonight?

And what’s with the evil blue and salmon colors ? I’ll have you know that these are Arizona Red Rock, soft Sunset Orange, and Desert Spring Blue. Behave yourselves or I’ll hurt you — I’ll bring back the Hot Orange! And force my page to load re-e-e-e-e-a-a-a-a-l slow.

The picture is of a dog with no name.

Outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico, I entered a gas station and saw a dog, lying on the cement in between the pumps. My first reaction was “Oh my God! This poor dog has been hit!” However, at that point, she rolled over and looked at me, thumped her tail a couple of times, and went back to sleep.

In the “trading post” attached to the gas station, I asked the lady sweeping the floor about the dog. According to her, it showed up one day: limping, hungry, and very afraid of people.

At first, the folks at the station didn’t know what to do with the dog. They called the animal control officer, who tried to trap the her in a humane trap, but the dog was too smart and managed to avoid it. The owner of the gas station also tried to take her home, but she wouldn’t get in the car. All of them believe that she has puppies around the station somewhere and won’t leave them.

The dog with no name has a bad limp, as if her leg had been broken and then not set. She wags her tail when you talk to her, but if you approach to pet her, she cringes and ducks as if she’s afraid of a beating. The folks at the gas station think she was badly treated and abused, and eventually abandoned in the New Mexico desert when she was expecting puppies.

However, before you think this is a story about the worst in people, think again: this story is about about the best. We just need to turn the page.

You see, others, like myself, driving through from one place or another also asked about the dog. And each would leave food for the dog, stopping by to give her a kind word — from a distance so as to not frighten her. They, as with me, were the recipient of a gentle, loving look and the same soft thump of her tail. In her own way, and in her own time, she’s made the home she’s comfortable with.

It’s not a home as you or I think of it, but it is the home she wants. Since her first appearance, the dog with no name has gained weight and health. However, she’s also gained something far more important: thanks to the kindness of strangers, she’s gained the peace of a sunny afternoon and a nice nap on warm cement.

I’ve been interested in P2P technologies for a few years now. When I was at Skyfish, the former CTO — an Australian by the name of Michael — and I worked out the architecture for a services application that was based on a P2P cloud with absolutely no reliance on a static IP. I constantly preach chaos in the land of the standards. Time for me to spend some serious time on these subjects this week. I’m long overdue. Keep an eye peeled to the TechBlog if any of this interests you.

In the meantime, there’s this blog, which is for all things not technology. For instance…

The doctor said I was very brave today and Robbie said that since I was so good, I would get a treat. A cone of Ted Drewes Frozen Custard — a classic famous round the world. Creamy, subtle, but not too rich. A perfect frozen custard.

The fun part of traveling is finding the sights, scents, and tastes of each place visited. In San Francisco, there’s the crab at the outside vendors at Fisherman’s Wharf, the egg, tomato, and Cobb bacon sandwiches at Farmer’s Market, or the garlic ice cream at the Stinking Rose. In Portland, there’s the micro-brew sampler at McMenamin’s. In New York — hot pretzels from street vendors. Swank in Seattle at the famous Canlis restaurant. Fresh Haystack bread at the Cannon Beach Bakery. Corned Beef and Cabbage at the Black Rose in Boston.

The sinful taste of Boehm’s chocolate covered candied orange. To be accompanied by dark, rich espresso. Drunk out of a mug. A common, cheap, thick, white china mug.

Well, aren’t I deadly dull?

Due to a slight medical problem that has worsened because of my tripping all around the Arch yesterday, I won’t be able to travel for at least a few days while I get additional treatment. I won’t bore you with minute details other than I had an infection in my foot, which hasn’t improved. Well, okay, so I didn’t stay off it like I should — but that’s not the point!

Anyway, I’ll be in St. Louis for a bit longer than originally expected, and conversely, around to pester you all for a few more days before happy trails again.

This really has irritated me, too. Grrr.

IIPM