It's a bit odd to be sitting here right now. Big Spring Jam is quickly gearing up—Huntsville's annual music festival is less than half a block away from where I'm sitting right now. I've been listening to Michael McDonald do his soundcheck. There's a surreal quality to all this.

Sean has arrived. We spent a good while pestering each other today while I was ostensibly working.

There's something comforting in looking into someone's life and realizing that while the immediate motions are different, the overall pattern is the same. It reaffirms my faith in humanity—that at heart, most of us are pretty decent folk. We try to care about the people that are part of our lives. We've lost people that we cared about. New people move into our lives, and we learn to care about them too.

I'm up way too early this morning—I have to go to Birmingham with Cathy today. It's not the "with Cathy" part that I mind—I like her a lot—but the "Birmingham" part. Yukyuk. I've got to train a client today, and to be honest, this is the least favorite part of my job. I'd be happy to be a computer jockey, and keep my client interaction to a minimum.

Tenzing woke me up at 4:30 this morning. Evidently, it was time to be cuddly. It took me a while to go back to sleep, and I was thinking about some of the friends I've gotten to visit. The Typical Geek Complaint, of course, came unbidden into my head:"Oh, if only all of my friends lived in the same place!"

I've put some new stuff up on domesticat. These are things I've had on castrovalva but just haven't had a chance to move over. So, if you saw these on castrovalva, don't bother looking—it's the same stuff. I've added travel pictures and cat pictures.

Heather cracks me up. She told me this evening that she spent a little while today just watching the three webcams. Mine, Brad's, and Sean's.

What's really scary is that all three of us spent most of the day doing the same thing—head propped up on one hand, staring into our monitor screens. Three people—one in Huntsville, one in Atlanta, and one in Victoria—and they might as well all be one image.

This, for some reason, cracks me up.

I didn't understand why people watched my webcam until my friends put up cams. ("Hey! He moved! Did something interesting happen?")

Olympics:
Oh, my. I'm thoroughly convinced that Bob Costas is a puppet. Think about it—do you ever see him get up from behind the anchor desk? I'm betting there's a little guy hiding underneath it, manipulating strings and levers through his…wait, that's an ugly thought.

I'm in agreement with Jess. I think Ian Thorpe needs to be on a Wheaties box. Preferably wearing as little as possible.

Speaking of Aussies, I cringed while watching the Australian female gymnasts do their vault rotation. The girls were clearly being told to do vaults they weren't comfortable doing—it showed in their faces.Americans and their sports:
In the past couple of years I've really come to appreciate both soccer and hockey. I've often wondered why they aren't particularly popular in the States. Yesterday afternoon, while in a half-doze, a thought came to me:

"It's the scoring."

Kat and I went to Birmingham today. I think this was a good thing, although I came back tired. We talked a lot.

I also finally found the bathrobe I've been seeking for a couple of years now. Full-length. White. No funky logos. Soft and absorbent. Dilemma—keep for myself, or make available to guests?

Can I get away with both? :)

I've been trying to stick with the drug regimen to help my neck and upper back recover from Thursday's crash. I'm not as painfully tender and sore as yesterday. Today I just ache—and I tire easily. Funny how things like that will mess you up.

I took the muscle relaxant pill about thirty minutes ago. As soon as I finish this, I'm going to bed. I'm starting to get a bit fuzzy-headed again. I don't need them for pain during the day (I'm a tough and creaky old bird) but getting some uninterrupted sleep certainly can't be bad for me.