Free

Talk about getting what you need sometimes--I was in Peets doing my usual Wednesday writing when a kind old gentleman came up to me with a clipboard and politely requested that I fill out a Peets survey. I gladly did so, suggesting strongly on it that the downtown Peets SOMEHOW gets more seating. They could build a loft or make better use of their space--nobody is hanging out using free wireless, as Peets has no wireless anyway, but it's a nice coffeeshop and it would be good to find a seat there sometimes. Anyway, the kind gentleman took my finished survey and gave me a card for a free coffee! This was wonderful because I had woken up with an allergy headache and sometimes caffeine helps, so I took my card and got a half-caffeinated decaf (does that make sense?)...so that was cool! And soon, just as Umbrella Man appeared in the window and gave me his customary smile and wave, my headache vanished

We still have no DSL and the younger set at the Ponderosa is growing restless.

"Why don't you just use the computers at school?" I ask Riff, who claims he is perishing without constant access to email and the Internet in general.

"There's no time!" he groans, and goes back to watching DaVinci-code-like shows on the History channel (my office at home is right off the big downstairs room where the TV lurks, and I am always hearing "Did Mary Magdalene and Jesus Christ have a child?" in a deep announcer's voice). I do not know why my dear son is interested in things like this. He has been watching shows like this since summer. The younger set also watches shows on ghosts and UFOs, but usually likes to still have me in the room when doing so, despite the fact that they are all adults or nearly so.

Hopefully by Friday I will be able to answer more emails and such--I just spend an hour at Caffe Bene catching up.