Random updates

There's a bloody Starbucks opening across the street from me, in Wilson Square, next door to the LAUNDR-O-MAT. I swear, the forest-green awning just spontaneously sprouted over a blank section of wall when I wasn't looking. There's a door under it, but it's not openable yet.

I can only assume that they're trying to feed off that 90s vibe of the hip late-nite laundry crowd. For what it's worth, the L-O-M does seem rather successful, seeming to be busier every time I visit. I bet now that school's started things will really pick up. I oughtta wash my clothes again just to find out.

I don't think this will change my coffee loyalties. I will visit the Starbucks if I really need a cappuccino and am too lazy to walk down to Carberry's, but Diesel, Dunkin's, and even Cumbie's all present tastier alternatives for plain ol' black coffee, which remains my hot caffBev of choice. As someone else (mangosteen?) once noted, "Charbucks" roasts the hell out of their beans to make the resultant coffee more suitable for use as a flavorful base in sweet, milky concoctions, rather than for straight-up consumption. Still, it's pretty scary that I am now surrounded by Starbucksen both at home and at work. Yeek.

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RCN seems to have fixed my problem. A truck actually did reappear on my street later that day, and I have to assume it finally did whatever was necessary to make my connection stop sucking, for lo, it has. Before this happened I did manage to call Speakeasy and was told that my location can't support ADSL; the lines are too rotten, even though their nearest point of presence is right there [points out window]. I seriously considered SDSL, with my own dedicated line, which would mean an initial outlay of $400 or so for hardware and installation, and more than $100 per month thereafter. I started thinking: well, just pretend it's a rent increase! Then it's not so bad at all, is it?

But, the return of stable broadband brings sanity with it, and so I'm not signing any SDSL contracts, nor rushing out to buy a G5. Someday I would like a stay-in-place home machine of my own, for the pursuit of various projects (most of which don't require static IP addresses). But: my plate is full enough for now, thanks.

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On full plates: I still haven't signed up for classes, and am beginning to doubt that I will. I'll give the ground a final look-over this weekend, but I'm really thinking that singing up for a class would mean giving up on my commitment to have MIGS at or near a 1.0 by Origins 2004 (oho, what's this?), to say nothing of flushing away any time I'd have to perform, or maybe even be social. The book experiences have really turned me off from the prospect of locking myself into any long-term project that isn't guaranteed fun and doesn't pay well.