Yikes, just sat down at Starbucks and in 15 minutes I need to write something, but I have no ideas about a subject. The reason I’m in a hurry is that I must leave shortly to pick up Caroline from her office. So here are some random observations: One guy just ran in for the toilet. He was smiling on the way in and I noticed a bandage on his elbow like he had been donating plasma earlier. His backpack and state of clothes suggested homelessness, but not in the way that had me thinking he’d been on the street long. He emerged too quickly to stoke the imagination regarding drug use so I’ll let that go.

I see two students studying together, from the size of the books it looks like nursing school. An elderly couple is sitting in the soft chairs reading the newspaper; who reads the newspaper anymore? Across from me is a guy with glasses and full headphones with a large notebook computer plugged in, giving me the impression of a gamer, then I spot the game controller under the table confirming my ideas of pigeonholing him. Drive-thru is keeping the staff busy and a slow trickle of people continually enters the lobby, but it’s slow for a Friday afternoon. There’s a 65-ish-year-old woman sitting out front with short-cropped reddish hair; she’s overweight and reading a book about Berlin. I’m getting the sense of my mother sitting out there, except my mother is dead.

Earlier this morning, instead of writing, I was testing some website functionality that resulted in the owner of the company throwing $100 of free software my way. The guy is Michael Hetrick who makes VST’s a.k.a. music plugins. Years ago, while he was writing his thesis about modular software units based on Eurorack designs, I’d made a contribution to his efforts. Today he said thanks again and let me know that his gift was a token of his gratitude. I am touched by his generosity. Afterward, still before noon, I ran into Kenny from HEK Yeah BBQ at Costco and after completing my shopping proceeded to go to his place for an early lunch. While we were at Costco he picked up some rib-eyes that he would be smoking this afternoon, so that, along with some asparagus, will be dinner.

Currently, it’s a pleasant 72 degrees with cloudy skies while it was over 95 degrees and windy just two days ago. I’m about to turn down the computer after I hit “save draft” as Caroline will go over this for grammatical issues and ensure I’m making sense (not always a sure thing). With the computer packed up, it’ll be time to start our weekend as soon a the wife is in the car.