after checking my e-mail to see there wasn't any messages from the client (it was probably early anyway, they'd yet to check the delivery i uploaded last night), i got dressed and went off to work. the morning autumn air was brisk, it felt good walking to porter square. having been unemployed for so long, the novelty of commuting to work in the morning still hasn't worn off. in the 30 minutes it takes me to get into the city, i travel with a smile on my face, everything seem so nostalgic.
i don't understand how andrew's mother judy has been pimping me out to her friends as this macintosh technical specialist who does free house calls to fix people's computers. she gave my number to a friend of hers, lynn, who was having printing issues. lynn called me last week but i never got around to calling her back. then at andrew's dinner party, judy talked to me about her friend, and asked if i could give her a call. i said i would, but it was low on my list of things to do. then last night i got a call from judy, kind of reminding me to call her friend, that her printing problem was suddenly urgent. feeling a little bit bitter and just wanting to get it out of the way, i called lynn back this morning and left a message to coordinate a time where we could meet so i could take a look at her macintosh.
kristine and i went running in the afternoon. although the temperature was in the 60's, there was a cold wind. it wasn't bad in the sun, but it'd be freezing in the shadows, so we tried to run where there's sunlight. running warmed us up as well, and it only got cold when we walked. i tried to goad kristine into kicking it up a notch and running faster, but she didn't take the bait. there were some interesting clouds in the sky, towering cumulus, but they seemed to be leaving rather than staying. before we got onto the mass ave bridge, we saw a great blue heron by the bank of the charles river. i really should bring my camera when i go running, it's absolutely scenic around the charles river, there are so many photo opportunities, like the couple who were making out on the bridge, or the dramatic clouds over the boston skyline, or the heron. i vow to bring my camera on my next run, weather permitting of course. when we walked back through the outskirts of lower beacon hill, we saw a house with an elaborate wooden door of a chinese design, carved with chinese figurines and a dragon. kristine and i thought it'd be a good idea to make our own tour guide pointing some of the more hidden details of boston. coming back through boston common, there was a little kid in the middle of the path that was just perfect for jumping over. unfortunately, i chickened out at the last second, going around instead of jumping over, because i didn't want to risk kicking him with his parents nearby. where all those parentally unsupervised little kids? the orphans, the gypsy kids? those are some kids i can jump! going through harvard square, i visited my girlfriend wendy to get the spicy chicken sandwich while kristine headed back to the office.
i had my own personal drama back at work. while i was in the bathroom about to remove my contact lenses, a man came in to use the urinal. so there we were, separated by a shoulder high partition, while he was urinating, i was removing my lenses. after he was done, i stepped aside to let him wash his hands, but i went back to the sink to brush my teeth. the funny thing was since i had already removed my lenses and didn't have my glasses with me, i couldn't see him clearly. i knew he was asian, and i hope he didn't think i was weird when i kept on squinting at him. then i got a call from lynn, and we made plans to meet up tonight right after i got out from work at 6pm. i also called eliza and told her the screening date for the movie we were going to go see on wednesday was actually tuesday, tomorrow. fortunately, she's able to make it regardless, even though it means cancelling on her book club meeting. anytime i can get that girl to read less, to pull away from her nerd roots, is a good thing.
after work, i went home briefly to throw some leftover dinner into a plastic bag and then i walked to lynn's place, just a few blocks from where i live. her clamshell ibook wasn't communicating with her new epson printer, and she needed to print out an e-ticket receipt for a flight on wednesday. the problem was simple, she didn't select the new printer in the chooser. after that was done i left, feeling pretty good about myself. it's not everyday you can be a hero in a limited way. i've always prided myself on being a selfish person but i sometimes show some altruistic sparks, especially if it's towards other mac users, who are far and few in-between, i can't afford to lose more people to the pc world. and i really like to teach computer basics to people, i feel like i have a warm gentle touch, that most computer phobics out there are that way because nobody ever really showed them how to properly use computers, it can be quite daunting. maybe deep down inside i just want to be a teacher of some kind or another. if only i can get a job doing that!
i went to harvard square to wait for the 66 bus to allston center, where i would be watching game 5 of the red sox athletics playoff at dan's place on the big screen projection television. 
while waiting for the bus, i saw a familiar face. "are you going home to watch the game?" i croaked to mark hickey, standing next to a light post. all day long i was hoping he'd get onto AIM so we could talk about baseball, but he never went online. we of course chatted about the red sox while waiting for the bus. he wasn't so sure if the red sox could win tonight, i ironically had more confidence in our home team. when the 66 came, i hop on, leaving mark to wait for the 86.
when i got to dan's place, one of his coworker was there as well as his coworker's roommate. cymara came home to join us in the game watching as well. i heated up my leftover chili from last night and take it with some bread and a can of orange soda. it was very guysy, we'd applaud when the red sox did something well (like pedro getting an out), or curse when something bad happened (like an umpire's missed call). it was pedro pitching against barry zito out in oakland. zito seemed to be the more dominant pitcher early on, shutting down the sox. when pedro gave up a run on a base hit, suddenly he seemed mortal again, and i felt a twinge of nervousness, even though it was still relatively early in the game. when varitek hit a single homerun to tie it 1-1, i was able to breathe a sigh of relief, a brand new game. 
when manny scored a 3 run homer to give the sox a 4-1 lead, dan's living room exploded as we all got up to cheer. my heart was pounding so fast, the adrenaline rushing so furiously, i thought i was going to pass out. then it became a game of attrition, we kept on hoping that the red sox would score some more insurance runs as the athletics slowly started to chip away at that lead. then came the johnny damon/damian jackson head-on collision, footage of which had to be shown over and over again at every conceivable camera angle. we counted the number of outs we'd need before the game was over. the game was suddenly 4-2. then 4-3. the athletics were coming back, and the red sox seemed to be unable to produce more runs or throw some effective pitching. 
williamson came in during the 9th to close (he did well yesterday, and no way would they bring in kim, which everyone including management now agree will probably never pitch for the red sox ever again), but sat back down after giving up two walks. lowe came in to close it out, and he managed to load the bases, and what every red sox fan probably thought would happen - that the red sox would some how blow it again - ended up not happening this time, as if the gods of baseball had a different plan for our fair team. and when lowe got that final out, the living room exploded again as we were all shouting with joy and giving each other high fives. outside, we could hear the rest of allston cheering in unison as well, the collective cry of this red sox nation.
dan's friends gave me a ride home, there we groups of people walking the streets cheering, and cars were honking their horns in solidarity. we passed by harvard square, where there were police cars blocking off sections of the square itself, 
apparently some sort of spontaneous gathering of people celebrating the victory. after i got dropped off in porter square, i immediately hopped on the subway back into harvard to see what was going on. a nebulous mass of several hundred college students were wandering the streets of harvard square. one person had a trumpet, 
which he was playing rallying music. another guy waved a large tree branch with leaves as a flag. still another boy was topless, wearing his red sox t-shirt as a cape, little regards to the cold new england weather. there were also some young women there we were probably borderline candidates for the next girls gone wild series. 
occasionally there'd be a camera flash, and i spotted several digital cameras as well as video cameras. the celebration tour literally wandered around harvard square, from the steps of the library, to the john harvard statue, back out to the main drag of harvard square. the cops were hovering around the perimeter, they seemed to be getting a kick out of the display so long as it didn't get destructive or violent. i left the group after their heartfelt rendition of our national anthem, and walked home. red sox yankees, wednesday night, it really is like some kind of fairy tale!