#173 - Wildlife in the Rain - June 8, 2013

Cool thing from the last 24: It was pouring rain, and I'd had a day filled with meetings.  Some days I'm largely free to work on projects, some days I'm scheduled for meetings all day.  I hadn't had a break, and need to step away from the computer screen, so I took a walk outside the office.  While out, I checked out the cherry trees growing next to an abandoned factory, and then I noticed a snail.  And then another and another.  They seemed to enjoy the freedom to travel across pavement that was soaking wet - as partying as I've ever seen a snail do.

Aria has really wanted a tablet/iPod/laptop thing for a while now.  She's very responsible with technology, and after a lot of discussion, we agreed that such a thing would be okay within limits.  So she has been scouring Craigslist for sellers, and found a couple.  But in every case they had gone too quickly.  Today she found one in the morning, mailed me the link, and I texted the seller.  Yes, they still had it, and we could pick it up at 5pm.  This was at 3pm.  So I left work early, grabbed Aria, and we started driving down to the town where the person lived.  We didn't have an address, just the town.  They had asked that I text them when I left so they could send me the address.  I texted, not response, but I wanted to meet my 5-6pm obligation, so we started driving.  After half an hour or so of driving, we pulled over to get an address.  I didn't want to go much further without an address.  The person texted back - he had sold it, forget about it.  Sorry.

I was frustrated.  Trying to do a good thing didn't work out.  So Aria and I discussed alternate possibilities - an Android device, whether a tablet or phone, might do the trick.  And at half the price.  We got home, very disappointed.  The evening was not a total loss, however.  After dinner, Aria, Libby, Katrina and I played Puerto Rico.  Libby was on my team, learning the game.  I'm sure she'll beat us all pretty soon.  I ended up in last place, but it was pretty close.  I think 12 points separated the winner and loser.