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Diary Segment: 2007, February 15-28

Entries are shown in chronological order; scroll down to see later material.

Feb 15, 2007

Calculus III? They call these things "examinations"? I'm really not sure what it is with tertiary education, but it all seems so much easier than it was in my day. In the previous century, when I first did this sort of math, calculators were forbidden in exams. Programmable calculators were anathethematized. Everything was done symbolically; exact answers were mandatory; you used practice, mnemonics and old-fashioned study to remember the rules and formulae.

Feb 16, 2007

No progress on publicly documentable goals.

Toast of the evening at Paddy Murphy's Irish Pub: To the Department of Homeland Security.

In other news, my Valentine's Day present was the complete (!!!!) DVD series of Homicide: Life on the Street. That's 35 DVDs with 122 episodes of the series, three crossover episodes with Law and Order, and the Homicide movie. Nobody ever gives me gifts as good as my wife's, because nobody else has ever known me as well as she does.

Feb 17, 2007

With my wife driving to DC, I decided to take today as a mini-vacation and test out the Jeep on the open road. The plan of action was to drive up my favorite northerly route to Rhode Island and stop at Foxwoods for an hour or so. Today was an email-free and Web-free day; I don't think I even turned on my laptop. I did have my Mac mini running to watch a few episodes of Homicide, but I finally decided to leave the house when Wilbur switched off the computer while curling up to sleep under that desk.

I took the Hutchison River Parkway - Merrit Parkway route up to the point where it meets I-95 somewhere between Stratford and Milford in CT. This was partly to avoid the northbound I-95 tolls in New Rochelle, NY (since I don't have an EZPass any more) but mostly because the Merrit route is more scenic and, on average, less congested. There are places where the traffic bunches up, but by and large it saves time to take the parkway, and it's a much more pleasant drive.

First stop was at I-95 exit 40 (Milford, CT), where I met a bichon frise and a schnauzer from Rhode Island driving a late-model blue sedan. Our normal stop here is the Pilot station for bathroom and snack breaks (this is where I met the dogs). I also had lunch at Cracker Barrel, which is right across the road [another good reason to make our pit stops here]; they seem to have a rigorous first-come-first-served policy, because I got a four-seater table even though I was alone. It was also the best table in the house (in my view), since it's right next to the fireplace. It's definitely my favorite table at the restaurant. Lunch was chicken fried chicken with corn, green beans and baby carrots, complimentary biscuits and cornbread, and unsweetened iced tea. That place is great value; fast service, amazingly tasty food, and it was only $11 and change. At this point, I still had well over half a tank of gas, so I decided not to fill up until the return journey.

From then on, it was nonstop on I-95N to exit 92, then eight miles west to Foxwoods. The casino was absolutely packed, of course (since it's a long weekend for some people, though not for us engineering troglodytes at my day job). I was probably driving around in the parking lot for a good fifteen minutes before I finally located (and tailed) a couple leaving the casino. By good fortune, they were driving a monstrously sized pickup, so I got a nice wide parking spot.

The casino itself (when I managed to get inside, shortly after 4pm) was crammed with the usual mix of ancient pensioners huffing from an oxygen mask between pulls on their cigarettes, biker types in leather jackets, and retiree couples wandering around in some kind of gambling trance. I had brought about $150 with me, with the intention of using only that money to pay for all expenses on the trip. However, I initially pulled just $40 out of my wallet at the casino, and almost immediately lost $20 on a quarter slot. The second $20 went into a nickel video slot, and pretty soon I was up to just over $60. I played the machine back down to exactly $60, and cashed out. From then on, I cracked the payout into $5 bills and wandered around playing 5 lines, 1 coin per line on nickel video slots. I'd cash out once I got up to an interesting profit level. I didn't have to go back into my wallet at all during the time I was there; in fact, my $40 became $175, which paid for gas, tolls, lunch and a couple of souvenirs.

Actually, I spent less than an hour on the casino floor; it was fun, but my main reason for coming out was the drive. Foxwoods as a destination is really just an excuse (and a place I can get out and stretch my legs). The real fun is driving there and listening to Hancock's Half Hour and The Goon Show on my iPod. Incidentally, the Jeep is extremely comfortable for a long drive of this sort. In a mix of fast highway driving and occasional slow spots, it gave me a little over 25mpg, which is about what I was expecting.

On the way home, I got off the highway in Port Chester, NY - the town where I used to live, and where my erstwhile employer used to exist. There's really nothing much in Port Chester; it's a squalid little place, full of bodegas and check-cashing places sitting shoulder to grease-stained shoulder. The only reason I stopped is for chili cheese dogs at Pat's Hubba Hubba. This small diner-style chili dog place (it's about the width of a railway carriage, only not as long) serves probably the most consistent, most sinfully enjoyable junk food in Port Chester. It's open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365.25 days a year. I've been there for breakfast, lunch, dinner and 3am post-drinking snacky binges. I'm glad I don't work within walking distance of that place any more. There's a second Hubba in Stamford, CT, but I've never eaten there, despite having lived in Stamford for a year.

Home by about 8:30pm, time to walk and feed the dogs and then an early night.