0415: Wake up, more or less as usual. Notice the the bedroom window is still open; normally I get cold sometime during the night and close it. Instead, it's still decidedly warm.
Follow a somewhat compressed version of the morning routine, 'cause Joy needs to be in San Jose by 0700 to catch a bus to LA, and we're not sure how the traffic will be, nor exactly where the bus in question stops.
Breakfast ends up being an hour or so earlier than usual.
0615: Out into the morning darkness. There's a hint of drizzle in the air; apparently rain was forecast, and I hadn't noticed. Anyway, if we had cloud cover all night, that would explain why yesterday afternoon's heat hasn't radiated into outer space. Also, it's humid.
0620: En route to SJ, get rained on hard enough to make dusty car windows problematic, but not enough to wash the dust off.
0630 or so: Arrive at the transit hub where the bus is supposed to turn up. Wander around in the variable rain (ranging from light drizzle to enough to be annoying) until we find someone who knows where to look for the bus in question, then eventually locate the sign and a group of people huddled under a tree.
0645-ish: Consider wimping out on morning walkies, but the rain is down to a light drizzle again, so what the heck. Set course for Rancho San Antonio.
0650-ish: Have a great idea for an electronic household energy-conservation gadget (with other selling points; energy conservation is a side benefit). Pointless around here, but might do well in the South. File away under "see if anyone's already doing that" and also "try to think of a good trademarkable name for this one".
0705: Arrive at Rancho. Light drizzle. Put on rain parka, and hat in case it gets sunny. Head out on trail, following rainbows.
Approaching the farm, hear news from oncoming runners: there's a newborn calf*. Stop where the crowd is. Yup: calf on ground in pasture, occasionally making trying-to-stand-up movements. Momcow licking the critter and occasionally mooing at it. Many annoying little flies and whatnot attacking all and sundry; had I anticipated this, I might have brought some corks and string, or at least DEET.
See, if I'd wimped out this morning, I would have missed seeing the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!
Anyway, proceed on up the trail, getting rained on occasionally.
0840: Return to farm on the way back. Calf has, in the meantime, managed to stand up, and has been led to a small barn at the back of the pasture where she's out of sight.
Then off to the vet's office for some Tinga chow, and Trader Joe's for people chow and cat chow, then....
0950: Return home, ravenous (because Early Breakfast, Low Protein Breakfast, and Exercise Since Then). There's a FedEx box on the porch. Let the sender know it's here, and not to be surprised if the delivery receipt is signed with a paw print or possibly beak marks. Item came packed with a couple of foam blocks, one of which is just right to brace the document feeder on the scanner/copier part of the new printer against the weight of Cat, Large, 1ea. Nuke some lunch, quick.
Remainder of day: Sluggish, because Hot and Humid. Make a little progress on the FPGA thing (last functional change introduced a flurry of timing problems, because part of the 300 MHz logic got just a little too complicated; solved by pipelining yet another signal, and adjusting things to make up for it).
Now, well: Winding down. May yet get some actual work done, or maybe I'll read a book or something. At the moment, I've got Tinga perched on my chest, preening my face (having tired of preening herself), and Huckleberry's having a snooze at my left elbow, so it's a little awkward to try to accomplish anything.
...And now Top Hat's squeaking for attention, which'll tie up my right hand. Time to sign off.
Afterthought: A song for today. More lyrics here. (Sorry, I couldn't find a version with pipes.)
* Update: born at 0710, according to the signs that were up the next morning.
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