8:13 PM 4/23/2007

There's been some time lag while I've been in Ohio. It is not so easy to get a good Internet connection, and I haven't seen my parents for over two years, so it seems rude to huddle with my computer for the many hours it takes to get any work done. I brought the computer fully expecting to use it, but the real opportunities are rare when you consider that the days are packed with driving, visiting folks, eating meals, playing with cats, sorting through stuff, and sleeping it all off. It can be so quiet here, but there are still many distractions. It is barely any better than my normal life of hurry-up-and-wait. You have to program extra time into everything, so what seems like an eternity gets firttered away in short order.

I am always confronting my notions of what to do with time, and why it isn't tenable. I would never have said that I have a work ethic or a sense of propriety, and yet I just can't transplant my work habits to this place. If I were living here, maybe I would fall into a better rhythm, because I can't say that what I do at home is particularly productive. The real problem is that my easily distracted mind travels with me. Here, as there, every serious block of time is under attack. The great pressure to divide and conquer makes for an endless stream of subtasks. I can't seem to put any time into anything before there is some new urgent problem - or I get sleepy.

Saturday I arrived in Columbus. My parents were there to pick me up at the airport, but I couldn't see them. The walk from the terminal to baggage claim was crowded, and I walked past where they were. There is just something hypnotic about walking in a crowd of people all headed the same direction down an enormous corridor. I didn't realize it, but the whole way I was trying to weave my way through the people. They were spaced out in such a way that you couldn't slip between any two, but there was no room left on the sides either. Most people have rolling luggage, and when they alter course the suitcases become a hazard if I want to maintain my pace. Is it any wonder I try to stay away from places with crowds?

My parents must not have known that I would check a bag, but who knows where they got that idea. I did pack fairly light, but I planned to do some shopping and bring back a few books from their basement, so I needed a big duffel. Without any cellphone, I had to go back upstairs and buy a coffee to make change for the phone. I didn't see a phone there, so I went back downstairs to call from a payphone. 50 cent is a lot just to ping somebody who might be somewhere nearby. I don't actually want a cellphone - I really want a handheld email client. But that's not really feasable because of the volume of email I normally get. I called my mom's cell, and it went to voicemail. I just assumed that they were on the road, running late, but she would have been ready to pick up the phone if that were true. I sat where I thought I would be most visible and pulled out a book to read. In a couple minutes they arrived in baggage claim. That's when I found out I passed by without anybody noticing - and that they didn't hear the phone ring because the crowds were too loud.

We went up to the roof of the garage and got into the car. I made three mix CDs to put in the CD changer. My dad's Jeep is secondhand, and it came with a 10-disc player, so this time I needed to bring some music that I would want to hear while driving. Last time I was here, I had to teach him (ahem! - discover, then teach...) how to pick up the signal on the car stereo. Now he doesn't even use it any more - he's got his iPod with him at all times. He could get set up to play the iPod of the car speakers, but he contents himself with the earbuds, so it's just as well that I brought some CDs. But - calamity! - the music played okay for a few tracks, then started to make clicking sounds over the track. A production defect! My CD burner messed it up. I had given those discs a cursory listen the night before and they sounded fine. But, I didn't have enough time to scrutinize them to that level, and I certainly didn't have enough time to try burning them a second time.

We had lunch at Buca di Beppo in Westerville. It was not crowded at all. We had a coupon. Monday night there are still leftovers. Perhaps I'll take care of that soon.

last updated 1 year ago #