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The LCI training actually turned out to be pretty interesting. They needed to review the basic bike handling and stuff that was covered in Road I, while at the same time trying to train us how to run the course ourselves, so there was a lot to do. We ended up going through a lot of Road I again, this time taking turns playing teacher.

It was all too much for one weekend, though. It's too bad it couldn't be spread out a little more. One thing to work on on my own: I'm terrible at hard turns; I'm too afraid to let myself lean over far enough. The instructor suggested just doing increasingly tight (or fast) loops in a parking lot to get used to the lean.

It turned out not to be a problem riding this weekend after not having ridden in the last couple years. I rode back and forth to the class (at Briarwood) every day in addition to the various in-class exercises, but I don't feel particularly sore now.

Riding to work this morning I went over a pothole and my panier popped off the rack and dragged behind me, banging against the rear fender as it did so, and pushing the fender against the tire. Fortunately I'd shed most of my speed before hitting the pothole, so I managed to come to a stop without falling over.

But I had to bend the fender back into shape so it cleared the tire, ride back home, get another panier, then ride to the bike shop. The guy at Two Wheel Tango did some minor adjustments but thought the fender would hold up fine. I was hoping they might also be able to do a tuneup before the start of tonight's LCI instructor seminar, but they were too busy.

The LCI thing is twenty hours this weekend, with ten of that tommorow. Ugh. We'll see if I survive. I haven't been riding much this last couple years, so if we do much riding I may end up sore.

Wednesday after donuts we talked to Marc about pNFS. Then there was an si faculty meeting, which was a bit strange for someone not already involved. Finally I went to the local AACS meeting to see someone talk about Mozilla. It was more of a stand-up comedy act--he didn't actually get around to talking about much I found that interesting. Mostly it was the history of Netscape, most of which you'd probably already had a vague idea about if you'd been paying attention.

Juggling on the diag was fun today. Afterwards we ate at Seva, then went to Fred and Deana's to play Bohnanza.

Bohnanza is a fairly simple game that involves trading cards with different bean varieties, which you try to collect into a limited number of sets. So without the trading it might sound a little like a very weird version of rummy. There was enough strategy to give you plenty to think about, enough chance to give everyone a chance, and it didn't take forever to explain the rules. I liked it.

Sunday and Monday I mostly stayed in, read a bit, and rested.

Wednesday night was Jefferson Market's 5th anniversary party, so I met Sara there. The block of Jefferson street was closed off and they'd set up tables and a state. It was nice out, Foobar was playing, there was lemonade and cake and kids were playing. We stayed longer than intended and I had too many sweet potato fries.

Thursday I picked up my copy of "The Plot Against America". So far I have low expectations for it.

My hold came in, so Monday after work I went to the library to pick up the latest Harry Potter, as well as some guidebooks to Hawaii for Sara.

I've missed my usual science-fiction/fantasy book group the last two months, so I'm hoping to go to the September meeting. The book is "The Plot Against America", which is also being held at the library for me now, but I haven't had the chance to pick it up yet.

I'm also in the middle of "L'Exil d'Hortense" and "Mathématique:", by Jacques Roubaud, and "La Girafe", by Marie Nimier. And have a half-dozen other books lying at my bedside that I started and may have to give up on at some point.

I have this fear that if I added up all the books in the apartment that I haven't finished yet, I'd discover that there was more than I could read in one lifetime.

Last night I ignored all of them and just reread some "Monsieur Jean" comics.

Last night we saw Takeshi Kitano's 2003 "Zatoichi". Swordfights! Tap-dancing peasants! Spurting blood! Ninjas! It was quite unlike anything else I've seen, and plenty of fun.

My cold was more annoying today, but I went to juggling and had some soup at Cottage Inn afterwards.

I'm still sniffling and coughing a bit, but otherwise I feel back to normal.

Last night I took the bus to Busch's, got a bunch of groceries, and walked home, which gave me another occasion to be happy with the new music player--it gives me something to distract me from the heavy backpack on the walk back.

My only complaint about the gadget: half a gig of memory doesn't seem like much. But probably I'd only be satisfied by something that would hold my whole CD collection, and at that point I'd need a big hard drive and it wouldn't be so convenient any more.

I did a half-day Friday, then stayed home Friday night and Saturday.

Sunday we went to a party at the house of one of Sara's coworkers. I wasn't feeling terribly social. But there were home-made Dosas. Yum! It didn't seem terrifically hard, but it did require at least some special machinery to make the flour. So I don't think we'll be trying it any time soon.

Sometime during the trip home or the last days in Paris I managed to catch some kind of cold, but it didn't really hit me till yesterday. I did a half-day's work Tuesday and went to juggling that night, and did a full day yesterday. But by the end of the day I was feeling pretty crummy.

So today I'm staying home, doing some work and resting.