The Garden

Elizabeth joined Alexia, Tara and I at the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden this afternoon, followed by lunch at Red Wing near Goodwill and Free Geek, where I tried a beer called Proletariat Red (New Old Lompoc Brewers). The water fowl seemed well fed, not as obsequious as on other trips. This garden was also our wedding venue, 9-11, 1993.

Razz is getting her clutch completely replaced, factory new from a kit. It'd been slipping badly, plus she was way overdue for her 60K service, at 73K. The loaner, a Forester, is a nice car, but I'm not ready to invest in a newer motorvehicle, although I may upgrade the music system a notch.

I've continued with my polemics on the Math Forum, trying to upset the status quo debates around calculators, which all focus on why Johnny can't multiply in his head, instead of on why Johnny can't code, which latter missing skill, from Johnny's point of view, is probably the hole most worth filling.

However, the grownups are busy fighting other wars right now, so I hope Johnny is doing some homework on his own. Well-educated kids maybe aren't the priority they once were, on many power-seeking agendas.

Lovely dinner with Jane and Dave, with Gordon swinging by to borrow our projector for his daughter's program on her work in Central America. His son is currently in Chile. Gordon's wife Susan was Tara's piano teacher. All of these folks are Quakers with either Multnomah or Bridge City.