Now I want to anthropormorphize my visual psychophysics experiment...

Piece of cake.

(One has to know how to talk to these things. It's like, psychology, you know?)

When I was temping at the CU Physics Department, their copier was dying. I could always get it to work by patting it and cooing at it and praising it lavishly.

One of the TAs came in with a quiz she had to copy, and she was in a desperate hurry. I explained to her that she had to be nice to the copier. But she didn't believe me, so she wasn't, and so it wouldn't copy for her. It would only copy for me. Heh.

jhw: Okay. Bus seats! Which one of you actually reclines all the way?

seat 18D: Me! Oh, please, pick me!

jhw: Awesome. You're the winner. Let me just sit down here by the window and relax. Been a long damned day. Time to settle down and ride home.

18D: I am so here for you, dude. Did you notice that I'm upholstered entirely in leather? Luxurious and supple. Many fine sheep gave their lives for your commuting comfort, Mr. W. I hope you enjoy the ride. Care to listen to the game? Headphone jack right here.

jhw: That's nice, but I was really hoping for some peace and quiet. Just recline and let me rest until I get home.

18D: You got it.

[Forty minutes later]

jhw: Hey! I missed my stop. Why didn't you wake me up?

18D: You looked so comfortable. Didn't want to disturb you.

jhw: But I missed my stop! Now, I have to hike ten blocks and wait for a MUNI to take me up the hill to my house.

18D: Sorry, dude. Leather. Very comfortable. Why not just relax and go with it?

jhw: Aiie! Get me off this bus!

[Forty minutes later on a MUNI bus]

back set: [sarcastic] Oh, I'm sorry. Am I disturbing you?

jhw: No, I'm fine. I just want to go home now.

BS: Sure sure. You want I should bring you a glass of wine or something? Maybe a fresh pair of socks? I know— how about a copy of the Wall Street Journal?

jhw: I'm tired. I think I'll just slump down here and enjoy the ride up the hill.

BS: Whatever.

[ten minutes later]

jhw: Crap! I missed my stop. Where the hell am I?

BS: End of the line.

jhw: What? How the hell did I fall asleep on a MUNI line bus?

BS: How should I know bigshot? I just work here. Now, off with you. And remember, please exit through the rear doors.

jhw: Yeah yeah, I know. Hold on, where's my bag? Where's my phone?

BS: Not my problem. Get off the bus.

jhw: Oh wait. There's my phone in my shirt pocket. How'd it get there?

BS: You put it there yourself, dumbass. Now get off the bus.

jhw: I can't find my bag.

BS: It's under the opposite seat. Look buddy, this is the end of the line. You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here.

jhw: Thanks a lot. You're a big help.

BS: Whatever. Dumbass.

Now walking home to borrow Martin's bike.

----
* WD40 did not help, even left overnight. The problem is inside the brake drum.

Jacque @ 13: Photocopiers and printers, I've found, are the opposite of kettles: they like to be watched. Hang around and watch, getting nothing else done, and they workd fine. Leave the machine to get on with it's job while you do another part of yours? Come back 20 minutes later and find that the *!$£#% machine got itself jammed 30 seconds after you were out of earshot.

j h woodyatt @ 18: More sympathies. Need to catch up on sleep, perhaps?

More exciting, my tach seems to be not happy. I am reasonably certain it's just the tach, because 9500 rpm feels a lot different than the bike seemed to be spinning.

But one worries, so I didn't take it above about 60 mph. This afternoon was better, no tach problems, and I came home by back roads. This was the first time I'd actually taken the Seca on serious twisties.

She likes them.

I'm back from brake school now.

They treated me really well there. They explained that Abi was right, that there are two arts to being a brake, and that I needed to practice both of them to be a really good brake. And that's all I've ever wanted to be.

So I'm working on my letting-the-bike-go skills. I hope it will work out better between me and Abi now. I've apologized to her, and she says that we should put the whole episode behind us and go on. She says these difficult times are just a natural phase in our relationship.

And best of all, they completely ignored the front brake at Brake School. It kept telling everyone how it already knew about letting go as well as stopping, but they never answered.