And now I am not on satellite, but rather on the wireless network at the Temecula library! It's a nice fancy new library they just built. I have a lovely huge view out this window, gazing down upon a park with some baseball fields and a residential area and distant mountains. This is my first try at library working. When they built this new one (the old one is not to be thought about), Sol and I discussed how it might be fun for me to come down and work here once a week. They're all set up for it, with free wireless (and fast! Maybe I should see about gaming...), free plugs (nice since the laptop's battery hasn't worked in years), lots of tables, and free aforementioned view. It's actually set up a lot like a university library, not a public library.
I don't think I'll be doing any serious work here, though. The problems are myriad, none huge, but all conspiring. The laptop makes typing awkward, the screen gets glare from the lovely windows, it doesn't have all my most important stuff on it, it's physically painful to sit a long time working on a laptop (there's hunching involved - why won't anybody invent my laptop idea: the screen can be disconnected but stays in touch via a cord? You'd need a stand to really benefit from that in a library, but that could be available too!), and of course there are many things I can't do. Like have any sound at all, or record my commentaries. Or have any degree of privacy.
It's not all brimstone and hog droppings, though. It's nice being here, and a fun break from spending all my days at home. I may come down here every so often for the change of pace. It definitely won't be productive, but that's not the point. I am free to be unproductive if I want! It's just for fun. Though programming here is a challenge, other tasks can be done somewhat well. So if I developed an alternative task to work on, I could do it here every other week or so. Could do writing, drawing (the real kind), some marketing stuff online for sure. Who knows?
They are filming a documentary here at the library today! That's sort of exciting. I had to wade through the crew and cables and light thingies (those big flexi things they use to deflect light) to get in the door. I was kind of worried they weren't open, but once through the maze, I found the doors worked fine, and there was a note by them saying "The library will have extra activity in it today, because a documentary about the Boy Scouts is being filmed." I'm not sure exactly what they're doing at the library, but here they are. I only have one real observation about the issue, since mostly I haven't seen them except for all their junk out front. That is that I am seeing firsthand how not-real documentaries are. It's not a couple guys and a handheld camera, it's a full-fledged film crew (ooh, someone just said "Alright, let's do a take!" It's like Hollywood in here). There's even a craft services table outside (it was unguarded when I went by, I could've enriched my food supplies!). Nobody could possibly act 'natural' when confronted with an entire crew like that. They spent several hours just setting up (for all I know, this is their first shot of the day, and it's been 5 hours since I first got here). Nothing spontaneous or real there. Of course, on the flipside, documentaries aren't all about catching reality as it happens. They also film setups to show as they are talking about stuff. Maybe they just want a shot of bookshelves going by, I don't know. Or it's a dramatic reenactment. Could be! Someone just shouted "action", so whatever it is, it's certainly scripted. Ooh, I hear the dialogue... it's indeed a scripted scene of some kind. If you ever see a Boy Scout documentary which contains some talk in a library about "Okay, so no multiple choice option for this next part. We're going to talk about the difference between Constitutional and Non-Constitutional governments.", then just know I was sitting about 10 yards away while it was filmed! Not sure how that relates to the Boy Scouts, but hey, it's their movie.
So that's the kind of exciting new experiences I get to have when I come to town. It's surely worth having an unproductive day once in a while. And most importantly, I got to eat lunch out.
