I had a brilliant, if unoriginal, idea yesterday. We need to clear everything out of our living room and dining room by Monday so that the floor refinishers can do their thing. The books are mostly taken care of, but there’s much more to deal with, including a big rug, and we were despairing of finding a place to put it.

Then inspiration struck: have the rug cleaned.

So this morning, the rug left, to return after the floors are ready. If only the rest of the stuff were as easy to deal with.

Got spare time?

Then try this. [Link via Jenny]

Saving space

My A/V (err, Home Theatre) furniture is full. I want to get a HDTV-ready TV, which won’t fit in the cabinet we have — but most of the ones I’ve seen for big TVs don’t have as many places to put other equipment as I’d like. But perhaps I can give up on at least one technology. [Link via Garret]

And I’m suddenly very interested in having a DVD Recorder; that would let me dub my LaserDiscs and put that player away (and, over time, I could get rid of my stock of VHS tapes, too).

I expected to write this entry on Friday, while waiting for my flight home from Chicago. But ETP was down, so I did other things.

This week’s trip (which, I hope, will be the last one for a month or so) was to Montreal for the IBM Academy of Technology Annual Meeting, followed immediately by my first Official Meeting as a member of the Academy’s Technology Council (a three-year gig, with three-day in-person meetings six times a year, and early morning phone calls another six times a year). The trip was busy and productive and busy — if I weren’t a rebel, I wouldn’t have been outside the hotel at all from Monday at 1pm until the TC dinner on Thursday night.

But I was. On Monday, I took a quick morning walk, then joined friends from Israel for lunch at an Indian restaurant (apparently, there aren’t any Indian restaurants in Israel). Then I spent the next 34 hours in the fray, finally going out for air (and coffee) late Tuesday evening (instead of going to the Birds of a Feather sessions which were happening at the same time). On Wednesday night, I decided I couldn’t stand another big hotel meal, and convinced a colleague to go out for a walk with me; we wound up at a Lebanese fast-food place (where I had falafel, spending $5 Canadian in the process). Thursday night, the TC went to an Italian restaurant in Old Montreal…everyone chose to walk. Then on Friday, it was a quick dash to the airport when our meeting ended, a brief stop in duty-free (icewine is interesting stuff), and then home!

For some reason, I had no desire to turn on the computer yesterday.

Bar Mitzvah planning is continuing; we went tallit- and invitation-shopping today, with what looks like success.

Now to watch Game 7, which should not have been necessary.