I tried to flip my page yesterday evening after Jeffrey’s birthday party, but ETP wasn’t cooperating and I gave up.

The party went well, I think — especially since I hardly had to do anything! Nor did Diane, I hasten to add. Instead, the nice folks at SCORE hosted the party, decorating the center and running a murder mystery for the guests. The kids enjoyed it, and some of them really got into their characters, too.

Next year, it’s the Bar Mitzvah. Oy!

Diane’s new car is fun to drive — it’s not as peppy as my Saab, but it is a very weird experience to sit in nearly complete silence at a stop sign, since the engine turns itself off when it’s not necessary.

We drove her car downtown today to see The Mandrake Root at San Jose Rep. The play was very good and the cast was excellent. The audience gave a standing ovation, but it didn’t start until Lynn Redgrave came out for her curtain call, and I thought that was unfair to the actress who played Sally; I thought she actually carried the play (though Ms. Redgrave was awfully good!).

Or even if you’re just plain busy, as I’ve been the last couple of weeks. In short, since I last wrote, I’ve:

• taken another jog along the beach at Waikiki
• bought Hawaiian shirts in what I’ve been told is Definitely the Wrong Color (but that’s OK; I have the receipt and I’m going back in May!)
• flown to the lovely IBM Learning Center in Armonk, New York, where they close the gym and breakfast room too early for someone who’s just come in from the West Coast and doesn’t have a morning meeting
• spent a day-and-a-half at our team planning meeting in an old barn in New Fairfield, Connecticut
• driven to Richmond, Virginia
• set up my Mom’s “new” computer
• reconnected my brother’s TV, VCR, DVD, and TiVo (because I could, not because he necessarily needed it done!)
• flown home on amazingly empty planes
• gotten a brand new IBM ThinkPad T23, which came preloaded with a customized Windows 2000 setup
• reformatted the hard drive on the new ThinkPad and installed Windows XP because I don’t like the internal customizations
• discovered that I should have backed up some of the software provided by the internal customizers before reformatting
• attended a talk by IBM’s Senior VP for Strategy (Bruce Harreld) which made me much happier about the company’s plans and prospects
• reviewed more papers for WWW2002
• picked up our new Prius (I even got to drive it!)
• sold our old Camry (life would have been easier if I’d remembered to bring the title along to the dealership)
• and found where the cleaning service put Jeffrey’s birthday cards (and the enclosed checks).

Tomorrow is Jeffrey’s birthday. For a change, we’re having the party on his birthday instead of weeks later — so we’ll be busy tomorrow.

And on Sunday, I fly East again for an e-tirement party for my old boss and my group’s annual kickoff meeting. The weather was pleasantly warm there last week — I’m hoping for a replay. It’s certainly been cold here!

More anon, maybe even with pictures.