Red Skye 2004 Ruby Hill Zinfandel

When I tasted this wine at the winery last weekend, I thought it would go well with beef. But we rarely have beef at home — basically, only when Jeff’s not going to be eating with us. Like tonight, since Jeff was out celebrating the successful conclusion of the production of The Tempest at school. We got beef brisket sandwiches from Sam’s, opened a bottle of Red Skye Zinfandel, and enjoyed.

The beef was nicely spicy, complementing the wine well — more of the bottle vanished than is our wont, too. Even more might have vanished if I hadn’t known I’d have to drive up to Palo Alto to pick Jeff up soon after dinner. Definitely worthwhile.

Waiting for XO

I ordered an XO laptop through the Give One Get One offer (still open through the end of 2007, for those of you looking for that perfect last-minute deduction). Mine hasn’t arrived yet, but Ed Yourdon’s has, and he’s posted a “first reaction” on his blog.

I’m not at all sure what I’m going to do with the machine once I’ve played with it a bit — I knew it was, by design, slow and memory-limited, so I didn’t plan to displace any of my normal computers, but I did have some hopes that it would be a good machine to give to an older relative who “doesn’t want a computer”. But the description of the keyboard in Ed’s review makes that seem unlikely, though I’m reserving judgment until I can touch it myself.