Today contained many awesomes.

Workstuff: It was supposed to be the day for a fix release on the helpdesk software. We'll see how things are on Monday. We'll also see how my workload is going into Labor Day weekend -- Hipster Researcher has announced intent to come back from a conference with audio recordings. Since the point of my ridiculously detailed notes from 2nd Thursday is that we can't retain audio on the servers, he may have to cut bait if my workload is too high to spare time for that.

I have the butterfly & Gaiman package of BPAL from synecdochic! This whole thing is so much fun. And I have run into some scents that maybe I don't want to keep, which means eventual delight for someone else! (Either that or a garlic wine/cherry lime horrorsyrup situation, where the vessel of woe is tested by a succession of people until it is gone.)

It was beer bash day. I brought my own bottle of non-beer and secured a table. phone joined me, and Purple, and some of the guys. "Hi guys!" said Lennon Glasses Guy, and then realized that technically, if "guys" is gendered, I am the odd man out. So to speak. I allowed as how since I wasn't presenting particularly femme at that point, I wasn't particularly offended. Purple pointed out that the hat (a black floppy-brimmed sun hat, one of the woven paper and plastic thread ones that I go through slightly slower not-in-Arizona) wasn't particularly butch. I allowed as how the skirt of the day was fairly butch. Then we discussed how to butch up that hat. "A beer hat!" Purple declared. Yes. That is butch. Then we figured out how to *un*-butch the beer hat: fancy drinks (possibly with lots of fruit) in lieu of beers. Purple's brain got stuck on the mental image of the mojito-hat, and seemed to sort of white out from glee.

( A few of us made dinner plans. )

While we were cruising through an intersection, there came a honking from the right lane. Purple, who had been driving, hadn't registered the same level of detail I had. "The Civic cut in from the right and was going too slow for the Subaru, who was pretty mad judging from the way it honked," I explained. Purple had thought as much, but he'd been watching different parts of the road. Then traffic slowed hella down and halted for a traffic light, just as the Civic got out of the way of the Subaru and wound up in front of us, which put us about in line with the Subaru. "It's phone!" I said, and busted up laughing. Indeed, the somewhat honky driver of the Subaru was in fact our co-worker and friend. "Hey phone!" Everybody's windows were down. He heard his name (much to his surprise), looked over, saw us, and we had a short and hilarious chat until the light turned green and we headed off thattaway.

( Parking shenanigans and dinner. )

R and the Other Guy had ordered with dessert in mind. Then we learned that the place does not do dessert! So we set forth into the foodie district of downtown Palo Alto with dessert in mind.

The first place was too crowded. (Purple spoke up in praise of my being decisive, even though it was decisovely negative.) The place across the street was too young and hip. The place across the other street said it was "so good." We elected skepticism, and looked at all the buzzwords on the windows. The next place did have a dessert menu, but it also looked kinda trendy and such. ( Dessert was eventually accomplished. )

I laughed a lot tonight. I feel great.