Dear Log,
So I went to the diner today to read this manuscript that I Must Read, which requires actual concentration and an absence of distractions.
The place is empty. I sit down and start to read. All is well.
But within a minute or two, a woman with a ~8-year-old kid (who's wearing one of those karate bathrobes) comes in and sits down in the booth right behind me. They begin playing I SPY WITH MY LITTLE EYE very loudly. And I think maybe the kid is kinda dense.
Mother: I SPY WITH MY LITTLE EYE... SOMETHING GLOWING.
Kid: A DOOR!!!
Mother: NOW THAT'S SILLY, DO DOORS GLOW?
Kid: A BANANA!!!
Mother: NO! IT'S THE "OPEN" NEON SIGN HERE. OKAY, NOW YOU DO ONE.
Kid: I SPY WITH MY LITTLE EYE... A BASKETBALL PLAYER ON TV!!!
Mother: THAT'S NOT HOW YOU PLAY IT!
This continued for LONGER THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE. I swear I'm not making this up -- the above were their EXACT (AND LOUD) WORDS.
I was not in my happy place as I tried to think of a perfect way to explain the relationship between callstacks and call trees while this wall all going on.
I've figured out now that all the times I've been at the diner and gotten work done, were times I brought headphones and a laptop full of mp3s to drown out all noise.
I gave up and went home. Tomorrow, I'll try going to the local public library. I used to get great work done at the library in Douglas, where they had big Comfy Chairs. But the library here is more cramped for space, so they have more standard library furniture.
Ahwell, if not there, then I'll go to the Thai restaurant and lurk in a back booth and read. With mp3s and headphones.
Meanwhile, since this manuscript-reading is a paying gig, and urgent, all my other Perl stuff (Pod::* etc) is on hold until I'm done with this, about two weeks from now.
