Flybys and flyovers

Nov 16, 2006

I stepped out around 3 this afternoon, desperate for some fresh air and a break from the relentless list of tasks in front of me at my desk. The rains had passed, but Franklin Street was a wind tunnel (a tornado down near Wilmington killed eight people this morning). I was on my way up to 3CUPS when I heard the roar of the approaching fighter jets on a practice run for their Saturday football game flyover. The jets thundered directly over me, and I watched as they kept formation but wobbled in the wind.

Earlier this week, I had poked into Google Earth and zoomed in on the home where my family lived on the island of St. Croix. It was surrounded by acres of yard, over which planes approaching the airport would fly. I used to race under the lumbering Air National Guard C-130s.

Back at 3CUPS, Badi told me that there’s finally free wifi at the coffeeshop, during off-peak hours (so no lunchtime) in the adjacent Sandwhich space. (Hmm, did I mention I recently created the website for Sandwhich?) Perhaps we should move the Chapel Hill Bloggers Meetup back there.

After a pot of golden Yunan tea and a cinnamon roll, I headed back to the office, glancing into the storefront windows along the way. The Bookshop is for sale,, I learned, immediately thinking I need to figure a way (where do I find $300,000?) to buy the shop for Richard Gildenmeister. That would be cool — Richard and his stash of great books and wealth of bookselling knowledge, here in North Carolina.

My reminiscing and daydreaming walk done, I had that todo list waiting on my desk.

Anton Zuiker ☄