Two-Meat Tuesday

Amy’s Ice Cream:
It’s still there. Although, it’s been a long time since I’ve been that far north, the Amy’s Ice Cream at the Arboretum. In Austin. Although, that far north, I’m not sure it should be called Austin.

The singular memory from that store, it’s a simple one, it’s all about ice cream and, of course, Amy’s Ice Cream ambiance. Only in an Amy’s store…

Some years ago, and details will date the tale, but some years ago, I wandered in on a cold winter’s night, in as much as Austin gets many cold winter nights. Hard to imagine in the middle of tepid summer’s eve that brought about the remembrance, so anyway, it was a dark and stormy night, and I was with in that Amy’s for succor – like I’ve explained, I’m kind of a one trick pony these days – ice cream or coffee – or both – so anyway, I was in that Amy’s and the tunes were hard-core, I mean, heavy-hardcore punk. The music itself was a selection of “dance hits of the early 80’s,” as performed by various punk groups. Maybe a little heavy metal, perhaps some thrash-metal tossed on top, but mostly hardcore punk. That angry, hard-driving, occasionally cacophonous “music,” as some critics (if it’s too loud then you’re too old) would suggest it was not music at all.

Are you still with me?

Good music. There’s a sense of irony and amusement, a subtle sense of play, and there’s a very firm tongue planted in cheek with the tunes themselves.

I inquired because the play list totally captivated me. More than the young lady serving ice cream, more than the ‘young lady’ I was with at the time. Libra. Or Sagittarius. I tended to have a crush on most of the Amy’s female workers. Way it is. One Capricorn guy, too. Never mind, you had to be there. It’s not what you think.

The music was what interested me that evening. I asked from whence it came, this lovely, cacophony oozing, strangling, and otherwise issuing forth.

“Napster. Dude. Just do a search for ‘punk’ and ’80’s,’ it’s, like, you know, totally awesome.”

Perhaps it was some other skater chatter, but that was the gist, such as I remember it. Somehow, that burned CD got handed over to me, and somehow that made my heavy rotation, back when I really had a CD player. Eventually, that CD was lifted by a Libra. Or a Sagittarius. I don’t recall. Still, that’s what I remember of that Amy’s location. It was the staff, the people “working” there. If you’ve ever been to an Amy’s their version of “working” might differ – seem to have a lot fun.

Why wander that far north? I needed to run an errand, which meant….

The Computer Museum:
Attached to one of the finest Good Will stores – dramatic pause – in the world – is Austin’s Goodwill’s Computer Museum. The Goodwill Computer Works – in Austin – is one of the best places to buy cheap tech, dead tech, or gently used tech. Why pay too much for a new computer when there’s a useful, dependable outlet like Goodwill. Help people help themselves.

I’ve found wireless routers for $5-$15, perfectly good. Cables, cards, flatscreen monitor for under $40. Which is what I was looking for, and what I found. However, there was also detour into the attached Computer Museum, and that was a quick trip to oblivion.

Computer Museum

Location: North Austin
Hardware: iPhone
Software: Camera+

Subject: Cray “affordable” super computer, circa, 1994 – cost, $100K, 4 CPU, 512 RAM, 3 gig X 7 HD. 33 MHz. 4 fans. Service contract at $1,000 per month.

Old, Apple 3G phone, 128 RAM, 16 gig. Estimated 600MHz. Plus voice mail, caller ID, map and movie camera.