This weekend started with the relief of finally putting my coworker's laptop back together, and the disappointment of missing Java Jive as a result. I still feel like I'm learning something with every Lindy lesson I go to, and when I miss Java Jive, I always notice at the next lesson that it's been a whole week since I've danced. It's hard to remember how to hold your posture, how to keep your feet under you when you need to, where in your back to hold your weight, when it hasn't been reinforced in your memory often enough. Being a talented follow seems like it would just feel better and more fun than being a mediocre follow, even though it requires a lot more effort and focus.

With the laptop episode (my coworker's laptop's AC adapter plug cracked off of the laptop's body, and she asked me to try to fix it for her), I think I'll be remembering an old lesson from now on: don't force a piece of machinery to move if it doesn't want to. My dad always repeated that to me whenever we were tinkering with things when I was a kid. But I forgot it this time, and during one step in the disassembly of the laptop the other day, I ripped a LIF connector (the one that connects the touchpad to the motherboard) off of the motherboard. The contacts/wires just came clean off, and you could see the spots on the board where they'd been soldered on. I ended up just gluing the body of the connector back on to the board, with the wires hopefully in contact with their partners on the board, but since I didn't manage to get the AC adapter back on correctly, the laptop couldn't turn on to let me see if the touchpad connector was connected. I feel horrible that I left her laptop potentially worse off than it was before. If she needs to have it repaired, I'll reimburse for it. But yeah, from now on: don't force it.

I can't forget to mention that I've discovered yet another variety of apple that gets ranked above most others in my book: Ambrosia apples. They're pretty similar to Honey Crisp, but they're smaller, and you can get prepackaged bags of them! What I love about both Honey Crisp and Ambrosia is that they're crispier and juicier than most other types (macintosh, red delicious, even gala, often end up being too mealy), and they're really sweet but don't have an overwhelming flavor. Thanks to Dmitry and his roommates for buying groceries right before their party last night.