Actually, we never left. But we've been preoccupied with tropical storms, futile efforts to save a kitten and, happily, a busy social life.

Anyway, gotta go, but we'll be back to look at things like America's latest reality show, "Meet the Palins," and some other things that have been on my mind of late.

Before I go, I must say, I did see the new Jerry Seinfeld commercial for Microsoft last night, while watching the opening game of the new football season. My reaction was similar to that of my friend seated next to me: We both sort of lost interest halfway through it. It was just sort of a, "Hunh?" moment. Typical Microsoft. Too long. Too boring. Too obscure. Kind of like Microsoft Word.

Okay, gotta go now...

My next door neighbor is an excellent gardener.

Time is the most precious thing we have. Attention is judicious use of that time, being where we want to be when we want to be. Obviously, the universe doesn’t always give us the hand we want (I don’t know many people who would choose to be stuck in stop-and-go traffic or waiting for a late airplane), but there are many other instances when we have much more control.

The two biggest places I seem to suffer with attention are in the car and in front of the computer. In the car, it’s not that I’m not aware of the road; it’s more of an inattention to my emotional state. As I said to someone last month, when I get in the car, for some reason everyone else turns into a jerk. Thich Nhat Hahn wrote that we are like a TV with 10,000 channels, and it’s up to us which channel we’re on at any given time. It seems that in the car, I tend to flip over to the “Jeffrey is incredibly impatient and judgmental” channel without even thinking it. Lingering car karma?

The computer is the other problem, and potentials are greater. My computer can be an incredibly productive tool or a distraction, or a mix of both. It can be a creative instrument, a means of communication, and a major procrastination tool. It is the device with which I make my living and much of my art. It is what I want it to be. So why do I find myself slipping so often into a mindless pattern when I’m using the computer? Marking time and circling (my dad would call it dillydicking) instead of creating? It makes me sad when I catch myself, because there’s so much great stuff out there to be made.

Merlin Mann has a great series of articles on making better use of time, which I recommend. It’s a good mix of Big Ideas and little things you can do to help that slide into inattention. His new habit of setting a start page to open up to “Is this really what you want to be doing right now?” in giant letters reminds me a little of the evening gatha: life is short, opportunity is lost. Don’t waste your life. Time is the most precious thing we have.

I'm off to Portugal! I'm planning to spend a few days in the Douro Valley, seeing antiquities and tasting everything in sight, and then on to WikiSym and WikiWalk.

I'm hoping for updates here along the way. But connectivity might be spotty; if you have urgent Tinderbox questions, you might try the Wiki or the Forum.

We've just finished a tuneup release of Tinderbox 4.5, addressing a few rough edges. Nothing earthshaking, but it's recommended for everyone.

There's also a lot of interesting discussion over on the Tinderbox Forum. One of the weaknesses of threaded discussions is very much on view there, too: it seems that one thread wanders off-topic into talking about the terrific new in-place editing in outlines, while an adjacent thread wanders off-topic into worries that the in-place editing actually interferes with things people want to do. (Fortunately, there's a preference setting: everyone can be happy!) It's a good lesson to keep in mind, though: the consensus on a threaded discussion is not necessarily a consensus at all. (This partly explains why VersionTracker and MacUpdate are so often so wrong.)

V and I spent the weekend with friends in Maine on a whitewater rafting adventure. Having not been rafting in any form since Boy Scouts, a day paddling on the Kennebec river was a great re-introduction to the pursuit. Despite much effort, no moose were seen in Maine.

Here’s a snapshot of the Dead river, flowing next to our lodge.

And nearby Moxie Falls, a rather impressive waterfall.