My sputnik for the day was Mike Radigan. That's Mike's picture nearby. Note the phone attached to his ear. Now that he works for Cisco, the phone is permanently attached to his head.

Mike asked me to join him on a trip to Toledo, where he was making a presentation. He wanted to interview me to get some perspective on how some regulatory issues were affecting Cisco customers and what some of the higher-level concerns they had to deal with to provide some context for a discussion of technology. I worked some things out and my schedule and agreed to make the trip.

After the presentation, we were on our way back toward Columbus and were scheduled to meet with someone in Findlay. Findlay is a nice enough place; I've been there a few times, usually to give a guest lecture at the University of Findlay. I didn't really have much opportunity to hang out there otherwise.

Cisco was in the midst of doing a deal, and required Mike's input. So when we arrived for our meeting in Findlay, he stayed in the car, while I headed into the building to relieve myself of the burden of my lunchtime coffee. By the time Mike finished his call, the person we had to meet needed to leave to meet someone else briefly, so he suggested that Mike and I meet him at Rossilli's Creative American & Italian Cuisine, to which we agreed.

Mike and I arrived and waited for our contact to arrive. Then Mike's phone rang. The same deal was further along and now required Mike. I opted to get out of the car and to make a few calls of my own when I spotted a neon sign that read, “Books on Main.” At once, I headed into the store and found a delightful small used bookshop. I wandered up and down each of the aisles and looked over editions of history, poetry, and eventually found myself in the literature section.

I have been reading Brian Boyd's biography, Vladimir Nabokov: The American Years of late and it discusses Nabokov's first novel in America, Bend Sinister. The themes of the book being of some particular interest to me right now, I resolved to get the book about a week ago. Just being able to visit the bookshop made my trip a success as far as I was concerned. The icing on the cake came when I found the one copy a Nabokov novel in the store was the 1942 edition of Bend Sinister.

Going back out to the street, I excited headed into Rossilli's, new book in hand. Our contact came in shortly thereafter and I talked with him about books over Glenlivet 12 on the rocks. Mike finally made it in and the discussion turned to business.

I'll be in Findlay again next week for the University of Findlay's Information Assurance Forum. Perhaps rather than heading straight back to Columbus afterward, I'll hang out for a drink and dinner. Maybe I'll go crazy and stop in the bookstore.