Faster and Faster (D)

Gainesville

'Rrrrrgghh... how did it get so late again? And yet another morning where we have to ge there at the ungodly hour of 8:30. After getting home after 7:00 tonight. Doesn't seem right that nearly 12 out of 24 hours should be devoted to The Job, and that isn't even counting the time spent working and talking and worrying about it. I can't wait to put that part of it behind me.

Incredibly nice to come home and have dinner ready to go in the new midsized crock-- we were actually able to eat at 7:30 for a change. And it was wonderful! True, the pork didn't exactly slice, more like shattered (what do you expect, when the recipe says 6 hours and you give it 10?) but they call this kind of thing "pulled pork" these days, and this version was tender, juicy, flavorful and very entertaining heat-wise. I pronounce it, and mamma-crock, a success.

Folded a huge heap of Bill's big whites, plus the semi-weekly towel wash. Also getting back into the routine of doing a swish/swipe of his bathroom twice a week. Actually, now that I think on it, I've been doing very well with my basic daily and weekly routines thus far this month (knock knock). Let's hear it for Routines-- they are easier to do with each iteration, and not just the habit part-- the job itself is easier when it was done the day before. The sink is the perfect example of this. There is true genius in this FL system. Nice to be reminded.

Spent the whole day at work trying to get my new comupter up and running. Much crawling around on the floor, plugging and unplugging, installing and reinstalling. Everyone assumes I'm some sort of uber-geek and can do it all myself. Hah! UNlike FL, each iteration of this song-and-dance becomes more complicated and excruciating. True, the individual pieces (CPU, monitor, etc.) become smaller and lighter to heft around. But maybe that is not such a good thing-- I have no excuse to beg for help from larger, mightier people. And so I am quite literally bone-tired. And muscle-tired.

Ah well, enough whining. I think I have the stuff I need for Da Project working on the new machine. But there was no time to visit Special Collections. I am starting to panic. Just over 30 days. If I put in 2 hours per day, that's 60 hours... is that enough?? It will have to be. Right.

Glad to hear Ben is feeling better today. (Thanks, Marty. And take care of yourself, too, please.) Alas, Bill is feeling worse again. He sounded terrible this morning, and I could hear him sneezing from the other end of the house. He is quite cranky about this development, and took himself to bed early tonight. Everyone in the library who has had this "cold" complains about how it just refuses to let go. The most recent cold snap is probably what's triggering this recent relapse, so that dampens my usual enthusiasm for wintery weather.

Look forward to hearing about tomorrow's shopping adventures, Mom. I had forgotten about the "Don't go any faster than old Bessie can trot" part of the story. Imagine if people had stuck to that! Probably be a kinder and gentler world in some respects. It all seems to be going faster at exponential rates.

It's always fun for me to read my blog entry the next day, because I'll have no memory of what my fingers said.

Meanwhile, we'll pick up 1952 again. Warning: like some comic strips, the next few entries are re-runs from the Iowa Trip Diary-- apparently I copied one from another, but not sure which. There are some more original entries once we got back. Eighth Grade. Julia's age. Can anyone doubt that kids grow up much faster these days?

Friday, July 25, 1952
207th Day--159 Days to Follow

Dear Diary
This morning we left Doc's place at about 5:00 A.M. We ate Breakfast in Lexington. We went on into Mo. and went thru the Mark Twain. It was very nice. We had lunch in Keokuk, Ia. We arrived in Birmingham at about 4. Lillie was surprised to see us. We had supper. We are sleeping in the basement with Dan. We saw fireflys.

[nothing for July 26-28]

Tuesday, July 29, 1952
211th Day-- 155 Days to Follow

Dear Diary
This morning we slept in laate cause Dan didn't wake us up. When we got up no one was around. We had to fix our own breakfast. I fixed up a pair of stilts for my doll. I walk on the ones Pa fixed up. We read in the paper about some flying saucers over Iowa. Went over to the cemetary & saw our ansestors graves. Suzy