Too Long (Some Would Say)

Gainesville

Another workday under the bridge, and next week off. Ah yes. And I did finish up that last drawer of the last file cabinet. This is a huge relief. Again, using the timer made it possible for me to make a start, and once going, to work as fast as possible and not get bogged down in reading all that old stuff, all of it at least 15 years old. When I get back to work again week after next, I'll start going through the boxes that I moved from my previous office in the South Tower, and never opened in the nearly three years since then.

Very long day-- We left the house at 8:00 this morning, didn't get home til 7:00. The opening of the new building, scheduled for next Tuesday, has had to be postponed indefinitely (actually, about a week or two at most). Bill is especially unhappy, because he told them all along they should not publicize an opening date-- and it was in the Gainesville paper today.

Fortunately, some REALLY bad campus news pushed us off the front page: the College of Arts and Sciences is some $9 million in debt. This is NOT supposed to happen, so quite a scandal. I'm especially troubled that my friend John Ronan's job at the writing center may fall through, and that funding for next year's comics conference won't be forthcoming, so there is truly nothing "fortunate" about it.

Dentist appointment to replace old two fillings was arduous and expensive-- and she thinks they'll need a crown eventually. She's got to be the most expensive dentist in town, but I like her and think she does good work. And for a mouthful of working teeth that look good too, I'll keep investing. Didn't feel much like doing any errands afterwards, though, so just came home and went back to work.

Mel still wasn't back from vacation, Outback was crowded, and dinner service was abyssmaly slow. No rain yesterday or today. We forgot to mark the caladiums that had come up, so the yard guys mowed them down Wednesday morning. The rain later that afternoon should help them bounce back, I hope.

Good grief, this post is mostly gloom and doom! But you see me tonight with a still-legal smile (cue the John Prine) as I enjoy my SeeThru and its splendiferous olive. Speaking of which, my first self-ordered shipment of olives arrived yesterday! Baby, I'm a rich girl. So there are snippets of good news here and there.

My mention of the Grapvine adventure certainly struck a chord with those of us who experienced it-- six comments! Chris, I'm sorry I forgot you were along; you were such a good kid, all of nine years old. Sandy, you're right about the movie. I loved Carol Lynley, who was my favorite Seventeen magazine model under her real name, Carolyn Lee, so remember it well. Mom, our full unofficial designation for that classic 55 Chevy was "charcoal and tomato soup." I know I was in love with that car, and think Sandy was too. Dad was less than thrilled.

I changed and laundered the towels tonight. Need to write a couple of bills and make a basic meal plan for the week. Somehow it's always harder when I have the week off. I think I'm going to break all the rules and make a crock pot thing tomorrow (have all the stuff for one I didn't do Wednesday) and shop Sunday.

Speaking of which, I'm really interested in Leanne's latest offering-- 22 make-ahead and freeze meals. That is exactly what I need to get me through til R-Day. I just hate coming home late, exhausted, and having to put something on the table that needs a lot of mis en place and timing calculation. I tried all day to buy the thing, but I think their server has been overwhelmed by the demand. When I get hold of it finally, I'll let you know what it's like.

Mom, take note that when you don't exercise is when you feel the most exhausted. And please don't fall down that rabbit hole of trying to make the perfect computer system to manage your finances. Doesn't work. Simple is best, and the simpler it is, the more likely you are to keep at it. As you've observed, all the effort put into setting them up never pays off. One of Bill's favorite sayings is "Why keep running the same experiment and expect different results?" But we all do it. Nordic has a track record (heh) of success. Computerized financial management has a track record of failure. Don't waste your time.

And that's quite enough out of me for now. Some would say more than enough