Here and Now

Gainesville

Back into the Tank after over a week on dry land. Always a rude awakening. Good thing I had a meeting of sorts to go to: "Tuesdays with Tom," a newly established weekly session with the Library's webmaster. (I brokered the deal to get him to take the job when I was chair of a search committee that struck out after two rounds.) It was the first event ever held in one of the new training rooms in the new Library West. Of course, despite the extreme high tech, there were glitches, and lots of running around at the start. But Tom, a movie fan, rose to the occasion and put on an amazing show of ad libs, patter, banter with the programmers in the audience, impressions (this tiny room that seats 24 at best has a microphone!) and still managed to convey a whole lot of information. It was an exciting bravura performance, and made my day.

Since I was over in the Palace anyway, I paid a visit to Bill's new office-- the first time I'd seen it with him in it. One of the other Dirs came in and pointed at me, saying "Short! There she is, she's SHORT!" Well, yeah. But he was doing the military thing where whenever anyone has their date to get the hell out, they become SHORT! as in short-timer, and there is a number tha goes with it. The number, in my case (in case you were wondering, and of course you were) is 25:23:30 and change, according to the Tank web page.

We got home around 6:45, Bill offered to call for pizza, I refused. Started thawing a pound of ground lamb, took a 10 minute nap, then made some completely amazing lamburgers that included red onion, cumin, orange juice and zest, soy sauce and cilantro. Broiled them. Two thumbs and a claw way up. Steamed some pre-sliced zucchini and yellow squash with mint, and had a mixed butter lettuce salad. By 7:45. Not bad.

Nice that things are getting done in your space, Mom. It's good you have such good friends and relatives to help. I'm trying to picture which part of your yard the new stuff is happening.

And I'm glad you found more of late 1984 to continue that saga. I picked up on that at once. The day-to-day stuff really does create a sense of what it was like being there, then. Let that be a lesson to all of us to keep on blogging, to leave a trace of what it's like being here, now.

Here and now, it's time to sleep.