Official

Gainesville

Tonight, at midnight EDT (less than an hour from now) I become officially retired. I will take the shrinkwrap off my So Many Splendid Sundays book to celebrate. I won't take a close look at it til tomorrow, though, when there is good light.

I unloaded the boxes from Blue's bed today, and they all stacked nicely underneath one small section of the big table in the Great Room. Not so bad! I'm hoping the books we pick up tomorrow morning will fit in one or two rows on the floor in front of the windows, leaving at least a small amount of floor space in there. Enough for a very small, single square dance, with room to spare for the cat to yark (her favorite spot, alas). Then begins the journey of a thousand 15-minute segments to recover the real estate. How handy that next week is the Entrance/Dining Room area-- that's how I've always defined the Great Room. It's also the perpetual candidate for the 5 Minute Room Rescue. I've rescued it before, I can do it again.

As previously noted, today's Gator game started at 3:30. I didn't make it out during the prescribed window to shop. Not to worry: I had a ham slice and some frozen corn in the freezer, and a European cuke in the fridge-- the latter I sliced thinly unpeeled, soaked in brine, drained most of brine, added rice vinegar til it was right, then added minced scallion and fresh dill. Came out pretty good for a change. A simple but fine meal.

A few snippits from yesterday that got lost:

The Systems gang gave me a gift of a fleece throw with the most garish gator emblem imaginable. I love it! The cat and I had a glorious late afternoon couch-nap under it today.

Walking back from lunch, Bill fell into a conversation with one of our young programmers about World of Warcraft, the current hot game they're both involved in. Sounds like complete gibberish to the uninitiated, and even I had trouble following it. There was a student walking in front of us, who kept turning around to look at them, and each time he did, his smile got wider, as did is eyes. He finally said something to them in the same lingo, and gave them an awe-struck thumbs-up gesture. Probably took Bill for a prof, and wished he had this incredibly cool guy for a class.

Ah. According to my computer, it's now October 1, 2006. I'm a free man in Paris. (Okay, so it's a free woman in Gainesville, but close enough.) Let Little Nemo loose!