I Don't Really Fit In

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 29, 2004 — So the main thing I did today was substitute for a tennis team in their match. I don't really fit in with these gals. They are sort of fluff, they seem to belong to the country club whereas I just joined. I live seven minutes away but I'll bet none of them live that far away. They are nice to me. Just because they are nice folks, probably, or because I sub for their team or because I managed to help win one set (while losing).

I should have done something more after the tennis. Three sets of doubles uses fitness but doesn't do much to add to fitness. But I went to lunch with the gals. We all sat around driving our waiter crazy.

When I got home I stuck into packing then showered and started doing laundry. I tried to sit down and read the papers but kept getting interrupted. FFP cooked some dinner. I ate it and cleaned up the dishes. We were folding the second load of laundry when we the lights went off. We stumbled around until we each found a flashlight and then we found more flashlights and I went out front and the neighbors across the street said theirs were out, too. FFP went to call the city and sat on hold until the lights came back on. Then we went around booting computers until we were back to normal. Well except for setting electric clocks. We started watching TV and I tried to read the papers, work a couple of puzzles. I didn't stay up as late as usual but still pretty late.

Dad and me, Spring 2003

Too Little of Something

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 28, 2004 — It wasn't that great a day for me. Why? Motivation I guess. I did write my article. First draft before I went to substitute in a tennis workout. I wasn't that great at tennis.

I didn't do anything else at the club after it was over. Just went home, sat around in sweaty clothes fiddling with things on the computer.

The maid came before I showered. So I told her to clean elsewhere while I got a shower. I then stayed in my office, fiddling with the budget and staying out of her way.

And the day was gone...Dad came over and the three of us went to meet a couple of friends and have a nice dinner and wine at Eastside. Only...I probably drank too much wine. At home I watched a little tube, read, worked on the computers upstairs. The usual. I felt useless and out of sorts.

Too Much of Something

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 27, 2004 — Felt all day like I was overwhelmed. But with what? I did the most mundane things.

Got to water aerobics almost on time. FFP asked me a question just as I was climbing into the car from the garage.

After the glass I did a brief 'ride and read' in the gym and went home. Had a lot of time before my interview at 2PM. Just wasted it. I might have read a little. I had what passed for a breakfast and a lunch.

I spent two hours on the interview. The woman wasn't rushing me, in fact she was inviting me to stick around a while. When I was done I went by the post office and Randall's and by Eckerd's to return the cereal bars.

At home I helped FFP with some things on the computer, we ate supper and I ate snacks. I drank a Guinness. I watched mindless TV and tried to read in my chair. I continued watching mindless TV in bed. The beer made me fuzzy, I think. And the candy. Sometimes I think alcohol and sweets are bad ideas.

once for sale on ebay

Where is My Head?

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 26, 2004 — Seemed to be a day when I wondered where I was and what thoughts I'd just had and how they fit together. Hard to describe. Maybe I'm losing my mind? Maybe not. I was fooling around with my XP machine trying to figure out what a mysterious process was doing. That will make you feel like you are losing your mind.

Got up at a reasonable hour. In the spirit of being sort of lost and mixed up I was walking into the gym at the club wondering what day it was. Sunday, of course. After I got home from the gym, I ate, washed dishes, went to Eckerd's. I bought two boxes of food bars. Later, I'd open them and find that the bars weren't sealed inside, like the machine didn't seal the foil so they were stuck to the bottom of the box. Scary. Mixed up day, consuming defective merchandise. I searched the WEB for info on some things I'm considering learning, buying. And to find out about this process I didn't recognize that was running on my computer.

I went over to my dad's house and went through a few more things and got some stuff that I'm going to give away, hopefully a freecycle person will pick up tomorrow. Must. Get. Rid. of Stuff. Looking through Mom's old stuff is disorienting.

The day just kind of disappeared. I watched part of a DVD, tried to read some of the papers, kept thinking I was forgetting something. Then it was time to go out to dinner with some friends. We had an enjoyable time catching up with them. They have had some problems with their parents' health, have been on some trips, planning more, saw the opera the night we did, are building a big house, have been trying to exercise and lose weight. We just exchanged stories. The restaurant 7 had pretty good food but the concept of ala carte fish, preparation, sauce, vegies just gave too many choices. I didn't feel like I ate a lot but came home feeling stuffed. (Probably because I ate snacks in the afternoon!)

Came home and watched tube and read.

a great old French poster

Chores

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 25, 2004 — Some days you have to do things like laundry, getting your house in order in various ways. That used to always be Saturday or Sunday. Just so happens today was Saturday.

FFP had started laundry last night. I continued this morning, including stripping the bed and putting the sheets in the laundry. I decided that I would also straighten up some things, think about packing for next Friday's departure for Littleon. Besides having a workout, reading newspapers and going to Zach Scott tonight, that is.

FFP goes to work out. I goof off with the computer, TV, newspapers, coffee, have breakfast. He gets ready to take his parents to a funeral in Lockhart. I fold laundry, put some pictures in albums, sort stuff. Finally, around 11:30, I decide I will go to the gym and get that done. I have a pretty long workout.

When I get home I get something to eat and clean up after myself. I fold the sheets I've washed and dried and post some stuff salvaged from Mom's house on Austin Freecycle. I sort through a few drawers and file some photos. I shower up and snack a bit and get ready to go to see a Zach Scott production with SuRu so FFP can watch the football game.

SuRu and I are early. We have a glass of wine outside and talk. We enjoy the play although we don't stay after for the discussion. At home I read a bit and watch a DVD from Netflix. And. Sleep.

a tiny store selling tiny things

Digging for Treasure

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 24, 2004 — Today's job was to pack some of my mother's stuff to take to my sister's house. I popped up and rushed off the the gym first to get a reasonable start on the day. I had time to eat some cereal, shower, get together tape and markers and bubble wrap and such.

I met SuRu at Dad's at nine or so. He went off to play games at church with his friends. I attacked some miniature displays and items that I knew my sister wanted and then moved on to other stuff she was just going to get. I pulled everything out of the closet in the sewing room. We tossed some stuff, I pulled out a few things to keep (very few), a few things to try to give away on Freecycle. It took all day. (Well, we worked until nearly three with a lunch break.) SuRu helped pack and tape boxes and carry out garbage. I tried to decide what to do with a plethora of tiny craft things. I didn't find much treasure, just a cache of interesting things now and then and a few old things that my sister will probably like, sentimental value and all. I think I have about a van load, leaving room for our luggage. SuRu kept saying "I'm going to go home and throw stuff away!" and "You should go home and throw stuff away!" Too true.

Dad was home when we came home from lunch but he slept in his chair mostly and declared that we were doing a good job.

I got home around three. The maid was here again and then she wasn't. The bookkeeper, too. I checked e-mail, made some dinner reservations for next week, checked my schedule for next week.

Then I decided it was time to sit and watch TV and read.

I stuffed my face with snacks, drank wine and coffee, watched TV and read papers, talked to FFP.

Free Day?

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 23, 2004 — There is nothing on my calendar when the day starts. I wake up several times but don't get up, make the bed and put on workout clothes until 7:30. It's nearly nine o'clock and I've just been doodling around on the computer, putting up my journal, writing e-mail to the friend I met in Dublin (who is back in Cape Town), and, it turns out, accepting an e-vite to do something tonight because FFP thinks that it will give him a story for one of his on-line newsletters he does for the ballet. (Later I discover that this evite is for next Thursday!) Soon it's almost nine and I haven't even drunk a cup of coffee. So it goes. Nothing to do, do nothing.

It's after ten when I get a second cup of coffee. I linger and meditate over my workout. The book of journal and diary and notebook entries that I'm reading compounds this meditative effect. So I find myself in front of the computer at one o'clock, sweaty, checking e-mail, having not had anything except black coffee and receiving a request from FFP to work some more on a WEB graphic for one of his clients. I do some more work and then I'm really hungry and eat one and a half bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon. I'm full then. Good thing because the maid shows up. She was sick when she was supposed to show up. Her visits are increasingly random. But I don't want to vacuum. I tell her to clean elsewhere while I take a shower. When I get out she is using the long tube on her vacuum to go up and down the tiles in the bonus room. Whatever she does I don't need to do.

I retreat to my office with some papers. I do a simple task for FFP and look at some stuff on the bookkeeper's computer. And so my days go. I'm trying to get all the kinks out of the bookkeeper's computer...fixing disk errors, scanning for spyware, disk compression, scanning for viruses.

We go down at 6PM for the thing I thought was this Thursday which turns out to be next Thursday. We end up in Saba Blue where it is loud with young people drinking funny-colored drinks. I have a beer and FFP has some club soda and we share four so-so appetizers. Then we go home. I discover my mistake on the date and do my mea culpas.

We settle in to watch TV only I watch some upstairs while sorting out the bookkeeper's computer and fixing a backup on FFP's. I read some of the papers. I fall asleep.

take some pictures!

Club Life

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 22, 2004 — Somehow I have to spend all morning at the club. I am still getting up quite early and today is no exception. I'm up and have the bed made by 6:30 or so. FFP is getting ready to go to a meeting. I get ready for three activities at the club: water aerobics, tennis workout and a meeting.

I get there on time for the 8:15 water class after doing a few computer things at home. Dad isn't there. I'm going to call when he drives up. I leave the class a smidge early to shower and change for the 9:30 tennis workout. It is raining but it stops and the coach uses the time to give us some words of wisdom on match strategy. We have a neat lob and doubles strategy workout. Then I rush down to the gym, take another shower, put on some real clothes and go to a meeting of a club committee. I order a lunch and listen to the presentation. By two I'm home and by three I've washed out my bathing suit, put away my gear and answered various e-mails and such.

So there are about three hours before I have to dress and go to some function...Friends of Hospice Austin, that's it. What to do with them? I took books and newspapers and audio tapes and DVDs into the bedroom sitting area. In the end, I watched a DVD and part of another. Read some of the papers.

Got dressed and went to the event. There were lots of people we knew there. It was in a fabulous house but one we'd been to before. We sat outside and listened to some women sing original songs and ate the food and drank the donated wine. A couple of people joined us and we chatted with them. We all went inside to hear the presentations and then retrieved our car from the valet.

"Anyone have a black Lexus?" the valets asked. Then they drove a red Mercedes up but it didn't seem to belong to any of the people waiting. Our 1997 Honda Accord pulled up. I said, "That would be our car, the Honda." We left the crowd on the curb.

At home I read the papers some more and watched a little of the tube but I was falling asleep. I was in bed a little after ten.

once for sale on e-bay

Down but Not Out

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 21, 2004 — I stayed up late but I'm up dead early. I just get up and make the bed. I watch a few scenes from last night's DVD and finish up some newspapers. I work a little on the journal. I drink coffee. I work on backing up and organizing some things on the computer. The usual. I'm near the end of my book so I pick another and take both and go to the club. I do a short workout and go home and shower and eat a snack. I have a lunch date but not until one o'clock. So I do a little reading and thinking before I go to the restaurant.

I enjoy my meal. My lunch buddy was recently run down while crossing a street with a 'WALK' sign. My a Dodge Ram. He has lost some of his sense of taste and smell. Fortunately he could taste most of his lunch. What bad luck! I'm glad he's doing as well as he is, however. It could have been much, much worse.

I'm in a fog when I get home. I desperately want to accomplish something but not just anything. Something I care about. I see our little file of receipts for the budget sitting there and decide to catch up on entering them. Sadly, it actually does make me feel a tiny bit accomplished. It is sad.

I look at a catalog that came in the mail of video and audio courses on sale. I want to really learn a lot more about literature and history. And other things. However, I've already bought courses and books I'm not listening to. Sigh. I spend a few minutes looking through a Fall 2004 Catalog from MoMA Design Store. I think about the several score catalogs I've gotten in the last three weeks. Christmas is coming. But I don't think I'll play.

I'm still at loose ends so I make a packing list for going to Denver at the end of next week. This inspires me to look in this mess for my Denver area maps. And, miracle of miracles, I find them!

This inpsires me for some reason to put some of my photos that are loose in archival sheets in some new notebooks I bought. I lose interest in this when pictures of Red Square depress me for some reason and when FFP sends me something to proofread, a welcome distraction.

Then I think I'll just go in the bedroom and read and watch TV. But something draws me back to the computer to fiddle around with redoing part of a client's WEB page. I play with that a while. I'm not really happy with the result but I figure Forrest will have some advice. I gather up reading material and go off to sit and read in my chair. But FFP is back from a trip to the grocery store. I help him put stuff away and then eat with him.

Finally I'm sitting in my chair with a glass of wine watching TV. And more TV. I think I will read some of the intellectual stuff that I've gathered up but I end up reading the papers and working the crossword puzzles. (Only I can't finish the NY Times one...what kind of theme is Gilligan's Island?)

Finally, sort of late to bed. In spite of the fact that I've been going to bed late I continue to get up early. I like that.

Dubious Accomplishment

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 20, 2004 — I caught up with my journal. Big deal. I played three sets of tennis. (Loser.) I read the newspaper. Ahem.

Yep, that was my exciting day. There was some mindless TV combined with the newspaper.

It is the second anniversary of my retirement, though. So, what I will do is access my two years...feelings, failures, accomplishment. In the daily essay.

Everyone Has Troubles

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 19, 2004 — Today would have been my mom's 83rd birthday. She didn't make it. Only made 80 years and 11 months. We go to a benefit tonight for a chef who is having medical problems. I'm lucky with my health and wealth. I know that.

Got up about 7:30. But I'm lazy and it is nearly noon when I go to the gym. I have been installing some new software on my laptop and working on my journal and dealing with other things on my computer. I intend to ride the bike and then lift some weights. When I get off the bike after thirty minutes, though, I just walk out and leave.

FFP is heating up leftovers when I get home. I'm hungry. I join in. After lunch I shower and basically good off all afternoon. So sue me.

We get ready and go to our benefit at Barr Mansion. It's a benefit for a chef who has come into hard times with health problems. It's eat, drink and watch a movie outdoors. The food is good. We visit with people. We don't really know Roger Mollett. (He was at Central Market, they say.) But we are glad to contribute by coming to this pleasant event. Wine flows, food is passed, food buffets open up. We bid things up in the silent auction. (But don't get anything.)

Outside we spread a Mexican blanket on the grass with some cushions. I lie down most of the time, looking up at the costume drama about Royal excess in 1671. Makes the banqueting I've been doing look tame. We go home and it isn't long before we sleep.

 

Hand...Remembrance Garden, Dublin

Eighty-eight Seems Old

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 18, 2004 — Today is my dad's eighty-eighth birthday. Wow.

I got up and went for a workout. Then I came home and went through the house, tidying things up. Then I sat down and worked on the computer, mostly my journal, until about four. I chopped vegies (which I wouldn't use because someone else brought vegies and dip). I chopped cheese into cubes, washed some grapes. I put some beers and sodas in the frig and I cleaned off the counter in the kitchen and put out some platters.

My dad came over shortly after and we talked. He drank a beer, we both drank some water. Then I started putting out food.

People showed up and came and went. I made the mistake of serving everything in the kitchen. Too much crowding. People seemed to have fun, though. Some ladies from our water aerobics came who hadn't seen the house. Some people from Dad's church came. Buddies of mine who have known Dad for a long time.

When everyone was gone I helped Dad take his presents to the car and I cleaned up. I was tired. But I washed all the glasses and plates and serving things and discarded or put away the leftovers. It's always nice to have a party...and to be finished with it.

myself in fragments

A Grand Life

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 17, 2004 — This being retired is a good life if you don't weaken.

I got up and worked on the computer for a while. Then I stopped in the gym at the club, stopping for a brief chat with the folks in water aerobics, inviting them to my dad's birthday party tomorrow. I did some lifting and stuff for a few minutes in the gym and then went up to the pro shop. I put on my sunscreen, got a towel, went to the bathroom and got water. I met up with some folks and played doubles. I'm going to play with these people next Monday.

After we play, everyone is all atwitter because the Davis Cup team is working out. Yep, there is Andy Roddick without a shirt. A lot of the people hang around but I go home. (Boy those boys hit the ball hard.)

I shower up and to to Sam's Club and Whole Foods. It's hot, hot, hot. So I take a cooler bag with ice to keep the stuff from Sam's while I shop at Whole Foods.

At home I work on my journal some after putting away the food. Then we get dressed and go to the opera. Austin Lyric Opera is doing Tosca. I have to say, it's one of the best operas I've ever seen. Truly Grand. Everybody dies, of course.

myself in fragments

A Bit of a Letdown

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 16, 2004 — Once the bags are unpacked and the guide books and things are in unorganized piles and the life of home is back in bloom, there is a bit of a letdown. But I was OK. I had a short workout at a reasonable hour, I managed a trip to Central Market in the extreme heat. (They have reorganized the store and I like it even less than I used to. Still they have some products that are hard to get elsewhere. I didn't get everything I need for Dad's party so tomorrow I'll have to make it to Sam's or Whole Foods or both.)

I hit the wall in the evening again. I watched some old M*A*S*H episodes and a tape of the final Six Feet Under episode of the season. I read some newspapers and dozed. FFP made catfish but I'd been snacking on hot tofu dip and tortilla chips and I'd had a big lunch and I had some cereal later with nonfat yogurt which I'd just bought.

We went to bed rather late but I had the feeling that I was going to be up early again.

Georgian Door

I feel refreshed until I hit the wall...

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 15, 2004 — When I fly east I seem to ease into the time zone. But when I fly west, I wake up early and hit a brick wall in the afternoon.

Today was no exception. In spite of not getting home until nearly midnight and then dawdling around looking at e-mail and unpacking a little bit, I was up at the crack of dawn. I seemed to be efficiently humming along. I even got to water aerobics at 8:30. (The class started at 8:15 and I could have been on time but I forgot it was Wednesday when class starts fifteen minutes early. My dad had left a message with Forrest that he expected me in this class.) So. I did the rest of the class. I showered, rode the bike a little bit, came home and showered again. I'd had a shower before bed. All these showers felt great. About three showers are necessary to shed the horror of air travel today. (OK, it wasn't that bad. But it isn't fun either.)

At home I got everything unpacked, started laundry, worked on our personal budget, sent e-mails about a party for my bad on Saturday. I cooked some spinach that looked a little old for salads and some chicken FFP thawed, making a sauce of some canned spiced and diced tomatoes, anchovies, capers, garlic, onions, olive oil and some fresh tomatoes. FFP went to a Ballet Austin board meeting, first having a bite of the food. I had hit a wall. I dozed, watched TV, read. Very, very sleepy.

Guinness Storehouse

The Longest Day

DUBLIN, Ireland to AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 14, 2004 — Go across six time zones and prolong your day! I've taken to getting later flights to leave Europe a few times in the last few years. It's nice not to have to get up and get to the airport at six in the morning or something. But, of course, it's almost tomorrow when you get home. Especially if you don't favor close connections.

So my flight isn't until 2:45 and my friend's is a bit later. I wake up amidst a dream of a reunion where there were candy roses, where I hadn't paid my money. People were on stilts and high scaffolding and I found myself having to try to get down. I get up and shower and finish putting things in my bags. We go to breakfast after I've already had a little cheese and coffee. We have to check out of the room at 10 but we don't need to go to the airport until around noon. We check out and put our bags in the clock room of the conference center and go see a multi-media slide show called The Dublin Experience. It's OK, an interesting recap of the sights and history. It is, like much tourism in Dublin, rather naive in an odd and sweet way. (This sweet innocence is tempered by fairly high prices for things.) After the show we got our bags, went down to Dawson Street to a cab stand and got a cab straightaway. She waited while I checked in my flight. We went to a coffee shop outside secruity then I waited while she checked in hers. We were a little unsure of the drill and were directed to opposite security entrances. So we said goodbye and had a hug and went separate ways. I decided to find my gate and a bathroom and then try to find her. I thought I had lots of time although they said the boarding was 1:45. It turned out, when I found the gate (around in a spiral and down some stairs) that you had to go through U.S. Immigration to get to it. There was a line so I thought I should go on and navigate it. I was hoping there was a restroom and maybe some food beyond this point. There was. I had a draft Guinness in a bottle and some crisps sitting on a bar stool in a tiny snack bar. The gate chairs were full. Soon we boarded.

I was seated next to a large, youngish man who couldn't stop moving. His legs went up and down. He fidgeted. On takeoff he snapped pictures out the window with a disposable camera He punched at a handheld Electronic poker game. He retrieved two photos from his bag and attached them to the clip that holds the tray table. He was so weird that I didn't want to make eye contact. (The photos? I glanced over. One of two small children with an older woman. One of a younger woman in a shawl.) Even when he slept his leg went up and down. A man on the aisle forward a couple of rows had the same leg-twitching behavior. There were a number of children on the almost full flight including several crying (that didn't bother me) and one who never stopped moving in a row up across the aisle. She would try to escape the row but if I looked at her she fled back to her mother.

I tried to retreat into myself. I closed my eyes and forced sleep. I put on my headphones and concentrated on stupid TV. I worked a stack of old crossword puzzles. They served a terrible meal. I had some of the really bad chicken, veg and potatoes. They did serve a tiny portion of Irish cheese and crackers. I supplemented with some Laughing Cow triangles and a Luna Bar.

Somehow I made the seven hours without screaming. The 'breakfast' was a hard as stone scone in cello. I rejected it. I was thinking that if I got off that plane I didn't care what happened.

I had a long layover in Chicago. When we touched down there was a flight in an hour and ten minutes to Austin. I wasn't on that one. Mine took off in almost four hours. We took a while to get off the plane. (I was in the back.) We didn't have to stand in line for immigration because we did that in Dublin. That just meant that before a single bag arrived the entire flight of people was hovering around the belt. And they all seemed to have lots of giant bags. But I had a long layover. So I calmly waited until I saw my small bag and retrieved it. We sailed through customs. There was a line to recheck bags with American. Actually there were several lines and it was confusing. But...who cares, after all, long layover.

I finally get through the line where they screen the bag for bomb stuff which they seem to be doing to each and every bag. I find the train to the other terminal and go through security. My flight isn't posted yet. The earlier one to Austin, though, is in this subordinate-looking L terminal. I find a place to eat and drink. Ah. It's a Wolfgang Puck thing. The food and the wine actually taste good. After I finish I do see my flight posted. I think, "I'll bet my bag went on the other flight." I get a bottle of water and go to the gate. I doze. There are announcements about the control tower being out in Southern California and they are rescheduling people. But it isn't going to affect us. I didn't get my upgrade. It is just as well, though. The plane isn't very full. The seat next to me is empty. I go to sleep before we take off and refuse all service and sleep.

In Austin I get to the baggage carrousel and there is Forrest. I'd told him he didn't have to come to the airport but I'm glad he did. Dealing with a surly taxi driver at this hour doesn't sound pleasant. One bag is coming off for our flight but I walk over to American's baggage office and there is my bag. A worker comes out and says, "Ms. Ball." "They put it on the earlier flight, didn't they?" I say. "Yes."

And we are quickly in the car and home. I unpack a few things, shower and finally get to bed. It's tomorrow and the day has been thirty hours long.

 

self protrait of the traveler

Last Full Tourist Day

DUBLIN, Ireland, Sept. 13, 2004 — There is something about that last full tourist day that makes you feel weird. It's the last chance to catch something and if it is closed or the weather is forbidding. You are starting to feel comfortable with finding your way around, with the plumbing in the bathroom, with your place in this spot. And tomorrow you will walk away and, maybe, never return again. You will see your friend again, surely. But you never know. You don't have it planned.

We have breakfast and I head out to the National Museum. My buddy is going to nurse her swollen eye with a compress. The museum was nice. They have a Vermeer and a lot of interesting paintings. I enjoy seeing paintings, deciding what I like, trying to relate it to all the other museums I've seen. I peruse the shop and then go check out a bunch of bookstores. I don't buy any more books, though.

I go back to the room, have a snack lunch and we head to the Docklands. There is a strong wind. Our goal is to see the Famine Memorial. I joke that that's why I had to stuff myself first. The gaunt figures including a dog commemorate the potato famine of 1846-1850. It was dedicated during my parents' visit in 1997. They had told me about seeing it after one of their tourmates happened on the dedication and came and showed it to them. We walk on down the Quay. Lots of construction but we can't see anything else to see.

We head back. I go check e-mail and went to another bookstore. When I get back Mags calls her son's friend and agrees to meet at six. He was stymied by the traffic yesterday and had left his cell phone at home. He recommends that we meet at a Brewley's on O'Connell street. We dutifully go there at six and we can sit inside and watch the bus stops and pedestrians. It's very chaotic and crowded. A little after six he arrives and walks us back past his work place to where his car is parked. We take off for a drive to the south part of the bay. We arrive at the Martello tower that is a Joyce musuem about dusk. We get out and walk around a bit. Paul thinks the area looks a bit like the part of the Cape where Mags lives in South Africa. He was there on his way to her son's wedding in Namibia. I'm amazed at how these kids fly all over the place for each other's weddings.

We drive some more, up high so we can see the lights of Dublin. There are emergency vehicles all over but we never know why. This part of the bay is really pretty. He shows us the area where Bono has a house and where Jim Sheridan lived until recently (In America). Oddly I've been reading a book by his brother about their family growing up. (Peter Sheridan's 44: Dublin Made Me).

Paul takes us to a pub called The Morgue and we have dinner and he returns us to the college where we pack up and get ready for departure tomorrow.

Martello tower where Joyce actually stayed and Buck and Stephen were placed in Ulysses

Guinness Fan

DUBLIN, Ireland, Sept. 12, 2004 — My friend Mags woke up with a swollen eye. She says it doesn't hurt but it's so puffy it's almost shut. We have breakfast and decide that I'll make the trek to the Guinness Storehouse and she will perhaps just take the bus tour later. I decide to do the bus tour again and use it as transportation to a couple of sights.

Who knew there was a sport called 'hurling' that involved running up and down a field batting a ball around? Well Dublin is full of people sporting the colors of Cork (red and white) and Kilkenny (black and gold) and it is the All Irish championship of this amateur sport. I ride the tour bus along getting more and more oriented to the city just as my visit is ending. I get off at the Guinness Storehouse which is a big exhibit of brewing in an old brewery. It is not actually a brewery tour. I pay my admission, a hefty twelve € and some in spite of a discount for arriving on the tour bus. The exhibits are not much, really, just antique equipment, old adverstising, multimedia about Guinness the man and the history and how the brewing is done. However, there are many opportunities for weird digital photos. And, once you spend the thousand dollars to get here, have a place to sleep and all that, what's a few dollars more? The price does include a pint, though, and that is worth about four €. I go to the top of the thing where there are 360 degree views of Dublin. The barkeep tops the pint with a flourish...there is a little four leaf clover shape in the foam. It tastes fantastic. I guess this is 'going to the source.'

The place is supposed to look like a pint and it is all the more convincing with the spatters of rain dripping on the rounded glass windows. There are Joyce quotes printed on the window, too. I am sitting with some guys from Glasgow and they start a conversation. I have a lot of trouble understanding one of them. His friend seems to know that and sort of translates. They've just popped over yesterday for the weekend. Said their flight was empty on 9/11.

After I finish my drink, I walk around and take in all the views. I go to the gift shop and buy a few souvenirs...a postcard to send Dad, a cap and pin for him and a dish towel (my personal favorite souvenir. I caught the jump on and off tour bus again and then got off at the Irish Museum of Modern Art which is in an old psychiatric hospital. I saw some interesting paitings and then decided to hustle off to the rooms at the college because we had a rendezvous with a friend of Mags' son at five. There was a lot of traffic because of the hurling match. I got off near O'Connell bridge and walked back to Grafton Street and checked e-mail. Got a discount at the Internet Cafe from the tour, too. I went back and had some snacks in the room (a pint of Guinness isn't a proper lunch!) and we got ready and went to the front gate of the college to wait for the rendezvous. It is breezy and rainy but I have my anorak on and watching the people is interesting. The hurling match is over and there are people all about cheering for Cork or just walking and driving and trying to get somewhere. We wait for almost an hour and no one appears. Mags goes back to get the guy's phone number. Then they start shutting the gate so I go back in and meet her coming back. We phone his cell but get answering service. We say we are waiting at this other gate. But it's cold and rainy and we give up and go eat and go back to read and relax.

famine dog and my shadow

Irish Writers and Irish History

DUBLIN, Ireland, Sept. 11, 2004 — After breakfast, we set out for sights that are historical and literary. First stop is the spire (technically the 'Monument of Light'), which replaced the Nelson column blown up by the IRA, and the statue of James Joyce nearby in Earl Street North. Then we go to the James Joyce Cultural Center. We watch a video and view displays of books, artifacts and artists' renderings of Joyce. I buy some books and postcards. Then we head to Parnell Square. First stop is the Garden of Remembrance. It is dedicated to everyone who 'died for Irish freedom.' However, it is mostly a dedication to the dead in the Easter Rising of 1916, I think. However the weapons represented in the tile work are ancient. Maggie thinks guns would be more appropriate. The statue depicts some myth of children being changed into swans. Okay. It works if you think about it, I guess. The little garden is peaceful. Two women tourists look at a guidebook in a language I don't recognize. An old man pulls a tattered volume from a sack and begins reading. Two workmen sit quietly in the back, taking a break and smoking.

We go across the street to the Dublin Writer's Museum. We are told of a one-man performance a little later about Irish writers and decide to take that in, too. We do the audio guide of Irish Writing exhibits for the last thousand years. We have lunch in the cafe. We browse the bookstore. I buy a postcard. But actually one of Malahide Castle. Where we were yesterday. I failed to buy one there. I have this rule that I don't buy postcards of things I haven't seen. Truthfully I like the season and point of view to be correct. But that isn't a hard and fast rule. My friend makes fun of this tendency. When she discovered it on our first trip together, she started helping screen the cards. At the Addo Game Park near Port Elizabeth we had been on game drives and seen elephants and elands, sat in the bird blind watching some colorful birds, taken a swim in the pool provided near the cabin where we stayed. She pointed out one of those 'survey' postcards with an array of small pictures showing a local bird, elephants, other animals and the pool and said, "Here, you've seen it all. You even swam in the pool. Buy this one." I really like buying postcards and, in fact, since we saw the Oscar Wilde statue we have been on a mission to find it on a card. We finally did, too.

We enjoy the show with quotes from different Irish literature woven into Irish history. The guy asks everyone where they are from afterward. Most of the people are from England. He can't quite figure out how the Texan and the Scot living in South Africa fit in.

We went back to the room for a rest and then I went out and checked e-mail and located Davy Brynes, the pub where Leopold Bloom was given a lunch of a gorgonzola sandwich and a burgundy by James Joyce. I want to drink a Guinness there. I go back and get Mags and we go do just that. She watches while I drink. Although I take an incriminating picture of her with the empty. I must say that I really do like the taste of Guinness. At least on tap here in its home. We try to go to Fitzer's to eat yet again but they don't have any tables inside and it's chilly. We wander around and find a place called 20 Restaurant. Decorated like a seafood place it actually serves Italian and Persian food. (I have a lamb curry.) A guitar player and singer entertain with standards. It's actually quite pleasant. Then we head in for sleep. September 11 has gone unremarked, I only notice when I make dated notes in my notebook.

Joyce seems to gaze at the spire

A Castle, A Church

DUBLIN, Ireland, Sept. 10, 2004 — The fair weather is gone. We have breakfast and are off to ride the DART and go to Malahide Castle. We went to Pearse Station and purchased a ticket that included admission to the castle and a round trip on the train. We caught the right train and got to Malahide. There we didn't find any signs about how to get to the castle. We asked some passersby and they gave us directions but we seemed to be wandering about in a park with golf courses and woods and playing fields and playgrounds. We did see a few signs pointing to the castle but as soon as we were reassured we would become doubtful. Didn't take that long to get there but the poor signs (and no distances) made one feel unsure.

We toured the castle with a group. There were recordings in the rooms. The restrooms were quite posh but the castle itself seemed to be struggling to maintain. It wasn't an astounding place except for the close association of the Talbot family which owned it until 1973 when estate taxes forced the final family member, an unmarried woman, to sell it and move to Tasmania. (We were apprised by a live guide to note a family portrait that had this woman in it as a young girl...she looked defiant with her legs splayed seemingly unhappy to be in a frilly dress.)

We visited a toy museum nearby but gave a miss to the model railway museum. When we got back to the station we'd just missed a train to Pearse station so we waited for one to Connolly. We had a bit of time in the waiting room. A woman asked when the train was coming and I went out and looked at the electronic sign and said, "Five minutes."

"You from the States?" she asks.

"Yes."

"Where?"

"Texas. Austin, Texas."

Whereupon she did a brief soliloquy.

"We're wealthier now than we were. Not the government or the teachers. Plumbers and tradesmen. One should have married a tradesman. Married anyone. Now you don't have to marry them to lie with them, though. But we are richer. Irish used to emmigrate. Now Nigerians come here. It's the second wave of Nigerians. Where in Texas do you come from? Galveston? Houston?"

"Austin, the capital of Texas."

"Oh, yes, I know. I know my geography."

We got up to catch the train. My friend Mags, a Scot who emmigrated to Canada and then South Africa said nothing. It would take too long to explain. The woman then added, "Watch you money in Dublin."

We boarded a different car than the Irishwoman who should have married anyone.

This train only went so far as Connolly Station so I had to pull out my favorite little map and navigate back via the Custom House to the college. I went off to check my e-mail and Mags went to phone a friend of her son. We met up again in the rooms and decided to go shopping (Mags had decided she needed some clothes) and to St. Patrick's. We went to Marks and Spencers on Grafton Street and she found what she needed and we walked to St. Pat's. We paid a good sum to go inside even with the Senior price they gave us. We walked around looking at the memorials and artifacts and then the choir practiced some and then exited and came back for Evensong. A religious service but you have to pay to enter. I read my book some, looked down at the tile. The singing in the big cathedral was nice but Mags wanted to leave and I followed. She said she was falling asleep and didn't want to fall out of the chair. I don't suppose there is an etiquette to leaving a church service you have to pay to enter. We decided to walk through the Temple Bar area. There are some old and quaint pubs here and lots of night life. We crossed Ha'Penny bridge and then crossed the next bridge and found a fish and chip place and had dinner.

We headed back to the rooms, declaring it a full day. As we've been wandering around we see these brass plaques in the sidewalk that quote some part of Joyce's Ulysses that occurred on the spot. Makes me wish I'd actually read the book.

skateboarders look at Dublin Bay

My Friend Arrives

DUBLIN, Ireland, Sept. 9, 2004 — I get up at about seven. I'm feeling good after lots of sleep. I had a nice shower last night so I just try to pat down my unruly hair and dress and go to breakfast. We have a continental breakfast included with the lodging. My friend's plane was due in at 8:30 or so and I figured it would take an hour or so to get out of the airport and get here. After breakfast I read for a while in the room and then decided it would be fun to sit outside in the sun and read and watch for her. I moved to the shade a few times and then it was too cool. From both the shady and sunny spots I can see people coming to or from the accommodation office so I know I won't miss her. Finally, I decide that I should go back to rooms and go check the Internet. It's almost eleven and I really expected her by now. I go to the room, leave a note and come back. As I walk back across the cobblestones I see my friend coming into the square, looking around for where to go.

We get her checked in and luggage up in the rooms and go to Brewley's on Grafton Street and have some soup and catch up. I didn't do the tour of the college or the Book of Kells yesterday because I knew Mags would want to do it. So we join a tour straightaway. The day is sunny and pleasant. Our tour guide wears shorts, a tank top, sunglasses and flip flops. Trinity college is so old. It is so hard to imagine the many years going by (the college was founded by Elizabeth I in 1592 and the oldest surviving building is from the 1700's) leading up to this student with the volleyball wear. He tells us about the campanile (built in 1853) and the main buildings and chapel; he tells us about the enormous trees...that they are Oregon maples (I'd been wondering) and are 150 years old; we see the modern '60s Berkeley library next to the Museum building (1857) with the sphere within the sphere by Arnaldo Pomodoro between them; we hear about the old library and Book of Kells and other illuminated works. We go in and tour the Book of Kells exhibit and the old libary which houses 200,000 antiquarian books in a two story, barrel-ceiling room 210 feet long. Unfortunately you can't take photos although I sent FFP a postcard. In the book of Kells display they were also displaying a page from the Book of Durrow and it was an illustration of a cow with its hooves looking like high-heeled shoes to me. Illuminated manuscripts are fascinating. One book might take a hundred calf skins!

We take a rest and they go out for a walk. We go by a convenience store for some fruit and have a piece. We walk to Merrion Square and find Oscar Wilde. Then we check out where the a DART station is and ask look at schedules for Malahide. We walk down to St. Stephn's Green and do a complete circuit. We encounter a James Joyce bust here. For some dinner, we go back to Fitzer's, my discovery on Dawson Street. We stop back at the convenience store for fruit, crackers, yogurt and such.

Leopold Bloom was placed in this pub in Joyce's Ulysses

Arrival

DUBLIN, Ireland, Sept. 8, 2004 — We arrive and quickly navigate the entry into Ireland. The immigration officer says, "Are you traveling alone?" I don't care to talk about meeting someone. "Yes," I say. "Be careful," he says and waves me on. I decide to go to the bathroom and then I ask about buses at a transportation desk. I'm directed vaguely to a bus. I find the stop indicated after some looking. The sun is shining brightly making it hard to read an LED sign with scrolling letters but it seems to say 'exact fare needed.' I think I have some coins put away but I temporarily forget that and I get out a ten Euro bill and use it in a machine to buy a ticket.

On the bus, I look at a map and someone offers me a good giveaway one. A woman recommends where to get off the bus. I'm a little lost but my luggage is easy to manage (pack on back, small rollerboard with the small carryon that fits over the handle. I wander kind of aimlessly down the street looking for streetsigns and such. I'm disovering that signs are vague in Dublin. However, I find myself on College 'Green' (there is only concrete and traffic pouring all around). I figure the college entrance across the street is what I'm seeking. I enter the gate and ask someone hawking tours of Trinity College with a ticket to see the Book of Kells where the accommodation office is located. I find it and find that I can't get into the lodgings until two. I'm given a voucher to store my bags in a conference center and I go there, find the clock room and arrange my book, maps and necessary articles in my backpack and check the other two.

I wander down the street. I find the Molly Malone statue. I find an Internet Cafe, very convenient. I eat lunch in a little casual place, sitting on a stool at the window, watching people go by. Schoolgirls in uniforms, tourists. I'm tired. I walk some more. I see part of tge Temple Bar entertainment district, walk across the Ha'Penny Bridge and have a strong coffee in the coffee shop of the Winding Staircase Bookshop. I end up buying an interesting biography of James Joyce.

I finally got into my room and put away my things. It's up three flights of stairs but it is pretty nice. Two small bedrooms (but with desks and lots of storage), a lounge with some seating and a kitchen with microwave and frig and coffee pot, a nice bath with shower.

I figure I should stay awake for a while but I'm tired so I go get on one of those tour buses that stop various places. It is rush hour. I spy a street (Dawson) near the college which appears to have a couple of good restaurants. The tour ended at 5:30 a few blocks from the college. I walked back and found a good restaurant, Fitzer's, dined and went back and to bed. Tomorrow my friend would arrive and I would be over the jet lag and lack of sleep, I hoped.

shapes at Guinness Storehouse

Travel

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 7, 2004 — It's really amazingly easy to get from some spots on the globe to others. But it has its tiresome aspects.

I finished my preparations. Got a shower, dressed in black jeans, hiking boots, a long-sleeved shirt and a custom-made black blazer. Strap on a cheap black Swatch. SuRu took me to the airport. I was carrying a small carryon, a small rollerboard to check and a small daypack. I checked in for my flight. Went through security, bought a bottle of water, went to toilet. Still lots of time. I had only one cup of coffee at home so I bought a nice iced Americano from the Schlotzsky's coffee place. I sit and drink it slowly, read a little, jot in my journal. I watch the people go by. Listen to pages. People should return to the security checkpoint for belongings, the person who took the 'wrong bag off the arrival at Gate 15' should return to the gate.

I walk around and look in the shops. I decide to buy a magazine and a belated birthday card for my friend Mags, who I'm meeting in Dublin.

When we are getting ready to board for Chicago, I stand up to board after first class and kids. A couple with a kid in tow are trying to finish eating. The father goes off to throw stuff away, the kid follows. The mother is packing up stuff. Where I'm standing I notice the kid, looking around for Dad. I put my hand on his head and say "You should go over there." pointing to where his parents are. At that moment, they panic. "Here he is," I say. I don't think they hear me but they find him. They have that dazed adrenlin look.

Finally I'm boarded for Chicago and we take off. The flight is pretty full. It's amazing how many people work on laptops or have mini-DVD players or listen to CDs with noise-cancelling Bose headphones. I just read. On a trip to the toilet, I notice the 'work' on some of the laptops. Movie DVDs playing, a letter "Dear Joel and Gritti," and a slide presentation entitled "Opportunity Meteorology." I try to read the inflight magazine but someone has marked all over it with a marker and the ink comes off on my hands. I scrub my hands in the noisy toilet. I am reading my book about a single woman who takes off from her life to travel alone. I plan to finish it and give it to the friend I'm meeting in Dublin. We met after chatting on rec.travel.europe on Usenet eight or nine years ago.

We arrive in Chicago. I figure I'll find my gate and then get some food. I have lots of time. I have to change terminals. I get confused but find it. You have to leave security and re-enter it. I hate that. And, after I do, I see the concessions inside security are limited to snacks and a bar with no seating. I leave security and have a bad pizza that tastes like cardboard. I reenter security. I get a Jack Daniels and water and some candy. I sit around, talk to other passengers and wait for boarding. With the decongestants I'm taking for my ears and the drink, maybe I'll sleep!

The flight boards. It is very full. We are underway. AER LINGUS serves some lousy food. Fortunately I'm not that hungry. And they give you some cheese and crackers. I have an Irish whiskey. That's tasty.

I'm on the aisle seat of a two on the side section near the back. The woman in the window seat and I never spoke except to get seated. There is lots of turbulence at various points. We chase the new day at it's tomorrow.

reflection and Guinness bottle collection

Holiday

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 6, 2004 — So, yeah, it's a holiday. That doesn't mean much to me, of course. FFP bolts up, thinking it's a normal Monday and he needs to get after it. Of course, my water aerobics class is going and Dad will be there so I'll go. I finally get up around seven and do a little writing and organizing my journal and go to the class. I come right home after. I'd thought about doing more workout. I am going out of town tomorrow and will probably be too lazy to go early in the morning before I need to leave. But I don't. I come right home, eat, watch tennis, organize, sort and think and read.

I watch a lot of tennis actually. There is a very exciting match between Venus Williams and Lindsay Davenport. It is fun watching tennis and reading papers. (Catching up, in fact, on papers. They will, of course, pile up while I'm gone.)

We go to the closing of AGLIFF. And come home and watch a Netflix movie. Lots of movies of late. But not mainstream ones. I miss mainstream ones, somehow, it seems.

I fall asleep late as usual.

book mess

Countdown

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 5, 2004 — When a trip is 'day after tomorrow' then the countdown really begins.

I'm not up until around eight. FFP is all upset we are sleeping late. Because he needs to workout, he says. Because he didn't yesterday. But we have all day. We have movie tickets to a late movie. No worries. Even though...I need to finish preparing for the tirp.

I spend fifteen minutes changing the sheets. I put the dirty ones in the laundry and pick up a few things. I finish my journal for yesterday. I write an e-mail, surf the WEB and look through the files on my computer for some evidence of when I went to Tel Aviv. I finally pin it down to 'early 1999' but I don't find any pictures although I know I scanned some in taken with a disposable camera.

I glance through the ads in the Sunday paper, locate my book for bike reading and go off to the gym. I make myself stay through a reasonably long workout. I don't have anything all that pressing to do. I must put in the time.

When I get home FFP has been to the grocery store. But he cooked things we already had...heating up some leftovers and steaming some Brussels sprouts. I had been thinking I'd have cereal but I have some leftover catfish and the remainder of the Brussels sprouts and some tomato and onion he had out to make himself a sandwich from the leftover catfish. I clean everything up in the kitchen. In between I'm reading the Sunday papers, watching U.S. Open tennis. Then I fool around with an old digital camera and its connector and a media reader trying to set something up so if FFP needs to do it he can take pictures while I'm gone. This is frustrating for several reasons. Like all things in computing, I guess.

I then end up watching tennis, reading some very old newspapers, checking out my packing again and doing little things like checking up on FFP's backups and writing down how to get things back and proofreading for him. I also stuffed my face with snacks.

SuRu stopped by. I showed her some of the poorly organized but regular backup procedures backup procedures we have and gave her some instructions in case she needed to help FFP while I was out of town.

I finally took a shower in between watching stupid TV shows. And FFP and I went out to see an AGLIFF movie. It was a auto-biography documentary that can never be sold because it would need too many permissions about a gay Hollywood editor who is a body builder. The guy was there. I'm always amazed at what it takes to make a movie. This movie was a little hard to watch in places, but it did the best job I've ever seen of making you empathize with the kind of victimization and stereotyping that gays receive.

luggage

Goofing Off

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 4, 2004 — I thought I'd get up and go for a workout. Man, after getting up a couple of times for bathroom and dog, I slept until nine! The phone woke us up. FFP did errands and we waited around for a friend and sign painter to deliver something. I got stuck in doing silly things like my jounral, surfing for stuff for a client, weighing my luggage. I decide, no, I'm not working out. I'm going to go to a poolside party, to an AGLIFF movie. I'm going to watch tennis. I'm goofing off!

I took a leisurely shower and got interested in a couple of different U.S. Open matches. We dressed really casually and went to a little get together at someone's house to celebrate the return of the ballet season. We came home and I goofed off some more, doing little things for my trip. I burned a CD for FFP off Rhapsody.

We put on warmer clothes (for the cold movie theater) and went to an Irish program in AGLIFF. A short and a feature. Both entertaining. Some good visuals, competent film making and acting and humor.

Home again, I read a little and we watched part of a crazy thriller on Sundance or IFC but gave up on it before it was over.

luggage

Getting Ready

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 3, 2004 — It was a day of preparation. Preparing isn't like doing, is it? Well, and I had some trouble getting started with preparing, too. I got up at a very reasonable time, went back to bed and still got up at a reasonable time. I went to the club for a reasonable workout. I called the barber on the off chance I could get in to get a haircut. I got an 11:30 appointment. After my haircut, I goofed off on the computer, working on the journal, looking at old pictures and fretting about a backup. I printed out itineraries of my trip next week. Finally I started doing my packing. Well, actually I found I needed to eat first. Geez.

But, in the end, I got my bags packed for my trip on Tuesday. Pretty much. Have to pick out what to wear on the plane, go over the list and make sure I know what's where and what's what, pick out some plane reading, charge my camera batteries and put the camera in, put in some emergency food. Little stuff. But I've basically organized what I'm taking into the bags and all.

We go off to County Line on the Lake for an early evening big barbeque feed with our good friends Deb and Sam. Then we come back to the house and after a while go to a later evening 50th birthday party. Stay there for a while and come home to read, watch TV, fall asleep.

dog, during dog walking days, stepping on grafitti

Same Old Day

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 2, 2004 — Days do acquire a sameness, don't they? A bit of routine. But I do get up earlier today. That's good. I wouldn't say I made great use of the time. Did the usual tidy up on the bedroom and kitchen. Set up the journal for a new month and posted yesterday. Surfed the WEB for scanner reviews and prices. Soon it's almost ten o'clock!

I get off to the gym, do a reasonable workout. When I get back, I have a rather long phone discussion with SuRu who calls to tell me about a show running at the moment on public TV. I turn on the tennis, the U.S. Open. I eat and shower. I research how to invest some money we have floating around not earning much. That is always frustrating. But you have to do something with your money. I spend some time on it.

Then I decide it's time to think about packing. I'm kind of watching an interesting Agassi match on the TV though so I just get my packing list up on the computer. I look at it briefly, get interested in a tennis match, get hungry, have a snack, go through a few old newspapers, get the mail in (and throw everything out except a bill). Then my friend SuRu comes by. She did an errand for me (buying a gift) and has stopped by my dad's to get a computer printer my mother had. (We've already recycled the computer...Dad wouldn't use it.) We set up the computer and it prints fairly well considering it's been sitting for quite a while. We unhook it and I loan it to her...hers hasn't been doing too well.

I try to catch up on reading the newspapers and I stuff my face with food FFP cooked. I go off to the AGLIFF movie by myself because FFP wants to go to a workout. I see a really funny movie with a message and eat some movie candy until I'm high from sugar. Which means when I go home and sit down to watch some U.S. Open that I have to eat some fatty foods to come down...just like a junkie.

I stay up too late again but I do fall asleep before the Northern Exposure episode is done.

 

Myself, Reflected in the Berlin Reichstag

In Spite of Myself

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 1, 2004 — Off and on the day was less than promising. But it went OK, somehow. I just sort of made myself take a good attitude.

I was up around eight. Late, I know, but I've been staying awake until two so that's that problem. When you don't have too rigid a schedule you 'slide' around the clock, they say. Excuses, excuses.

I worked on the journal and did e-mail and had some coffee and went to the club. I had a 9:30 tennis workout. I was the sub for a team and they have subs even for practices so they can have the right number for the drills. It was fun and I hit one or two good balls.

I got to the club a few minutes after nine and talked to the people in water aerobics which included my dad.

After the workout I went home and had lunch and talked to FFP. I got a shower and headed out to do some errands. I went to Fry's. Purpose was to check prices on a couple of computer things including a scanner. I decided that the current computer I'm using which has four USB ports (2.0, two front, two rear) would need a hub when I added a scanner to the external hard drive, printer and camera cable I have attached already. I know, I know...that's only three. But I've considered getting an optical mouse and/or graphics tablet. And the slots are hard to reach on the back. I picked up a hub. Cheap item. I picked up some ink for one of my ink jets. Then I checked prices on Microsoft Office upgrades that I could get for FFP. Cheaper fully legal versions are available on-line. Now I just have to decide if it isn't time to get him a new computer (and thus an OEM version included with it). Then I looked at scanners. The models I'd been considering on-line aren't here. Epson may have come out with a new series. I see something I think might be perfect. But all the boxes are taped up and beat up like they might be returns. In the ink aisle someone tried to help me. No one came over here, though. No commissions on scanners? Do the computer guys try to sell computers and make bigger ones? I give up. More shopping will have to take place before the scanner is replaced.

On the way out I'm tempted by a ten buck retractable slim-line CAT5 cable. Great for taking along on trips. (There is a three dollar rebate, too, I find out at the checkout. Hardly seems worth the time and stamp, though.) So I walk out with three things...haven't spent much money. Fry's is so overwhelming. I looked at some other software that my tech recommended and I also almost bought a DVD of the (old-style) Manchurian Candidate. I have an LD but, of course, one day we will not have an LD player. Decided that although the price was right ($9.99) that I could do without it and rent it in the future if I wanted to watch it. Downsize!! At least the scanner search and the Office software search is really an attempt to downsize rather than acquire. Really. I can get rid of two boat anchor computers and accessories.

I head down to Northcross Mall after that. Purpose: vote. There is a special school board bond election. Let me just say that educating other people's kids in AISD already costs me a significant number of thousands of dollars a year on my house and my dad's house. I would vote to raise teacher's salaries but they need to figure out how to do with the building money they already have. I'm sure the bonds will pass, though. Still, I have to exercise my right to vote. I will be gone on election day so I do early voting. I am astounded to see the ice rink. I thought they closed it. I think they did, actually. It must have reopened or else I had a hallucination!

After I voted I looked into Oshman's. (Checking on rash shirts for winter water aerobics for my classmates...I have one that's good enough.) Didn't buy anything. Then I looked into Conn's to see if they sold scanners. All-in-one machines only. Why, you ask, don't you really downsize and get an all-in-one? Because I want better performance of the individual items and a slide scanner, etc.

Finally, I went to Sun Harvest. I almost never go there. Dad does a lot and I'm always reminded it's there. They have the yogurt I like in the size I like. They don't have all the 'healthy' products that Whole Foods or Central Market carries, though. I get the yogurt, some peaches, bananas, some cereal, cream cheese, some everything bagels, some soy crisp snacks, green onions (my staff of life food), some salad stuff, some Eastside Feta dressing, some Tofu Salad, carrots, salsa and food bars for my trip.

I get home around four, put up groceries and do a picture editing task for FFP. I cut up some bagels and spread them with cream cheese and capers, slice some red onion and get out the Icelandic smoked salmon we got as a gift. We eat that as supper along with a few soy crisps.

We go see a movie in the festival at 7:20 and so we are home at a reasonable hour. I even go to bed at a reasonable hour.

Cemetery, Normandy 1999