AUSTIN, Texas, September 9, 2005 — A bunch of little things will eat away my day, a bit at a time.

Exercise, finances, trip preparation, a little social event, planning my decadent retiree's social life. Finally, around five-thirty, I even got around to updating yesterday's journal. When I go off on the trip soon and return I don't know if I will update. It does get to be a time waster. FFP sent my link to someone recently who then said to me at a party, "I didn't know you had a blog."

I looked puzzled for a minute before realizing

he was talking about this thing. Well to me it's a journal. Or a diary. Or something. Do you think Sam Pepys would think of his work as a blog? Whatever.

I had a pretty good workout. Not great but burned some calories on the bike and also did some exercises for my legs.

I talked to two good friends today and we arranged to have dinner tomorrow night when FFP is watching football. We can talk travel and stuff and have a good time. I'm so glad football season is starting! Not. There is tennis on TV tomorrow night actually but I'll record it. Recording it absolves me from having to actually watch it! During my day piddling with little things I did peak in on the tennis occasionally. Heck of a match Sharipova lost.

I fooled around with looking at financial stuff and important information for my trip to South Africa today. I would get interrupted with other little things, too, like getting my Palm up-to-date with some info or whatever. All the things we have access to take maintenance and thought and backing up. People move and change phone numbers. Time marches on, over and through us. Some days it makes me tense. Other days I just attack each thing, knowing the list of things that should be dealt with is growing behind me.

Someone has invited us to a reception at the Arthouse thing on Congress. We go early to scout for a free parking place and find one a few blocks away. We stop in the Austin Club and have a drink, watching the telethon fund raiser on TV for the hurricane victims. There are lots of people at the opening. Free food. Free booze. Of course. But the art is, well, strange. I don't love anything. We meet and greet. I drink part of a beer but I'm feeling a little bad (from the nachos I had earlier at home?). We go to a gallery that is having a show of some Vietnamese guy's multimedia paintings that are wonderful. And expensive. One is being auctioned for hurricane victims. We enjoy this show and go home.

I watch random snippets of things from TV and the DVR and read a little. My stomach hurts. I take a couple of Peptos and go to sleep.