AUSTIN, Texas, September 17, 2005 — I don't have anything to do today. And yet I have to get a few things done. I'm going to pack my bag! Yes, really, be completely packed, clothes to wear picked out. Everything. I think I have to run a load of laundry or two to accomplish this.

And I need to work out.

And I need to show FFP a few more things for when I'm gone.

So I really need to be busy although I

have nothing I've promised to do and no place I've promised to be.

So I get up after 8:30. I drink coffee and mess around with the computer. We find out that we got another pledge from some people who were at the fete last night. Hurray.

We decide to celebrate by going to Cisco's. This landmark east Austin spot is integral to our Austin. We had our wedding breakfast here several decades ago. It's been a while.

As we go in a staff member steers us away from the front area which is hot from the grill. But we know the drill. Go around the grill, step up into the long area that has AC pumping away where yuppie UT alums are gearing up for their big stomping of football power Rice (not). They are munching their way through migas and biscuits. We have coffee, black, and Migas with queso to add to the mix and honey on the big fat biscuits. It will take hours to digest this and get myself to the gym. But, oh well.

Home again, I should get right on the laundry and the packing. Instead I fool around with my computer, surf to a couple of places, write reminders to FFP about a few things, fret about the financial decisions we are trying to make.

Finally, a little after one, I decide to really do something. Really. I sort the laundry, put a load in and start packing everything. I finally have everything packed except a couple of things that are coming out of the laundry. I go over my list again. I decide what I'm going to wear on the plane. I couldn't be more prepared. It doesn't guarantee anything to be prepared, of course.

I make sure that there are tags on all my bags, even my backpack and carry-on. I'm taking a regional jet to Atlanta so I'm worried a little about the size of the carry-on stuff. But I want to carry-on enough to get by if my checked bag goes astray. My checked bag is big. But I can hold it over my head for ten seconds or so and it has wheels. About half the stuff in it is things like T-Shirts and hats and tote bags and candy to give away to my friends in the Western Cape. FFP gets in the act and wants to know what luggage he can use for his trip. I tell him for about the fourth time that he can take the small black rollerboard and/or a hanging bag and/or a small carry-on and/or a backpack, We scare up luggage tags for those he wants to take. I give him advice about packing and leave organizers for inside the bags where he can find them. I show him security pouches he can use. I've already made him a checklist. It's been a couple of years since he went on a trip by himself and I was here when he packed for that one, I think. He went to Washington, D.C. and I to New York City. January 2002. And, no, it wasn't the first time I flew after 9/11. That was September 28, 2001. It went rather well given how much things had changed. They've just gone down and down since. On that trip I flew on an airline that had just gone bankrupt. This itinerary I embark on come Wednesday is compliments of Delta. However, only one flight is on Delta. Atlantic Southeast operates my flight to Atlanta. South African Airways will take me to Cape Town via Jo'Burg which is, yes I know, out of the way, but it is the only itinerary I could get with airline miles. Delta will bring me home from Atlanta in a few weeks, probably, bankrupt or not. And, if not, I'll find my way home, probably.

Finally there really seems to be nothing left to do on the packing front. I decide to go workout. FFP goes, too, in his car. He wants to see the Longhorns play football. I do a so-so workout. Thirty minutes of bike and move some twelve pound weights around briefly. When I get back from vacation, I'm going to get serious about my program. Yeah, right.

I go home and have a salad and two slices of pizza. FFP ordered pizza and picked it up on the way home. He's watching the game. Later I'll eat some cheese and smoked turkey and raw vegies. I also drink a Coke. I rarely do that but I thought it would be good with the pizza. I wished after I'd had a beer instead. But at least I didn't have a beer as well.

I watched the game some, watched a disaster relief show from Jazz at Lincoln Center. I read papers from the last several days. I stayed up too late. I put the final things in my bag...a pair of knit shorts and a T-Shirt. This T-Shirt. These will be for lounge wear or sleeping. I usually wear such clothes for working out but on this trip my exercise will be walks and the costume will the jeans or cotton slacks and a long-sleeved shirt and hiking boots.

I stay up too late and finally go to sleep, sneezing for some reason.