AUSTIN, Texas, November 9, 2005 — When I worked, my dream way to start the day was with a couple of hours of exercise.

Water aerobics. Thirty minutes recumbent bike. Some bicep exercises. Something like that. That's what I did today.

Then I'd shower and dress for my day. At my leisure. Yeah, today I came home from the club and had a leisurely shower and groomed and dressed.

Then, in my dream day, I'd have a nice lunch somewhere with an interesting companion

and we'd discuss the food and have an interesting conversation. It would be an old haunt or a new place with lots of buzz. Today I met one of the Nancys and she bought me lunch at Andiamo. It was good food and the conversation was interesting. It was the 'new place with lots of buzz' category although it isn't all that new.

My dream day would continue with some writing, reading, studying, watching movies or other entertainment. After my lunch, I watched a seminar on WEB development on my computer, experimented with some WEB pages allowing physics experiments, did some writing. I also wrote a sympathy card, looked at some catalogs that came in the mail and did a little other reading.

As my dream day continues, I have some snacks and/or cocktails with friends unless I'm going out somewhere. (Today FFP and I went to Fonda, sat in the bar and watched people and had some apps and a drink.) All of this stuff is, of course, the dream when I'm at home during my dream life. Sometimes I'd be traveling, but when at home I might be thinking about trips or talking or writing about ones I'd taken. Today FFP and I planned to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of our first date. And I told my lunch companion about the Cape and showed her pictures.

In my dream life, I watch some TV or movies, do some more reading. (We came home today and I fooled around on the net, did some writing and read the papers and watched movies and TV with FFP.)

The saddest thing about living your dream? It's never quite as good in reality as when you were dreaming. What's missing? A cure for my AADD (adult attention deficit disorder) and still more money. Because, after all, you can't be too focused or too rich.

Today, while driving to the restaurant for lunch, I realized I hadn't driven a long stretch of Burnet Road in a long time. It's an Austin artery from 45th Street to Mopac way in the north. It looks like Dallas or Houston or their suburbs with strip centers lined up in unplanned disarray. There are places to shop and find things and some interesting things to observe, however, even if it is exceeding ugly. Businesses come and go or stay on an improbably long time. So I took note, on this journey all the way to Rutland, of two secondhand bookstores, two light fixture stores (and one devoted to light bulbs), several storage places, a large number of antique and thrift stores, a store devoted to batteries, a number of used car lots, a number of fast food places and chain restaurants as well as Top Notch burgers (seen in the Richard Linklater movie Dazed and Confused), a few Asian restaurants, El Mercado, Aranda's, Frisco Grill, two car washes, Dallas Night Club, a kolache shop, an Indian market, a Chinese market, my barber shop, Waterloo Ice House, Marisco, appliance stores, a new Amy's ice cream complex, a farmer's market, Curra's grill, furniture stores, etc. I note that I should check out a few things. I mean, if I needed to shop or eat. If I really need any more books or a light bulb or, you know, Mexican food. It's all right there on ugly Burnet Road. And, by the way, the Catholic Church is expanding in a major way, is having a garage sale this weekend and has a billboard offering 'help' with your unplanned pregnancy.

Sleep came. It always does. We start eyelid drift while rewatching the end of As Good as It Gets. We make it to the end in bed.