Things that amused me on my commute this week:
- A trailer truck with the logo "m.s.CARRIER", which I read as considerably less complimentary than they probably intended;
- A local heating company named "Appolo." I hope that's a family name . . .
Rotten news: another co-worker's parent died this week. This is the fourth in the last six weeks or so; I'm starting to wonder if our bureau's been hexed or something. Also, a co-worker's cousin-in-law was killed in an ambush in Iraq a couple of weeks ago.
The week:
Monday: had company in the afternoon and evening: Chad's parents, the medium-sized monster (a.k.a. their dog), Chad's sister, and Chad's sister's family. I hadn't met her family before, as they live on the other side of the country, so that was good.
Tuesday: Chad's summer students came over for dinner; I said hello and then retreated into my cool dark quiet bedroom with a migraine.
Wednesday: continuing legal education program that was an object lesson in why it is a good idea to tailor one's presentation to one's audience.
Thursday: birthday. Started out well: I actually woke up feeling human for once, and got a silly present. Became progressively sleepier as the day went on, and barely stayed conscious through "Jeeves Takes Charge" (Hugh Laurie is brilliant as Bertie Wooster, but I'd pictured Jeeves a little older and more deadpan in expression than Stephen Fry's portrayal). A considerable improvement over last year, when I was taking the bar exam (Multistate day). I really hope that stays the low point in birthdays.
Friday: call from the rescue group to say they had five young Labs available. When we showed up at the foster parent's home, a matter of hours later, all but one were already adopted; the one left was too headstrong and uninterested in people. Someone experienced with dogs could probably train him up a treat, but at nine months he was too strong for us to want to take on (he was pulling on the lead so hard that he was quite literally choking himself—you could hear him wheezing—and nothing we did seemed to make the connection for him that heeling = breathing). But it's good to know we're on their list for short-notice calls, and it turns out that last week's mishap was probably the result of a series of misunderstandings, so all is reasonably well on the dog search front.
Saturday: did our part to keep up durable goods purchases, by buying bedroom furniture and more paperback bookshelves (bigger ones, too, oooh), and deciding to buy a china cabinet/hutch (i.e., a thing with doors rather than all open shelves, for when pets arrive). Went out to dinner for my birthday, had unexpectedly spicy spaghetti with shrimp (lips-going-numb spicy) and ate too much. Watched The Princess Bride with the director's commentary on, because I wanted a comfort movie and didn't want to overdose on Jeeves and Wooster.
Sunday: woke up at 4:30 in the bleeding morning and stayed awake until about 7:00. I want an off switch (to go with this terrible pain in the diodes all down my left side, don't you know) . . . Dragged self out of bed at a reasonable hour on principle and then wasted the morning anyway, but spent the afternoon on refinishing the bookshelves, with excellent results: all that's left is a coat of gel stain, which will take about half an hour, and they're done done done. Chad made terrific grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner, and now I'm going to bed.
