I promised pictures. You'll find them posted to my Flickr account. Since I already wrote snarky comments to go with the pictures there, it's easier to leave them there rather than try to post them here. Please feel free to click around and look at them all. There are other, older, picture streams there as well.
Most of the pictures are self explanatory. I may not have explained in any of my earlier posts that my parents have two dogs, Furby and Simba. My Mom has always had a thing for pomeranians so we always had a least one pom in the house while I grew up, frequently two. Furby, apparently, was quite a handful when they got her— and I personally can vouch for the fact that she is not right in the head, even for a dog— so they got Simba to calm her down and be her friend. The two get along just fine, but there's no calming Furby down when she gets wound up, and to top it off, Simba is full of his own exasperating personality quirks. Like children, they are adorable at times and monsters at other times. Anyway, I included a picture of each as they are decidedly cute dogs.
I also don't recall whether or not I mentioned that one night we went to the pizza parlor and met my Aunt and Uncle and my cousin Sheila and her family. There are pictures of them as well.
Most of the remaining pictures are from the Kennedy Space Center. I was feeling particularly photographic that day. (Although, as you can see in a few pictures, not very photogenic!) One particular joy of our day at the KSC didn't get mentioned directly: The space shuttle was diverted to California because of inclement weather, and it really got inclement all over us. When we left the second stop, the Saturn rocket and Apollo mission exhibit hall, it was pouring outside and the wind was gusting. Waiting for the bus we were standing under high thin awnings whose benefit disappeared the moment the wind changed the angle of the rain to anything other than straight up and down. By the time we finally got on the bus, we were soaked, head to foot, and toured the ISS facility in that condition. Sadly rain and wetness do not capture well on an instant camera. I would have loved to show you.
Today, at home, I took things easy. While I was in Florida my severance check finally arrived. I put that in the bank with a feeling of melancholy. It felt like my 16 years of hard work for the company were summed up in that check. I also lost a bit of my mental safety margin by depositing that check. For the last month I've been living off my undernourished checking account and my final check. There was always the knowledge that my severance check would arrive in the future. Now that it's here and deposited, I feel a bit of a panic about enticing more money to come into my account in the future.
My car has been running hot lately so this afternoon I popped the hood and added coolant to the radiator. I felt good about doing that— until I went out this evening and heard a loud hissing and gurgling coming from under my hood. At the street lights I could also see smoke or vapor coming from the hood. Naturally, I forgot to screw the radiator cap back on after filling up this afternoon so I had to buy a new cap at the auto parts store tonight. I wish I could tell you how many times I have had to buy new oil caps, gas caps, and the like over the years. I seem to have a serious hole in my repair abilities that causes me to forget to replace these things. *sigh*
I spent the better part of an hour on the phone with my dear friend Lee Ann this evening. Her last day with the company was just this past Monday. I look forward to spending a few days with her in Long Beach after I return from my upcoming trip to Raleigh, North Carolina.
Keep sending those cards and letters!
"Human beings are the only creatures that allow their children to come back home."— Bill Cosby
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