this is not a journal title

The reunion was good and eerie. People weren't as scary as I thought. Make sure I post more about it later, just wanted to say that I survived, and it was a good thing. I got home at 3am!

They're coming up to visit for Thanksgiving and I'm attempting to cook the turkey. Dad's bringing cold cuts - I like to say it's in case I screw up the turkey, but the main purpose is for other meals. They left the house an hour and a half ago, and have since travelled 30 miles. The 175-mile trip usually takes 3 hours, but it'll probably take them 6 hours tonight, putting their arrival at 10pm. Yeah I know that math doesn't work out (30 mi in 1.5 hours = 1/3 mph, 175mi/(1/3)mph = really big number of hours), but traffic always clears up later in the day, even holiday weekends. Even so, Dad's driving in traffic for 6 hours, and Mom's riding in the car with him for the same amount of time. They really love me. :)

Most mornings I chat online with my old roommate, jethereal. This was a bad morning, with the conversation starting off with me saying "ugh" and ending with him admonishing me to try and have a good day as I ran out the door and off to work at 7:40ish. I had to be there by 8am, and it was going to be close.

I threw on shoes, jacket, etc., pulled the apartment door shut behind me and turned to lock the top lock on the door. My hand came out of my pocket empty. This was a Bad Thing because the bottom lock is a slam lock. My other hand went into my other pocket - it was lumpy, maybe the keys were there with my car keys. Nope, lip balm only. Out came the cellphone and dialing my landlord as I jiggled the doorknob in vain. Three rings and his machine picked up, he must've gone off to work already. I continued fidgeting on the doorknob as I contemplated my options: could I slide a credit card under the latch? No, I didn't really know how to do that, and the frame might be too uneven. Could I take the bus in, yeah, but that takes 30 minutes minimum, 45 to an hour typical, and I only had 15 left. I could call the landlord at the shop, I'd have to do that eventually anyway to get back in in the evening, and I'd have to call someone at work to stall my lab kids, or I could -- the doorknob turned. Well! I knew I was having issues with the lock, but that's quite convenient.

I ran in, grabbed my keys and my keys, and ran back out. As I turned to lock the door and succeeded, my cellphone rang - my landlord had caller ID and had called me back. I apologized profusely for waking him up and explained that I had thought I'd locked myself out. I'll call him later tonight when he's more awake and explain that the lock undid itself at the right moment, and see if he can figure out why it's not working right. :-P Yeah, I look gift horses in the mouth.

I told my students the story and one said "huh, Murphy worked in your favor!" She's right.

This afternoon I cranked the ignition for some 30 seconds (that's a long time) before it registered that it wasn't catching. I stopped, tried again, and it caught right up.

And now that it's been nearly a year since my recycle bin blew away (I've been putting items out in plastic bags since, which is less convenient and sometimes overlooked), I tried for the third time to drop by the DPW and get a new one, they've always been out every time I tried, and there was exactly ONE left!

"Ever have one of those days when you get the feeling that something is trying to tell you somebody?" --Neil Gaiman