11 Oct 06

Time:

?

Money:

$12, soup, salad, and tea, take one guess where.
$3, iced latte, campus Starbucks.
$5, dumplings, Vanessa's Dumplings.

More interesting things:

Started the day with a cool email from the former president of the University of Florida (and my one-time professor.) He's now the chancellor at UMass, and his partner in crime, the former Florida provost, is now at Arizona State. Anyway, I had emailed him in response to a column he wrote for the higher ed newsletter I get every morning, and by this time I'd almost forgotten about it, but he did get back to me with some nice comments about education vs. law and so on.

Listened to a blind accordion player on the subway. He almost tripped on a stroller, which wasn't too cool, but everybody - seriously, everyone around him, including me - helped catch him and got him headed in the direction of the door once the train had stopped.

Looked over the shoulder of a big guy in dreds, do-rag, the requisite all-black Yankees cap with uncurved bill, two earrings, large pants, and like three sweatshirts as he... studied his accounting textbook. Awesome.

Watched as a ladder truck sailed past the gym with its flag flying. Firefighters in other places have all kinds of decals about September 11th pasted on their trucks, of course, about remembering their brothers, and I admire, respect, and appreciate that. Here, poignantly, it's a little different; the brothers' names themselves are on the trucks, and it's because they once rode the very same ones.

Walked past a couple of postal workers on their rounds (I guess); one had her foot on the other guy's knee as he tied her shoelace for her and she cracked up. I'm not sure what that what was all about, but I'm all for the post office teamwork.