18 Apr 07

Time:

?

Money:

$3, peanut butter bagel breakfast, the usual place.
$0, since the peanut butter bagel breakfast turned into a peanut butter bagel lunch.
$14 (or something), Cuban food, the Chelsea Cuban place.
$20, cab back uptown.

More interesting things:

Felt a little slimy at the not-really-retirement party for, oh, all of my people. Standing around near the entryway was kind of fun, as it gave several amusing people a chance to harass me (which I do appreciate), and I got to listen to all kinds of mostly very mundane but still smile-inducing conversations, and it turned out that taking pictures really WAS a great cover - I didn't feel conspicuous at all - but... ew. Here in this elegant fireplace-white-tablecloth-and-purple-leather-bar-stool dining room, these people are going on and on about the service and the scholarship and the teaching and the "caring" (as in, "these are the most caring teachers in the school... in the country... in the WORLD!"), all the while slithering right past the fact that this was NOT, except for maybe ONE person, a genuine RETIREMENT celebration. Normally this would all serve as a fine reason to close with a snarl. But that will have to wait until after I'm done gagging.

Talked, for the first time in a long time, with Professor Number Three. (It's been so long that I had to stop and think about what number this person gets.) Anyway, she asked about the P.V., I told her I thought we might have hooked her, and Number Three laughed and said, "I knew if we put her with you that we'd have a good chance!" A very nice compliment; even if I'm not quite sure of its exact provenance, it seems like it probably indicates something positive!

Ended the day - apparently - with a "good conv." I don't know exactly what that meant, other than that it may have been intended to note a contrast between whatever was said (by Professor Alpha, that much I'm sure of...) and his overall demeanor the last couple of days. So that's nice.