17 May 07

Time:

?

Money:

?

More interesting things:

Had to explain to Professor Alpha why his extremely well-conceived interview question got put to use on someone besides Professor Number Five, which was a good reason to keep chatting while we waited for the DVD to burn. I believe I described my participant as a horndog, which was amusing because while he could easily have responded with, "Well, what did HE say?", Alpha came back with, "Oh yes? And what did the horndog say? Who is this horndog?" Har.

Trotted once again to the drugstore. They didn't have the prescription right, which was frustrating, but my own sense of irritation was tempered very much by the fact that on our way in, Professor Alpha had waved hello to the ATM. I'd asked him what he was doing, since it was totally unclear to me, and that explanation was followed by another: "I don't know, I'm sort of nutsy today." Which he added to by greeting an old woman in a wheelchair and her companion as enthusiastically as if he knew them. We squeezed by them (and their surprised but friendly responses) and I informed Alpha, in an undertone, that he was lucky I liked nuts; his absolutely correct reply was, "Yes, because you feel right at home." Then, standing interminably near the counter, he wandered back and forth and back again - to the formula, which was, suggestively, parked right next to the damn condoms. I tried hard not to snort, and in place of that came up with a fascinating question about whether he was particularly interested in formula, which got an equally fascinating and rather weird comment that he just didn't know what Next Step was. Uh-huh. At last he decided that we were not going to stand around any more, and led me back out the door in the direction of lunch.

Figured, correctly, that the "direction of lunch" meant "towards Chipotle." I grabbed two forks, since Professor Alpha has been known to forget such things, and he had been so invested in getting a lemon for his soda that I thought he might do so then. I predicted well, and responded to his "Well, it probably would have been nice if I had gotten myself a fork," by handing him one, with the result that he sort of shook his head and asked (rhetorically, duh) how he'd quite made it through the past 38 years, which is always an amusing comment to hear. Anyway, we sat and chatted for quite awhile - I'm getting better at asking fruitful questions; Professor Number Five should be proud! - and headed back to the frickin' drugstore.

Collected, at long last, Professor Alpha's prescription, and left, in a yet another snortworthy turn, via not just the condom aisle but that of the tampons. Excellent, and lovely of them to gather up everything you never thought you'd be escorting your professor past into a single long walk. The internal snorting was fine, of course - mildly amusing and then on with the day. But the really cool part is that an hour before we'd been sitting in his office and got up together on the announcement of his plan to go for another walk and get lunch. It would seem he knows how fond of him I am, since he assumes (quite rightly) that I'm agreeable to such plans, and it would also seem that at least for a decent part of the time he prefers my company over being by himself, since he certainly knows where the drugstore is and would have every reason in the world to want to avoid a medicine-related audience. And that's what makes all the above comments worth recording. (In case you were wondering, I mean.)

Stood in Professor Number Four's door getting news I wasn't entirely thrilled about - something involving next year's assistantship and Professor Fluffy Hair, who is a lovely person I'm sure, but anyway - and feeling a little better about it because Professor Alpha-and-a-Half came up behind me, petted my shoulder, and asked Number Four if it wasn't lovely that I was there. I'm going to have to make a point of reminding her how much I appreciate her sometime soon, because, of course, I really do.

Sat reading - at his invitation, thank you - an email Professor Alpha was composing. Patrick came by, making fun of me and my current activity in some way, causing me to crack up, since I knew the contents of his last email. Alpha did not, of course, and jumped in by explaining that I was in fact working, and that, furthermore, what he'd said earlier (while we were at lunch, thanks to the fork thing) about his level of efficiency was completely true. Hee!