Another weekend passes by, another week begins, and so I look back at the past few days.

Looks like, after much wrangling, I will be a full-time graduate student in the fall. It's really seeming like I'm going to do more work getting registered for classes and getting my GI Bill benefits than I will on classwork. But now, two trips to Tucson later, two half-days of work missed and many carbon-based-fuel exhaust pollutants added to the atmosphere, I'm registered AND the government is paying for my school. Generous blokes.

Likewise, with my truck properly registered, my driver's license cleared, the vehicle insured, I'm now a fully legal driver for the first time in longer than I should admit. It's quite an experience not having to watch my rear-view mirror half the time and making inconvenient detours to avoid law enforcement. I should do this more often.

And just as our DVD and music collections reach the point where there's nowhere else tidy to store stuff, we add to it with The Fellowship of the Ring, M*A*S*H season two and The Simpsons season two. Much fascinating bonus material on the LOTR:FOTR disc, including the much-touted ten-minute Two Towers preview that predictably turned me into a flustered fanboy immediately, demanding that the movie be released immediately.

As for the Simpsons, I watch with the commentary on, since I've obviously seen all the episodes before. Some of it's pretty funny, and all of it's interesting.

Also picked up Sirena by Cousteau, thanks in great part to their previous album getting fairly heavy rotation on Kniwt's late, lamented Internet radio station. A fascinating and unique band they are, sort of a loungy come-down band with a velvet-voiced singer and profoundly melancholy lyrics.

Reading of The Cryptonomicon continues apace, at 200 pages now, and I still am not sure what's going on, although I'm learning a lot about cryptography, bubble-era dot-coms and the information war-within-a-World-War against the Axis. There does seem to be some synchronicity occurring between the book's three story lines, though, and I have a feeling the eventual payoff will be substantial.

I really should write more often so I don't have to cram so much into each entry. I AM done with school for a couple of weeks, after all. Not much to do but keep unpacking the apartment (the living room is finally complete except for miscellaneous debris, the kitchen nearly so, and the two upstairs rooms ... well, let's just call them works in progress) and neglecting my fortunately resilient customers.

I'm trying hard, really I am, but sometimes it takes me a long time to fill orders and answer questions and such. But I'm pouring a lot of effort now into improving that.

Every so often, when I get to thinking that Mason just kinda takes me for granted, the way you take your couch for granted or the kitchen light, he cuddles up next to me on the couch, massages my shoulders, says nice things and just generally proves me wrong. Sometimes it's good to be wrong! :^) I must admit I return such favors rather less often than he deserves.

Monty requires walking. More hearing from me soon, I hope.