Pondering the traf

Yes, I'm still alive... the whooping and hollering you might have just heard was me, celebrating the completion of a pile of paperwork supporting the Sprint / Nextel news microwave replacement. Four drawings the size of a large welcome mat, and a book about an inch and a half thick. Laurie and Hannah stopped by the station yesterday and noted the piles of technical bulletins, sketches, path calculations, and product literature that obscured my desk. If they came back now they would be amazed: you can actually see the Formica.

It's been a day for silliness all around: Laurie and I were convulsing ourselves this morning with the notion of reverse flatulence, and whether it could absorb odors rather than emit them. It would be an excellent solution to Solvay on a hot summer day, or to the skunk that likes to wander past our house at night when we have the fan set to intake. I have no idea how this stuff gets started, but it's part of the dubious charm that glues families together. Odd little noises or a few disjointed words that make no sense to passersby have the power to make us laugh uncontrollably or to recoil in revulsion. Even our reaction changes over time: the idea of visiting Ralph on our vacation would have made Hannah turn green a few years ago, but chances are that if she reads this today, she will just chuckle and shake her head. There are better things to do in Freeport, like sitting on the rock wall in front L. L. Bean's main entrance and licking a cone from Ben and Jerry's.

Part of our mood is inspired by Laurie's new mouthguard — I keep calling it a mouthpiece, as if she were going about biting attorneys. Probably not a bad idea... some lawyers definitely need a good sharp nip, but the diseases she might contract aren't worth the risk. The guard fits over her upper teeth, and already seems to be quite effective in reducing her jaw pain. It's also quite effective in giving her a spectacular lisp which is just ithing on the cake, if you will. Listening to her gives me a whole different outlook on the abuse I received after my last dental appointment, when folks kept stopping by my office with questions designed to elicit detailed sibillant responses: it's a lot more entertaining when it's someone else.

Time to get back to work. It's the last day of regular classes for Hannah, so if you listen closely in a few minutes, you might hear another distant cheer.