The major event of the work week was a reorganization that puts us under a new boss. I'm not exactly crazy about that, but it shouldn't make a day to day difference in anything. (I should mention that I don't have any reason to dislike Al. I just don't really know him.)
I should also note that this week was my 20th anniversary with the company. I got summoned down to our group vice president's staff meeting to get my certificate and award. The award turns out to be a badge clip, which is actually far more practical than the silly stickpins I've gotten in the past. At least it's something I'll actually wear. More importantly, the 20 years means I get an extra week of vacation. Five weeks is still, of course, not enough vacation, but then there's nothing that would be.
My weekend mostly featured a day trip to Perryville, Maryland. There was a Volksmarch involved, of course. But the excursion also solved a minor mystery for me. You see, whenever I've taken the train up to New York, I've noticed this cute little town right as we cross a railroad bridge over the Susquehanna River, where it flows into Chesapeake Bay. And I've always wondered just exactly where we were. It turns out to be Perryville. The town is small and cute and has a nice walking path around a point jutting into the river. There are various odds and ends of Revolutionary War and Civil War sites both and an old tavern that George Washington supposedly stopped at a few times and so on. The setting is particularly nice this time of year, with the fall colors along the riverfront. I really need to go and check out some of the other towns around that area, e.g. Havre de Grace (famous for duck decoys) and Aberdeen (home of an Army proving ground, including an ordnance museum, and Cal Ripken).
On the way back, I stopped in Baltimore and went to the new location of the Book Thing. Part of the drive there was through a somewhat scary neighborhood, but the site itself has off-street parking and seemed respectable enough. I dropped off the books I had to donate (stuff the used book stores I frequent won't take) and browsed enough to pick up a few children's books for the Halloween giveaway, as well as a few odds and ends for myself. It's a somewhat frustrating place to browse since the books are just sorted by category and have no order within the category. But it's all free, so it's not like I can complain. And I did find a couple of things I'd actually been looking for.
I got somewhat lost when I left, largely because the map didn't tell me I couldn't make a left turn onto the street that would have been the fastest way back to the interstate. I did eventually make it back to roads I knew and probably didn't waste more than 15-20 minutes, but it was still more stressful than it needed to be.
As for today, I did housework and read. Things are still way too cluttered and disorganized, sigh, but at least they're less dusty.
Copyright 2005 Miriam H. Nadel