Yesterday was a day of mixed emotions. I attended the calling hours for Suanne's mother. (Suanne is marreid to John,. my wife's brother.) It was good to see that folks had gathered and were comforting Suanne, her father, and John. On my way to Brockton, I made a detour to Lexington. Liz is leaving IBM after a long time of hard work. She plans to nap, read, work on her house, and spend time with her cat. Liz is happy and more relaxed than I think I've ever seen her.

While in the lobby visiting with Liz, I saw several former co-workers. It was good to see them, but also awkward because, well, I guess I'm a bit embarrassed that I'm still looking for a job. Answering the question, "So, what's going on?" shouldn't be difficult, but it is. It would be easier if I could say that I'm working as a so-and-so at such-and-such and I like it because .... In some ways, unemployment is almost like an illness. In this economy, we're never cured; the illness just goes into remission. Someone characterized work as the thing you do between layoffs. Fred cautions me that I shouldn't let this time out of work do bad things to my self-esteem. To paraphrase Mark Twain, I know the words, but can't always find the music.

Speaking of music, I've completed the digital music process. I have 1214 albums, of which 775 can fit onto my iPod. It's fairly easy to make changes. For example, in December, I'll make room for the Christmas music.

This weekend I'll be at the Amherst alumni reunion. I plan to stay at the camp on Saturday evening. Sandra will return from PEI on Sunday. The weather promises to be nice. It's still cool and drizzly today.