We watched nearly all of the services for Ronald Reagan yesterday. Most compelling was the way that a republic such as ours could stage such a moment of high ceremony. The events, we know, were planned years, perhaps even decades in advance. They told a forceful story in the context of the nation's best ideals - optimism, leadership, and affability. The funeral told the story that it wanted to tell and told it well. Whether that was the real story of Reagan's presidency and legacy or not is left to a discussion on another day.

We're in a clear and somewhat cool stretch, New England's best June weather in my opinion. In spite of the great weather, I've been in a funk. Alternately bored and anxious, I then get annoyed with myself for not making better use of this wonderful time. The coming week has a few things, such as MFH’s piano recital, my return to the Audio Journal on Tuesday, and a trip to the Cape next weekend that might break the routine. I also have a couple of job-hunting calls scheduled for Monday. I pulled a muscle in my right leg a couple of days ago and can’t run; that hasn’t helped. So, the goal for the coming week is to break the funk by doing different things and doing things differently.

I am able to fit into a pair of jeans, albeit snugly, for the first time in a while. I’ve been on some medication to help me with my insomnia. The earlier stuff had the side effect of increasing my appetite. The doctor changed the meds a couple of months ago and the difference in my appetite is noticeable. I’ve lost about 15 pounds. My sleep is ok. I’m still likely to wake during the night or very early in the morning. If I wake during the night, I listen to the BBC news (rebroadcast on a local NPR station). If I wake around 4AM, I just get up.

Molly is stalking a bird at the bird feeder. She hasn’t caught one yet. She did catch a red squirrel the other day. In another journal entry, I’ll catalog the birds at the feeder. We have a nice gathering.

We’ll go to the camp mid-morning. Sandra’s hoping to get a ride in my father’s sailboat today.

Slowly the air is clearing out and cooling off. It was a stormy night. We lost power for a while.

I've added email notification so that regular readers will receive an email when I've added an entry to this blog.

A chipmunk ran under the back deck, arousing great interest for Marley and Molly. They're a fun duo. Molly, about nine months old, is exuberant and bold while Marley is mellower, but knows his own mind.

The MacGregors arrived yesterday in good order. They made it in 11 hours.

I have a couple of phone calls scheduled for today, a chance to talk with people regarding prospects at a couple of companies. Yesterday morning I had an encouraging chat with an HR person at a consulting company. The trouble is, I've been very close on consulting jobs before, only to have them fall through for a variety of reasons. So, after a brief time of speculating about the job, I dropped back to the routine. Until I have a signed offer letter, I have to keep my job search moving forward.

Another burst of activity on the job front. I had a good telephone interview for a consulting position in Cranston RI. In addition, I received three solid leads later in the afternoon. I will send cover letters and resumes this morning.

Today we'll be in the 90's, but by Friday morning we'll be back in the low 40's. New England. Gotta love it.

Amid the sunflowers.

Our wireless network lets me write from the back deck. We have sunflower plants growing near the bird feeders. Marley is snoozing in the warm sunshine. Adam recently reminded me that, when Sandra was out of work, she wrote a newsletter called News from The Front Porch. It will be fun to see if we can locate a copy.

The weather forecast calls for a hot day today and even hotter tomorrow. I'll do my running in the early morning tomorrow. I did the 3.4 mile loop this morning, up Chapel to Malden and then Main. It's a nice path, although the traffic gets a bit close in the places where there are no sidewalks. The fragrances are wonderful this time of year. I have a Running playlist on my iPod, tunes that have a good beat - Sing, Sing, Sing by Benny Goodman; the theme from Jack Johnson by Miles Davis; several tunes from Paul Butterfield. I don't try to keep to the rhythm, but it helps to have a good soundtrack.

I have a telephone interview for a consulting job this afternoon. I am hoping to get a job description this morning to help me in my preparations. I've changed my approach on applying for jobs. When I see or hear of an opening, I prepare the cover letter and then wait at least an hour before reviewing and sending it. I've discovered on a few occasions that, in my excitement and haste, I've made silly mistakes in some letters. The old saw, you don't get another chance to make a first impression, is never more important than in job hunting. By taking the extra time, I can review my materials more carefully.

RoasterBoy has changed his coffee. We've been buying our coffee from Equal Exchange for several years. Until the last order, I've been getting Cafe Nica, a medium roast Nicaraguan coffee. (Sandra gets French Roast.) They didn't have the Cafe Nica the last time that I placed my order so I tried their Moka Java blend. It's darker than the Cafe Nica with a bit more acidity, common among African coffees. I like it better.

A couple of yellowjackets found me interesting, but didn't stay long.

Apple has come out with a new toy, Airport Express. It would allow us to set up a wireless printer. It would also allow us to stream music from this computer to a set of powered speakers or through our stereo. I will add it to the "When Karl Gets A Job" wish list. As you might expect, the WKGAJ list is lengthy.

Today is a day of errands - shopping, a trip to the camp to deliver some stuff and pick up some other. The MacGregors are coming down on Wednesday, so we are planning a couple of Welcome Home meals. It will be good to have them here; they're wonderful people.

There's been a lot written and said about Ronald Reagan. I don't have much to add. We voted for him and his libertarian message in 1980. I know someone who met him in his office, said that he was one of the nicest, most easy-going guys on the planet. I don't doubt it. One commentator observed that no one knew the importance of myth and story-telling more than Reagan.

The morning dawns with low clouds and drizzle. It's cool enough that I needed to start a fire in the stove.

We decided not to stay at the camp this weekend. The weather forecast called for heavy rain (which hasn't come). We helped my father get his sailboat into the water. Elden, a neighbor on the lake and good friend to my father and us, came over with his tractor to handle the real heavy work.

Sandra and I were quite tired and fell asleep early, only to have me wake very early. (See timestamp.) I'll read my Khrushchev book until the Sunday papers arrive. After inspecting the back porch for chipmunks, Marley's come back in and has settled at my feet.

One of the remarkable changes that comes from being out of work is the dramatic drop-off of email. At work, I'd typically get 100 messages a day. Now, even with subscriptions to several mailing lists, I get 10-15. (That's not counting spam. Microsoft Outlook does a great job of filtering spam. I have it automatically delete spam. At last check, I was getting >100 spam messages per day.)

I'll write personal emails and get some nice messages in return. Even on my busiest days, however, my personal email never gets close to the volume of mail that I received at work.

That email would pull me through the day, set the agenda and be a measure of the amount of work that I'd complete in a day. It's harded to gauge progress now. "What did you do today?" becomes a harder question to answer.