Erratica

Just some updates, for those who care:

Internet on the laptop is proving to be a glacial process, but progress is being made. I'm still not connecting to the wireless network, but my computer is recognizing that there is an internet. One step at a time...

My transcripts arrived from CU today. So all I need for Korea are passport-style photos and apostilles. The photos I can hopefully get taken on my day off tomorrow. The Colorado apostille requires a simple form and $10, so that will get mailed away tomorrow. The New York apostille...sigh. The notarization I have is wrong, as I feared, and both it and my criminal check have to get signed off by the county clerk before they can go to Albany. I really wish I'd discovered this when I lived in New York. I was also warming up to the idea of doing a homestay, but according to my recruiter, they won't set one up for you, you have to find it yourself, and nobody the recruiter has ever dealt with has done one. So much for that. At least it makes the decision easy.

We have 50 Navajo kids camping out here this week. Unlike the Deer Hill programs, these guys don't do their own dishes. Neither do a couple of the interns. My skin is going to disintegrate before the week is over. It's a camp designed to teach the kids about being healthy, so one aspect of it is carefully portioned, "healthy" food (albeit processed & packaged, but we keep our mouths shut). This healthy food does not account for vegetarians, though, so dinner is not really provided for me.

I did a vehicle check on a '90 Suburban today. It made me really nostalgic. Looked very much like the '81 Pontiac I drove in high school. And like the '70s Suburbans people had when I was a kid. Crawling in the "way back" (as we used to call it) made me feel 8 years old again. Not a moment of much consequence, but a neat vibe to enjoy for a minute.

I met Sylvie, the Deer Hill cat, yesterday. Nobody here likes cats very much, but she has finagled her way into acceptance. She's gray, about 12 years old, and lives in a sleeping bag-lined can on top of the lumber pile. After staking me out for about 10 minutes, she came over and let me pet her, so I hope we're buddies now. Visiting her would be great stress relief, although apparently she ranges pretty widely in the summer.

Day off tomorrow--errands, Cortez for walk and movie, MAYBE Mesa Verde if I'm really feeling motivated. The Korea paper chase is going to require a lot of effort. And postage.

Got a fat pack of hike suggestions today (thanks, Valerie!). I'll have to make sure I put them to good use.