2005-06-25 - 8:31 p.m.

>Return of Rufus '05

Your friendly Rufus suits up.

I have taken to the utterly uncomfortable and eminently advisable habit of wearing a hospital mask at work (where I count money). I am the only person there who does this. So I am standing out. I was just going crazy from the allergens circulating through that building. It is not just that it is a large company with many employees who all wear their different agony-inducing perfumes and colognes, it is the high pollen count pouring in the fresh air vent, it is the recent installation of widespread printers that dispense some horrible allergenic toner filling every corner with tiny little particulates that enter my nostrils and cause my mucus membranes to swell and redden and itch and bleed. Um, not that I'm complaining, but that is reason enough to endure the tiresome process of doing something just slightly different among people you've worked with for years.

I assume this is a widespread phenomenon. You work beside people for a long time doing this boring task and you've all told your funniest stories and then one day you come in with a different hairstyle. And "Rufus' new do" becomes the topic of conversation for a week. My work is fairly conducive to conversation... which is sometimes unfortunate because it is also fairly conducive to zoning out and thinking about other things.

We have been babysitting this rambunctious pup named Maggie. Very hyper and very affectionate.

This is the third attempt at this entry I have made. A glitch on my part erased the first, and a glitch by the computer erased the second. Also, I have been creating an illustrated detective story. And a new board game. I have been eating chocolate chip mint ice cream. I have not been sending mail, although I have mail that is long overdue to be sent.

Did I tell you that Bee graduated with her Bachelor of Science last month? I went to the ceremony and sat between her mom and her dad. She looked so cute in the cap and gown. She didn't even want to go to the ceremony at first, but we all kind of made a big deal of it, and I think she's glad she came.

The new apartment is working out great. It can get a little warm around 7:00, when the sun starts dipping low, but we have the skylight that opens and three other rooms with windows, so we can get a pretty good crossdraft going. I love this new apartment. I love the washer and dryer and the big balcony and all. The fridge leaks water, but I just have to call the owners about that. But it's a big fridge, enormous! And with the skylight in the kitchen, it is always so bright with natural light in here. I am getting freckles from standing in the kitchen.

And it is dead quiet when you close the windows and doors. Well, except when a neighbouring duplex put on a barbecue last week and played their music insanely loud right outside my balcony from 1 pm until 10:30 pm. I mean, I don't mind neighbours listening to loud music, but this was irritatingly, invasion-of-Panama loud. Bee's dad was here and insisted that she call the police. I am pretty patient with such things and would never call the police unless someone was getting hurt. When Bee called, the non-emergency operator immediately knew which house she was talking about before giving an address. "Oh, is it that white two-story one?" Apparently, they had already had numerous complaints. And the police never came anyway. So I don't feel bad.

It was a very small party for all the noise they made. And they also did a little sword fighting. And regular fighting, too.

But... the single drawback is the insanely restrictive showerhead. What the hell? In our last place we had this power blast of water, like continuous buckets dumping on you, and we didn't know how good we had it. Now we have the Dribbler. Water quite literally dribbles out of the shower head. It goes beyond the water-saving showerhead - it is ridiculously unsatisfying. Bee takes baths instead. Though they are very relaxing, baths have never appealed to me as a means of getting clean. It strikes me as counterproductive to put your face in the same water as your hoo-ha and your ring-a-ding.

I went through several versions of that last sentence. Still not quite there, I think.

Inadequate!

Anyway, I am going to try and write here more often again.