Since I almost always mention my evening calls and who I talked to during the day, and knowing how sensitive a certain someone can be, I would be remiss in my journaling duties if I failed to mention the fact that I spoke to strausmouse on the phone this evening. (I also called vickyandnorm but, alas, only got to speak to their answering machine.)

Rich called around 10:30 last night and I spoke to him on the phone for half an hour or so. He deploys to Iraq in about 2-1/2 weeks, to a base north of Baghdad. He'll be over there doing trauma surgery for the next third of a year.

We slept in until around 8:30. The early part of the morning was spent doing laundry and other odds and ends. Sometime after 11, we headed out. We walked over to the town center, where an arts festival was taking place, and browsed for a while. After that we walked over to the Riversdale Mansion, where they were having "kids" day. Kelly and I took a "kids" tour of the mansion house. In the 6 years I've lived here, I'd never been inside, but today, I finally went in.

We took an early afternoon nap and were awakened by Zeke, who was throwing up. Of course, I became anxious, but he seems to be doing fine now, and he was up and eating just a little while ago.

Late this afternoon, we headed over to downtown Silver Spring to walk around for a little while. I stopped in a Whole Foods while there, to pick up some additional groceries. I made us ravioli for dinner. After dinner, Kelly headed back home.

I spoke to Mom and Dad this evening. I also spoke to Dan for a while this evening. Dan sounded pretty sick on the phone.

My lunch is packed and I'm planning to (finally!) get to the gym tomorrow morning so I'm trying to get to bed bed 8:20. I'm also trying to finish up The Last Lecture, but I probably won't actually finish it until tomorrow. And I'm hoping to finish up In Joy Still Felt this week.

Kelly put on Futurama (the movie) last night around 8 PM and tried as I might, I couldn't make it through it. I fell asleep something like 40 minutes into the thing. When we finally went to bed, we were kept up by the noise of moving furniture in the next apartment. Given that it was April 30, I figured someone was moving out. It seemed to last until around midnight or so.

Luckily, I could sleep in this morning and I was into the office around 8:30 AM. Busy day today, writing SQL code. My grandboss was in the office too and hosted a luncheon for our group. We had a fire drill this morning. I had a "tip" that it was coming so I pulled out my softball mitt and a ball and when we all marched over to the gathering area as part of the drill, I had something to keep me occupied for the 15 minutes or so it took to count everyone. Turns out that the president of the company was in town. When I worked in Santa Monica, I was his assigned computer support guy and I hadn't seen him in a while. I said hello, and since he's a Red Sox fan, we talked baseball on the walk back to the office.

I had to walk home from the Metro station this evening because my car was at home (I drove Kelly's car into work yesterday), but it was nice out--warm even. I called Rich and left him a message. Tricia told me he's deploying to Iraq in about 3 weeks. He'd called the other night but I'd already gone to bed. I also called he11o_sunshine and we talked for a while.

Spent the rest of the evening watching episodes of the fifth season of The West Wing. I've only seen the 5th-7th seasons once and I was reminded of one of my favorite (and to be honest, one of the funniest) lines of the show. It's when President Bartlett, ranting about the importance of scientific research says, "Have you seen these grant applications? Thank God they didn't have these in Einstein's day or goodness knows what E would have equaled." I think that series was the last television show that had consistently brilliant writing. Even The Office, whose first three seasons were hysterically written, turned me off, more or less, with last week's episode. I'm not even bothering to watch it tonight.

Besides, I should be writing. I should be getting back to the gym. I should, I should, I should.

What the heck's the matter with me, anyway?

Mayday! Mayday!

Busy day, lots of meetings, and more meetings to come tomorrow. I got my state refund check in the mail today. $219. Since I'll be in Santa Monica next week, I'll deposit it as the credit union in person for a change, instead of mailing it in. I also got my pay stub for my paycheck tomorrow and my W-4 changes went through. The total change resulted in me paying about $300 more federal tax per check. Ouch! But maybe I won't owe any money next year.

I got the May issue of F&SF in the mail today, along with my bill for my 2 year renewal.

I did a little bit of writing this evening, doing about 300 or 400 words on "If By Reason of Strength..." It's coming along.

Spoke to the Norm half of vickyandnorm on the phone this evening.

Nearly 600 pages through In Memory Yet Green. Beautiful weather today. I'm taking the evening off to watch Smallville and The Office.

I headed to the post office to buy stamps, mail off thank you notes, and mail my sunglasses case to he11o_sunshine (I left my sunglasses at her apartment when I was there last week, and I'm sending her the case so that she can send them back to me without them being damaged. And don't for second think that I was clever enough to think of this. It was all her idea.) On the way back, I called Jen to wish her a Happy Birthday, and let her know the case was on it's way.

It rained very hard for about 10 minutes and then stopped and it's sunny and warm once again.

I read more of In Memory Yet Green and I'm now about halfway through at 356 pages. This afternoon, I have to do some work that I brought home this weekend with the intention of finishing up today. I'd also like to get some more writing done. Kelly's flight gets in at 5 PM, and I need to pick her up from the airport. I'm very eager to do that.

Off to grab some lunch, then back to work.

My right hand feels as though it's about to fall off. I wrote 8 "thank you" notes for my birthday celebration this past weekend. It's a good thing I generally don't write longhand or I wouldn't make it as a writer. A computer (or typewriter at the very least) is a saving grace. But it just doesn't seem right, typing a thank you note, so I did them long-hand. They probably won't go in the mail until Saturday, however. I'm out of stamps. Everyone seems to borrow stamps from me but when I ask to borrow a stamp in return, they never have any.

I sent an updated W-4 to payroll today. Per my accountant, I'm having an addition $100 taken out of each paycheck, which should keep my tax bill somewhat lower next April.

I'm 196 pages through In Memory Yet Green and just about to begin one of my favorite parts, where a young, 18 year old Isaac Asimov visits John Campbell for the first time. How I wish I could have been there! Coincidentally, last night, I purchased and downloaded mabfan's short story, "Cosmic Corkscrew", in which "a fan goes back in time to retrieve the lost manuscript of Isaac Asimov's first story." Re-reading it, a decade or so after I first read it brought tears to my eyes last night. It's made my reading of In Memory Yet Green even more delightful.

Dad and I received two "This is Birdland" t-shirts from the Orioles yesterday (well, I received them, but I'll bring one out to him when I visit in a week and a half). The shirts are bright orange while white lettering. We got them as one of the perquisites of being season ticket holders.

It's supposed to be well into the 70s today. When I get home from work, it's my plan to do my first lawn mowing of the year. The yard needs it, and since it is spring, frequent mowings are required and I don't want the grass to get so long as to make the job too tedious.

Wow, this year is flying by. Already April is here! Today seemed more like an April day than a March day, what with the rain showers we had. It's also opening day of the baseball season, and naturally, the Yankees/Blue Jays game was rained out. They'll play tomorrow instead. I don't feel quite as enthusiastic about it this year. I think it's because of the whole steroid controversy. I'm sure baseball will get passed it--after all, it has survived two World Wars, several smaller skirmishes, strikes, gambling controversies, etc.

I emailed my accountant this morning to make sure she received my tax papers which I sent out more than a week ago. She did. I heard from her later this morning. She's got them all entered into the computer and I should be getting a call from her tomorrow to "discuss things". Stay tuned on that one.

Mostly junk in the mail today, although I did get a birthday card from my financial adviser and his team. And I got the June issue of ASIMOV'S, which still says it's my last one, even though I sent in a renewal some weeks back.

I took my suit to the cleaners to have it cleaned and pressed. $4.50, which to me seems reasonable, but I rarely take in dry-cleaning. When I do, I always walk out feeling as though I've gotten a bargain. After all, $4.50 is barely more than a gallon of gasoline these days.

I'm 305 pages through I. Asimov.

Staying at Kelly's tomorrow instead of Wednesday. She is getting her wisdom teeth removed tomorrow. The dentist says it will be a quick and easy job, but I'm going to stay with her tomorrow just in case.

I had some interesting mail when I got home this afternoon. First, was a note from the IRS telling me that I was going to be getting some kind of economic stimulus payment. It seems to me to be self-congratulatory in tone. For those who have not yet received the letter, it begins as follows:

Dear Taxpayer:

We are pleased to inform you that the United States Congress passed and President George W. Bush signed into law the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, which provides economic stimulus payments to be made to over 130 million American households.

Was it necessary to mention that the law was passed by President George W. Bush, as though he is somehow the mastermind behind the plan (and not the architect of the economic problems we're having to begin with)? And how about how they used the words "Economic Stimulus" twice in the first sentence?

I went to the IRS website and used their calculator to see how much money I'd be getting as part of this deal. If my calculations are correct it will come to $269. So it looks as thought the Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate will find itself at least $269 more flush with cash in 2008.

Also in the mail was my copy of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America 2008 Directory. It's got a listing of all members and their contact information. There on the upper-left corner of page 37, between Josh Rountree and Rudy Rucker is "Jamie Todd Rubin". Pretty cool!

Another busy work day, but I did get to sleep in a little because I was at Kelly's and that's a much shorter commute to the office. Busy all day long and once again, didn't really get a lunch break.

Got home this evening and did a bunch of chores: cleaned the kitchen, cleaned up Zeke's litter, collected the mail, took out the trash. I got my renewal for United Mileage Plus Premier in the mail today. Also, it looks like FedEx tried to deliver the Orioles season tickets package yesterday, but I wasn't home. They said they'd try back today before 7 PM. We'll see. It's 6:30 PM now. Also got my Amex bill in the mail.

I finally--finally--set up automatic payments of all my bills through Premier America's bill pay. I've been using Bill Pay for years, but in a manual fashion. Now it's completely automated. One less thing to think about.

I started reading The Left Hand of Darkness yesterday but didn't get very far. I've made better progress so far today, although it's still slow-going. The book started off very slowly. It's dense and full of imagery that requires thought on many levels. But it has picked up somewhat and I'm finding now that I'm enjoying it.

Less than a week until we head off to Disney World and I am so looking forward to that right now. I can really use the break.

I've got Macaroni and Cheese going on the stove. Dinner. Yum.

All kinds of mail when I got home from work today. I had the April/May issue of ASIMOV'S, which I look forward to picking through. It's got a story by Kate Wilhelm, which is always a treat. Also in the stack was the February 2008 (#219) issue of the SFWA Forum, always interesting, but particularly so what with all of the chatter going on about the upcoming elections. I received the March 2008 issue of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN with what appear to be a couple of fascinating articles, one on "the end of cosmology", the other on problems that quantum computers can't solve. Then there was the March 2008 issue of AOPA Pilot, which, as it turns out, is the 50th anniversary issue.

Perhaps the most interesting piece of mail was the bill I got from my family practice doctor. Only $34, but I was trying to figure out what it could possibly be for. Looks like either they just got around to billing, or the insurance company is really slow. Charges listed on the bill go all the way back to March 27, 2006.

When the mail came today, there was a plain #10 white envelope from InterGalactic Medicine Show. Taking one look at it, I knew what it was. Every writer knows. It was a rejection slip for a story that I submitted to them not too long ago. Plain white #10 envelopes are burned into the psyche of every writer after a dozen, a score, a hundred or more rejection slips. Reluctantly, I tore open the letter, grimly disappointed in myself, and was momentarily confused at what was within:

It was a 1099-MISC tax form for the payment I received for the story I sold to the magazine back in 2007. It's my first, and hopefully, not my last.

Incidentally, if you've never seen a 1099-MISC form, there are some interesting boxes on it. Some of them make sense: (1) Rents; (2) Royalties; (3) Other Income. But how about these: (5) Fishing boat proceeds; (10) Crop insurance proceeds; or lucky (13) Excess golden parachute payments.

Mine is listed in box (7) nonemployee compensation. Interestingly, the instructions for Box 7 reads (in part) as follows:

Box 7. Shows nonemployee compensation. If you are in the trade or business of catching fish, box 7 may show cash you received for the sale of fish.

What is this obsession the IRS has with fish?

In the mail today, was an offer from American Express, for a free companion ticket (valued up to $500), if I was willing to try, risk free, some travel magazine that I never heard of. I read the fine print. I would be charged $2.99. I would then be billed $19.99 if I decided to keep the magazines beyond the first two issues. Finally, I could call up and cancel at any time for a refund. The free companion ticket would come 3-5 weeks after my first issue.

It sounds like a good deal, but it's just not worth it. Airline companion tickets have lots of blackouts; they are not upgradeable; and when it comes down to it, the time I'd have to take to sign up for the deal, and then cancel it later would not be worth the value of the free companion ticket that I'd get. I'm not saying that 15 minutes of my time is worth $500. But I am saying that I just can't put a price on the opportunity costs I'd be losing in those 15 minutes.

On the bright side, I also got my Fall 2007 issue of the Science Fiction Writers of America Bulletin. (Although it is well past Fall 2007.) At least it came.

Presently 860 pages through Our Oriental Heritage with 78 pages left to finish it. Looks like I might have it finished up tomorrow.

Long list of things to get done at work tomorrow, but I'm feeling up to the challenge. We'll see how things go.

The mail just arrived (unusually late) and I received the March 2008 issue of ASIMOV'S and the April 2008 issue of ANALOG. That issue of ANALOG means I now have Joe Haldeman's entire novel, Marsbound. I've only read part 1 of the serial thus far; when I have a chance, I can now read parts 2 and 3 back-to-back.

I stopped at the grocery store after work today. Arriving home, I found Boskone 45 Progress Report 2 waiting for me. I've already registered for the conference and I've got my hotel room (at the Westin Waterfront). All that's left is to decide how I'm getting up there, either by train or by plane.

I had a "end of year" letter from my Uncle Dick--Mom's older brother. And several bills, most of which I paid at once including the electric bill ($88.66), the gas bill ($187.17), and the phone bill ($118.58).

I was busy at work today, another day spent on fine-tuning the Visitor Center application I'm working on (the first application I've developed that is fully AJAX-based). I plan on taking it easy this evening, reading and doing little of anything else.

I put in a long day today, working from about 5:30 AM until just about 4 PM. I got a lot done, but I was pretty beat by the time I got home this evening. I was supposed to stop at the vet to pick up some more dry food for Zeke, but I forgot so I'll have to do it Thursday. He's got enough to last him.

The Metro rates went up on Sunday and today was the first time I rode the metro since the increase. It cost me more than $3 each way into work and $4.25 to part. That's more than $10/day to commute now. But it's still better than the alternative.

Spoke to he11o_sunshine this evening. Also spoke to Dad today. I finally went ahead and paid for our Orioles season tickets for this season, so that's taken care of. I was only waiting to hear back from our rep to see if we could get any closer in our section, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen.

I'm somewhere around 145 pages through Our Oriental Heritage. I'm going to read for half and hour before lights out.

It really was a gorgeous day today. 72 degrees. I ran out after work to get something to eat and the air was still warm and it smelled like spring. Starts to cool off tomorrow.

Lots of mail when I got home from work this afternoon. I had a photo-card and holiday poem from Trevor and thepopeswife, and cards from Bonnie & Tom he11o_sunshine and stubiebrother, Twila, strausmouse and rmstraus (also signed by Damian and Cali), and even a card from my accountant.

I've been doing laundry and getting ready for the trip down to Florida tomorrow. I spoke to Dad and Mom on the phone tonight, and left a message for Doug. I still have to pack, but I'm waiting for the laundry to be finished before I do.

I can actually sleep in a little tomorrow. (I think we decided that we can go to the gym after we get down to Florida.) I'm meeting Kelly at the airport at 10 AM.

My company had it's holiday party last night. It was the biggest turnout I'd seen in several years and it was fun. Kelly came and we spent time talking with friends and coworkers, eating a variety of good foods (Karl, Todd and I did several deviled egg "shots"), and in general, having a really fun time.

After the party was over, we headed over to Carpool where we met several more friends for drinks. From there we walked back to Kelly's place.

This morning, we had scrambled eggs for breakfast, and a little later, we made ginger bread, which was also pretty good. We lazed around for much of the morning, but eventually we got to the gym and I did a cardio workout, plus a little bit of abs and arm work. Now I'm all set to start with strength training on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

We headed back to my place early this afternoon. We both had to do a little bit of work. Some storms are expected this evening. I had a bunch of mail. Renewal for our Orioles season tickets arrived today. Also some holiday cards I ordered from Buttercream Cards. I guess I have some holiday cards to work on!

I had a few items waiting for me in the mail when I got home from work last night. First, there was the book I ordered from Amazon over the weekend, The Year's Best Science Fiction, 24th Annual Collection (ed. Gardner Dozois). There was also a book from he11o_sunshine and stubiebrother on something like 50 different recipes for grilled cheese. It's a very cute book and will certainly add some variety to my grilled-cheese-preparation. Thanks guys!

I spent the evening working on revisions to my story. I'm hoping to send it off tomorrow or Saturday at the latest.

Paid a couple of bills, the electric bill and the gas bill, which topped $165 because I like to keep my house cozy and it's been cooler lately. But that's okay. I've been saving money by bringing my meals to work every day and I haven't spent a dime in the Mall downstairs in nearly 2 weeks now.