A Few Short Items

Yesterday was mom's birthday, gave her a call. She's doing well, as always. She asked me to send her a copy of the Rolling Stone profile of Stanley McChrystal... I added a note saying I'd send the Lady Gaga interview to her if she wishes it.

Saw a wedding party which included a burly transvestite- I think it was a guy who thought "outdoor wedding in July", looked at the charcoal gray and navy blue wool suits in his closet, and said, "Fuck it, I'm wearing a sundress." I'll have to remember this gambit.

Census training restarts on Wednesday (it's the follow-up to the follow-up), so I'll have to limit my beer intake tomorrow when I'll be drinking and learning. I'll be calling some once-and-future coworkers to see if we can arrange a carpool down to the training site, which is across town, near the Hudson River Museum.

Had to work outside today, with temps in the low-to-mid nineties... didn't suffer too much because I could take shelter under an ancient locust tree. I also scoped out the mother lode of purslane, so there are succulent vegetables in my immediate future.

Unlike the week before last, the trash collectors didn't pick up the garbage last Friday. I think it's going to be a long, smelly summer. I know a DPW mechanic, he told me there were a lot of layoffs, but the remaining staff now has to work overtime, so there's no real savings. Some irate residents were taking trash to the DPW maintenance lot and dumping it there. Even worse, a couple of firehouses are closing, and there have been layoffs. I fear that there will be mountains of burning trash, illuminating the darkened streets of my fair city.