I had an old colleague and friend visit this week and that, combined with the intermittent Internet outage, caused me to be offline for most of that time.  Things are now back to normal, though, as the WiFi is working and the guest is gone.

It's a funny thing about academics; they spend so much time living in dorms that they never quite adjust to being in a house.  My friend came to stay and, to lessen the impact on a home that isn't mine, and that enjoys a cleaning service only once a month when it's otherwise vacant, I moved him into the guest room and me back out to the truck.  I slept remarkably well, as the nights were cool and you can hear the surf.

My old friend leaves a trail behind him wherever he goes, though.  The guest room looked like a frat house's, the living room was filled with half empty coffee mugs and power bar wrappers; by the pool sat a rather conspicuous can of Bud Light Lime.  I really shouldn't have shown him how to operate the elaborate European coffee maker, mainly as he changed all of the settings.  Killer Joe was exhausted by it all and spent most of his time sleeping behind the pool's storage shed.

Still, it was good to have another human with me, someone undemanding and with whom I have a great portion of history.  It's also nice that, unlike most of my colleagues, he actually strives for physical fitness, so I had a running, swimming, surfing partner, too.  It was nice to hear of the academic rat race, as it simply ratified my decision to leave it all behind.

Now, to catch up on the news, especially as I see that Mr. Peace Prize is using the lives of others to draw attention away from his abysmal poll numbers, and to polish an academic article that will keep me relevant and solvent for a little while longer.  Unless the rain stops, of course, and then it's to the water.