My First Week Off

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On Monday, Jeremy did come to rescue me. We braved the horrific weather and went down to the local for drinks and then for pizza. It was weird to be out "on a school night" and not have to go to work the next day. I think this "lady of leisure" thing is going to take a while to sink in.

On Tuesday, my friend Sarah and I went to see the Stuttgart Ballet do "Romeo and Juliet". Lovely. It was choreographed back in the early sixties by a guy called John Cranko. Turns out he is one of the pre-eminent choreographers of his day. It was very avant garde, but interesting. Lots of arm waving and leaping about -- certainly not in keeping with what I am used to. His Juliet plays it as a very young child, which rather creeped me out when, an hour later, she wakes up in bed with Romeo. But, I got over that as the young man dancing Romeo gave the distinct impression that Juliet was not entirely his cup of tea. Once I got beyond all of that, however, I began to really enjoy it. By the end, I had been won over and settled down to enjoy the event.

One of the best parts about not having to go to work is that I am getting through the list of chores that never seem to get done. Saturday arrives and I am either too busy or too tired to bother, so they just sit there on the to-do list, never moving. For example, I have had a piece of luggage that needs to be repaired sitting on my bedroom floor since October. Wednesday morning, I actually dropped it off at the repair shop. I was so pleased with myself that I took myself out to breakfast. On Thursday, I took myself out to breakfast BEFORE I dropped off the print to be framed. How's that for knowing that something is actually going to get done?

For those of you who have been following my math adventures, I have just started on algebra. I was doing one of the lessons and learned something absolutely fascinating. Who would have ever thought anything about numbers would be interesting to me? Anyway -- the professor was discussing how numbers came into being and the evolution of math. She made the point that numbers are entirely abstract and that they only exist in the mind of men. To paraphrase Mark Twain, no other animal counts, or needs to. So -- we can think of the number three as entirely divorced from the objects it may be counting. When one considers how often we use and look at numbers every day, I found that amazing. I know, I'm a geek, but I thought it was cool and wanted to share it.

Thursday night was my leaving do. I managed to get through it with more laughter than tears, so was feeling very proud of myself. I held it at the Emperor, my favourite pub for work. It has been the ZPro local since the beginning and it is where the annual 4th of July bash is held every year. When the owner found out it was I who was leaving, he came out, gave me a big hug and asked if I was leaving the City. I assured him I was most likely coming back at some point. "Oh good, " he said. "But if you change your mind, let me know. I'll open a new branch." You can imagine the laughs that got.

I spent the weekend doing personal admin. I am bound and determined to be completely caught up by Tuesday. Why Tuesday? Wednesday morning, I am leaving on the first of my adventures. Watch this space.

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Photos

Leaving Do
My closest friends from work -- Jason, Phil, Jonny, Jim and Zarina.

My Eagles Crew
This is the group who took me to the Eagles last week -- Kirsten, Rich and Zarina.