Summer hours

With the work of yesterday's commencement ceremony out of the way, I can officially declare this my start of the summer. How do I feel? Relieved more than anything.

Fewer hours in the office (if I can help it) and a break from the wear and tear of the academic year's demands is certainly welcome even though I'm keenly aware of the different challenge that may be awaiting in the form of a personality clash between one of my student summer employees and all of the others. But hey, today seemed to go all right.

Although I have no shortage of accumulated time to take off, I don't have any vacation plans yet. I'll figure something out eventually. In the meantime, I've discovered that I'm really looking forward to getting out of town for one night this week.

I suggested to my dad that he meet me in Cincinnati and we'd go to an evening Reds game and return to the ballpark for the following day's afternoon contest. Plus, we wouldn't have to pay for a hotel room since I earned a free night certificate. I don't think he's been to a game since August 2006 when he and I went to a three-game series and made the approximately two-hour drive back to his home each day. Where he and my mom now live is less conducive to going to Great American Ball Park.

It seemed like a good idea, but he and my mom are hitting the road for a lengthy trip the day after this proposed baseball doubleheader. The timing didn't work. Nevertheless, I still had some interest in going anyway, and as work was grinding me down, keeping this brief getaway in mind was something I could look forward to.

All right, so the Reds are showing signs of an imminent collapse, if one hasn't already started, but in some ways it doesn't matter. Summer is here. I hope to be able to find more time to relax. It's time again to put some serious effort into getting into shape, digging into TV and old movies on DVD, reading books, and, yes, knitting.