Swim into the week

Monday is for swimming, laundry, and bridge. It was a very smart move on my part when I quit doing the Wal-Mart run on Monday, too.

After swimming, we went to IHOP to celebrate a birthday. John came, too, after his rowing session. As usual, the food was good. But NOT as usual, the service was terrible. We arrived about 8:45, and it was nearly 10:30 when we finally got our tabs paid and could leave. Needless to say, cards were filled out, tips were omitted, and management will be notified.

The cards this afternoon were average. I had some good ones and some bad ones. I'll probably wind up in the middle again. There were a couple of hands that I think I played very well - and that always brightens the afternoon. This is a group of good bridge players, and most of them are really nice folks. But some of them have some really annoying habits - like tapping fingernails on the table, playing very slowly, telling everybody how the hand should've been played. I'm glad we play in 30-minute rounds, and then change partners and tables, so nobody ever gets stuck with anybody else for very long. (Of course, I'm sure there's somebody out there talking about how annoying I am ... but no, surely that's not possible!)

The mail brought an Elderhostel catalog featuring 3- or 4-day programs in the SouthEast. One that sounds pretty interesting is in early December in Highlands, NC. The program is on Applachian humor, ballads, and Mark Twain. We'll let that simmer for a bit before we make a decision.

I nearly forgot. Congratulations to the Lady Vols Softball team. They won the first game (best of three) against Arizona in the NCAA Softball Series.

Countdown to the beach: 19 days!

Today's picture was taken at a rest area along I-40 in the Texas Panhandle. I hope you can read the signs. The smallest one reads: "Watch out for snakes".