Mostly a CAT Progress Report

Well, unfortunately, Frank's band did not get to play for the 1/4 Scale Tractor Student Design Competition Friday night.  That would have been pretty cool.  And only now is that the Pineapple Upside-Down Cake in the oven, which, of course, I'm happy about as it'll soon be around for eating.   

The cats have been making progress adjusting each day.  Sig has been enjoying going outside on a leash.  I'll try to get some pictures of him soon; I think he looks pretty funny.  I tried to bring Bodhi outside the other day but ended up terrorizing her.  I'm feel a bad cat mom, and she may not be venturing outside again anytime soon.  

It's been fun watching the cat skirmishes and interactions while they're learning to live with each other.  Sig and Mabel have kind of cooled off with their posturing, but Mabel had been doing a lot of hissing and growling at both  Sig and Bodhi.  Bodhi had been mostly running and hiding, but in the last two days has started standing her ground more hissing back a little as needed.  Sig is mostly non-reactive when Mabel initiates something, and kind of annoying-little-brother-ish other times.

Here are some pictures of some cold-war-ish state of things the last few days:

That's Mabel on the left, Sig on top of the chair.  I think he was antagonizing her here with his presence, she was growling.

Sig, again, antagonizing Mabel, and trying to ambush her tree.  

I've been feeding them yummy wet food in the morning, and plan to slowly bring their bowls closer together.  The first day I did this, when Sig approached Mabel's food, she gave an old fashioned slap across the face.  He didn't respond or move at all until she'd finished eating and left the area of her dish.

But this one I just took a few minutes ago:

That's Mabel behind the curtain, Bodhi coming out from behind the chair, and just a few minutes after this was taken, Sig started licking Mabel's tail.  (!!!!!)  Mabel was making some grunting noises, but no hissing or slapping.  I think we're really on a path to success!  

*****

In other news, I've spend a good deal of time cleaning my car the last two days.  It's now cleaner than it's been in 6 years (I've had it 7).  And Frank walked me through changing the oil in my car, added air conditioning refrigerant to my car (yay! for A/C), figured out why my engine light was on (some tubes connected to an air filter chamber weren't connected), AND, maybe most importantly, Frank figured out why my horn was not working and fixed it (the vibrations of a honking horn vibrated a wire loose).  This does not mean I intend to use it excessively, however; I am not in Chicago anymore, afterall.  :)

There's also a Buddhist/Insight Meditation group in town I want to check out on Thursday.  This a group that Bhante Sujatha of Blue Lotus Temple, with whom I went to Sri Lanka three years ago, is going to be teaching in August.  So, if there are Buddhists in Peoria that are my "sort" of Buddhists, these will likely be them.  :)  

Tomorrow I've decided to start looking for work.  Vacation is over.  :)  More on that later...

Final Stage of Moving; A Run Sandwich

Tuesday was the day before my scheduled move, and I'd scheduled myself a full day:  final massages with some very long-time clients, walk through of my apartment, final mid-week run with Matt joined by Eric.  

I'd mentioned, Matt and I had talked for years of getting french fries from White Castle after a run...and since I was moving we'd run out of runs--now was the time!  What I'd envisioned was not at all how it went down.  A warm summer night, sighting under the statue of a young Abe Lincoln on the northeast corner of Clark & Peterson Ave, gossiping or philosophizing...No.  It was pouring rain.  Matt was, as per usual, severely underdressed.  Eric was well equipped in his high tech, high visibility (as in bright yellow) rain gear.  And I was somewhere in the middle as most of my "gear" is in Peoria.  But we were all soggy, squeezing tablespoons of rainwater out of my "sweat-wicking" shirt, shoes still a little damp two days later.   It was probably the second wet-est run I've ever been on.   (Thanks, Chicago, for that sendoff.)  

So, like some very wet dogs left out in a downpour too long, leaving puddles on their floor, we picked up three sacks for french fries from White Castle, and then ran them home in the cold (brrr...) wet finger-pruning rain.  Brr...  Another "meal" on the floor of my apartment:

Okay, well, I'm having technical difficulties adding text in amongst these photos; I was trying to use smaller photos, but I maybe can't do that without great working knowledge of this program and still have text between them. 

*****

So, Wednesday morning I spent finishing cleaning my apartment.  Bodhi is showing off my clean shelves.  :)  Sig understood pretty soon that he was to be going in the cat box, meanwhile Bodhi was hiding behind the stove/fridge, though she eventually came around.  (Aren't they cute?!  All set to go to our new home!)

Our drive was basically uneventful.  Long.   I'm completely tired of the Chicago-->Peoria drive. I'm glad I'm hear now and only plan to return for the Batavia Triathlon.  

*****

Kitties have been adjusting well.  Bodhi (not to mention Frank) has really been pushing the timeline up.  They'd spent the night in the guest room and were content with that...but Bodhi really wanted to get out and explore, kept reaching her little paw out under the bedroom door, trying to grasp at the world on the other side.  Sig has been much more cautious, reserved, obviously a little overwhelmed by the whole operation.  We kept them separated by door and gate, and then by gate, and then they seemed ready to be in the same room.  Mabel (Frank's kitty) has been less than thrilled with the presence of Bodhi&Sig and engages in a lot of hissing and posturing, but, thankfully, no actual attacking.  Sig doesn't seem to understand what her hissing could possibly mean, he's completely oblivious to it, Bodhi is slightly intimidated occasionally and will scoot away from Mabel.

I went with Frank today to Autozone which involved turning over some used engine oil, worthy of a picture for all yous in Chicago who would never change your own oil, but apparently it's all the thing down here.  :)  Like, real men change their own engine oil.  And Sig found Mabel/Frank's cat tree, overlooking the poker room.  I'm not sure Mabel was happy with him up there, but...oh, well.  She's a tough cookie to please.  I'll add some pictures of Mabel next time.

*****

Tonight I really did not want to run, but somehow, with thoughts of future regret as my motivation should I not get out the door, I put on my running clothes, plugged into an old This American Life episode called Plan B, and off I went.  

Run: 3.8 miles around the ICC campus.  Left at about 7:15pm or so.

-saw a sign that said, "please do not walk or run on roadway."   Hmm.  Is the shoulder the roadway?  I'll go with no.

-Saw on the side of the road: 1 screw, 1 wire cutters, 1 toothbrush

-1 Motorcycle class in session

-No other runners spotted

And now...to shower or to make a Pineapple Upside-Down Cake...?  

Also, will Frank's band play a show tomorrow night for the 1/4 Scale Tractor Student Design Competition?

(to be continued)

One more day and a wakeup!

If this were a military training scenario, we'd be happily saying, "one more day and a wakeup."  Tomorrow I have a very very full work schedule followed by a walk-through of my apartment followed by a final "mid-week run" (this to be importantly distinguished from Saturday's last "long run"); today was my last day to really get stuff done.  Of course, I could always add another day on in Chicago to *get stuff done*, but I don't really want to do that, and, knowing how I tend to operate, the last days would be the same whether they are now or 3 weeks from now.  

Matt and Sara came over to help clean, sort stuff, provide moral and mental support (I have a tendency to get really distracted like a honey bee when I'm trying to do this sort of stuff by myself).  But, first, we got bagels!  I really wanted bagels from the New York City bagel place on North Ave. and Sheffield, but that was too far away, so we settled for Einstein's in Andersonville.  There's a certain appeal to eating on the floor when you have no furniture:

How many addictive substances do you see pictured here (below):

 

(We came up with: Hemp milk (kidding! it's not really, no THC here), chocolate (in the hemp milk), carbohydrates (a la bagel), poppy seed (kidding!), dairy via cream cheese (serious about this one), coffee (obviously true)...which is a slightly humorous total of 6.  Now, that's a ways to start the day!  Green smoothies?  Heh, not on a day of cleaning.) 

Then we had a little Sig-in-a-basket photo shoot:

Me and Siggy-boy.  All this moving has been really hard on him; he's a smart, curious, and sensitive guy.  Being in this little basket seemed to calm him.

And then we got to work.  Sorting storage-crap into To Peoria (very small pile), Joey, Sara, Matt, Thrift store, Free/alley, garbage...  Things like this I find so much easier with friends.  I sold my scuba fins and the butcher block (finally!).  A little estimation challenge:

Me (sorting through my fridge):  When do you think this Miso expired?

Sara:  2004

Matt: 2004.  No...2006.  

Me:  Actually, you guys were right with 2004.  What month?

Sara:  May!

Me:  Holy sh*t!  You're right?!!  May 2004.  

Which means, I moved this expired Miso into my place 3 years ago.  It wasn't moldy or anything, just really potent smelling.

Sara and Matt spackled my nail holes, I cleaned the bathroom, vacuumed floors, cleaned out the fridge, etc., etc., until the apartment looked like this:

So as not to end this blog on a sad-ish note, I have a funny-ish story:

Matt & Eric and I were discussing our run for tomorrow night.  For almost 3 years Matt and I have talked about getting french fries from the White Castle that's 2 blocks from my place after a run, but never have. Tomorrow's run has got to involve some fries! I also have about an inch of tequila that should be imbibed before I head off to Peoria.  So...is White Castle BYOB?! I consult my supercomputer (a.k.a. iPhone), and proceed to call White Castle System Inc (that's the official name, according to my phone).

White Castle Employee #1 (male): Hello?  White Castle.

Me: Hi, um, I was wondering, are you BYOB?

WCE #1: Uhhhhhhh, I don't know, just a sec...

(At this point I realize this sounds sort of like a prank call, though I started out with perfectly good intentions.  And I start to feel the need to do the potty dance as I am trying very hard to not laugh out loud out of semi-embarrassment, and this is very difficult...)

White Castle Employee #2 (female):  Hello?  Can I help you?

Me (completely now aware this sounds like a prank): Um, yeeeaaaa, I was wondering if you were BYOB...?

WCE #2:  (silence)  Uh.  No.  This is *White Castle.* (which I'm sure was followed by a tacit "dumbass")

Last official Chicago "long run"

Saturday was my final "long run" in Chicago. Maybe I'll make some encore long runs when I visit, but that'll be part of a different era. Target distance today was 8 miles in honor of Eric and I having run (on and off) together for 8 years. Also, there's a 15K I'm thinking about doing in a month, and I think Eric has a half marathon in mind.

Time of departure: Late morning. Not sure; the clocks are gone in my place.
Return: We got to Alice n Friends at 12:15

Temperature: WARM, almost hot. low 70s, probably, but the sun was really powerful.
Wind Chill: eh.
Lake Temp: 50s, it looks like

Route: Down the lakefront to Addison drinking fountain, then in to the lake, and north to ANF
Approx Distance: 8 miles
Running buddy: Eric and Matt
Clothing: Shorts, t-shirt, running hat. THANK YOU, ERIC, for pressuring me to buy a running hat last year. I can't imagine sunny or rainy days without it now.

The Drive Activity: Eh.
Dog beach Activity: Hoppin'!!

What did I eat pre-run? A 600 calorie blueberry scone from Bittersweet and coffee. Yea, great pre-run snack. Maybe that's why I had side stitches.
How did I feel? I was cranky, it was hot, my diaphram and/or right intercostals were all tangled up.
What do I like about running? I like knowing that because this run sucked, the next one should feel good. IF, I ever get any good sleep at least, which is somewhat dependent on my kitty calming down about this move.
______________________________________________________

Oh, what is there to say? Last times and good-byes are always bittersweet. Maybe it was a good thing the run felt kinda crappy and I was kinda cranky. But, the lakefront was beautiful and everyone and their sister's soccer team was out playing somewhere. 6 teams I think it was playing within the vicinity of the Montrose Hill and many more up and down the path. Lots of delicious smelling BBQs. Lots of people out on the bike and running pathes. A few adventurous souls on the beaches that opened this weekend. A very happenin' Montrose Dog Beach...

We had post-run brunch at ANF, since I basically have nothing in the way of cooking materials or eating equipment. Followed by a post-run nap in my basically unfurnished apartment while waiting for someone to come buy my bookshelf:


:)

Goodbye, Bedsores. Hello, Happiness!

After three nights sleeping on the floor and getting progressively less sleep, and after developing a not-completely unfounded fear of bed sores, I decided to take Sara up on her offer of her air mattress.  I have six (6!! Am I counting??) nights left in Chicago, and at the sleep-reduction rate I was going, I'd be getting negative sleep by the time I was leaving, and arriving in Peoria as some sort of battered bride of Frankenstein.  That would not do. 

OH, WHAT SWEET HEAVEN!!!  What divinity!!  Be still your breath and behold this beautiful sight:

If you have never slept on the floor before for consecutive nights and then laid down on an air mattress, you do not know what bliss I'm experiencing right now.   Thank you, Sara, thank you for alleviating my bed sore concerns, for preserving my sanity, for not allowing the dreaded floor to thrash the great massage I got this afternoon...    Thank you.

The Final Countdown!

This is where I am:

This is where I want to be:

Oh, the agony!

But, in the interest of tying up loose ends, I used a gift card a client had given me a year and a half ago to this cute boutique-y store in Winnetka called Randoons.  I used it to purchase this delightful bag:

Oh, and Matt and I ran 6 miles last night.   It was good.  Steamboat, here I come!

An Egg Experiment

The Egg Experiment

(Note to people concerned about the welfare of animals:  They are "cagefree" eggs.  I'm looking for a good source of locally produced eggs.)

Frank and I made a pound cake the other day.  Very dense stuff is pound cake.  However, Frank momentarily forgot this at one point and cut off a big honkin' piece.  Halfway through he realized his mistake: that pound cake is not angel food cake.  No, I said, angel food cake has 14 egg whites (according to Joey though a google search suggests 12 egg whites is common) which makes it very fluffy, whereas poundcake has 4 whole eggs.  Frank, ever frugal-minded, wondered, maybe a little concerned, "how much of the egg are you throwing out when just using the egg whites?"  I thought maybe 50%?  We had to see.  

Above are four separated eggs.  Just under 3 ounces of egg yolk, 5 ounces of egg whites.  When you're throwing out the egg yolks, you're throwing out 3/8ths of the egg.  So, if you're making an angel food cake and using 14 2-ounce eggs, you're throwing out 5.25 eggs by volume per cake.  Now, we didn't weigh the egg whites and egg yolks.  If we have a sensitive enough scale, I think we'll have to do this next time.  How much denser is the egg yolk than the egg white?  And/Or, if you beat egg whites versus beating a full egg, how much less dense is the result?  Are the four eggs in pound cake denser than the 12-14 egg whites in angel food cake?  Certainly they would be once you beat them, right?

Not having cooked with eggs for years now, I'm newly intrigued by the properties of these little guys.

*****

Bodhi kitty cuddling my hip in my sleeping bag

I'm back in Chicago now for a week.  Had a going away "party" with some of my co-workers last night: they are all so sweet and kind and I will miss them.  Sleeping in a sleeping bag on the floor in an empty apartment.  No food in the house except some frozen fruit and tator tots.  :)  My cats seemed somewhat stressed out by it all (me being gone for awhile with no furniture in the house, I presume), but after some hardcore cuddling and massaging, they've calmed down a little.  Massage is so great for calming that sympathetic nervous system.  

I guess tator tots are potatoes.  I can have them for breakfast, right?  

Life in East Peoria - Week 1 Installment

As predicted, the weather was 72 degrees and sunny on Tuesday.  Perfect for strapping all my stuff to Frank's flatbed and moving it south out of Chicago.  

The drive seemed loooong after a late night of packing, early morning of massaging, mid-day delivery of my bed frame to a third floor apartment in Uptown (yes, that's right, I sold my bed frame!), and a couple hours of carrying the big heavy boxes downstairs and strapping everything down.  Before leaving, I fed Frank some "hippie food" = tofurkey slices on sprouted grain bread with spinach and vegenaise.  Sweet pickle relish and mustard seemed to make it tolerable.  (This is to be one of my new hobbies, finding meals that are agreeable to the both of us.)  But, just in time for rush hour, we headed out of town...long drive...and we arrived in East Peoria to a lightening show which thankfully didn't turn into a rainstorm until just after we'd finished unloading all my stuff.  

We've spent the last few days unpacking, sorting, and rearranging.  We've had a few fun projects.  

• We took a sledge hammer to an old cell phone of mine.  The one the kittens tried to kill a bunch of times, that I'd dropped in a smoothie...it's totally dead now.
• I helped Frank solder on a new switch to an old broken electric guitar that he now has up and running.  Yay!  That thing is super loud when plugged into a bass amp.  I may have to dig out my ear plugs.
• I used electric pruners for the first time to trim a willow-ish tree and then pulled a bunch of weeds, at the same time giving myself a--pardon my language--tramp stamp of sunburn.  Ouch!  It still hurts back there.  Next time, longer shirt or sunscreen above the belt line.  
  
• We determined whether or not a couple of boxes of old books are sell-able on amazon.  One I've been finding very interesting to read is, Those Wonderful Old Automobiles by Floyd Clymer, published in the 1950s about the automobiles of the 1890s to the 1920s.  So interesting how inventors and marketers were trying to figure out what the future was going to be for these horseless carriages.  
• Hippie food voted Most Tolerable by Frank that I've prepared to date: Thinly sliced baked teriyaki tofu pan/stir fried with thinly sliced onions and julienned carrots over soba noodles with Soy Vay Teriyaki Sauce.   Tempeh, seitan, tofu, couscous, lentil patties..these are ALL new to Frank and he's been really great about trying everything. 

*****

I've been on two runs:

Wednesday, May 13th, afternoon - 3.8 mile Run - around ICC

I ran in the afternoon/evening around the local community college.  It sucked because I haven't been running much lately, but here are the highlights:

• Scared 1 Great Blue Heron in a water retention pond so that it took flight to another corner of the pond
• Ran by 1 motorcycle class at the college
• Saw 2 other runners
• Ran though the horticultural lab at the college and felt a sense of "home" when I saw that the lab was a U of I extension.  Seeing that old Orange and Blue and familiar font was pleasing.  I'm looking forward to visiting Urbana-Champaign soon. 
• The third mile of the run is alongside a golf course, which is pretty and I like it.
• The route has a few gently rolling hills, which are more fun than the utter flatness of Chicago's terrain.  

Friday, May 15th, 8:06am - 3.8 mile run - around ICC

It was raining and 57 degrees outside; after an argumentative internal dialogue, I was able to get myself out of bed at 7:57am, into running clothes and out the door.   Of course, the rest is relatively easy, and, despite the cold rain (or maybe because of it), this run was much more pleasant.  I saw no other runners, no birds, no fun looking classes, but it never actually sucked and I never felt like I had to sternly tell myself to keep running, I just did.  

*****

Some of Frank's bandmates are runners and are going to be doing the Steamboat Classic 15K on June 20th.  It's supposed to have two monster hills in it.  The big shocker about this: the late registration for this event is only $25.  In Chicago, I doubt there is any 5K run that is less than $35, not to mention a long run like 15K!  So I'm tentatively planning on participating.  They also run with a local running club which I will consider joining.  

With this Steamboat event in mind, I've created the following long run plan with shorter runs filling in in the next few weeks.  If I stick to it, I'll probably do the Steamboat:

Sunday, May 24th - 6-8 miles

Saturday, May 30th - 7-9miles  (Eric, you game?)

June 7th - 8-10 miles

June 14th - Batavia Triathlon

June 20th - Steamboat 15k  (9.3 miles)

Tomorrow I've decided I need to start thinking about finding a job...  

Fare Thee Well, my Chicago dears!

Three years ago I returned from a trip to Sri Lanka, moved into a one bedroom apartment in Chicago, and said to the universe, while slicing a papaya and squirting it with key lime juice, "in three years I want my life to be different."  Well, it's three years later and my life is changing.  I'm moving from Chicago to East Peoria in central Illinois!

I've lived in Chicago proper for almost 8 years and it's been wonderful: getting my first "real" job out of college, painting crazy designs on the walls with my first roommate, making friends at massage school while learning to cultivate "unconditional positive regard" for people, saying good-bye to the Army.  

I learned it's kind of fun to have an apartment that faced the Redline train, to feel like a fish in a fishbowl on display to the world, but pausing conversations when the L rambles by does get annoying.  Having a yard in Logan Square is fun for playing bocce ball, grilling tofu, and playing fetch with the dogs, but not fun when someone steals your new brass fire pit because the price of copper just jumped, or you learn that you've not been hearing fireworks but gun shots.  

I learned about raw foods and wheat grass, and then how disgusting it is when you drink 6 oz of the stuff.  I learned that trying to have a community garden is a huge commitment.  I learned how to play the cello, then turned it on its side, added two strings and frets, called it a guitar and have struggled ever since--what an infuriating instrument.  I sought out independent coffee shops, dog-friendly dog parks, vegan restaurants, and outdoor eateries and beer gardens in the summer that are somehow distinctly Chicago.  I re-found martial arts in the way of Aikido after a 10 year hiatus and had a love-at-first-beat experience with West African dancing and drumming.  I got over my fears of biking in the city and swimming in the lake at Oak St and Ohio St beaches.  I finally trained for and started doing triathlons and my first marathon, though I ran it in Rome, not Chicago.  I will miss these things and the people with whom I've done them. 

When I first moved to Chicago, I described the city and the earth as wearing a corset of asphalt and concrete.  This is how I felt when I first moved here, like I couldn't breathe, like I was suffocating under tall buildings and sweaty bodies and an endless expanse of road and sidewalk.  I was frustrated that the only "nature" that existed was what we planned or what scavenged our rubbish:  squirrels eating tossed out pizza crusts, birds eating berries in trees we planted, rats in our dumpsters. 

I finally found a sense of peace and connectivity on the running path, my niche in this city, on the lakefront when the temperatures dropped below freezing.  Yes, we can probably manipulate the earth's temperatures and weather patterns, but so far we don't do it on purpose.  Despite every carefully manicured detail of Chicago's lakefront path, the power of Mother Nature's majestic muscle commands respect and awe when temperatures drop.  When you're outside and alone in a city of 3 million with a foot of snow and ice on the ground burying man's landscaping, when your eye lashes have frozen together and you become numb to the pain in your sinuses, when it takes a hot shower and fluffy socks and an hour and a half for your bones to thaw out, you are humbled.  That's what it takes to feel connected to nature in a city like Chicago.  Though admittedly fun to feel so uniquely adventurous, it seems like a lot of pain for a little spiritual connection.  

I have decades of friendships in Chicago that will never be replaced.  Vegan potlucks, oatmeal w/ yogurt and bananas and cranberries, massage trades and almond butter and banana toast, adopting dogs from and then volunteering at the city pound, eating Thai food on the roof deck after a mile swim in a choppy Lake Michigan, post-run cornmeal pancakes, slide shows after someone returns from a vacation, legendary New Years Eve parties, hearing new bands at various small venues...  I love all of you. 

But life is about making choices, and having experienced an amazing re-connection with someone I knew from high school, I'm choosing the possibility of a life with him.  

Stay tuned, my dears.  :)

A run blog for old times sake...

for a run, for old times sake:

Time of departure: 9:00pm
Return: after 10:20pm-ish
Sunrise: 5:41am
Sunset: 7:52pm
Phase of the moon: Waxing Gibbous, 84% of moon of full.  But I don't know if I believe this to be true.  I mean, it must be because that's what the computer says, but I remember seeing a moon only half full.  

Temperature: 62-55F
Lake Temp: 38-52F  (What a difference location makes right now.)

Route: The old usual.
Approx Distance: 6 miles
Running buddy: Matt
Clothing: Rome marathon pants, LS sweat wicker, trail shoes...can't figure out where I've put my running shoes.  I guess they're in Peoria.

The Drive Activity: Quiet.
Dog beach Activity: It was dark.
People tally:  We're not counting people anymore.

What did I eat pre-run?  Some tortilla chips.  
How did I feel?  Alright.  Nervous about my knee.  (Actually, by knee I mean some weird pain near the head of my right fibula.  Not sure what it is though.)  It didn't hurt while running, but it's feeling stiff and irritated now...hmm...maybe I'll try ICY HOT.  That's still in Chicago.  
What do I like about running?  I like that Matt and I have been running on and off together for 2 and 3/4 years, Eric and I for probably 8 years now.  It's a good way to become friends with someone, I think.  
________________________________

So, my days in Chicago are winding down as my move to Peoria become eminent and with that there is an unformed list of things to do before I leave.  One (or a couple) of those things are mid-week runs with Matt.  There was a solid year when my every-other-day 6 mile runs with Matt were a central part of my life here.  They provided a backdrop, a canvass, upon which everything from the changing seasons to romantic relationships to unscientific experiments were observed, witnessed, discussed.

Our running routine developed to:

1) agree what minute to leave our respective homes

2) run towards and meet at pre-determined point equidistant from our homes

Of course, it would never happen that we'd get to the intersection at the same time.  I would leave a minute late, or Matt would run too fast getting there, or (it only happened once) Matt may over sleep, or (it happened more than once) I would over sleep.  But, today we arrived at the intersection at precisely the same time!  Matt said, ah, but not on purpose; he had been on his computer (updating his resume--yay! Matt!), and at 9:02 realized it was 9:02, put on his shoes, and left his house.  Ah, then, I said, it was serendipitous!