From the ``Dad's parsing the conversation, but not his responses'' file: I asked, ``Do you think you'll be using the car for a couple of hours? There's some things I want to take care of.'' Dad's answer: ``Sure!'' So I asked again: ``So it's all right if I take the car and go out?'' And he answered, ``Sure!'' Maybe he's just easier to get along with when he doesn't hear the question.
While part of going out was to get something to eat (we're out of bagels), the major reason to go was that apart from the driver's license expeditions I really haven't been out of the house for a week now. It's not a deliberate thing, it's just that there's only the one car I can drive, and Dad goes off for much of the day doing actual work. But that leaves me home until dinnertime, and then an hour or so fixing dinner and eating it, it means the vehicle isn't free until a good bit after Jeopardy, and central Jersey not being Singapore means there's a lot less point in going out looking for something to do, as it's closing rather soon. There's only so many times I can wander around the nearest Barnes and Noble when I don't expect to buy anything without starting to feel uncomfortable.
But even that can lead to worthwhile and quirky little scenes, such as two guys looking over a pile of leftover Valentine's Day books. One of them picked up a book and said, ``I really don't get this.'' It was a book of Junior Sudoku puzzles. Well, I don't get the Valentine connection either.
You know, it's kind of odd having Chinese New Year just be a moment of intriguing festivals going on in the human-interest block of the evening news, instead of being the start of two days of the whole city being shut down and abandoned. I miss the old way.
Trivia: Daily aerial bombardment of Iwo Jima in advance of the American invasion began 8 December 1944, and day and night bombardment began 3 January 1945. Source: The History of the Second World War, Basil H Liddell-Hart.
Currently Reading: Union 1812: The Americans Who Fought the Second War of Independence, A J Langguth.
