I'm getting ready to burn a data DVD, so I have time to wax philosophical today. I'm sorry to say I'm looking with a bit of trepidation at my birthday coming up this next week, which is my 30th. How scary is that? I remember being 13 and wondering what it would feel like to be 30...well, here it comes. I think part of the mysticism in my mind around the concept of 30 is the 13 year old concept (at the time) of the milennium. The thought process went like this: "In 2000 I'll be 27, and then three years later, I'll be 30. Great! Of course, in the late 80's, I always wondered if the world would survive until I reach 30. Obviously, it has, and I think everything has turned out all right to this point. I've got all sorts of great things going for me at this point, which makes life worth living. I'll save the long list for a later work. Let's just say that all is right with the world.

So the merit increases hit the floor in Astronomy last week. At first, I didn't think I did so well, but then I figured it out: 1.7%. At first, I thought it was zero, but then my wife reminded me that one digit was one number higher. Oh yeah. That's not so bad. The university average in this tough time was about the same, and the faculty in my department roughly got the same amount as a whole. That's pretty decent. Would have been nice to see a round number on that line this year, but next year we'll cross that line. Heck, I was up in the 5.somethings last year due to extra duties, so it's back to earth now. :-)

Well, off to an eye-doc appt.
posted by Jeremy at 3:40 PM

Lost an entire post, so I'll be concise. Big blackout, survived after 16 hours without power. Work survived without losing a computer. Ran 20 miles on Saturday last week. Very cool. Not much else to say since I'm late to go home.
posted by Jeremy at 5:04 PM