Not-quite-random thought: I don't know of anyone besides myself who never seems to get two consecutive haircuts from the same hairdresser. Most of the people I know have significant "brand loyalty" in this regard, but I don't. First of all, I almost always get my haircuts impulsively. That is to say, it usually happens that at about 3 PM, I get the idea that I can't stand another day without a haircut, so five minutes later I call some place, and by the end of the day, I've been shorn. I actually used to have a semi-regular hairdresser for a while, but the last time I was there, around September, she started a political argument with me. She also gave me a good haircut while arguing, but then again there's not really such a thing as a good or a bad cut where my hair is concerned. No matter what I do with it, it never looks the same on two consecutive days anyway. So I really don't think the person providing the hair-cutting service is the limiting resource, and it's just as well for me to choose a hair-care provider mainly by whether he or she adds to or subtracts from the stress in my life. The one who worked on me today caused no political consternation, but put entirely too much glop in my hair afterwards, which will probably require an unplanned nocturnal shampoo to avoid tweaking Rick's allergies. I really didn't want to stop her and lose the moment, though, because we'd gotten into a discussion about my work, and it turned out that she was a big-time insectophobe, so I had to do my pro-bug soft sell on her, and we seemed to be having a breakthrough by the time she was finished.

Not much else, except that it was great to see Gail today, and also nice that Joyce and her two boxers are here keeping Rick and me focused on tearing up the house (except for breaks for little time-killers like blogging).

P.S.: R.I.P., Kid Sally Palumbo. We'll miss you.