Well, the repairs are supposedly complete, and they were indeed minor. And my doctor says that if I feel okay I can go back to swimming in three or four days, although not at my usual high-energy level. He did tell me to not make any major decisions or take on any work that required concentration for the first day, which I'm taking to mean that I probably shouldn't submit anything to GenBank either.

So the work I took home (being off until Monday) can wait. Today it's all Bookworm, web-surfing, and comedy CDs. Wheeee!

Just trying to get back into the swing of things ....

Ups and downs for now. I'm scheduled for minor surgery on Thursday -- nothing at all serious, and it should resolve a nuisance condition that has annoyed me for a long time -- but it'll end my outdoor swim season a week early, which is especially maddening since we're going to get summer weather back for a few days right around then.

Actually, it's mostly ups. Rebecca will probably accompany Rick and me to my mother's place for my upcoming birthday, which will be fun for all involved. Also, Rick and I are almost done planning a major vacation, and several things are looking up in the job department as well.

And Deuterium Cupcake hasn't escaped since my last post.

The spider has been named Deuterium Cupcake. We're still not sure of its sex, but also still think it's probably female. As for the name: She just looked enough like a Deuterium Cupcake that we all agreed on the name. Some of the other labfolks call her "Deuter" for short, but I prefer "Cupcake" or "D.C.".

This morning, I came into the lab to discover that our little Cupcake had gone on walkabout. She was not in the terrarium, and the cover of same did appear suspiciously loose. This could have been a doubleplus bummer if she'd really taken a hike, but fortunately she hadn't gone far -- she just found a nice warm corner behind one of the Macs, not at all far from where she was supposed to be. With only minor assistance from one of the undergrads, I coaxed Cupcake back into her cage. One of the grad students brought her a grasshopper later, but we're not sure yet whether she's interested in it.

Rule #1: Never trust a bug.