Having a clean car is nice

Expensive ($100), but nice.  I just came back from having Quinn cleaned inside and out, to deal with things like getting the blackberry juice and machine oil stains out of the back seat upholstery, and getting rid of several years of scrofulous grunge on the door handles.  Quinn’s now cleaner than she has been since we got her, and that means clean enough that I can stand to be inside her while we’re driving East.

L and M are going to Houston tomorrow (back Monday) to do dress fittings for T’s wedding, and they’ll drop in on the Houston Mensa gathering while they’re at it.  T let us know this week that she’s to be the chairman for the 2013 gathering, which surprises no one:  she’s well-known in the chapter, she’s accustomed to being executive, and gathering chairs tend to burn out regularly.  Wouldn’t wonder if she ends up as GCM’s LocSec in a year or two.

Tonight is L’s last night to work at the Empire; all she has left to do after that is to turn in her badge and ergo wrist-rests, and she’s done.  Then she tells Randstad she’s available for work again, which preserves her unemployment rights.  And once she gets back, she can start job-hunting.  I heard on the news this week that Austin’s unemployment rate is five and a half percent, which is certainly miles better than average.

We’re packing for vacation today, and L will finish up on Tuesday.  We mean to leave Austin early Wednesday, and get to Maryland Thursday evening.  This is more hard driving than I’d like, but L’s first reunion event is on Friday afternoon and she thinks it’s a bad idea to take me to it on no more than a few hours’ rest, so two days of driving it ll have to be to get me a night’s sleep on Thursday.  Goal for Wednesday is to get up around Paducah, Kentucky.  I’m taking Erwin (my current laptop) with me as well as my camera, so maybe I’ll even post from the road, free wifi willing.