I HAVE RETURNED!

Just like a vampire or a fungal infection, you can't keep me down.

My FIOS connection just got hooked up today, and soon I'll be back to posting regularly. I finished a couple of books while I was away from the 'net, and given that I have to take the bus everywhere for the time being, I have more time to read.

Dad's death was a shock, and it's still sinking in. At least my car waited until I was back at the apartment before breaking down. Local mechanic says it's either the transmission or the onboard computer, and neither seems to be worth fixing given that it's a 2001 car in so-so condition anyway. So now I'm waiting on my cut of Dad's insurance money so I can get a half-decent used car. At least I have the local bus system to get to work, as annoying as it is.

My new lair is slowly taking shape; it's twice the space of my former space at the same rent, and walking distance from some great restaurants, a great liquor store, and the local library. A bus goes right by that can take me right into downtown Baltimore. The neighborhood is slightly better; I'm now in a former dental practice in a sold middle-working-class neighborhood rather than a cramped termite-ridden pesthole in a borderline ghetto. So much of my life is changing, but this part won't.

So, onward and upward! Halloween is almost here!