Dispatches from New Jersey....

Well, I'm in NJ right now - for the next 18 hours or so. I drove up on the 4th of July, and will be back tomorrow.

I've been doing a whole lot of nothing. July 4th was the traditional family bar-b-q at my aunt's house, which is always interesting. My aunt is paralized and spends the whole time in her hospital bed. She has a live-in home health aid, who tends to communicate primarily in grunts. My dad's cousin was also there. She is hard of hearing and talks very loudly. She and my aunt spent most of the couple hours we were down there talking about who had died in town. It was not the most fun thing I've ever done.

Beyond that, I've been doing a whole lot of nothing. I did borrow my mom's libary card and get out a few books. So far I've read Grande Expectations about the movement of Starbucks stock over the course of a year, and Uncomon Carriers which looks at trucks, boats, and trains, and the people who move them. I've started Posner's Not Suicide Pact, but I don't know if I'll get through it before I leave tomorrow - it's a little dense, and repedative - I'm not sure tht the text really expands on the concepts much beyond what's on the dust jacket so far.

Beyond that, not much. I ran a few errands, stopping a few places in the unsucessful hope of finding myself a Wii. I got my truck washed - it's amazing how much better it looks clean - and how quickly it will probably get dirty again. This morning, I hit a few yard sales, but came up empty-handed - and realized that despite having grown up in NJ, I've gotten to the point where I know my patch of Maryland better, even though I've only been there for a year.