Sylvia's Journal

I now have 35 dollars worth of maps in my car, an impulse buy after getting lost, once again, in the corridor between routes 93 and 1 North. I had planned to ‘swing by’ a colleague to see her and her new baby, on my way home yesterday. A distance of only 7 miles from my office, this seemed like a good idea. Once again the Google map showed an easy and direct route. This time I printed out the instructions, though not the map. One hour later I gave up, after several wrong turns and missed exists and endlessly waiting in rush hour traffic for countless red lights. Once back in familiar territory I pulled up at the first gas station and bought a collection of maps. I think I will stay out of that corridor for awhile.

Tessa and Steve got on the right but later train and arrived home in the dark. They found dog Chicha and grandma next door where Charlie was celebrating his 86th birthday. This feat earned him a big lick from Chicha, who had, grudgingly, interrupted her Frisbee game for this social call.

We ate a hastily prepared meal and caught up on the latest work stories. Every days Steve is doing more real work rather than waiting and observing. Yesterday he handled more mice. Steve is not really supposed to talk about his job but since Tessa can also not talk about her job, being with the competitor, what else can we do?

Even though Steve is brand new in his job he is already being pursued by the lab across the street where they do experiments on primates with deadly viruses (as in Preston’s Hot Zone). They offer better pay and more excitement and the chance of personal encounters with microscopic but lethal enemies like Ebola and Anthrax. He has agreed to go on an informational tour. Tessa and I think it is way too exciting and hope the informational tour is not like the kind they do for time share condos, making offers that seem too good to refuse, and which are usually too good to be true. The idea to be only one person away from things like Ebola and Anthrax gives us the creeps. So far it also gives Steve the creeps. We hope it stays that way. Good pay is hard to resist for a 25 year old who has not had any income for several months.