A new year, a new neighbor
I started New Year's Eve by bringing in some bags of groceries, and as I was preparing to hoist one up, the bag slipped from my grasp but my hand accelerated upwards anyway, and I punched myself in the lip. I saw that as a metaphor for the recent developments in my life, end of 2003.I went to the office to pick up more boxes (I'm assembling books to sell at a convention in two weeks), and found housecleaning had carted them off without so much as a by-your-leave. After fuming to my co-workers and firing off an angry letter to the management, I mentioned my predicament to the guard on the way out, and he let me know there were eight boxes sitting by the freight elevator on the first floor. Suddenly it was Christmas all over again.
