The verdict’s still out on how well the office move is working out…the actual workspace itself isn’t too bad; a little bigger than I had before, and the higher walls I actually kind of like. I’ve got some space now to hang up posters and whatnot should I get motivated to do so – not that I’ll be spending a great deal of time at the Richmond desk for the next year.

Communications and IT were, and continue to be a bit of a problem – both the computer and telephone were DOA; phones are still out, and a new PC just arrived this morning. I also didn’t get to keep my fancy LCD monitor from my old desk, instead being stuck with an ancient 19 inch CRT that’s so blurry one can’t read the clock in the lower-right corner. The guy from the IT shop is a friend, and seems to be looking out for us; I can’t imagine I’ll be dealing with the outdated hardware for long.

The blurry screen was particularly obvious to me this morning, as I’m seeing everything else so well; I had a long overdue eye exam Tuesday afternoon, and, somewhat surprisingly, I’m a bit more blind than I was before. The new contacts I’m wearing are really bringing the world into sharper focus that I didn’t quite realize I was missing.

Glasses, on the other hand, are a little frustrating; I’m apparently so sight-deficient that my vision insurance won’t cover my lenses any longer; Unless I want to settle for half-pound, 3/4 inch thick lenses, I’m pretty much stuck paying full price (though thankfully, frames are still covered) for the lightweight, high-index lens material that allows me to get through the day without scraping my nose on the pavement.. Mary, who just needs glasses for reading, is pretty much fully covered – me, I’m still stuck paying two benjamins whether I’m covered or not in addition to my bi-weekly premiums. Something, my friends, is wrong with health care in this country.

Family-wise, the long weekend was reasonably restful; Catherine’s working towards sleeping through the night, which is a very welcome development. Sleep is nice. Colleen and Mary spent a bit of time working on a school project, building a Rube Goldberg-style cat treat dispenser out of household junk for her science lesson on simple machines. The girls did most of the work, I served primarily in an advisory capacity, keeping the baby busy and preventing Andrew from interfering too much. In any case, the finished project was a hit with her classmates, even though my brainstorm to incorporate wheels into the design to reduce friction came too late to be included.

We also did the quarterly “haul a bunch of games and DVDs to Gamestop for trade” errand, returning this time with a used Nintendo Gamecube (at one-tenth the price of a Wii, if one could actually find one), the optional Bongo Drum peripheral (Thanks, Becky, for hooking my wife on Donkey Konga!), and a couple of games. The Animal Crossing obsession in our household has begun anew.

We’re now a two-console family, at my wife’s insistence. God, we’re geeks.