Submitted the article this morning. Now awaiting editorial comments. Ordinarily such comments might take six months to a year, but my colleague wants to publish it soon, so it’ll probably be a few weeks to a month.
Booked the trip for Randal and me, despite Maggie’s hesitancy. I’m skipping the conference in California. We leave on July 2 and will spend a month in Europe. Randal won’t stop talking about it. Where are the best places? What are the things to see? Do they speak good English there? I warned him we’d have to go slow and steady. He understood. It’s a relief. The last time I went to Europe—I was thirty-four or so, still able-bodied—I did a brief whirlwind tour, hitting France, Austria, and Italy in two weeks. This time I can linger and appreciate everything.
Maggie suggested I get an oxygen tank. Yeah, that’ll look fabulous on the plane, I said, a convulsing, nervous-looking man who speaks indecipherably and carries a tank that looks like a small missile. She brought one home yesterday and put it beside my bed, leaving it to me to use it. I’ve resisted so far. I see Old Scratch in the tank’s rough glint.
Randal and Vivian are dating now. Thank god the boy came to his senses. Apparently some of Vivian’s friends don’t like that she’s dating him. They and a few others are still miffed about the joke he made. But she’s a good girl. Solid and smart. If nothing else she’ll help clear Randal’s reputation.