Wish I could go back and change these years

Just a few of the changes since I dropped out of this blog thing.

My father died. He was in and out of rehab, suffered a stroke, was a shell of his former physical self, had a dramatic drop in mental acuity, and had a couple of car wrecks before it became clear he couldn't drive any more. Still, though, he'd settled into a sort of doddering quasi-invalid but feisty existence, so it was nevertheless a bit of a shock when he passed away peacefully in his armchair right after getting up one morning. I don't want to be flippant about this. He was a huge part of my life and a deceased parent always leaves a huge hole. But I'll list some more, much more minor, changes anyway.

I got a cable connection, mainly so my father could watch TV at my house when I had him over for the night, but he died very soon after it was installed. So now I have TV, and I watch a couple of things. "Top Gear." "No Reservations." "King Of the Hill" reruns. Some dumb but compelling reality shows like "Sons Of Guns."

I got a new dog, another rescue dog, who had a bad childhood and is Fearful. He weighs nearly seventy pounds and has a head like a bull. Since I can't walk two dogs at once, I walk them a lot less. Usually I walk them on alternate days, but not anywhere near every day as I did when I only had the one. Plus the Boy Dog is socially inept, so I have to watch him closely. He's not very friendly with visitors, either. Sadly, he may be a Poor Life Choice, but I can't give him up now. I'm the only one he's got left: he adored me and my father and fears/hates everyone else.

Epalg moved away to a small eastern state to go to grad school. We have almost no contact, though there is the sporadic, desultory text.

Ms. N quit Prestigius to become a governess. These things exist here in Deviltown with its many wealthy families who spend lavishly on private schools and tutors. There is some contact; we have lunch and catch up a few times a year.

MA recently moved to New York but is moving back again soon. She is still a rather flighty person in her professional and personal life.

I still talk to K, but rarely.

This summer I reconnected with Joy, a minor character in these pages, who is slightly more eager to socialize than I am. She seems to be flirting shamelessly with me. I am not interested, and so balance is restored to the Universe for all the women I'm interested in who don't care for me.

Last year T-Bone and Courtney's youngest daughter was in my class. I love that cute little toothless braniac. This year, 74 and Zaftig's daughter is in Ms. Bluestocking's class, and their youngest, a hefty and excitable cheery fellow, is in Pre-K. Oh, and so is Muffin's son. Yes, all my friend's children go to the school where I work.

I am definitely going bald.