tales from the front porch...

so kathryn and i were having a smoke on the porch yesterday, and this little old man walking by stopped to chat for a few. now, k and i have both had recent unpleasant experiences with hostile little old men and women. so maybe i was a bit wary. but this guy has chatted before, and he's pleasant. if i had to guess i'd say that he was mildly retarded, although i'm not sure. he's just a bit *off*, but nice. so we chatted and i mentioned that k and i were heading out to the country for the day. and for some reason, when he asked where we were going, i felt the need to throw in a bit of misdirection. i do this often with strangers. i just lie a little. we were actually heading out to maynard for a good friends b-day, but i said we were going out to boxborough. i figured that wouldn't engender further conversation. wrong! turns out that the little old man, who i have been saying hello to for years, is the brother-in-law of Fran Riley, who was the vice principal of my high school! the world is just too damn small sometimes.

now, i don't have very fond memories of Mr. Riley. i spent a fair amount of time in high school in trouble, and frankly, i hated my high school. but to give the man his props, he was the only one who stayed clean during a huge scandal at my school soon after i graduated. my principal got in a fist fight with the other vice principal at a school function because they were *both* having an affair with the head secretary. after that, the whole house of cards crumbled. word leaked out that the principal had lied, cheated, and harassed for years. he went down hard. and i was gleeful.

through it all, Mr. Riley, who is retiring this year, stayed out of it. good job Mr. Riley. and congrats on your retirement. you sure earned it!


in other unrelated news... i may soon have to change my nickname to the No-Armed-Bandit. my right arm (which is the one that I *didn't* have surgery on) has now developed mild peripheral neuropathy. it will get worse over time and will need surgery at some point. how come when Jaimme Sommers/Lindsay Wagner got all those surgeries she got super powers, and all i get is big scars?