And so we arrive, at last, near summer's end; summer, in a spiteful rush to make up for a generally mild season, has spewed forth a heat wave as a parting shot. Victory will be mine: the days have gotten noticeably shorter over the past few weeks, and eventually the Bay Area will have clouds and rain again.

My housemate is quitting his job, to have some adventures and find some kind of job that will help the world more than being a sysadmin. So he's moving out, for some unspecified amount of time, maybe at least a year at my suggestion, so either he or I needs to find someone who can live here under those terms. It sounds like a bit of a hassle, and if someone comes in who has a lease and it turns out they and I can't deal with each other somehow, well, it'll be me to leave, since I don't have a lease. Except that I hate moving and I have more crap now (some of which I need to get rid of anyway), that might not be so bad, as I could either move up to the city, or to someplace with even more space for future metalworking and knife-throwing experiments. I doubt moving will be necessary, though. But I'm slowly getting more serious about finding another job, with more money and different challenges.

Pretty mellow Labor Day weekend: drinking sake, watching Eurotrip (very funny) and Kill Bill Volume 1 (very good, very intelligent, quite violent and for some reason running on the assumption that human blood is under the same pressure as water spraying out of a garden hose), cleaning the house a bit.

Every Outward Bound school has its own Readings Book, a collection of good quotations of the sort that are helpful to get you thinking while you're out and about seeking and surpassing your limits. This is by Colin Fletcher:

Yes, get out is the thing. It has been a wonderful life--effort, then perception, peace and insight--deer mice and beavers--sunshine and river. But now, washing my head in Nankoweap Creek, I know it's over. I have overstayed my welcome in the museum. The things I wanted to do are done. The time has passed for contemplation. I must get out and do. For doing is what counts. The contemplation is only for that.