Seeing Your Oldest Friend

Well, so as to not hurt any tender animal feelings, here's a picture of Lee's other dog, Buddy. He is immense but very gentle. His worst habit (other than shedding) is going "whuff" and sort of randomly dispersing dog spittle all over the place. But, it's sorta cute.

It has been a quiet couple of days, other than some progress on the job front. I guess it's time to fire up the good thoughts again, since I am applying to two jobs that Lee recommended me for (so good to have friends at a company you want to work for), and we were all told that the chance of new positions opening up again in our department is now very, very good. I still would prefer to work right where I am, so my fingers are crossed. Ideally, Work Boy #2 and I would both get positions, but it could never be as fun as sitting right across from each other and yakking while we work. There ARE disadvantages to the larger cubicles.

I had a nice time last night seeing my oldest friend (I guess he's the person I have known the longest with whom I am still in touch), Steve. He was my office mate and friend throughout graduate school. So, I know the exact day I met him--the first day of school in August 1980. Anyway, he and his partner were in town for a really boring academic/business kinda conference, so we went to the Arboretum area to have dinner with them and another friend of theirs. I really didn't get to talk to him much, so I wish I could see him again without feeling like I was monopolizing the conversation and boring all the other folks. I always have a lot to talk to Steve about. He educated me in a lot of stuff (he was an "older" student, ten years older than me--I went straight to grad school from college), so I am grateful to him in many ways. Also he is SUCH a patient friend--he has watched me go through a LOT of boyfriends and husbands. All of them, actually.

Steve and his former girlfriend (before he decided to just be gay) introduced me to all sorts of games, because they were huge game addicts. And liqueurs. Mmm, they used to have a million of them. And Judy loved to cook, so I learned a lot about being adventurous with food from her. He and our other office mate, James, used to tell me all sorts of stuff about religion, since both of them had studied it a lot (Steve went to Lutheran seminary and James was a deacon in the Korean Presbyterian church). Heh, who needs a church when you can just ask the guys in the closet-sized room with you? I taught Steve to crochet, and he has made all sorts of complex doilies and stuff. Still crocheting. Steve and I traveled a lot together, to conferences and to visit Judy once she moved to Ohio. So, he's someone I have spent a LOT of time with. RM and I visited him and his partner in Las Cruces when we went on our trip to California (much hilarity there--RM could not sleep at all at their house since it was not set up to his unique standards). That was the last time I saw him until yesterday.

I hope I can keep some of my current friends a long time and not lose them, like I have lost my college and most grad school friends. But it takes work, and it is so easy to get caught up in current stuff...