Who you callin' Moonpie? My real name is Richard

It's been one bit of good news after another lately. Last week, I was informed that I have an REU for the summer. This could really have been either good or bad, but I've talked to her a bit through email, and she actually appears to be quite brilliant. If nothing else, she's really excited about jellyfish, she's a year older than most REUs, and her emails have perfect grammar. Each of those is an improvement over last year, so I have high hopes, and I figure I have some good REU karma coming my way.

On Friday, I learned how I will be paying my bills for the next two years. This was kind of a relief since my current funding runs out at the end of August. There really shouldn't have been any question since they offered me the fellowship back when I first applied three years ago, but the funding environment has changed since then, and there was some question as to whether the money existed anymore. It does, and so I still have a job.

Yesterday I got an email from roommate A saying that she's moving out. This might sound like bad news, but it's actually perfect. When we moved in two years ago, the plan was for her to stay until she defended her thesis and then found a new job. The maximum estimated time for this was six months. Things have been getting tense lately with roommates D and A sniping at each other for no reason that I can figure. If anything, A has been more cordial than normal to me lately. In addition to the fact that I will not have to get involved in whatever the problem is with the two of them, I've been realizing more and more reasons that A's leaving is going to be good for me. I'll provide a short selection here:

1. No more filthy cats tromping around on my kitchen counters.
2. The bicycles can now be moved from the dining room to the mudroom where they belong.
3. There will be enough hot water to go around.