September

1st September, and a new month ushers in a couple of changes in the Milner houshold.

Beth has a new job, starting today at the University of Oregon, as she has been aiming for since we arrived last December. One reason we chose Eugene to settle was that it had a great University, so Beth could continue working in a higher education environment. Between her regular office hours and my irregular WalMart hours, we'll have less time in the house together, but will value or times together all the more. Beth has her woodshop, fabric crafts and gardening to occupy her free time, while I have my video games, DVDs, music practise, books, Playmobil den over Beth's shop, and...

Football! aka American Football outside the USA. The new season starts on 9th September with a Thursday night game between the New Orleans Saints (current Superbowl Champions) and the Minnesota Vikings (who didn't make it there), and most weeks for the next four months I'll have at least six games I can watch, live if I'm at home and recorded if I'm not. For 25 years I've been a follower of the NFL, on and off depending on how good the coverage in the UK was. Mostly it wasn't terribly good. Last year I could listen on the radio to the Sunday night game, but due to the time difference I recorded it and listened the next day. There was also one live game each week, but again I'd record it and watch the next available day.

It's unlikely I'll actually watch six games a week (that's at least 18 hours of butt-numbing couch potato time) but at least I now have the opportunity.

This week started nearly half an inch of rain, the first rain we've had in three months, and a welcome dousing for the garden that allowed me to turn off our sprinkers for a few days. The seasons are changing, with cooler evenings and mornings, though it can still get into the 80s during the heat of the day.

Another change in September is a move for me to a new WalMart department, Electronics. There'll be a lot of new things to learn, and I won't have to wash chemicals off my hands several times a shift after dealing with leaking bottles of laundry detergent, sweep up split bags of kibble, or scoop dead fish out of the aquarium.  Moreover it comes with a pay rise, which is very welcome.