On this last day before my trip to Austin for Katherine's wedding, I've crammed into my schedule a handful of errands that couldn't wait until I got back. In the morning I completed another baking project, wrapping up a loaf of whole wheat bread that I plan to give to Katherine and Brian. I also watched a couple episodes of the X-Files, bringing me that much closer to the end of season 4 so I won't have to return the library's DVDs without having seen the final cliffhanging episodes. Also on loan from the library is Chaim Potok's novel The Gift of Asher Lev, which, being viewable without modern electronics, I opted to finish during the ample free time I knew I'd have at tutoring this afternoon.
The Upward Bound study hall at Einstein High School continues to suffer from low turnout. Alex showed up as usual, but not many other kids did, and especially not the seniors. My services not being in high demand, I sat to the side and finished the closing chapters of The Gift of Asher Lev.
Leaving tutoring early in order to meet Dan about subletting a room on Adelphi Road, I took a quick detour to the Wheaton library to drop off The Gift of Asher Lev. I ended up arriving earlier than expected at the house on Adelphi Road, so I killed some time by calling the UMD president's legal office to pester them about scheduling a hearing to regain access to campus resources.
At 17:00 I rang the doorbell at the house. The door was opened by Eric Spears, who was himself subletting Dan's room but only until the end of the semester. Dan arrived in his car a few minutes later.
Dan seemed pleasantly surprised at recognizing me from a previous context; it turned out he had volunteered at the food co-op when I was working there, and he still kept in touch with Plamen Kovatchev, a former supervolunteer from the same co-op era. I listened with curiosity to Dan's news about how the co-op was currently faring while Dan showed me around the house.
In contrast to the Limestone Place house where I rented last summer, the house Dan showed me had its cramped washer/dryer/kitchen room on the ground floor, with a more spacious kitchen in the basement. Luckily the room I would be renting was on the same floor as the washing machine, so I could line-dry my clothes in my room without having to carry heavy wet fabrics up and down the stairs.
Hearing me express my interest in renting the room, Dan conferred with the landlord, Steve Zannoni, and got permission to have me sign a lease and write a check right then and there. Dan said he would make a photocopy of the lease and leave it with the house key in a bag I could pick up after returning from the wedding in Austin. He gave me a cell phone number of the current subletter, Eric Spears, so I could coordinate the move-in schedule once I got back from Austin.