Ben and I in Pittsburgh, 2017
Well, it's been an awfully long time since I posted. So this is more of an update. I'm still in Manhattan, and given Ben's commitment to his professorship, I'm likely to be here for more than ten years into the future.

We've weathered the pandemic rather well. We're both boosted, as are our friends, so we've still been able to have social engagements with them. Ben and I have gotten on well, despite the long periods when Ben didn't visit his lab, and we were both stuck at home with each other during the depths of the pandemic in New York.

The biggest news is that I've been unemployed for more than a year, laid off from a software company I'd been working for for 21 years, due to a restructuring of management. It turns out that the achievements of my entire career have been for naught, since my skills don't seem to account for much in today's economy. 

This weekend, I was in Palm Springs to visit some friends, and I had a meeting with a dear friend, Steve,  from LA, who had some ideas about how to modify my job search. This resulted from my statement that for all my adult life, I've craved interaction with intellectual, creative people. Steve suggested that I look for a job at a university, since that might fulfil my yearning. He's working with me to elucidate some skills that are transferrable. This means, I'll have to come up with a new resume, focusing on these skills, and develop suitable cover letters. Of course, I'll be paid a fraction of my previous salary.

Other news: we have a new dog (for almost two years now), Mahler, a gorgeous Bernese mountain poodle.

In this photo of Mahler, you can just see our 15-year-old, D'artagnan in the background.

Mahler is quite smart and trainable. Our favorite trick is to get him to jump up at us with his forepaws and then do a high-five.
I don't have too much else to report. Being unemployed for so long kind of robs you of things to talk about. So I'll call it a day. If I have readers left, thanks! Keith