The rate of exchange

Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.

Picked up my new kid today. His name is Abraham, he’s 18, and he’s from Hermosillo, Mexico. He’s going to attend Reno High for the next year. He’s an exchange student; I don’t really get to keep him or anything. And now that I think about it, I didn’t get to exchange anything, either. Aren’t I supposed to be sending one of these other kids somewhere?

I can tell he’s got a good sense of humor—he didn’t take off running when he met the family at the airport—but that’s about it. While his English appears to be pretty good, since he is roughly my children’s ages, I’m sure there’ll be communication issues.

In celebration of the new arrival, I went out and mowed the lawn.

I came in and chatted for a moment, then he and Kathleen headed to the grocery store. Boy, I wish I could get as enthused about a trip to the supermarket.

You’ll probably find it amusing that I forbid myself from working in the garden until I finish this note. Come October, we’re changing a few deadlines, and I’m trying to change my habits. I don’t want to be doing any writing on Tuesday, so I’m going to finish sooner. Other deadlines are adjusting as well, so if you are one of those people in our nightclubs/casinos grid who waits until Tuesday to give Kelley your information, well, I’m going to be a hardass about the Monday deadlines. If you can’t get your info in four days before publication, you can’t be in the grid. Sorry, readers, there’ll probably be a month or so of adjustment.

And now, it’s off to the garden. I’m going to plant another batch of carrots, beets and radishes. I should be harvesting about the time it’s time to put in some garlic. How did your garden grow this year? I’ve heard quite a few complaints that the weather really got the better of some of us. Eggplants sure kicked some butt, though.