It's T minus nine days until the first summer vacation I've had since . . . 1995, when I drove across the U.S. in a Volkswagen bus. (I sort of had one in 1998, when I first arrived in the Bay Area, but I was so busy scrambling to find a job the only way that counted was that I woke up no earlier than 11am each day.) This space will be updated far more often after my last day at work, as I chronicle my summer adventures. One of the reasons I lost my motivation to write is that when you commute, you lose the richness of city life, or even just basic human interaction, that you have when your time isn't chipped away by incessant travel. In short, your life is dull. It may continue to be dull once I'm on vacation, but at least it will be dullness of my choosing.