I've been awful quiet the past few days...quieter than usual, even. And it's not even that I have something to say but am not saying it; I really don't have anything to say, I guess.

My sister-in-law (T.) and her roommate have had a nice visit. The roommate hasn't reacted particularly well to the heat, but they've been swimming and playing with <Son> and stuff like that. Yesterday they rented a car and drove to L.A. to visit a friend; they'll be back Sunday night and will fly back to Kentucky on Monday.

Last week and earlier this week, I somehow got into the habit of going in to work at 6:00 instead of 7:00...but I'd still work until 4:00. So yesterday I sort of "cashed out" those extra work hours by taking the afternoon off. Once our company had left and <Son> was left with his sitter (as he is every Wednesday afternoon during the summer), <Wife> and I met for lunch and a movie. We saw "Mr. & Mrs. Smith", which was neither bad nor spectacular. It had its moments. (I kept waiting for "The Pina Colada Song" to pop up on the soundtrack, but it thankfully never did.)

In other news, we found a kart racing school in southern California that offers sprint-kart classes to kids as young as 10. They use the same karts that they teach the adults with (Yamaha KT100 engine), but they detune the engines so they aren't quite as fast (they claim the properly-tuned karts reach 80 mph, after all). We're really close to signing <Son> up for a two-day class over Labor Day weekend, then getting a hotel room at a nearby resort and making a mini-vacation out of it. Should be fun; I'll probably start booking things later today.