The past week has been spent mostly with job applications—a giant task. I feel pretty lucky that I'm not obliged to be doing anything else during this time. Mostly I'm applying for three kinds of position—Russian History, History of the Middle East, and Islamic World History. There are loads of interesting positions open this year—I hope I can succeed in being offered at least one of them. One reason why the job application process is taking up so much of my time these days is that I'm sending out almost all of the applications in one batch. The first deadline is September 30, so the plan is to DHL the applications to my Dad in Michigan sometime around the 18th of this month—he'll send them out to the various universities from there. However, not all of the applications are due by then, so I might hold onto some of them until mid-October, then send a second batch to my Dad. It all depends upon how DHL will charge me. If sending all of the applications at once costs the same as sending only half of them, I'll do my best to get them all out within the next ten days. I took a break from work today to go on a picnic with Lolla, from whom I rented my first apartment when I arrived here last month, and some of her friends. We went to a beautiful birch forest just a couple of miles from the apartment where I'm living. I've posted some photos, along with other photos from this trip. Hope you enjoy them. Today is Tracy's birthday: Happy birthday, Tracy G! Tomorrow, September 8, is my Mom's birthday: Happy birthday, Mom!!