Back to the grind...

My vacations was a success! Besides getting to the airport three hours early to compensate for our 100-meter dash to the gate last week, I have a great tan and managed to finish two books and get through most of a third:
The Godfather Returns: Very similar to Mario Puzo's style - easy prose, the usual sex, murder, and good food. No surprise, lots of people get whacked. It's interesting how they make Fredo out to be a finocchio and give Michael a rebellious, family-loathing side.
Avoiding Prison and Other Noble Vacation Goals: I enjoyed reading this on vacation. It evokes some schadenfreude, especially when reading about other people's issues in foreign countries while stressing over whether to sit by the beach or the pool. I don't think I would ever date a convict in a Colombian jail, but that's just me.
The Russian Debutante's Handbook: Very cute. It reminds me of Jonathan Cranzen's The Corrections with respect to the cliches used and the funny business in the former Soviet bloc (although Shteyngart mocks Prague with his phony Prava, Stolovan Republic instead of setting the story in a real city). I enjoyed the peppering of conversation with Russian and the references to locations in New York.

Now, it's back to Reality. Man, I should have taken a couple days off this week after I got back. I am still in Island Mode anyway. Introduced myself to a co-worker I had already met because I didn't recognize him in a suit (although the Island Mode excuse worked well). The client inbox had about 300,000 emails to sift through, most of which ended up in the Recycle Bin. I did get some satisfaction from my tan matching my khaki pants on my first day back.

There is some random guy with really bad posture whom I caught staring directly at my chest - twice! Did he not see me glaring at him when I noticed it the first time? Question to all you men out there - do you REALLY think we are oblivious to this, and that we appreciate it?