Had another one of those double-edged conversations with Supe today. He asked if I wanted him to sit in on a new client intake, since he felt he hadn't given me enough opportunities to learn this summer. I said I'd done one intake myself, so I could probably do this one, and besides, I felt like I hadn't lived up to expectation this summer either, so let's just call it even.

"Really?" he asked. "Do you really think -- Have I ever given the impression -- ? Because I don't think -- I mean, there's nothing --"

I murmured something humble, and he nodded. And then said, "Well, let me give you some constructive criticism." And told me I should think more critically about the answers I got from people about various things, and not to automatically trust them.

You're doing fine! No, wait! You suck! But you shouldn't be worried! Duuuuude!

Co-Intern offered the thought that we were both inexperienced, so that we didn't know the stuff necessary to make us suspicious of the answers we got from people. And said that Supe was a strange man. Which he is.

I went out for drinks with Co-Intern and her friend, and enjoyed it very much. They started up an anti-sexual harrassment movement at their high school in Bethel (the off-the-road-system-town) because they were tired of the high school boys coming up and grabbing girls' breasts. (Yeah. When I asked them if the girls smacked the boys for doing this, Co-Intern shook her head and said, "Women don't have much self-confidence in Bethel.") One of the teachers called Co-Intern's friend into her office after they started up the movement and told her, "I feel like you're sexually harrassing ME in class because you're all over your boyfriend and how would you feel if you were divorced recently from your husband like I am?"

Whoa!

Co-Intern's dad unexpectedly walked into the bar with several cronies as we were walking out. She explained to me as we walked to the car that they were part of The Nude and Food, a collection of 60-year-old buddies who gathered every Wednesday at the athletic club to sit around in the steam room (the nude part) and then went out for dinner (food, duh). They sat around and complained about being the only 6 Democrats in the state, she explained.

The Nude and Food! Love. It. Just as I love Co-Intern. She cracks me up. This job would have been so much less bearable without her to bitch with in the library.

Tomorrow I'm going in for half the day (during which I suspect the office will present us with some refreshments and yummies in the morning), and then taking off for Denali, where I'll meet Roommate and her friend. I have two fervent prayers about this Denali trip that I hope you all will add to your nightly prayers as well: 1. please, don't let us be eaten by bears, fall into rivers and drown or die of hypothermia, or be trampled to death by caribou; and 2. please, please, please let the Mighty Mighty Subaru live up to its name and make it there and back. I've put oil and coolant in the respective places, replaced the really badly balding tire with a gently used tire, and tried to treat it nicely. It only has 133,000 miles on it. It'll make it another 500, won't it? Dear god, let's hope so.

I'll be back on Sunday night. If I don't blog in on Monday, call the troopers...