Tuesday morning: Early edition

1. Welcome to old friends emt_hawk and mermaidlady.

2. Waking up at 5:15 a.m. sort of defeats the whole purpose of falling into bed at 9 p.m. But I do feel rested. The business of the weekend and my first day at work combined ot really tire me out yesterday. I did dream about being there as the Red Sox won the World Series, but the whole thing about the game-winning field goal earlier in the dream really confused me. Anyway, I have actually gotten some work done -- a couple of phone calls, a couple of notes, etc. I even ate oatmeal this morning. This is a good and healthy thing.

2a. This morning's coffee was the crappiest I have made in a long time. It's a good thing there's a Dunkin' Donuts across the street from work.

3. Thanks to those who asked about the first day of work. It went fine. This is the first "real" job, as in work out of an office from 9 to 5 (or approximate hours), that I have ever had. Teaching and doing nedwspaper work are very different from this. I am ina  fairly cramped office, and I am pushing for a partition because the front part of my room is where folks pick up their drug test stuff. There are several court-related agencies in my office. I wil have my own phone number, and I have a work laptop. We don't have wireless, but that's OK. So far, I can access my personal e-mail, and I can get to LJ, although I am not planning on using it much.

4. Crown was glorious. Got to catch up with a lot of people. I am planning on writing something about it, but remember, you are still waiting for my Pennsic writeups.

5. I was so busy with World Fantasy Con and Crown this weekend that I didn't read the hard copy of a daily newspaper for at least two, and maybe three, straight days.

6. This would be good news:

From the Boston Globe

ORLANDO, Fla. - A few of the general managers licking their chops at the opportunity to have Curt Schilling in the open market were wondering why the Red Sox wouldn't re-sign him.

"It just seemed like a no-brainer, given the lack of pitching out there," said a National League GM. "You can sign him for a year; if it doesn't work out, then it doesn't work out. But he can pitch still, and I know what he means to that team."

Sometime today, barring a last-minute snafu, Schilling is expected to finalize a deal to stay with the Sox. According to a major league source with knowledge of the negotiations, most of the terms have been agreed to; there might be some incentives that are being finalized. Schilling was known to be seeking a salary of $13 million.

Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein, who is here for the general managers' meetings, had said yesterday that "we're moving the ball forward a little bit" on talks with both Schilling and Mike Lowell but would not get into specifics. Offers apparently were made to both players.