So today I put Operation Distraction into action. For the past couple of weeks I’ve been almost entirely consumed by math and teaching, and I needed to decompress. So this morning Jazzy and I did a little exploring and drove up to Attleboro to see how far away the Emerald Square Mall is from our new flat (answer: only a few minutes). Of course, Jazzy didn’t get to go into the mall, but that wasn’t too bad for her since I was only in there for a few minutes anyway, despite checking out all three levels. It turns out that there are almost no stores in a mall these days that interest me. Back when I was a kid I loved to go to toy stores to check for new videogames, Radio Shack for computer stuff, and book stores for magazines about video games and computers. But these days I have little reason to stop in these stores. I still love book stores, but much prefer the supersized stand-alone versions. If a mall has an Apple store (Emerald Square does not) I’ll head in there even though I don’t need a new computer, phone or software. In fact, part of my problem with shopping in general is that I just don’t need anything. I have all the stuff I need, and could easily live without most of what I already have. Anyway, back to Operation Distraction. After we drove down the road to check out the rest of the stores on the strip, I called Larry and set up a game of golf. So after a quick stop at our new place, Jazzy and I headed out again and went off to Somerset. Then, after 9 holes of golo (golf joke), we stopped to see the second tallest cow in the world. The tallest one is in the UK, but this one is almost as tall. This photo definitely doesn’t do it justice - it was actually very impressive. The final part of Operation Distraction is writing this post - I was doing some work before it and will go right back to work as soon as I’m finished. So in the end Operation Distraction was only moderately successful, which for some reason reminds me of Futurama: “We have you partially surrounded!” Perhaps it’s a bit of delirium setting in...