203, 703, 22304

203 used to be my area code, although it still is for my personal cell phone. Now it's the "room number" of my apartment. The area code for this part of the country is 703. And the zip code is 22304. It surprised me how quickly I memorized the new zip code after years of 068##. The nearest Interstate in the area is easy. I-95, which runs behind the house I grew up in, and I could see out my window in Norwalk. But ask me for my office phone number, the phone number of the Guesthouse Manager's Blackberry, or the nearest cross street, and I have to look them up.

Phone numbers, passwords, and codes, oh my! You always have a lot of that kind of thing to learn when you start a new job. But move to a new community at the same time, and the number almost doubles. During my childhood, many families moved in and out of my hometown when the father, and it was always the father, got transferred by his corporation. I'm sure it was a lot of new stuff in the context of the era, but you had one home phone, one office phone, and maybe a fax number. The so-called head of the household didn't even have to learn his way around except how to get to the train station and back, if the family lived within walking distance, or they had that rare luxury of two cars. How the world has changed in 40 years.

I suppose I shouldn't complain. My grandparents went literally from horse-and-buggy to jet planes and the space shuttle. Whenever I feel like new technology is about to overwhelm me, I try to remember Grandad. He loved computers and the Internet. If he were alive today, he'd be using Facebook and Twitter like a pro!

Shortly, I'll head over to Cafe 1823, the little pub on campus, to attend a flute and mandolin concert. Then I'll retire to Room 1 of Building 31A, the temporary guest house. See, more numbers.