"The new jacket is an improvement", he said to his Dad, "but you also need several new shirts, a sweater that is appropriate for Canada in October, pants that aren't twenty years old, and a red Stanford scarf with which I will provide you. You only have one short lunch in which to make an impression."

"Actually, I have a little longer than that. There is more news. I have been offered a visiting lecturer in Mathematics position at the University of Calgary. Beginning in January.

I will return in December of the following year, unless I am successful in my quest to win back your Mother."

The won ton soup had arrived.