I'm pretty disappointed that my veins are hard to hit. That means that even if I fancied a heroin addiction, I probably couldn't do it. In protest (of what, I'm not sure), I'm going to hit the movies hard and give myself a heroine addiction. Anyone up for the new Tomb Raider this weekend?
You expect certain things of your doctor and his/her associates. You expect them to be able weigh you, apply a band-aid, and take your blood. After two failed attempts the other day, they finally came through and tapped my veins for a blood sample.
Went to the doctor yesterday morning. They tried to take blood but couldn't. They sent me home to drink fluids. I came back later, having gulped down a large glass of orange juice, a large glass of milk, and a large glass of water. This did not help them in their quest for my blood. I have to return later in the week.
Met with the accountant. Looks like my company might actually pay me one of these days. It's really semantics since I own the company, but everything has to make sense, I suppose, for the tax people.
At work, I'm just finishing up the first part of this big change I have to make. It literally feels like a weight is being lifted off me. There is still a lot to do, but the first big wave will be complete shortly.
The office is quiet. People are away. People are coming in late. People are leaving me alone. It's nice.
Well, my contract has been extended, which is good news.
My brother is coming to visit this weekend, which is also nice.
My temperature started rising Tuesday night, which was not fun.
I stayed home from work on Wednesday, for which I have a mixed reaction.
I am officially blaming my discomfort on all those damn anti-Catholic democrats.
Well, it's about time to tell you what's been on my mind for the past few days. One morning this week, as I made my way to my car, I saw some money lying on the ground. I glanced around, picked it up, got in my car, and drove to work.
As soon as I picked up the money, I felt bad about it. I wondered if that was the right thing to do. If you leave the money there, someone else is just going to come along and pick it up. After thinking about it for most of the morning, I decided to get another opinion.
Me: So, this morning, on the way to my car, I saw some money on the ground and...
Friend_1: You picked it up, right? How much did you score?
This put my mind a little at ease, but I still felt as if there was some kind of wrongdoing. I mean, what if the money had some kind of significance.
Friend_2: Well, you have to put up a sign in your building. If they can tell you how much they lost, you give it back to them.
Friend_3: You can't do that. What if they say that they don't remember exactly how much they lost, but it was theirs and they want it back? Things could get real ugly and you could be in physical danger.
Friend_4: You don't want to screw up your money karma, you have to do something about it.
So, I've pretty much decided that once I picked up the money, there was nothing I could do to get it back to the person who lost it. And, if I had just left it there, I would have felt pretty silly for leaving a bunch of money on the ground. I still feel uneasy about it and it still lies on my bedside table. I guess that's better than the parking lot asphalt.
So, dear reader, I pose two questions:
1) The next time I see a wad of cash on the ground, do I pick it up?
2) What should we do with the money? Do Kate and I go out for a nice dinner that is basically free? Do we buy something special, a constant reminder of the found money? Do we make a trip to the casino and see how lucky this money is? Do we give it away to someone in need?
I had time to discuss this issue with the village elders and this is the resolution they passed down.
"You must call the office. Tell them that you found some money in the parking lot and wanted to know if anyone has come in to ask about it. Tell them that you will call again in a week to check if anyone has come in to ask about it. If, after the week is over, nobody has come in to ask about it, it is yours."
Sounds like some sage advice to me.
Do you think there's any money in page-a-day calendars? Everyone has their favorite, whether it's kittens or stupid things. Someone bought me one of these for Christmas. It's called "Mind-Bending Puzzles." Some of the puzzles are interesting, some of them feel like busy-work from the substitute teacher, and some of them are just plain silly. It makes me wonder if I could create a better calendar? Assuming I could create a better calendar, would there be any way to market this calendar to the masses? If so, would I make any money off this? How many people bought the same calendar I have? Is there really room in the marketplace for more mind-bending puzzles? Is it more of a "cornering the market" kind of thing where one company makes most of the page-a-day calendars and that's how they make money? Do I have the stamina to create 365 puzzles? Actually, isn't next year a leap year? Forget it. Too much work.
Two of my friends probably got engaged tonight. As I was thinking about this, I remembered my ring-buying experience and wondered...
Why are the hottest girls the ones who work at jewelry stores selling engagement rings?
(Excluding my wife, of course, who does not work at a jewelry store)
Well, I'm up in the middle of the night. I drank two cups of coffee right before bed. Doing things like that never affected me before. I guess it might be the fact that I have pretty much cut soda out of my diet, so my body's not used to that caffeine jolt anymore. Plus, I'm not very self-aware, so maybe it has affected me before.
As far as I could remember, I was sleeping soundly. Then, at 1:30, I sat bolt upright and I was awake. I'm not sure, but I think I saw a flash of light before my eyes.
At least it's the weekend.
Ahem...
Kudos to America's Next Top Model for not drawing out the ending over the next few weeks. Eliminating two out of three in one episode! Can you imagine? While I really respect that, I want to know why a show like Joe Millionaire stretches out it's finale into three or four weeks of recapping, but when you get to see hot chicks doing the fashion thing, they manage to cut it down to an hour of recap followed by an hour of the real deal.
Now don't go thinking we religiously watched this show. We didn't. In fact, I didn't even know which night of the week it was on. But, once you're parked at that channel, it's hard to stop watching. "Please, don't make me watch attractive women do the things that models do, like smile and pose nude."
Perhaps some other time I'll tell you about all the really productive things we do.
Blah blah blah blah blah barbecue.
Blah blah blah blah blah fireworks.
Blah blah blah blah blah barbecue.
Blah blah blah blah blah sister back from Australia.
Blah blah blah blah blah barbecue.
Blah blah blah blah blah finished Harry Potter.
Blah blah blah blah blah glad to be back home.
A good time was had by all.
I bought your latest release and was disappointed at first listen. Some of the songs don't even sound like your voice. It seems you simplified the music in an effort to be popular, but the result is boring.
It was always my opinion that all you had to do to get radio play was to stop using profanities in your lyrics. (Personally, I love the profanities, but I've got your best interest at heart.)
Perhaps the album will grow on me with each listen. That's what happened with your other releases.
Thanks for listening.
P.S. You are still invited to spend the night with me and my wife. I've just got to make sure it's all right with her, so call before you get here.
I went to the dentist this morning. I am pleased to tell you that his last name is Smyle (pronounced "smiley"). Enough said.
Be it pithily or pithy, it's just not used enough. I love those words. They're almost as good as onomatopoeia and dementia.
Have you hugged a word today?
And then...It's true... I forgot to mention that the king of pith is resident at pith.org.
Well, it changed from cool rain to hellish humidity almost instantaneously about a week ago. To celebrate, we went to see much live music at various venues and sometimes to our own surprise.
Thursday night we went to a free concert on a nearby beach. The special thing about this was that Kate has made a friend in the owner of a house that neighbors the public beach. This gives us a nice place to park, a nice place to sit and watch the crowd of people listening to the music, I nice place to listen to the music ourselves, and a nice barbecue off of which to eat yummy beef patties grilled to perfection.
Friday night we went to Carson's, which has free outside music on the street with dinner! This time it was Dixieland. And it was good. And the burritos were very good. Sitting out there, it seems like everything is right with the world.
Saturday night we went to Newport to meet up with a few friends. Of course, there was a band. There was a whole mess with a cover charge that went from $10 to $20 as we sat eating our dinner. People who eat at the restaurant still have to pay the cover for some strange reason (called greed, I believe). They blocked off the staircase leading down into the area where the band was playing so there was no way to sneak in, unless you scuba'd up to the place. In any case, while some of our crowd headed downstairs to pay the cover and dance by the stage, we mellowed upstairs on the porch, which, by the way, had a perfect view of the band. We drank drinks and voiced our voices as the band played cover songs that sounded remarkably like the originals. As we left, we noticed the cover had risen to $30.
On Sunday we were walking around a little shopping center and as we wandered in and out of the stores, a band set up and started to play. We didn't even stop to listen as we hurried back to the car with our huge chopping block and wooden seamen. I wouldn't have thought it could happen, but maybe there is such a thing as "too much live music."