Let’s see: Slept lousy, compounded by someone turning and leaving on the downstairs bathroom’s ceiling fan (which is right below my bedroom) during the night. Nearly-cold shower. Misgauged the weather, so didn’t dress warmly enough. Forgot to grab leftovers for lunch. My pathway from the Hillsboro Airport MAX station to work consisted mostly of deep puddles and mud. Just as I approached the Starbucks, the wind and rain came up, so no breakfast for me because I can’t carry a cup of cocoa, a sandwich and manage my umbrella, at least not without growing two spare hands or a prehensile tail. Unfurled umbrella to discover that the wind was stronger than expected, requiring two hands just to keep the thing pointed the right direction. It was all for naught, because one good gust of wind snapped the umbrella’s struts, right in my face. So I walked the rest of the way to work in the wind and rain, cold, wet, tired, hungry and angry. And since I’m the first (and only) person into the office, I can’t even duck next door to the 7-11 for something to snack on. If nobody gets here before 8 o’clock, I won’t get to eat until lunchtime.

So. Hopefully your morning’s better than mine.

Okay, so I was up fairly late on Saturday night, but I made up for it with a decent night’s sleep. I made a point of getting to bed at a decent hour last night. So could someone explain to me why I spent the entire day struggling to stay awake?

Seriously. The one day I’d prefer to do my job over the phone (an entire class of technology which I normally prefer to avoid) instead of via instant message and email, and everybody wants me to read instead. I could barely see straight, I’m telling you. Right now I’m typing this post out of sheer stubborn willpower. (I goofed off all weekend without posting; by the gods I’m going to get something out today!)

Anyway, my weekend in a nutshell goes something like this: Saturday, the kids and I tried out the Apocalypse Mod for Scorched (Earth) 3D. To say we “had a blast” would be both punny and appropriate, so… we had a blast! Bwahahaha. Afterward I went over to Lil’s for dinner, snuggling on the couch, watching bad television and reading that interminable rpg.net motivator poster thread. Sunday consisted of cleaning, shopping, cleaning, shopping, visiting with The Imperial Princess of Cute, watching the world’s cutest anime, and then playing games with the usual Sunday night crowd. Oh, and sleeping.

Mmmmm. Sleeeeeeeeeeeep. Pardon me, I need to go do that now. G’nite.

I won’t say that it was a bad day at the office, but it was quite frazzling. I also know that almost everyone else I know found today (and/or the entire week) just as un-fun as I have, if not even more so.

You’d better believe I’m going to wring all the enjoyment I can out of this weekend, baby, and I recommend that you do the same.

And since nobody’s used it yet: If you look at the top menu bar, there’s a “Contact” link. It takes you to a form. I’m pretty sure you’re all smart enough to know what to do from that point. Of course you are!

You know those days when it seems like you can’t do anything right?

And by “days” I mean “weeks.”

At least my laptop’s Windows 2000 reinstall is going well… so far. (Yes, 2000. The machine ain’t beefy enough for XP, and Linux seems to dislike it rather strongly.) Other than that, though, the suck just keeps on coming.

I guess the good news is that it’s Monday night so I guess it’s not so bad.

Friday night: Was date night, though Lil’ and I were basically dead tired the entire time. Still, we had some good food and the usual excellent company. We amused ourselves by window shopping at Best Buy (well, kind of… ahem) and taking bets on whether the generally-unattended small child would set off the alarm by trying to go through the emergency exit at Outback.

Saturday: Was a bit of a blur, punctuated by housework, followed by Alexander’s one-act play night. We stayed for the first half of the series of plays (which included his, naturally), and left at Intermission because there was a tired youngster and a couple of not-so-perky oldsters to take care of. Alex was very good, even though he had only a few lines. Unfortunately he got stuck in the play that made me cringe the most out of the three we watched (which is saying something, considering the one that came after). While I generally agree with the sentiments expressed, a political diatribe is the fastest way I know to bring an evening’s entertainment to an abrupt cessation. I’m sure I wasn’t the only audience member cringing. Luckily the play’s end was amusing enough to make up for that somewhat, though I’m still not sure what to make of the fact that my son had a rather good-looking young lady draped against himself as the lights fell. (If I tell you about the dialog, I suspect my son will implode from embarrassment. I certainly wasn’t expecting it!)

Sunday: Was more housework, shopping, a trip to go work on an old friend’s computer equipment, at the end of which I ended up with a used laptop. (Dell Inspiron 8000, 1GHz CPU, 256 MB of RAM, 20 gig HDD, now wiped clean and freshly installed with Kubuntu Edgy. In case you’re wondering. Oh, and it weighs a freaking ton. But, hey: Free.) Followed by retrieving Kyla from the train station and a night of gaming.

Today: Was work, punctuated by blustery wet weather, followed by some City of Villains and…

Sleep. Shortly. G’nite, everybody.

Dear Lady In A Hurry, In Hillsboro:

Please allow me to clear up a misunderstanding between us. You may be under the impression that just because I was wearing a long black coat that I’m some sort of juvenile delinquent. You may also have interpreted the fact that I backed out of your way as I was crossing the street as some sort of defiant gesture. I can’t imagine how, mind you, but I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. However, I’m fairly certain that it was thoroughly unnecessary to stop in the middle of the crosswalk, roll down your window and tell me in a nasty tone of voice that, “It would help if you wouldn’t wear black.”

Why, yes, I know I was wearing black. Have you any idea how few good-looking non-black trenchcoats there are out there, let alone coats as warm and comfortable as mine? I also know it was a dark intersection. This is why, when I saw you swerve onto the main street from the side street at considerable speed and then turn on your blinker, I backed away from your most probable path. I like to think of this as using good survival instincts, since I’m not very visible under those conditions. You might even consider it an act of courtesy that I didn’t insist on crossing the rest of the street as I actually had the right-of-way to do. I’m a nice guy that way. And, I like not being run over in the dark by stupid people driving at high speeds.

In conclusion, please save your vitriol for someone who actually earned it. Thank you.

Yours, etc,

The Little Grey Duck In The Warm Black Trenchcoat