Well, I found out this morning that my eyecare insurance is a piece of horsecrap. I had to go to the eye doctor, because my eyes are about to laugh at me for the length of time these contacts have been in. Of a $300 bill because I was a first-time customer, the insurance company covered about $100. That's freakin' it. That means no dentist or doctor for awhile now. God, I hate money.

Until yesterday, I was being torn unevenly in two directions as to where I'd like to move. I was leaning toward moving into the city somewhere, ever so slightly leaning, because I want to get back to urban life. It's in my blood. Plus, urban life is where my friends and family are. However, work is up north, and I'm really tiring of spending all the money I do on gas, especially now that prices are certain to skyrocket since the heartless gas station owners use every excuse possible to raise prices. But now, good friends of mine (I withhold their names, so as not to jinx them, plus they may not want it widely known yet) are moving up that way, which means if I move into the city, I'll be a bazillion miles from them. So now I have some real thinking to do.

I've become jealous of my brother and several friends who live with their parents still. I thought about moving there for awhile to save some money, but I probably couldn't do that without upsetting the delicate balance that is currently going on at my parents' house with them, my two brothers and the two dogs. Also, if I moved there for a few months to save money, I'd have to give up Kazak during that time (not a huge thing, Gerard would probably just keep him for then). That's something I'd rather not do.

There are a couple interesting apartments in Wheeling that I've driven by that are very close to my work. However, I know nothing about them. Which brings up another thing pulling me toward the city: How long am I going to work out there? Will I move and then find a job in the city? That would suck. So we'll see...I've got some real thinking to do.

By the way, I stayed home from work today for the eye doctor's appointment, and now I'm going to do some shopping, take Kazak to get a bath and his nails clipped and my car for an oil change at my dad's work. So good luck finding me today.

We interrupt this war broadcast which is interrupting this NCAA Tournament broadcast which is interrupting your regularly scheduled programming
I forgot to mention I have seed sprouts in my seed starter boxes. Yay! Both broccoli and Mexican sunflowers are sprouting, which is awesome. Now I just have to time it right as to when to take the cover off so that mildew doesn't set in. Apparently that's what I did wrong two years ago when I tried this--I left the greenhouse cover on and mildew or whatever thrived, weakened and killed the baby plants. When I get some more of the sprouts, I'll remove the covers.

OK, back to your regularly scheduled war programming...

Today may very well be one of the least productive days ever.

1. My supervisor took the day off.
2. Most of the rest of the editorial staff is in Las Vegas.
3. The NCAA Tournament is on, though we don't have the satellite package.
4. There is a war going on, with interesting news and pictures on TV every now and then.
5. There simply isn't too much to work on.
6. To top it all off, it's turned into a beautiful day outside too.

Case in point: We get an hour long lunch. But I just spent nearly two hours with two other guys at Cubby Bear North partaking in their lunch buffet and watching the awesome Cal-N.C. State game (as well as the other two early games).

I hate when I'm up much later than I wanted to be. Damn video games getting me hooked. Ah well, it doesn't cost me money to sit and play CPU games, as opposed to going out somewhere. I'd talk some more, but now I'm sleepy and I'm going to bed.

Oh yeah, and Haloscan can kiss my happy ass once again.

No Vegas for me.
No Vegas for me.
I do feel sleepy,
But no Vegas for me.

T-minus 1.5 hours until the big bad deadline for Saddam. Wonder what happens then...wave after wave of terrorist attacks? Or nothing from either side? Ah well, who cares. Did I mention I'm sleepy.

"Depressing to some, interesting to me" topic of the day: I still want to know the extent of a nuclear blast in downtown Chicago. Maybe I'll look it up online. Like, how far out would it kill, maime, etc.? I'm just curious to know if I'm far enough away, since so many of my loved ones are not. I also have an interesting theory regarding terrorist attacks and nuclear weapons and such, but barring the FBI bashing down my door thinking I'm actually a terrorist, I'll refrain from spouting it here. If you're seriously interested (and no one HAS to be), then ask me sometime.

Las Vegas is calling.
My coworkers are amplifying the screams.
Andy! Andy! Come to Vegas! Now!
My credit cards have put in my earplugs.
Man, it's killing me.
It sucks to be poor and logical.

Two things worth mentioning yesterday: One that I heard and one that happened to me.

I was sitting at my CPU with the news on in the background, and I shouldn't be amazed, but I am. I heard about this chick and shook my head. It always amazes me as to how ignorant protesters usually are about the situation that they're protesting or the situations they're in. Whether the driver saw her or not, why was she on the dirt? Better yet, why was she over there? The Middle East is not the U.S., and I mean that in the sense that, just because there's a "democracy" in place doesn't mean they treat protesters the same way. Protesters are pretty much dispicable in my mind, and we'll leave it at that...

I later went out with Luis and Monica to a bar way down south called Blarney Stone. It was all right, except that the band ("The Afterschool Specials") really wasn't (since when did "Sweet Home Alabama" feature bongo drums?), but right when we were about to leave, two guys we graduated grade school with showed up. I had seen the one guy a few months ago, but the other guy I hadn't seen since high school. We reminisced a bit and talked about setting up a "reunion" type thing at a bar sometime in June. We talked about a bunch of our fellow alums, and what they're up to and where. I had completely forgotten about a couple of them. And apparently, they're all in the south and southwest suburbs for the most part. It's amazing we've never run into each other. Luis and Monica went home and me and the two guys went to another bar because they wanted to play Golden Tee, which wasn't working at Blarney Stone. More reminiscing went on there, but there wasn't much cohesion, as they were pretty drunk (they'd been drinking since 8 am at the South Side Irish Parade). So I went home and went to bed around 3 am. And here I am at work.

I guess I haven't posted in a while, and probably should.

I decide to take the fast track on my worktable and assemble it without staining the wood. I'll do that next year or never. It's not ridiculously imperative. I need to start my seeds (which I did this evening). I was going to go to the South Side Irish Parade today, but I'm glad I didn't, because the bars were selling tickets earlier this week, and if you didn't have a ticket, you couldn't get in. Sucks ass. My brother and his supervisor went and actually watched the parade and didn't drink a thing. So I'm glad I didn't get up early and waste my time.

Instead I woke up around noon, and took a drive to Home Depot and my cousins' house. They were outside, so I stopped and chatted them up a bit. I had to leave though to find out if my parents needed my help at home, since they're redoing the kitchen. They did not need my help, so I planted seeds in my seed-starting trays. Hopefully I have better success than last time.

Happy St. Patrick's Day to anyone who cares. :)