See, this is why I don't care for politics and elections...

Why should I give a crap about what Bush or Kerry did or didn't do or might have done or under what conditions things were done during time served or not served in the Vietnam War? What in the name of God's green earth does that have to do with whether or not either of these guys would be a good President? What does any of that have to do with running a country (as opposed to running a country into the ground)?

How about Bush tells me how he's going to allow me to keep my job and make enough money to afford my new condo (once I get it), instead of getting my ass laid off?

How about Kerry tells me how he's going to RESOLVE the freakin' Iraq problem without creating more terrorists in the process?

When they resort to bullcrap like this is when I want to go into the polling place and say eenie-meenie-minie-mo.

But I won't do that. This time.

Interesting thing about this new job...today is the deadline for our current issue to go to press.

So what does my supervisor say upon the rest of the staff's return from Vegas? "We'll get done what we can today and finish the rest on Monday."

Ahhhh, monthly trade pub., how I adore thee.

Playoff softball tonight, and I'm psyched. We play at 8pm. If we win, we play again in the championship at 9pm. I can't wait.

Ladies and gentlemen, via the Sun-Times, Sox manager Ozzie Guillen on the pain of passing a kidney stone: "The pain was scary,'' he said. "A lot of people say [the pain is] close to having a baby. If women had a baby like that, they would refuse to have a baby, believe me. I know women are real strong. I have three kids and they come from a woman. If that's the way they feel when they are going to have a baby, then God bless the woman. We aren't man enough. I think the woman is the real man because that was something I don't wish even my worst enemy.''

Personally, I take my hand off to him.

From a press release I received today on a new product...this oughta make you New Yorkers out there cringe...bagels and cream cheese in bar form: "For Teen Choice Award’s Host, Paris Hilton, B a g e l e r s will make her life even simpler. Now when it’s time for Tinkerbell’s (Paris’ Dog) morning walk, no messy knife and cream cheese, she just has to grab-and-go!"

Are they kidding? Like Paris Hilton walks her dog...please.

And before you fellow "Simpsons" nuts beat me to it...
"When you concentrate food, you unleash its awesome power, I'm told. That's why I'm compressing five pounds of spaghetti into one handy mouth-sized bar!"

--Speaking of working too hard, I'm whoring my editing services out to my former employer, PFW, today after regular work. Should be nice...nice money, nice to be there briefly again. You see, they have a thing that needs formatting and editing that I did the last 4 years, but no one else really knows how to do. So, after I offered to do some freelance work for them last week, they came back with this. Hopefully this is the beginning of a bee-yoo-tiful friendship. :) Not that it was a bad friendship before...but it gets me "back in the loop" football-wise, so to speak, and that's good.

--A friend of mine (and the SuperNovas) is turning 30 in September, and has come up with what I believe is the most phenomenal idea ever. It's the Thirty for 30 event. 30 days, 30 special events (not necessarily parties or money-spending bonanzas...just something special, I assume), all celebrating his birthday. What a great freakin' idea! Why didn't I think of that? Such a great idea...

--Well, the week that has been me holding down the fort in just my fifth week on the job went just fine (so far)...that ought to instill some trust in the powers that be...not that they mistrusted me before, I don't think. But our issue is right on time and all that's left to do is what my cohorts bring back from Vegas to write and edit. That's always a good thing, having everything done and ready to go once the super gets back from a trip.

--Condo hunting continues...Gina and I looked at an IMMACULATE place just south of Jefferson Park that was at the very top edge of our price range. Phenomenal place...across the alley from a park (not Jeff. Park though), parking is easy, brand new bath and kitchen, 3-yr. old hardwood, tiled and carpeted floors, completely rewired, HUGE balcony and tons of sunlight...I love the place. It has a long hallway from the kitchen to the bedrooms and back door that would be really cool for displaying things...artwork, etc. (when did I ever think of that, right? :) ) The only negative is that there's minimal storage space and the windows will need to be replaced someday. Oh, and two of the three A/C units are pretty old. Oh, and that it's a buyowner.com property and there's some uncertainty about the asking price. What a nice place! And the negatives aren't all that bad. But we're not sure we can afford it or convince the guy to come down in price. I figure we should try, but we want someone with more knowledge to take a look-see. I'd be really excited about living there, I'll say that right now.

--Gina's going to see a place in Edison Park that's about $20,000 cheaper than the above Jeff. Park place. I told her if it's good, we should make a bid. Edison Park is not easy to get into, especially a place that takes dogs. And for the price, we couldn't complain at all. Plus, it's closer to Park Ridge than it is to "downtown" Edison Park. Hopefully this will come to an end soon...we shall see.

--Ah well...I should get back to work... :)

You know you're getting older when...

You get unexplained injuries that nag you...for example, today, I woke up, and for whatever reason, my right hamstring is tight and sore. Not horribly sore, just tweaking me enough to let me know it's there.

Now, I did nothing physically strenuous yesterday...nothing except walk up and down stairs on occasion. That's it. It didn't bother me yesterday, but lo and behold, here it is today. Probably it will go away tomorrow.

That's about it for now...

From the "Better Late than Never" files...

Dear Andrew:
Thank you for your interest in the Copy Editor position in the
Publications Division of the XXXXXXX.
While your background is certainly impressive, we have selected a
candidate whose qualifications more closely fit the specific needs of this position.
Your resume will be kept on file for one year. We will contact you if
a position becomes available that matches your qualifications. Again,
thank you for your interest in the XXXXXXX.
We wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.
Sincerely,
XXXXX

Hmmm...I wonder if that's one year from today, or one year from June 15, when I actually applied? Silly jackasses...

The condo search continues, albeit after work. And now I'm off to lunch.

Well, my little cousin seems to be doing better...his temperature (which had been as high as 107.9 degrees) is finally down far enough to where he's recovering, albeit slowly. So that's good.

This weekend was busy, as usual, and as every weekend always will be, I suppose. Friday, we won in softball, quite handily...17-7. I had some fantastic plays at third base and a couple good hits. Now, supposedly, we are in the playoffs this week. Come see us play! :)

Saturday was crazy. We had to be in four different places...first we visited my parents, because I hadn't seen them in ages. That was bright and early, because then we had to visit a surprise birthday party in the very-early afternoon. Stayed there for a while...then went to Gina's ex-roommate's block party. That was fun too. Then we trekked to Arlington Heights for dessert with another friend of Gina and PolishBasia's...craziness.

No wonder I slept in until noon yesterday...then I got up, did laundry and went to work at the ballpark. I was there until 11:30pm, and that layover made me quite sleepy...I overslept ever so slightly this morning, but still made it to work because traffic, amazingly, was light.

So now I'm at work, and I'm flying solo. Everyone else working for my pub is in Vegas for a convention. How about that? And, we're on deadline for the end of the week. So I'm the top dog, the big cheese, the head honcho, numero uno ranchero...

So yeah...Ghetto Bowl VIII draft/BBQ is this Saturday. For those who care. Kelly, Kathleen and Jimmy, I didn't have your emails handy (because I'm a moron)...please send them to me so's I can invites ya... :) Or someone send them the invitation...please. Yeah...