--18 days. Oh, and KM, my year now feels a little cheapened by my own discovery that I can't read a calendar and count properly too...so I'm with you on that.

--You know, I don't HATE country music. In fact, much of it is not bad, and some of the stuff that resembles pop music is pretty good. I like the stories and the subtle humor that SOME of the lyrics contain (I know, "Get Drunk and Be Somebody" isn't very subtle or much of a story). But, while driving up I-29 from Omaha to Sioux City, I heard a song I hope I never hear again...don't know if the name of the song is this, but it certainly was the hook: "She Thinks My Tractor is Sexy."

--Here's another thing I realized...I remember Sioux City for one thing, and that's that horrible plane crash years and years ago--you know, the one where the plane crash-lands in a ball of flame, and you can actually see the wings cartwheel and whatnot? I had never been to Sioux City, and when that happened, I guess I assumed Sioux City was, well, a city. I'm on the south end of town, but I've seen nothing telling me this is any kind of city. In fact, the only Marriott-owned hotel I could find was this here Fairfield Inn. Of course, the upside to this is, this Fairfield Inn is 300 times better than the shithole Fairfield Inn in Baltimore and about 100 times better than the Gurnee Mills one. Plus, I get free high-speed Internet (on a low-speed laptop--but at least I get to use it).

--Anyway, for now, I'm tired...I just wanted to share a few things...you know how that goes.