Rant of the Day: To the man who sat next to me on the train coming home: Is it really necessary when your considerable bulk is already taking up far more than half the seat, to then sit with your arms akimbo so that your elbow completely juts into my ribs??? And then to completely lean on top of me to pull your wallet out of your pocket (instead of maybe standing up to retrieve it) and then again do the same to put your wallet back, causing me to have to lean at an unnatural angle to avoid being more intimate with you than I already, uncomfortably, am??? I mean, is it too much to ask to have a little common courtesy? I know it's a crowded commuter train but, comeon. Why do some people insist on making a miserable situation even worse?

I hate commuting.

So The Today Show had a segment this morning about "blogging". I'm not sure if I should feel insulted that this was touted as this crazy thing all the teenagers are doing. What about those of us bloggers who are adults? Should we feel silly and immature?

Damn. I just discovered a hole in my jeans. And these are my favorite jeans too. Brings a whole new meaning to business casual. Argh!

Maintenance person just knocked on my cube door to see if anyone had been by to fix the fluorescent light over my desk. Damn thing finally burned out -- don't fix it! ACK! Those lights suck the life out of you, as if sitting in this cubicle all day long doesn't do a good enough job of that alone.

Another company announcement today. Our health insurance co-pay is going up to $20 per doctor visit (up from $10). I was actually holding my breath waiting to hear that there were now going to be payroll deductions to pay for the insurance, so I guess the news could be worse. Things still suck though.

It was announced this morning that my company is now only going to be matching 25 cents on the dollar for our 401K. Why even bother??? Things just suck all around.

Out for drinks last night with Lares and some other people. Lares feeling sentimental because next week is his last week at our company, as well as his last week in NYC.

Me: some comment I don't remember.
Lares: "You know, one of the only things that bothers me about you is how you downgrade your intelligence."
Me: "Whatever."
Lares: "I have to tell you something. I feel like I'm made 4 really good friends while I've been here and you're one of them."
Me: "Aw, that's so sweet."
Lares: "I don't know why, maybe because I feel like we can talk about anything."
Me: "Maybe because I am as intelligent as you and so it is reflected in our conversations."
Lares: "There is no why you're anywhere near as intelligent as I am."
Me: "Oh."

Rode the train in with Paul this morning. We (well, I) spent the morning bitching about our company and about living in NYC. At least he didn't try to get away from me this time.

Classic Female Humiliation: Wait on crowded line at DD at rush hour for coffee. Reach into bag for wallet. Pull wallet out along with tampon that goes flying. Just great.

Damn BMW high-pitched car alarm that keeps going off outside my window. What do you want to bet that this continues all night long? I would call the police, but the NYC's policy on car alarms is pretty useless. Basically they will come out and look at the car with a flashlight (presumably to make sure it's not being stolen or whatever) and will do nothing about making it stop or go away. Oh, they might leave a ticket on the windshield or something. If they feel like it. When I lived in Hoboken (NJ) they would tow that car so fast -- it was a beautiful thing.

Rant of the Day: Why do I appear to be the only damn person on my entire floor at work who changes the damn water bottle on the cooler???

For some reason, Joe calls me "The Comedian". I don't get it.

I'm one of those people who hates to see Christmas decorations up once the holidays are over. It all just looks so... tawdry and tacky. January 1st and that crap should be out of there. So you just know it's driving me crazy on Januart 5th to still be looking at it everywhere. Especially in public areas like Penn Station. I suppose it could be worse, they could now be putting up the Valentine's crap to replace it.

Well, I've managed at least to keep busy today fixing application problems for with all the year-end orders coming in, etc. It's kind of tedious work (although not mindless), but the perfect kind of thing to do on a day where I wasn't all that self-motivated. And it's made the day go quickly, so that's a good thing. I can probably expect more of the same throughout this week, so I can plan on being busy, but won't have to think too hard about what I'm doing -- just solve each puzzle as it is put before me. So, I guess I can't complain about that. Otherwise I am just hiding in this cubicle and being more or less anti-social. So not into any bullshit chit-chat right now.

Just put on a lot of dark eye makeup to match my dark mood.

Did anyone happen to catch the new episode of Sex and the City last night? The thing with Samantha and hottie boyfriend Smith was the sweetest thing I had seen in a while. It made me cry (as these kind of things usually do). I'm such a sap.

So depressing to be back in this hell hole this morning. The cold, pouring rain we're experiencing today fits my mood perfectly.

This weekend has been a bit of an escape from reality for me. Four days (and five nights) of uninterrupted loafing. A bit like an oasis in the middle of an otherwise endless drone of working weeks. I've spent a lot of time fantasizing about what I want to do when I grow up (ie: when I get the courage to leave NYC and go back to school or whatever). I swing between pursuing as high a psychology degree as I can endure and going from there (perhaps into psychotherapy) to becoming a vet technician (along with dog trainer, behaviorist, etc.) because I love animals so much and really treasure every waking moment I can spend with them (be it dog, cat, horse, etc.). With the exception of monkeys. Monkeys creep me out. Anyway, the latter option would mean schooling of only about two years, yet I don't think the earning potential is too impressive. Not that making bookoo bucks is my top motivation, but I still have to live. Living somewhere other than NYC makes the money thing more flexible, of course, but there still has to be limits.

I've spent less time this weekend thinking of some goals and objectives for 2004. Which really, probably would have been time better spent. Probably better to zone in on some concrete goals first, rather than all the lofty fantasies.

What is with people and stereos anyway? Particularly people who live in apartments. Do they truly believe that all their neighbors just love them for providing thumping bass through the walls and ceilings, etc.? I don't know if it is a case of complete cluelessness or that people are so self-absorbed, that they have no concern for anyone who has to live around them. Bastards.

Ah, there's nothing like that grand ole' tradition of taking a spin on the porcelain bus on the morning of January First to start the new year off right.

Here is a picture of some of the people I was with toasting with a shot of tequila (in baby jars, no less). I abstained from the tequila, but managed to more than make up for that in beer and champagne. UGH