Finally got a check on Monday for all work completed September – November. Already paid out more than half in bills and shit.

At least you got it. I just know I'll have to send a nasty letter as followup for the bill I sent a month ago -- the last job I did for that firm, it took about 4 months to get paid.

I put my trash out for collection in black plastic bags, as is the way here in Flint.

Fucking neighbor let his dog out without leash or tether. Dog opened bags and scattered my trash all over the area. I have to go collect and rebag it. Fucking neighbor refuses to accept responsibility, though he broke the law by letting Wulf the Irritable, his Weimaraner, run free.

School starts again in little over a week. Not that I am annoyed to be privileged enough to attend school, but I realize that in the month I had off, I accomplished none of the things I meant to accomplish. Worked a lot, though.

Too much raw onion in lunchtime salad. Blah. Dragon's breath.

Weekend away cancelled. Eyebrows has to work. Server upgrade, among other things.

No water in my building this morning. Then after two hours, just cold water. Managed to wash my hair by sticking my head under the faucet. Mind-numbingly cold water.

Saucepan. Water. Heat. Check not too hot (important). Wash hair.

I live in a building with many water issues. I recently phoned the maintenance department, which has an enormous staff, about an utter lack of hot water one early morning and was told, "Well, you know it's an old building." Well, that's helpful.

I have become extremely adept at very brief, very cold showers.

Woke up at 6 am for no reason. It just started raining hard enough to discourage me from trekking to San Francisco for the farmer's market.

Fever dreams. Hacking cough. Sleeping sitting up.

I am sick as a dog and weak as a kitten. I might have to go to the vet.

Chronic headache, couldn't sleep at all last night, realized sometime around 11 am today that I had forgotten to eat for the past 24+ hours. I didn't think I would have such a hard time coming back. We were long distance for 4 years, and even though this will be a lot shorter, after living together for 2 years it seriously SUCKS ASS. I get a week there in March and then the entire summer, starting in the first week of May. I can't believe I am being such a baby about this.

walking all over fucking campus to find the office at which to drop off a grant application. i know this place has budget issues but surely they can afford a few campus maps.

I know it was 55 F at 7 AM today, but is that any excuse for my water being barely tepid? Brrrrr.

Welll our heating was back on. It was off precisely during the period I was shaking feverishly with whatever cold/flu/chill I contracted. Perfect.

The office kitchen has run out of jenmai cha. Of course I may be the party responsible for this, so I shouldn't complain. But I have been forced to fall back on something called 'quiet jade' oolong.

I read that as "office kitten".

Can't find my lecture notes for a class I taught 3.5 years ago and am teaching again this semester. Ugh, I so do not want to write them again from scratch.

Last night at work the power went out for the whole block and I was cooking a delivery order (who orders salmon Benedict for delivery?) and I had the eggs in the poaching water and of course, when the restaurant went pitch-black, I stuck my fingers into the water to prod the eggs and check for doneness. At one time I would have barely registered this, but I am a wuss now, and my fingers hurt. The eggs were good. The chef said: Are you sure you don't want this job?

Head cold; meds making me spacey as hell. Also: driving rain erasing all the beautiful snow we got over the weekend.

Annoying dull pain in my TMJ. I'd go to the dentist this week, but I don't have time with all the other doctor's appointments I have to go to.

Have you ordered a computer lately? I've had good luck with Dell (3x!) but if I look back every time they've screwed up the delivery dates. It takes them weeks and there is always some delay but no one will tell you what's going on. But modern customer service is so bad, it teaches the customer to be an obnoxious prig. After trying to call and getting nothing, I used their handy live chat, which had a 5 minute wait! The person of course knew less than I do and I was getting hotter and hotter because they couldn't tell me what was going on. I went from being offered a "DJ ditty bag" for all my multimedia needs, to a $100 coupon for future purchases, to free Next Day shipping (I caved and sold out on that). But my annoyance is that being patient and civil is not rewarded. You have to get worked up to the point of a temper tantrum to get what you need, despite the fact that you are in the right.

Rant over.

What do you expect if you don't buy a Mac?

Hardie har har!

ALL of my friends and peers seem to have Macs.

...and that's all I'm going to say about that!

About a week and a half ago, I ripped the front of my knee by falling (sober) in the street, and I wouldn't care but I just slammed it against the corner of my desk.

OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!

A FUCKING FAX MACHINE KEEPS CALLING ME!

Am I the only one who actually SHOUTS at the robots who speak to me on the phone instead of people these days?

The only one I'm fond of is the Virginmobile robot, presumably because It is pretending to be an over-affectionate teenage girl.

You're not the only one. In fact, I'm suprised that you haven't heard me.

Restaurant reports without an address for the restaurant.

People who can't look up addresses for themselves.

People who remember addresses.

You are all just trying to make me feel inadequate.

Or simply press 0 repeatedly until the nasty robot goes away.

I have the blessed gift of being able to look up an address for wherever I am going, and forget it by the time I am out the front door.

You like to solve mysteries, Nick?

There has got to be a better way to make a living than this shit.