Technically, it’s still sept 29 for another 3 minutes. But i figure by the time i finish this it will be the 30th, so i'm gonna post-date it. Hey, i'm the boss here, it’s whatever i say, sahright? This working late at thriftway thing has kind of screwed up my sleep schedule (which was pretty irregular already). At about 9 i start thinking it’s bedtime, but then come 10:30 i'm wide awake and ready for another round. So i stay up late watching tv or surfing, or usually both at once, and find myself (like right now) sitting on the living room floor hunched over my laptop at the coffee table in the wee hours of the morning. You know, i think i actually do have a desk, but it’s piled so high with computer parts, post-it notes and paperwork that i'm not sure there’s still a desk under there. Plus, i can't see the tv from there. And i think it’s a carried-over habit from the hotter summer months, when it was unbearable to sit anywhere near the west-facing windows - which is the precise location of said desk. Either way, i'm going to have a curved spine from always sitting over a laptop, to match my ulcers and those nice cavities i keep developing. It says “organ donor" on my driver’s license, but i have a feeling they'd be hard put to find any salvagable parts…

Speaking of thriftway, that is going well. I've settled down to 2-3 shifts a week, and they're sometimes 4 hour stints, not always the 6 hour longies. Doing a 6 after doing 8+ at jls (John L Scott) that day really wipes me out. That reminds me - i was going to iron my shirts for thriftway tonite, so i wouldn't have to do it tomorrow between jobs while i'm trying to wolf down dinner. Doh! Good thing it only takes one hand to microwave a pizza bagel, so i can iron with the other. Anyway, my coworkers at thriftway are turning out to be pretty cool, and i was even able to get the latter part of this coming week off. Why, you ask? Well…

…so i can head back to MT for a long weekend! I'll be in Missoula wed nite sometime (probably late), spend thurs visiting family (and Ann!), and then on to Bozeman friday morning, to spend the weekend with Danielle and enjoy the homecoming festivities. Sara is flying back for the weekend, and everybody who’s anybody will come back to town for at least a little bit of it, so it should be a great chance to see everyone. I'll try and take a zillion pictures, and i got all my dialup settings ready tonite for traveling, so i can keep you updated on my adventures. Probably won't put the pix up until i get back, tho, cause… Hello! Dialup! I'm really excited to go back, to see Mom and Dad and the grandparents, and to see Danielle and meet her new kitten, Ferris, and to hang out in Bozeman as an alumni (i paid my alum association dues, baby!). It’s my first vacation since i went to Bozeman to pick up Danielle in may, and my first time driving the Max back to MT since i moved here last october. So i'm really jacked, i've already started packing, and i'm wishing and hoping and praying that the state of idaho hasn't had a chance to gravel their roads yet…

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Steph, Annie and i are sitting here in the living room, being crazy and learning new things on the internet. We just came back from ice cream on the beach, it’s a beautiful sunny saturday. So, in a new thing for the news, we have guest dj’s today! So, heeeeere’s annie:

Annie:  Hi. Brian is in some wonderful prison garb today and he has some new hair stuff, I'm really surprised he didn't mention it in the run down of today’s events. Last nice day of the “summer", good to spend it on a beach. I'm giving the computer back because they are reading Dilbert now and that is cooler than this.

Steph:  This week i learned that if you're willing to drive down to the King County courthouse and listen to the judge talk to other people about their traffic signs, you can save nearly $80 on your speeding ticket…not terribly productive, since you also have to pay for parking and go at their convenience, but, $80 is $80! Loving the sunshine and cooler days. Come on November!

Neato. Anyone else who wants to come visit me might get a chance to contribute, too.

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Mariners won last night, in a dramatic comeback - as is their signature style. Down 1-2 until the bottom of the 8th, then Mike Cameron hit a homer and brought in Boone off second, putting the M’s up by one. Then Sasaki held off oakland in the 9th and kept the win for Seattle. It was a great last couple innings, and Patrick, Wes, Matt and i had a great time! It’s always fun when your team wins… and now they're still in the running!

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Work’s almost over, it’s sunny and beautiful out there! Patrick just called me with an extra mariners ticket, so i'm going to the baseball game tonite! Rock on! Patrick rocks!

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Only three more months until Christmas! Um, okay, yeah. It’s really foggy today - got to try out my new fog lights, they're super neato. I've got tonite off, finally, and i'm heading downtown with my first thriftway paycheck to do some shopping and be downtown-y. I haven't been anywhere near downtown (except for work) since Danielle was here (of course, that’s because i've been broke). Now, before you think i'm going to go blow a bunch of money, i'm not. Not that i don't want to, mind you… I'd love to go lay down some plastic at kenneth cole. But not this time; i need some khakis for work, it’s totally a legit venture. Gap emailed me to say they're on sale (isn't direct marketing neat?) and i might check out the sale sweaters, too (hey, it’s fall, i've gotta keep warm - it’s an investment in my health!) Besides, i already spent my fun-money monday at home depot… :D You know, as much as i try to not let money run my life, it sure seems determined to do so. Maybe that’s just because i never seem to have enough of it… grrr. Guess it’s time to start “investing" in the lottery…

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Whoa, busy week! I worked five nights last week at thriftway - something i started doing, well, last week, so i can pay off those college debts a little faster. My coworkers are very friendly and fun, and i'm getting the hang of it pretty quickly. My first paycheck will come in two more days (wednesday) so of course i've already started spending it :) . A small present for me at home depot today, but the rest will go to some town in delaware, to pay for all those months of bills that are accruing interest :Q . So that’s why i've been more unreachable than usual and have neglected you all, but that’s not what my typical work schedule is going to be, so it will get better.

I'm coming to you today from john l scott’s office in gig harbor; for those non-locals it’s a sleepy little town on the olympic peninsula, that big chunk of dirt that keeps Seattle from being beachfront property. Oh, and it holds up some neat mountains and stuff, too. Anyway, that meant driving across the tacoma narrows bridge, which you'll remember as “Galloping Gertie," the bridge that snapped in a high wind in 1940. Obviously, the same one is not there now (it’s bigger, and doesn't undulate under your car). But it’s still a big whopping suspension bridge and pretty cool to drive over. The only downside is that you have to drive thru tacoma to get there - bleagh. At least i made it thru without my car getting stolen…

What else did i do this weekend… Helped Patrick and Jason do some stereo work on Patrick’s car. Actually, i got there in time to take the car apart, and then had to leave to go to work - but not before getting stuck in puyallup fair traffic :[ . So i haven't seen the finished product yet, can't give you a professional opinion at this time. Patrick’s got a sweet car, tho (a 2k2 Max) and i've seen Jason’s handiwork, so i suspect it’s first-rate. Now Patrick and i just have some rattles to address in the rear fender lights and the trunk lid, and we'll be good to go. Totally different subject: Friends season premiere is this thursday!

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Quite an interesting sunday - spent the day with Hillary Maher! Kristen Wiley held a bbq in honor of her dog Kona’s birthday (yes, ok, Kristen’s a little weird, we're all ok with it :) so Hilly and i jetted up to mill creek. Officially we were there to watch Kona open his birthday presents (almost all of which were things he could chew on), but i think i speak for both Hillary and myself when i say we were really there for the food and the beer. Kristen throws a killer party, and it was great to finally meet a bunch of the people she’s always talking about! Part of the festivities included watching the video from their trip to the Dave Matthews Band concert at the gorge - which was extremely funny. After that, it was down to seattle center for a Sounders game (that’s soccer) with Molly Houlihan and Lexie Whiting - me and the fab 3 - talk about your great dates! ;) However, not before Hilly and i rolled the windows down and sang as loud as we could with our hands out the windows all the way down the freeway. Oh, Pepe came along, too, in Molly’s purse (pronounced Pay-pay). Pepe is a disturbingly-realistic kitten Molly bought at the puyallup fair, which she keeps in a sandwich baggie and carries with her everywhere. And which she talks to, and introduces everyone to, even people in bars and her coworkers. Hmmm, kind of makes Molly sound crazy, doesn't it? Well, we'll just go with that (sorry, MollyMolly, but the public has a right to know). So the Sounders lost to Vancouver (BC), but we did get to see lots of weird canadians chanting strange soccer chants, and a lot of dramatic head-butting. Afterwards, Pepe was really in the mood for a margarita, so it was off to Peso’s for drinks, where one entire side of the restaurant was treated to our perpetual laughing, screaming, pointing, and games of “hide Pepe." Most of the Pepe-hiding was done by Joshua, who joined us there. Quite a few of the bar patrons were priveledged enough to meet Pepe, as well, and were thereafter understandably concerned for our mental health.

So, if it wasn't obvious, i had a great time - i can't remember the last time i laughed for 12 hours straight. I'm going to have abs of steel! Thanks for dragging me along, Hilly! And now, it’s 3pm, and i should really walk down the hall and see if Pepe has awakened from her nap yet…

On an unrelated note, i ate half the box of “men’s pocky" on saturday while i was paying bills. It didn't help me to have any more money, but it definitely made bill-paying more enjoyable, in as much as it distracted me from the actual paying of the bills. They're really more like chocolate-dipped pretzels, but not salty, or something. Good. And i still don't know what’s “men’s" about them. I think women would like them ok. Too weird.

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Well, where have I been? Helped Annie move into her new apartment monday - it’s a great place, will be a great situation for her. Helped her buy a new car last week, too - a really sweet Jetta! I think she would be having a really great week, if her apartment building hadn't been without electricity since sometime yesterday… augh! Also this week, Robin and i made experimental lasagna which came out surprisingly good. Lindsay and Adam came over for lunch and took me to Uwajimaya - a huge, cool asian grocery store in the international district. I've got a freezer full of mochi now (rice patty ice cream ball things that are super-good). Oh, and i don't know if you've all heard of pocky, it’s a japanese dessert, kind of a candy-dipped cookie. Lambert, you should know what these are - you brought us back some from japan. So they come in several varieties, the most popular being chocolate. So anyway, i'm digging around on the shelf, trying to decide which kind i wanted, and found: “men’s pocky". I have no idea. The ingredients are exactly the same as chocolate pocky. The description of the candy and the pictures are the same. It just comes in a dark green box, and says “men’s" in the corner. And it’s not like the regular pocky was particularly feminine. It’s a red box, with black letters. There’s no girlie stuff or hello kitty on it or anything. So why did their marketing peeps feel men would respond better to their own, green-boxed version? No idea. And i should get back to work now… :)

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Met a few of the guys down in southcenter for some Maxima-talk, trading ideas and poking around under hoods. I only took a couple pix, they're here. We had some lunch, and killed a whole afternoon being motorheads. Patrick, Forrest and i killed part of the evening, too, visiting every car stereo store in south king county looking for 120Hz high-pass caps… Okay, so mostly we drooled over in-dash dvd players and flip-down screens, and lounged in circuit city’s living room, but we were officially on a mission. :) Thanks for a great meet, gang!

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Where were you last nite? Cause i was listening to the best DJ in Seattle down at Watertown with Jason & Julia. You shoulda been there! Julia made us a great salmon dinner, followed by green tea moshi (Japanese green tea ice cream balls). Then we cruised down to Watertown to dance the night away. Well, Julia and i danced, anyway… ;)

Long weekend turned out great, went out sunday with fellow-Maxima-driver Patrick for a drink and some car talk at Earl’s in the U district, and we're planning a meet saturday the 7th for any Nissan fans out there that wanna come to southcenter for an afternoon.

In other news, i went to the dentist today. Argh! Drove all the way to kirkland cause my dentist there is cool, and she was on vacation with some weird dude in her place. At least if she had told me i have four cavities and a $400 bill staring me in the face, she would have made it sound not so bad - she’s good at that, that’s why i like her. But nooo, i got mr. insensitive mumbling dentist man’s unintelligible rendition of “i think it’s time to start flossing…" I already do that! Duh! I'm chalking this up to stress. Good thing i don't have stomach cleanings twice a year checking for ulcers, or i'd really be out a lot of money. I told them i'll call them in november - maybe i'll have 400 bucks by then…

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