July 1, 1997

Father, it's been a long time since my last confession...

I've been lazy, and I'm sure my faithful public *koff* has noticed, though, mysteriously, no one has written to complain. It's not been a big week in terms of my crazy ideas. Really, there's just the one at the moment.

They say it always rains in Pennsylvania

In the interest of mental health, we're buying a series of weekend passes out of Washington: we've recently made a big investment in gear, and we're testing it out this weekend. I hate to look like a rookie, but it's hard to hide the fact that the packs are brand new. You can't buy that trail worn look, unfortunately. If I have the energy, I'll rate all the new gear after this weekend. From what I hear from a native friend, it always rains in West Virginia too. Oh well, that's what Goretex is for.

After talking to said friend, a simple country boy at heart, I'm yet more concerned about looking like a rookie and driving a BMW with DC plates into WV. He says that it is home to some of the meanest people on earth, and I know it's one of if not the poorest states in the Union. I've got to get rid of that car, but I LOVE IT SO. I'm having a hard time with the yuppie stereotype, you see. I feel like I look like one, whether I am or not. I'm not upwardly mobile (coasting) and I'm not a professional (merely clever and well compensated), but I am young and I LOOK upwardly mobile. I wish people wouldn't make assumptions about how much my car cost - they are wrong most of the time. It's four years old for &diety's sake - it's just been maintained. Actually, I'm not that young, but everyone here mistakes me for five years younger. It's pretty flattering, but I'm not going to get used to it. I'm sure it won't last.

Note to self:

Do not clip one's building access card to one's jeans and then drop one's drawers to use the toilet. Bad, bad idea. Maybe Homer Simpson can reach into a public toilet fearlessly to retreive Henry Kissingers glasses, but I sure can't. If the damn thing didn't cost $20 to replace, I fear I'd have flushed, bad as that would be. All I can say is, "at least the toilet was as pristine as it gets." My hands are now raw from hot water and soap and hot water and soap and...

My paranoia rears it's ugly head

I got really sick out of nowhere yesterday after drinking some water at work. I'm a tad less paranoid since I'm vindicated by the fact that the DC water supply has been known to contain all kinds of nasties, but I'm still paranoid enough to have brought my own filtered water today. See, the thing is that after I didn't drink any more of the water I felt better. The vagaries of my digestion are legendary, however, so I wouldn't just trust me. You can be sure I'll spout off if anyone else here gets sick.