I dub october 10th "official crawl in a hole day." I went by united around 4:30 to pick up my final check from them, thinking that it was fine to come anytime before 5:00 (I was there around 4:30 before). apparently if checks aren't picked up by 4:00 they are mailed. if this is their policy, that's fine. but there was no call for the office hags to be rude about it. no, not rude--try openly hostile.

which made me think about how accustomed I am to good manners, and I wonder if it doesn't have a little bit to do with living in the south. even compared to parts of west virginia, people are really more patient and courteous here (unless they're driving). and allowing for rare exceptions like evil united employees. this made me glad that I'm considering san francisco as one of my relocation options: while the feel of the place is far removed from north carolina, attitudes aren't that different. strangers are nice to strangers. that's the way it should be.

blunder: forgot to clock in after lunch today and screwed myself up on the time clock. scott says it'll be ok. but it was a nice bit of crusty, sour icing on today's dried up, moldy cake.

went to see dr. mckinney yesterday; told her about my problems with lexapro and she put me on zoloft instead. I wonder if I really need antidepressants, anyway. I've been fine without them for a couple of months, but kookiness spells are unpredictable things.

tomorrow: drive-by truckers in asheville. sunday: lunch with the 'rents, granny, aunt kay and uncle ronnie in winston, then beulah in carrboro. music and family, whatta weekend.

next week: lunch at chili's with pimp momma michelle and her pal travis who she's dying to set me up with. hope for me that he doesn't have three heads...wait. ooh. three heads. kinda hot...ahem, never mind.

today's ills must be drowned in a glass of cabernet before retiring. time for booze and a rerun or two.

so I was just thinkin' on how I haven't made any more progress on my film school agenda. I wonder if it's because it would be a slightly stressful thing to do. one thing I'll give my life: stress is pretty much nil, knock on wood. dealing with traffic on I-85 and the messiness of the apartment are really the only things that rankle me, and it's a mild sort of rankle. I need to just get over myself and do it, otherwise I'll be at the same old stand this time next year...

bought the new pornographers' mass romantic today. I'd say it's a must listen. it's a teensy bit edgier than electric version, which I bought first. more metronomic, yet more intricate at the same time. cutting through the bullshit: haven't decided which album I prefer yet, but if you like one you'll definitely like both.

pitchfork loves dear catastrophe waitress. as much as I like it myself, I almost wish they didn't.

as irritating as I find tammy (a co-worker), she earned major points tonight by randomly mentioning a grapefruit spoon. although I'd rather have expounded on that specifically, the comment sparked a marvelous discussion about sporks in which we ascertained that it's impossible not to think of kfc when sporks come into question.

have to take cedric to carmax in 9.5 hours to get his brake cables replaced--they "ordered the parts" about two months ago and they just came in. mmm hmm. anyway, off to bed.