so guess what? if I can get off work the 5th through the 7th of next month I'm totally going to seattle for a long weekend. isn't that a gas? I could use a few days away from the hustle and bustle...and in a different hustle and bustle...and I'm going to schedule an appointment at s.f.i. to check out their facilities. if I like it, there's my plan for the fall. yeah doing things!

I filed my taxes, finally. am getting a swell refund. I think I'll invest it in a new sofa. mine has holes. holes are bad.

death cab on sunday with carra! I wonder what ben gibbard would do if I called his cell and asked him to have dinner with us before the show. I'm thinking he might be a little taken aback. ours was a fleeting encounter, after all. me and my celebrity friends. there's ben himself, whom I spent 20 minutes interviewing; jenny lewis, who never seems to quite remember me; and the star of a reebok commercial whom I kissed one new year's. I'm a regular hedda hopper.

speaking of hedda hopper...wow, that gives me a segway into absolutely nothing relevant to my life whatsoever. now I must dash; I have an unusual new hat to try on before I start writing my column about lunch with bill holden.

hoppy Easter. rolled in from wv a bit ago. drive report for the 'rents: fog between big walker tunnel and wytheville, rain ended in hillsville, but major fog between there and the blue ridge parkway. only a little fog on fancy gap mountain.

why the new sheetz in walkertown sucks:
1) no snapple sub zero.
2) slightly different menu defaults buffalo chicken sandwich to lettuce and tomato with no way of modifying it on the touchscreen.
3) employees become completely overwhelmed if more than 2-3 customers waiting (resulting in over 20 minutes to complete my order tonight).

why the new sheetz rules:
1) snazziest decor ever. I feel like I should wear a tie in there.
2) touchscreens at the gas pumps to place my food order while filling my tank.
3) espresso bar. do y'all understand the ramifications of that? we're talking about the ability to order a latte at 3 a.m. here. that is unprecedented.

since #3 on the suck list will probably diminish as time passes and #3 on the rule list will never cease to make me happy, I've decided that it's utopia. all hail!

while on the subject of food, one of the greatest injustices of our time: fizzy bottle caps, the greatest candy delicacy of my generation, ceased to exist about ten years ago. so why are our nation's candy counters still polluted by oddities such as smarties, clark bars, and--horror of horrors--chocolate velamints? who should I talk to about this? and no, "mental health professional" is NOT an acceptable answer.

experiment in progress: how to make people laugh when they don't expect to. in any not-too-serious conversation, when someone asks you a question (provided you haven't tried this before), look confused and respond with, "did you just call me phyllis?" so far I'm 2 for 2 on it working. tomorrow I try it at the office.

speaking of office, go me and my latest evaluation! a $2.08/hr raise. gotta love those eight cents. that new maserati gets closer every day.

eez time for wal-mart. must buy fixins for big honkin lowfat lasagna and printer cartridges and other exciting items (the names of which I'm not privileged to divulge at this time). okay, you drug it out of me. toothpaste. now all my secrets are out.