That's not what the Death card means


Fight truth decay
written 2010-05-31 02:38:14

Earlier today, there was an aroma of toast in my apartment. To be clear, I was not making toast. Yet there it was. You live in an apartment building, you have these kinds of things. It's fine. Except, now, it's 2:00 AM, Eastern Daylight Time, and there is a smell of cooking onions. Not quite overpowering, but omnipresent. I find myself looking around for a skillet or a wok, and there is none. It is simply the building, and we must accept that for what it is. Really, though, who's frying onions at 2 AM?

I somehow ended up with weird and/or inexplicable movies in my Netflix queue this week. A Danny Boyle flick about reigniting the Sun, but with an Alien, horror movie vibe to it. Paper Heart, which had Michael Cera in it, and bills itself as a "quirky hybrid of documentary and scripted comedy." I really don't think that's allowed, unless you reverse the order of those two categories, or use a phrase like "based on some stuff that happened, no really." I don't recall ordering either of these films. Ooh, also State of Play, which I mistook for a Robert Redford espionage movie. No Robert Redford in there, just Ben Affleck, but with a little Jason Bateman toward the end there, you bet.

Tomorrow is Memorial Day, or rather today is, as it is past midnight. Ordinarily on projects like the ones I've spent most of the past three years working, we are given the option of taking the holiday off, with no pay. As a result, almost everyone opts to work. This time we were not given the option, and told the offices would be closed and we would be unable to work. This might be a nice opportunity, except I'm going to Bulgaria for a week, and would really like to get some hours while I can. The part of my brain that budgets is going crazy, because I'm going to earn half-weeks of pay two weeks running, while at the same time spending money to make it possible, and also spending money in a foreign country, which is like making bets with poker chips. Colorful and fun and you learn which colors (and Slavic cultural figures) match up with which dollar amounts and that's where you stop thinking about it as an expense. The good news is that stuff is cheap in Eastern Europe.

If you want anything from Bulgaria, I advise asking me before Wednesday. My phone will not work, but it might be able to pick up data networking, at roaming rates. As a result, I could get charged hundreds of dollars for receiving a text. No thanks - I will leave the iPhone at home and look at burners at the airport. I could be completely wrong about these assumptions. Please e-mail me with facts.

And hey, maybe when I get back, some good news from the folks at the State Department. Maybe? Hmm?

I'm going to bed. It's way past my bedtime. But when you go grocery shopping and buy dinner after 11 PM, this is what you get.

--2:28 AM, EDT, Hatboro, PA, woke up near Rittenhouse Square

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