7 December 1997: One Hundred Thousand

Sunday, 7 December 1997:

One Hundred Thousand

I stayed up way too late last night, kicking around the net. So I didn't get out of bed until after 11 - again. I haven't slept this late this often since grad school; I didn't even do so when I was out east a week ago, and that's with the time zone shift! On the plus side, once I was awake I didn't have the trouble facing the world that I did yesterday.

I drove out to do some errands, and took the scenic route so I could watch my car's odometer hit the 100,000 mile mark. As I've mentioned before, it's a 1987 Honda Civic. I bought it in May 1990 when it had about 46K miles on it, so I'm averaging a little over 7,000 miles per year on the thing - aided substantially by a number of cross-country trips I made in it while in school. (If I have the time, I much prefer driving across the country over flying. Although the luxury of reading time that air travel afford me may eventually persuade me otherwise.) My car has had its share of problems, but the engine is sound, so I will probably keep driving it until the body gives out.

A hundred thousand miles is a lot; it's enough to circumnavigate the Earth four times.

Anyway, I drove out to something to cover my porch with. I'm on the third floor of my apartment building, and the porch is wooden slats. I like to put up a bird feeder in the winter - mainly to keep the cats amused - and I've gotten complaints of bird seed and shit falling through the slats. I ended up buying a plastic drop-cloth, which I think should work fine.

I also did a little more Christmas shopping. I'm getting close to done, but I'm running out of ideas for some family members.

I feel like I frittered away much of the rest of the day, mainly playing on the computer and listening to music. I was torn for some time between reading and painting my Robo Rally game pieces. I eventually decided to do the latter, and discovered that I really need to get some primer to do so! (This may seem obvious to you gamers out there, but it's been many years since last I painted lead figures!)

So instead I went to the coffee shop and got nearly halfway through The Uplift War and watched all the college kids studying. So now I feel like I've accomplished something with my day - just in time for the work week to start again.

The cats were really annoying all day, with Jefferson meowing at me constantly. I think they get hungry in the afternoon because I've cut down on their food and they finish it all by noon. They'll have to get used to it, because Jeff needs to lose weight. But it really annoys me, and motivates me to get out of the house where they can't pester me.

I know I shouldn't be angry at them, but as you can probably guess I am easily annoyed, frustrated, etc. these days.

I don't have the energy to write anything really profound tonight; maybe tomorrow. Or maybe yesterday's entry just left me drained for a while.

Michael Rawdon (Contact)