HEADLINE: Squirrel destroys hybrid...

Hmm...we're in one of our "slower" periods at work, so I thought I'd write a bit. This affords me an opportunity to take a break from the copious amounts of online crossword puzzles that I've been doing during the last few days at work. (It's a tough job, but someone's got to...hey, wait, it's not a tough job!)

So here I sit at my computer terminal, staring at the screen while listening to David's cd that he gave me to check out (see, David, I AM listening to it, finally) and am trying to figure out some sort of topic or theme about which to write. It's tricky, you know...these things don't always present themselves to me in such a normal way.

I suppose I could go on and on about the Bears, but I'm not feelin' it so much after last week's heart-breaking loss. (HOLD ON TO THE BALL, OLSEN!!!) It would've been easier a week ago after The Beloved knocked off the Colts in a game that caught most by surprise...maybe even me.

Still, I don't really feel so much like writing about the Bears right now, so I turned to my Red Hot Chili Peppers Friend, Frank, and asked him about what I should write. He suggested the following:

"the effect of rising gas costs on the various animals that WOULD have lost their lives to large SUVs but are now happily bouncing off smaller hybrids"

Interesting idea, RHCPFF...interesting. A little creepifying, but interesting.

Gas prices are pretty high, as everyone is well aware, and not everyone has a Party Prius. As such, getting to and fro has become rather expensive for some of us. (The sheiks on the other side of the world are probably getting around just fine, though.) For example, if someone were to drive from, oh...I don't know, Schaumburg to Springfield for some reason, it ain't cheap.

So here, without any real thought to long-term effects and repercussions to the economy, nature, or regard for human life are my solutions to the current gas price crisis: (say that three times quickly...) gas price crisis, gas price crisis, gas price crisis

1) In light of the recent rainfall, we need hydro-powered cars. Clearly we have an abundance of the stuff and there could be a handy straw protruding from the steering wheel for whenever the driver gets thirsty.

2) Skunks. There are far too many of them by my house. If we could use them to generate power to run automobiles, not only would we have a wonderful new fuel source, we could rid the Schaumburg area of them as well. Possums would make an acceptable substitute or, failing that, mosquitoes (when they're in season).

3) Windpower. No, I'm not talking about setting up those giant propellers in the middle of nowhere and using them to steal energy from the wind. I propose that we use the current political state of our country to capture a generous portion of the hot air being spewed from the left and right. All this political commentary wears upon my soul and could potentially propel our cars instead.

And that's just off the top of my head. (Evident by the lack of thought put into each idea, for certain.) I'll have to contact some engineers and they can tell me how foolish I sound.

I suppose it could be worse, though...I could still be doing crosswords at work instead of writing this...

Much luv,
Rob
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Song of the Day: "Blues Before Sunrise" by Eric Clapton

Life between eight and ten...

Hmm...how 'bout that weather, eh? Normally, I don't comment on the weather much, but I've got a point to it, today, so hang in there.

It's been raining for about two straight days, and everything is soaked, including my new Chicago Bears window flag that flies proudly from my rear passenger-side window. (That window doesn't work quite right anyway, so why not support The Beloved from it?)

The sky has been gray, cloudy, and dreary lately due to all of the rain. According to what I could find on the internet (which must be right because ANYONE can write on it, right?), rain clouds are known as Nimbus (Greek meaning "yucky or rainy") and can be either Cumulus ("poofy") or Stratus ("like a pancake"). Ok, so I may have stretched things a bit there, but that's the basic idea.

Turns out that there are ratings for clouds, too. Some big fluffy clouds can reach as high as 30,000-40,000 feet and have the look of big, beautiful white mountains in the sky. These clouds are some of the brightest and most breathtaking. These fall into the classification known as "Level Nine," hence the expression "on cloud nine."

You see...that's where I feel I've been lately...cloud nine. The last month has seen more things go my way than I truly deserve, culminating with meeting a wonderful, wonderful woman.

Yes, readers, if you didn't already know, I've managed to find myself in a (gasp!) relationship...

And it's been great. We're struggling a bit with the 200 miles that separate us, but we're getting by. We have so much in common, most importantly our love for Jesus Christ. So far, the only thing we've managed to argue about is who will be the first to find something to disagree upon. (Vegas has me as the heavy favorite, though.)

Anyway, life's been unfairly good to me, but I'm not complaining. Not complaining at all.

Although I wish it would dry up outside...

Much luv,
Rob
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Song of the Day: "Simple Man" by Lynyrd Skynyrd