(Removed - a lot of really boring stuff. You can thank me later.)

I'll bet you'll be almost as glad as me when I finally start having some work to do.

The day has improved a tad. My boss wanted to split a turkey sandwich for lunch. That means today's 2 oz chicken, 3 baby carrots, and apple will still be available to excite me at suppertime. Oh, joy.

I almost forgot. I promised details on the Great Pen Theft of '05, didn't I? McSwain! Likes pens almost as much as I do.

Okay, True Confessions time.

I stole two pens, but I think one of them may have originally been mine. It's a Bic Zebra Razor-Point and I don't know of anyone in this office but me who buys their own (disposable) pens. The supply shelf never has anything more exciting than Bic stick pens. (The kind that blob, leak, and skip.)

The other is a more expensive pen, the refillable type. It's brushed steel with a gold-colored center band and a gold clip. If I use a magnifying glass, I can read, "Inoxcrom Spain" written around the gold-colored band and the refill barrel inside is the same brand. You twist it to get the point to come out and it has a solid, weighty feel in my hand. The website is rather annoyingly full of java scripts instead of information, all I can gather is that the pens are "modestly" priced, but whatever.

I may or may not keep it. It feels lovely to hold it, but it's not that exciting to write with. Ecologically I know I should use refillable pens, but I rarely do. My pen mood changes. Sometimes I want a very smooth point. Sometimes I enjoy a tip that gives me some resistance against the paper. Sometimes I want a very broad stroke. Other times I prefer a wire-thin line of ink. It's easier to switch around if I use throw-away pens.

Anyhow. Yesterday, I figured I was scoring stealing such a nice pen. Today I'm lukewarm about it. (But still excited about the Razor-Point.)

Right about there, I stopped caring about pens. Sure, I'm desperate for a way to fill the hours between eight and five, but even for me, there has to be a limit.

Last night? I finally got a couple of DS episodes watched. It's a much more intimate experience, watching a show on my laptop, using headphones. I find that I do actually watch. And I see some very fun things. I mean, sometimes I forget just how possessive RayK is of Fraser, you know? And how jealous.

Today, I'm all mmmm and thinking about how RayK tends to climb in between Fraser and whoever he's talking to. RayK does everything but shout, "Dammit! Cuddle me!" Doesn't he?

My horoscope advises me to put on headphones and retreat from the world this evening, so I guess I'll be watching more episodes. (Unless I decide that defying my horoscope is the wise thing to do, in which case I'll practice drawing more rectangles.)

I also need to get out that "flash drive" thing someone gave me and figure out how to use it.