Fuck you and your little cat too.

Yeah, yeah, I agree, but I'm interested in seeing what I do with the day. Another journey out into the wilderness? Why not? Is the head holding up? Seems to be. What's it been, now? Three whole days? I think that's true. We're far from having landed in Happy Land, but Better Land and I could easily do a nice little number right here on the floor before noon. Doodle-dee-doon.

It's Valentines Day, by the way. I don't have anyone I could reasonably send a Valentine (except, of course, for Ms. M), a girlfriend kind of a Valentine as opposed to a friend kind of a Valentine, but the idea and the day puts me in a good mood. Yes, yes, the commercialism, the stress put on you to come up with a gift appropriate to the relationship, something to write “tsk! tsk!” editorials about, but sitting here it all seems like a better idea than some others I've seen going around. Naiveté, you may say, a product of living in a fog? That or remaining rock solid in my comfort zone.

Out of the pan and into the fire.

Later. So, a bus ride downtown to discover the stop where I usually catch the Telegraph bus to Berkeley had been moved elsewhere in December - not a big deal - so I took a short walk to discover the new stop but then decided (when it pulled right up in front of me) to get on a bus returning to my own neighborhood - what was so attractive about Berkeley, anyway? - walking then to places I haven't been to in my own neighborhood for a while, having a bagel with cream cheese and coffee at the local bagel shop at a sidewalk table followed by more walking, shooting the picture you see up top when nothing else came into view and then walking back to the apartment. My but I'm going to have to do better if this is to be my usual afternoon. I'd find another job if my head wasn't so fucked. Well, maybe I wouldn't - we are venting here, pay no attention - we'll feel better later; we'll work on our web sites, we'll answer the letter from the Medicare people, we'll finish our taxes and learn what we really owe since we didn't take taxes out of that interest, unemployment income and whatever else we managed to mismanage last year in Oakland.

Now, now.

The sun is shining. Did I mention that?

In a better mood: I actually worked on the taxes and figured out the Medicare problem, doing both of these in a pretty good mood for an old man living near a lake in Oakland. Weird. Might have been those pills I took. Worth a trip to Beverages and More for sake and cheese and crackers to celebrate I think. Worth taking a chance by posing the question: “can I keep the sake to a reasonable number of cups now that I've returned, having found my cheap sake even cheaper on sale”? Many of my cylinders seem to be clicking now that it's after six: why is that, why did the afternoon seem to come to a stop there for a while? Who knows? Did I mention my favorite cheap sake was on sale? I did?