I think I might have to work today but I'm not going to. It might leave my co-workers in a bind but I don't really care because I had my mind set on taking five days off after doing the football preview section.

So I don't have a guilty conscience about that.

Actually I don't have a guilty conscience about much. Not the extra 7.49 I saved when the checkout person forgot to ring up my extra box of chicken yesterday, not for several other things that I may or may not have done (which I won't mention).

In general my theory is simple: People make mistakes. It was the checkout person's mistake, not mine. Heck she checked the receipt twice and still let it go, maybe she was trying to send me vibes, I just don't know for sure.

So why do I mention this? Because right now I'm at my friend Evan's house. Evan ain't here, his roommate Matt ain't here, his other roommate Noel just left with his fiancee and told me that Evan would be back soon.

So I'm in someone else's house, alone, typing on his laptop (which is much nicer than my laptop) and using his wireless high-speed connection (which is much nicer than my high-speed connection).

I can't leave. I said I'd leave by six but I can't. Here's why. What if I leave and something's missing (like...I dunno anything generic of value), I was the last person here. I don't live here. Heck, I've only visited him like five times since he moved here. So I can't go anywhere until someone gets back because I want to reward Noel's trust in me. To be honest, I want to take back the three DVDs and two VHS tapes *I* loaned him. But I haven't asked for them back yet.

Evan's a good friend, he's also my spiritual advisor. Probably the only man of God that I can really listen to and know for sure that his heart is in the right place. Trust is a big issue for me, I really only trust my father, and to a little lesser extent my mom. So I'm going to stay in this house, probably pop on the TV and just wait. This might be God's way of testing me and like I did throughout college, I'll make another 'A'.

Thursday was my third day of five off in a row (which means I go back to work Sunday for all you math experts). For the most part it's been a pretty laid back week: Oatmeal in the morning, some gym time, a few stops at Best Buy, a trip to Celebration to help some friends out, going to Johnny and Christinas for a couple of legitimate meals (which I can't muster the strength to eat on my own).

Anyway, Thursday provided quite a paradox to my week thus far. It was the day of the Ledger's Football 2004 section so I was on pins about that. I had already seen the section and on second viewing I'm just as disappointed in myself as I was in first viewing. It was okay but not as good as I wanted it to be. Not going to get into why I didn't like it, but I didn't. However, like with any day it's a two-hour period that really sticks out.

1:05: [I'm sitting back watching Olympics, reading Maese's blog from Athens] co-worker and friend Rick sends me an IM asking about the party.

Oh shit...I promised the staff a release party for the special section. I forgot. Thanks Rick.

1:07: I quickly cover my tracks by telling Rick it's at 3. After all, 3 sounds good and it gives me two hours. In hindsight I should've said that I was out of bounds, but I called my other co-worker Dick in the morning and he knew I was in town..

1:10: My friend Stephanie wants some...[oh great...nice thought, but the timing wasn't really there]....some help with football pictures....Bah...Not a problem because when I panic I actually need a distraction, you know, to waste time and all.

1:16: I send Steph four photos from the AP Server and get back to thinking about this party. Now mind you I haven't done a damn thing yet, just thinking because if I put my mind to it, it'll come.

1:19: Still thinking.

1:21: Haven't moved yet, it's been 16 minutes since I was informed I had a party.

1:23: Grab the phone book to search for the number to the closest Publix. Publix is, as some of you know, the greatest supermarker EVER at ANYTHING.

1:25: Find the Publix number.

1:28: Still staring at the Publix number.

1:30: It's rude to call the deli and tell them to hurry up with an order and since I'm five minutes from two stores, I can just drive there.

1:38: At the Publix on Southgate. Run into the Deli and talk to the nice lady (we'll call her Flo). "Okay Flo, I need to do a party in an hour." Flo babbles for a while and the only phrase I understand is "We can do ringleaders quickly" and something about iced tea. A ringleader is a big circular sandwich and quite a deal for $15. So I order a couple of turkey rings, a salad (since everyone in sports is on the damn South Beach) and a couple boxes of chicken wings.

1:50: Order is in so I run home and grab a shower.

2:10: Shower is done. So I dry off and get dressed. Also check my email again. Oooo, K-Street came out on DVD? I need to grab that one.

2:20: Time to head back to Publix because I have to go through two school zones to get there.

2:30: Travelling down Oak St. and there's a traffic jam? DOWN OAK??! It's a side street!! Thankfully Corey has unmatched skills as a secondary road driver. I turn into someone's drive and do the three-pointer to hit another street (Pablo) and it's far less congested although it increases my school zone total to three.

2:36: 16 minutes to go two miles, I could've run and gotten there faster.

2:37: Flo has my sandwiches and salads almost done, chicken will take about 10-15 minutes. Fair enough. I grab some paper cups and plastic forks along with two jugs of iced tea. I still have no clue about the significance of the idea, I just remembered that Flo mentioned it.

2:42: Flo brings out my sandwiches and a $15 salad (!!!). WTF. She told me it was 4 something a pound and I CLEARLY said two pounds. Oh well, that's what I get for ordering in a crunch. I'd be a real dick to complain about an extra seven bucks but in hindsight I would've bought a pan and a few salad mixes. Flo realizes that $15 for a big tossed salad should be illegal so she throws in about three bucks in salad dressings.

2:47: Doing the match...$30 for sandwichs, $15 for a salad that I'm thinking might end up in the ice cream freezer, $15 for the wings, $10 for the forks and tea...Damn $70 is a cruncher...So I quickly do some thinking.

2:48: Still thinking

2:49: Maybe I'll slide the salad in the back and place the dressing on top of it so the dopey cashier can't see the price. All she'll see is "Deli NC" for the dressings. So I position the salad and dressing in the appropriate positions.

3:00: Chicken is done, a little late at that.

3:05: Up to the cashier. The real dumb one is three deep so we'll try this girl, she doesn't look like she cares.

3:06: I put the tea and cups on the belt to confuse her and quickly say "I've got two turkey ringleaders." She comes back with "I need you to rip the receipts off of them." And somehow this question tricks me because I go to rip the salad's one off first...D'oh!! Well there went that idea.

3:08: Total comes to 61 something, a little low and after looking at the receipt I see that she failed to charge me for one of the boxes of wings (8 bucks) and the tea was 2-for-1. I don't feel bad about the free chicken because there's no reason for a tossed salad to cost 15 bucks.

3:09: Speed off to work, go through only one school zone, two four-way stops and no traffic lights on the way to work. The food arrives, it was a great bonding moment with my co-workers and everyone had a good time. Plus the office folks had tons of extras to choose from.

And I went to Best Buy later that evening and picked up my K Street DVD. HBO should've never canceled that show, if for no other reason than the fact that I liked it. Oh well I'm having better luck with Entourage (FINALLY an Adrian Grenier/Jeremy Piven project!), which just got re-upped for a second season.

One thing I've learned about Monster so far: The really good companies don't advertise jobs on the board, they just contact you. I've actually got one decent bite from [name withheld] magazine. [name withheld] magazine could be an interesting career move. And moving to [city name withheld] is right up my alley because there's a lot [activity name withheld] of there.

Sorry I can't give away anymore details than that. Stay tuned.

I'm off until Sunday so I need to do two things. I gotta fire off an email to my boy Rick Parsons at the Dupont Registry to see what he's got shaking. I'm not even hitting him up for work because there really isn't much at "The Reg" other than ads or design. I could always do a freelance or two for him if Tampa Bay mag needs one. But Rick keeps his ear to the ground out there in St. Pete and he's got some good leads.

And I need to call Mary Loftus in the short term. I used to work with Mary back in the day, she is probably the best writer I know, certainly the nicest woman. I used to house sit for her quite a bit too and I never stole anything, so you know I must like her. However she's also VERY connected, I was gonna hook the last intern up by giving a good reference to her so he could get more work, BUT....he really wasn't very good, so he's SOL.

Besides I need her right now, I know she's got something for me. What exactly? I have no clue, shoot if she hired me to work at Emory Magazine right now, I'd probably go. I know I promised my boss I'd stay until February, but hey I've lied before.

So that means I need to go and make that call, and maybe go to the gym after that, and probably go to Best Buy after that and grab the Goodfellas Special Edition DVD. I'll also stop by B&N and grab the lastest New Yorker too. But that's getting too far into details.