Why you should like $4 gas.

So with a title like, "Ten
Things To Like About $4 Gas," I was expecting things like, "at least
it's not England," or other oh-yeah-that's-GREAT sort of unconvincing
arguments. But some of the things they point out are actually pretty good
up-shots to an otherwise annoying and sometimes stressful problem for our
society. (To my Canadian friends: I know, I know, you have it worse, but
I'm still going to complain.)

Tin Man gets a preliminary thumbs-up.

Since Rachel asked, an update on Tin Man. I watched the first part of the
first CD last night (a lot longer than I expected it to be). Some of
the acting is pretty bad, to put it bluntly, the writing could probably be
improved, and the fighting is pretty horridly staged. That being said, so
far I like it, at least comprable to any TV series I've ever watched. It
sit somewhere slightly below the opening of Heroes, right about where I
would put Dr. Who. (Heroes has sunk a little since it started, of course,
though the acting is still quality in my opinion.) As Daniel noted, it
really is just a remix for the sake of being a remix, and some of the
changes are just really bizarre. (Like what was with turning a field of
flowers into man-eating monsters?) I have to say, though, I kind of like
the sorceress (and don't really like the dethroned Queen).

Well that's odd.

So today I took time off from work so I could be here for the AC repairman. It wasn't a full day off -- in fact it was less than half a day off -- but it was more than was strictly necessary. Instead of going back and finishing the last couple of hours of work (and I could have, really), I stayed home and watched Teeth (Interesting, funny at times, not scary, and ultimately pointless as it doesn't say anything). And now, at a quarter to seven, I'm feeling kind of bad about it.

I always feel bad about taking time off of work, and I don't get it. I feel bad when I stay home sick, I feel bad when I take scheduled time off, I feel bad when I have impromptu time off like today. I shouldn't, should I? I mean, having time off is part of my contract to work, after all. No one gets mad at me (except maybe myself). And while I enjoy my job, I'm definitely not a workaholic or anything. I just have this pathological work ethic that makes me feel guilty when I 'should' be at work and I'm not.

It's as close to being scrupulous as I get. And I don't understand why.