I've Got a Feeling
(29 August - 7 September 2006)

7 September 2006
Happy Birthday to Beth Mandel
-Beth, where are you?  Update your page!
-Even shuffle players have a sense of humor.  Hello, universe.
-There is very little so great in this world as hanging out with an old friend after years of distance and finding the rapport to be just as it was.  I think this reality is the only thing that makes living on a planet of 197,000,000 square miles bearable.

6 September 2006
Happy Birthday to Russ Gooberman
-Migraine:  22 hours, right side, significant, cause unknown.
-Amazing how a single e-mail can turn a whole day around.  Usually this is for the negative, but today, it was for the positive.
-Best show ever?  People are listening.  The only constant is change.

5 September 2006
-I continue to look to work to get me back on course.  So weird.
-I guess my body isn't ready for the schedule again, though.  But I can't blame the lights, given my new office situation.  Sigh...

4 September 2006
-This weekend has sort of gone down the tubes, & I'm not sure exactly why.  I know that we were planning on coasting after all the crazy traveling we've been doing, but I still felt like there could've been more fun or spark or something.  & now it's almost over.  I did get some website housecleaning stuff done, almost entirely on the Mep Rep, but there's more that I need to do if I'm going to get my big upcoming projects off the ground.  I feel strangely fatigued & strangely just ambivalent.  In short, bleh.
-Everyone seems to assume Mike Hargrove's job is history as soon as October hits.  I'm not so sure this should be the case.  Compared to Bob Melvin, he's been a complete genius, though that takes very little effort.  The M's did lose a ton of games this year on one pitch or one failure to get a big hit... it often seems that way, I guess, but it's really been more true this year than in the recent 90-loss seasons.  I suppose you can blame that on the manager.  But is it the manager's fault that Adrian Beltre & Jarrod Washburn were two of the three giant free agent signings he was dealt?  People who clearly had out-of-this-world career years before signing that had nothing to do with who they were as players?  It's Bill Bavasi's job who should be in jeopardy, not Grover's.  At the same time, the same reports that say Hargrove is on the block say Frank Robinson & Dusty Baker could be available... so maybe we should fire him just to get one of those two aboard.

3 September 2006
-World news has certainly taken a back seat on this page lately, but there really hasn't been any news in August, especially after the insanely volatile July.  There are no hurricanes this year, though people keep trying to claim there are to defend their previous assumptions about weather trends.  Some day, people will just admit they don't really have a clue what's going to happen in the future because it's all based on projecting from fragmented partial data.  I guess Duck & Cover gives me a perpetual outlet to talk about political issues & that's reduced the impact of such issues on this page.  Also, I haven't actually gotten to post the updates till today, so that creates a disconnect as well, & lends the focus more to documenting what's been going on.  Sorry about that drought, but it really has been a crazy couple of weeks or so.

2 September 2006
-Migraine:  13 hours, left side, minor, cause unknown.
-Mel's has fallen apart.  What was once one of my favorite Berkeley institutions has just axed veggie chili from the menu (one of the few vegan options), watered down their shakes to the point of seemingly lacking ice cream, & raised the prices again.  The wait staff also was disinterested & almost rude at times.  Just sad.  & you know if I'm complaining about these things, that they're really a problem, because I don't complain about restaurants (unless they're too upscale/snotty).

1 September 2006
-"Little Miss Sunshine" is not quite as good as everyone says it is, & really disappoints on theoretically being set in Albuquerque.  I think I caught some point filmed crossing under the Big I that was supposedly in Southern California.  The Nuevo botching aside, the film was solid & had some good messages, though the ending was severely poor, in the genre of the movie not ending, but dying.  Every single preview for the movie, however, looked like a movie worth watching, which reminded me that it was fall & thus movies were back.  While summer does offer about 2-4 great movies every year, there's a reason I don't think I've been to the theaters in August.  Hooray for the return of movies.
-I am so elated about this weekend.  & I'm not sure I want to do a single thing during the whole three days.  It's amazing how exhausting fun travel can be.  Or maybe I'm getting old & losing all my energy.

31 August 2006
-Congratulations to Emily on her biggest victory in her time at PIRG, as a modified version of Prop 79 has been passed in the legislature & Arnold has pledged to sign it.  Prescription drug discounts for the second 20%!  Take that, drug companies!
-Have I mentioned that I'm looking forward to this weekend?  & not to all my meetings tomorrow?  How did I get on all these committees at work?  I don't even like the concept of committees!

30 August 2006
-Oh sure, now the Mariners start winning.  Against all the good teams.  Sigh.
-It's interesting to note that no one on the Mep Report ever feels the same way about any given show.  Shows one person hates are beloved by another, & sometimes the whole range of emotions is covered by the three of us.  The bandwidth numbers indicate that the popularity of the show is really taking flight, so I can't complain about anything, but it's funny how we're never sure what to think of a given show.

29 August 2006
-Came back late last night after flying to Phoenix with my uncle, then splitting there for separate identically timed flights to Oakland & Reno.  Gris picked me up as Em remains in Sacramento working on some of the biggest legislation of her time with PIRG.  Today was again tiring, but not too bad.  I didn't shave on the trip, & then didn't really have time this morning, so maybe I'll grow something again.  Then I had my final NERT training to become a certified disaster responder, including the test & the graduation ceremony.  This was fun & went well, but I can't fathom how tired I am right now.  Strangely, I'm still pretty hyped up.


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