My boss told me I could work through lunch and leave at 4:30 any time I want, so today I�m leaving early to go ride my bike. Naturally, today is the first day this week that hasn't been warm and sunny. That so figures. But, as long as it's not actually raining, I don't care. I just love being in the woods and watching everything change over from winter to summer. Every week it looks a little greener. Very cool.

I explained to Kenny last week that right now, mountain biking is one of the few things I do that makes me feel good and that makes me feel like I'm not a complete and utter loser. I need something to get my mind off the ball of stress that = money, or lack thereof.

A lot of the time, I walk around feeling like I'm blank. I don't champion any causes, I don't do any sort of volunteer work, I attended four years of art school to learn a skill that I've (at least for now) abandoned completely, and my current job is completely temporary and means nothing. I have no desire to get my master's degree (which I suspect would only put me further in debt without guaranteeing a job) and I spend my weeknights watching TV and playing on the Internet and my weekends running errands, playing with my friends, biking and shopping.

And you know what? Aside from the job and money woes, I'm pretty happy. Is something wrong with me that I'm happy with the road most traveled? I've got no aspirations right now beyond enjoying my marriage, finding a suitable job and eventually buying a house. I'm nowhere near ready for kids, so that's not even an issue.

Maybe I'm just apathetic, but I just don't know if my life was meant to be extraordinary, you know? Maybe I was meant to just schlep through, while putting in the minimum required effort. Somehow, though, that doesn't sound like me. Sure, there are lots of things I could be doing with myself, but maybe just not right now? It takes all the energy I have to just get through the day, sometimes.

So, now, after months of unemployed freedom, I've got this temp job and I've somehow become the dreaded "weekend warrior". I always equated that term with executive yuppie types who suffer stifling office jobs Monday through Friday, so they can go skydiving or eco-challenging on the weekends. I used to sneer at those poor stuck bastards who had to make up for the dullness of their week by hurting themselves on the weekend.

But, uh, I do it now too; I just don't make enough money to be called a yuppie. I suffer the office job during the week and pray the mountain bike race doesn't get rained out on the weekend. Biking and working out may seem like an un-brainy hobby but it's what gives me energy and flow and what makes me feel alive. Not that you asked or anything. Damn, I'm un-funny this week.

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Fern Bars.

Complete change of topic: would someone please explain to me why Olive Garden is so popular? We got free lunch today at work brought in from Olive Garden and I was, as usual, under whelmed. I rarely eat in fern bars* because I find the food to be bland and overpriced and this was no exception.

Granted, I could only eat the salad and breadsticks (because God forbid there be a non-meat option), but yuck anyway. The salad was all iceberg lettuce and the dressing was salty glue. The breadsticks were doughy and soggy. People line up for this? Why?

Maybe I'm spoiled because I live near so many great local restaurants, but I've never gotten the chain restaurant thing. The last time I went to Friday's (we'd been given a gift certificate) I was staggered by the menu. Staggered. It was huge and branded (Jack Daniels� chicken!) and holy crap was the food expensive. The meal we ended up getting was okay, but nothing memorable. I'll take a local dive any day.

Ha, I think its TGI Friday's that's running a commercial right now for some sort of nastified "sizzling" chicken and cheese dish. It's basically grilled chicken, a few token vegetables and an ASS-LOAD OF BUBBLING CHEESE! All served in a skillet thing. Yummy! If by yummy, I mean eww. Why? Why would anyone eat such a thing? If I'm going to eat that much cheese, it better be damn good and I don't think the skillet-o-cheese qualifies. Hi, I'm a snob.

*Fern Bar- chain restaurant, specifically the type that has crazy crap on the walls and fake ferns around the bar. See also- TGI Friday's, Applebee's, Outback Steakhouse, Chili's and Bennigan's.

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Oops, it's time for me to go home and I didn't find any good links. I'll do extra ones tomorrow!

0 chatty monkeys