Protection Alley
This is the view from the chair in front of the director's desk. I have spent countless hours staring at it. It really is called Protection Alley. There's a bar at the end of it called The Monopole. They used to serve the best hamburgers in town and I'd go there with one particular sales rep for lunch every time he came. Now they don't serve food anymore. It's a college bar. Anyway, I used to stare out the window at this view every time I got called into the director's office to be told what an awful person I was. There must have been an imprint of my tightly-clenched butt cheeks in that chair. Now I look a the director instead and she usually tells me what a good job I've done or we discuss each other's ideas. I haven't looked at the view for several months. It's a surprisingly urban view for a small town like Plattsburgh, which is why I always liked it--it's such an anomaly.

It's cloudy and gray today, supposed to rain this morning. I have a terrible sinus headache, so bad that my whole body aches. I got a terrible night's sleep, having fallen asleep on the couch at 9:30, gone to bed at midnight and got up at 6. Didn't have to be at work until 9 but got here at 8:15 anyway--nothing else to do, having watched the morning news, showered, played with the dogs, watched the snail climb up the front of the tank, made my sandwich and fed the birds. Today I will force myself to catalog the dregs (how many dregs can there be? you ask yourselves).

Yesterday I sent in my NY State taxes for 2004 and 2005. I owed $250 for 2004, which is why I filed an extension last year. I get back $150 for 2005, so should have filed them much sooner. Anyway it's done. I will get a bill for penalty and interest for 2004, about the amount of the refund for 2005. I'm an asshole about these taxes but have straightened out and will not make the same mistake again.

I had strange dreams last night. First I was an integral part of Law & Order: SVU, pairing up with Elliot (where was Olivia?). We were just starting to have an affair. We got his truck stuck in the mud, but not to worry, he had 4WD and got us out. Oh to have a man with a 4WD truck! His young daughter (never mind that on the show his children are now nearly adult) would have nothing to do with him but I convinced her that Daddy was ok. She also called my friend Fred on the phone. Molly was with us too, serving boat drinks. I love it when my television life overlaps my real life--yes, I know I watch too much television. Then my dream switched to Montreal and I was with Bill and Fred. We got stuck in the raging waters of the St. Lawrence River but this time Bill couldn't rescue us because his car was washed away while we watched helplessly. Yes, I have a vehicle fetish. I'm going on a trip tomorrow and will be driving my car that still has mud impacted on the undercarriage and vibrates tremendously at high speeds and needs an oil change. I feel as if I'm betraying it by driving it 700 miles in this condition. I'm not sure what the part about Elliot was all about, except that I think I slept though SVU while I was on the couch last night. These dreams had a lot to do with the headache I woke up with this morning, I'm convinced. It was like sensory overload.

Last night I had dinner with Ken but I left early because he stoked his fire and it was so hot that I was sweating like mad and I just couldn't stand it. He was very disappointed that I left at 7:30, but I was starting to feel ill and he wanted me to read Time magazine while he read Adirondack Life and I just couldn't, I just couldn't. It was so hot. I went home, where it was nice and cool.

I've hooked up with the Music Genome Project at Pandora.com, where you compile a list of your favorite musical artists and songs and through the magical work of algorithms and computers you listen to music that sounds like them, as well as the actual favorites once in a while. It's interesting and a nice change from LAUNCHcast, which is starting to play my same favorites over and over. The nice thing about Pandora is that you can stop the song if you don't like it.
And of course it's free.

I'm listening to Sue Monk Kidd's The mermaid chair while I drive now. Some people liked it, some didn't. They said it was weird and not like her earlier stuff. I'll see for myself, I guess.

Found out you can shop from Ikea online. Very exciting! But shipping is outrageously expensive. I ordered a new lamp for my bedroom, more candles and some really cool glasses. 18 glasses, a combination of wine and drinking, for $9.99. Can't hate that action. Maybe that's why shipping is so expensive. I'm doing a shopping binge, which is a symptom of my manic phase. Time to stop. I only buy things on sale or things that don't cost much, but the total ends up being too much. At least I don't go totally crazy when I'm manic and try to save the world, I only spend a few hundred dollars.