For several years I kept a little journal.

I still have three or four notepads lying around somewhere, and every now and then I'll read through them.

I always enjoy seeing what I though about life back in the olden days, and I always wish I'd written in them more often.

The fun I have reading those old notebooks is the main reason I write in this 'blog now. I imagine myself in the distant future, reading about stuff like how I ruined my first-ever painting project, and laughing at what a dork I was.

Lately though, it seems that I'm falling back into that old habit where I stop my journaling for no reason whatsoever.

I mean, in the past week I've had my roof completely replaced and I've made the arrangement to have my house painted. I've become completely unenamored with LaptopGirl, I've had my lawn mower fixed for free, I've had my heat pump fixed for big bucks, and I've got HDTV now.

It's not like it's hard to write this stuff. I guess I just need to keep reminding myself that I'm writing this for myself. If anyone else bothers to read it that's fine, but I've got to stop wondering if I'm too boring and just write. So that old version of me in the future will have something to do while he listens to his bones creak and his arteries harden.

Or maybe I'll be Supreme Galactic Emperor and this thing will be worth a lot of money.

I didn't even watch the show this week.

I decided after last week that I would not watch the show until that redheaded dickweed was voted off.

So I tivoed the Tuesday show, then tonight I checked the Internet to see who was gone.

It was Jennifer.

I'm glad Jennifer is gone - I was never a fan - but for her to leave before John is just inexcusable.

I think I don't care who wins. My favorite, Elizabeth, didn't even make the top 12. Another favorite, Leah, was the first one voted off. I supposed I would be somewhat satisfied with a win by Fantasia, Jasmine, or LaToya, but I'd never buy any album they released.

I guess it's time to start looking forward to season four. That is if John doesn't kill the franchise forever.

Remember that pillar of willpower from last week?

It's proving to be a pretty fragile thing.

Friday night I caved and went and bought a new TV. I also bought a new satelite receiver and dish. I also bought a new Pronto remote control. Oh yea I also bought a big giant entertainment center.

I think I'm done. Luckily my budgets for house painting and roof replacement remain intact. The flooring budget has taken a small hit but I hope to still be able to get everything I wanted done.

I waited until tonight to post about the new TV and stuff because I wanted to surprise my sister who was supposed to come over today.

But Nooooooooooooooo! Her plans changed and I didn't want to have to wait another week before affirming my complete lack of backbone to the world.

Not much beer - and actually not much report - for this entry.

I went to Rich O's as usual, though I was pretty tired from all the shopping after work.

The place was fairly crowded - standing room only, but I stood at the bar with my Beak's Best and listened to LaptopGirl and her ex talk about farts for a while. How fascinating that was!

After a while CreepyGuy started hitting on me or whatever it is he's doing so I left.

I'm pretty surprised by the display of idiocy that LaptopGirl put on. It's like she dumbed herself down so her ex wouldn't feel uncomfortable.

I'm not jealous. Much.

Just to list the things I've spent money on since I got my refinance money. Keep in mind that I'm supposed to be spending all this on home improvements and repairs.

1. Trip to Omaha. Airfare, Hotel, Car Rental, etc. adding up to about $700.

2. A new cue to use when I was in Omaha. $400.

3. A 7-foot pool table. Probably the stupidest purchase I've ever made in my life. $900.

And now today I found myself checking out the bigscreen TVs on the Internet. I'm glad that there's not an Ovation on the way home from work or I'd probably have spent another couple of thousand dollars.

Well, the week is still young.

Just a quick report, without all the individual critiques because everybody was boring.

JPL: Reminded me of that drunk friend that gets up and sings karaoke and surprises you by being halfway decent.

John: Why is this fucker still on my TV every week? Took a song that his "voice" is perfect for and still messed it up.

One more comment. Filming the commercial with the bathtub scene a week after Camille has left the show is just plain mean.

I see that you keep calling.

I don't answer my phone if I don't know who you are.

Sometimes I don't answer even if I DO know who you are.

Give up or find some other way to contact me.

Last week I went to Omaha.

Despite what my family and some people at work were thinking, the trip had nothing to do with my ex-wife. Nor were there any job interviews involved.

I went up there just to visit people I hadn't seen in years.

Well, I did have one specific reason for going. I need to keep that one a secret from this public forum.

It was very nice to see some of the people from the old days. I wish I could have seen more of them, but a lot of my old friends are/were in the Air Force and have moved on. Also the old Shanty bar burned down (Sad!) and the regulars from there seem to have all disappeared.

I did get to see a lot of my old roommate Mike and on Thursday I was pleasantly surprised to see Awesome Larry.

On Saturday night I managed to - well never mind.

One thing about this trip that I wasn't too happy about. I couldn't really give anyone much advance warning. I certainly couldn't post anything here about the trip before it happened. I don't know who reads this thing, and there's at least one person in the Omaha area that I absolutely didn't want to see.

I was actually pretty paranoid a couple of times that said person would show up at the hotel or at the bar. This would have certainly made me very unhappy, and may have even caused a nervous breakdown or something. What a pussy I am.

As it turned out the trip was worth it. It was not nearly as rejuvenating as my Seattle trip was last Fall. How could it be? Most of my friends from Omaha are gone. My 8-ball game sucks. The Shanty is gone.

I could list more problems with the trip, but I don't want to make it seem that I didn't enjoy myself.

Omaha is still, as I tell people frequently, The Best-Kept Secret in the United States. Just the right size, all kinds of restaurants, a great zoo, little traffic, blah blah blah.

I hope it doesn't take me another five years to visit there again.

I've been out of town and am behind on several posts.

Maybe I'll catch up, and maybe I won't bother.

This morning I found myself at a very cool brewpub/restaurant in Omaha.

The Upstream Brewery is one I haven't even heard of before. It turns out that they don't sell outside of the Omaha area and they weren't there a decade ago when I lived there.

Anyway, this was a really nice place, and I wish there was something like it in Louisville.

My first beer was their Dundee 90 Shilling Scotch Ale. This was my first scotch ale, and I guess it was a little blander than I expected. I did really like it though. Before I left I talked to one of the brewers who told me that this particular batch was indeed a little bland and the next batch would be more flavorful.

My next beer was their Firehouse ESB. This was another really good beer, and I don't even like ESBs that much generally.

Since it was still before noon and I hadn't even had lunch yet I decided that two semi-strong beers would be enough.

Tjsssj dli kst dif!!

Euvidet kust kness endmi drosta dpo ela fea, elev inmi ibony ficui
ketentic fidn mbe fibidnef obbatok ocl fec refeni.

Tajtu, iti mospod anonrad sum!