One thing I’m not that great at is this stupid iPhone game that I’m addicted to, Aurora Feint. There are timed puzzles where you’re supposed to clear away blocks at a rapid rate and I’m ALMOST getting there under the time limit. ALMOST. So, of course, I keep playing. Phooey.

I might be good at inviting myself to barbecues. Not the real Southern US kind that require wood-fired smokers, but the kind that mean grilling. I’ve successfully invited myself to one in the Bay Area two years running, and I may have invited myself to one in SE Portland tomorrow. We’ll see. It may actually rain us out tomorrow.

Also, I’ve found out the price for much of the house renovation. Every little piece is around $10,000, plus or minus 50%. The furnace, $12,000. The electrical, $7,000. Plumbing, I don’t quite know yet, but I bet it’s in the same range. The bathroom is probably divided into windows, plumbing, and cabinets, but they’re probably all within that range I gave.

In any case, we’ll find out soon enough. I’m going back to my iPhone game.

I think I’m supposed to have a series of plans at this point. A plan for my career. A fitness plan. A plan for my further education. A plan for my lackluster romantic life. A plan to make these plans.

But this is America and if it’s not worth doing half-assed, it’s not worth doing at all.

The problem is that bumbling through life you bump up against these people with plans and they’re kind of annoying. Not only that, but they’re probably from the East Coast and went to some Ivy League school and haven’t figured out just why we don’t drive that fast here in Oregon. You only drive fast if you’re trying to get somewhere else. That’s why when Oregonians are driving in Washington, we’re driving really fast, because we know they’re bad drivers and we don’t want to be there. If we stop, we might have to buy something and pay Sales Tax.

No one really wants to be on the highway in L.A., so they’re all driving really fast. Most of Portland is OK, so we’re not driving fast unless we’re on I-205 or US 26 or 82nd Avenue or Foster Road. I’m usually driving fast on the way to work because I really don’t want to be there either.

So this weekend I may just drive around under the speed limit. These three-day weekends are pretty nice because a bunch of people leave and it’s like the Portland of yesteryear. I may even go out and buy a Sno-Cone or an Icee.