This is my first post of the month of July and it, too, will be done without links. That is to say that I am still housesitting over on the west side and therefore still forced to type out my deepest thoughts on this piece of shit I-mac.

So, today is my mom's 59th birthday. I called her, like any good son should, and talked to her for a while and wished her a happy birthday and all that. Then, after getting off the phone, I went and checked my e-mail only to discover an e-mail from my dad admonishing me for not calling my mother on her birthday. What the hell? Couldn't he at least have waited until the day was OVER before getting on my case about not calling. Like if, come tomorrow, I hadn't called, then he could have sent me an e-mail or something. Damn it....sometimes he royally pisses me off. Bastard.

Anyway- that's enough airing of my family's dirty laundry here. Although, there really isn't all that much to report. As I've said on numerous occasions, my summer has consisted of little more than going to work and coming home. I'm quite jealous of all my friends who have gotten to travel all over the world this summer while I have been stuck at work listening to whiny rich kids from other countries complain about this or that.

No matter- I'm looking into the possibility of going to Germany in October for...you guessed it. Oktoberfest! Yes, that is majorly touristy, but Shane Ross advanced the idea and I think it might be fun. And, of course, we'll have to go to Bavaria in order to get the full tourist Oktoberfest experience. I'm trying to figure out if there's anybody I know in Munich with whom we could stay. I think my friends Natasha and Alex Jasch live there, but I haven't really spoken to them since I stayed with them in Milan in 1998, so I don't know if they'd like me just showing up like that. Of course, my friend Sonja lives in Heidelberg, and then I have family in Frankfurt and Hamburg. But those places aren't near Munich. Well, regardless- I'll have o at least make a visit to Heidelberg, or perhaps just meet Sonja in Friedrichshafen again like I did last summer.

Of course, it's all a matter of how much time I can get off- which is another reason why I hate my job. There was never any problem with getting time off at the Foundation- but no, the ALC has to be royal dicks about it, along with everything else.

Ok- that's enough work griping. There were some highlights to this weekend. Katie called me from Tibet on Saturday morning- the only downside is that I wasn't home to take the call. Oh well...not everything can go my way. Then, tonight at church, Alisa and Christy presented me with three candy apples that they had lovingly handcrafted for me. It seems almost a shame to eat them but I'm sure I'll manage.

At the moment, I am washing some clothes, and then I will go to bed once they are done. Then I have to face yet another work week. Ugh.