I was in Circuit City three times last week. That’s just insane.

Day one: returning a DVD.

Day two: buying a package of 50 CD-Rs ($1.99 after two mail-in rebates) and a package of 100 CD-Rs ($15 after two mail-in rebates).

Day three: buying a 120 gig hard drive ($80 after two mail-in rebates; the offer expired Saturday).

So, after I mail in those six rebates (for three items), I’ll have made out pretty darn well.

Moderately funny story about installing the second hard drive (bringing my total capacity to 160 gigs!): I installed the drive, shut the case, and booted up the computer. The BIOS didn’t detect the new drive and it took me an hour (OK… more than an hour) to realize that I had forgotten to attach the power supply to the hard drive. Oopsie.

Mike asks: “So how long is it going to take to get used to wearing a wedding ring? And is it true that ladies in bars can’t resist a man wearing a wedding ring?”

I have an answer to the first question: but you have to read The Four Stages of Wearing a Wedding Ring to see it.

With regards to increased attractiveness to the opposite sex after donning a wedding band, I really don’t have much in my history that would allow me to compare the before-and-after effects, but I did get a nice compliment last night that may have been ring-related… from a young lady would is probably ten years my junior, to boot. I went out to dinner alone at a nearby Italian restaurant and paid with my credit card, a Citibank Mastercard that has my picture on it. My waitress commented, after swiping my credit card through the machine, “I hope you don’t mind me saying… but this is the nicest picture I’ve ever seen on the front of a credit card. Most people end up sending in some awful picture…” Of course, the picture is my high school senior portrait from nearly ten years ago, but still. I thanked her for the compliment. When I told Huyen, she thought the waitress was hitting on me. I think it was just the power of the wedding ring.

Happy bidet to Corey, who finally joins us in the 27-club. On the way to the bowling alley Saturday, Kristy referred to someone that’s 30 as “someone our age” and I quickly responded, “No. 30 is old. We’re still 27.”

Happy birthday also goes out to Barbara Fletcher, who keeps one of the best-written “introspective blogs” out there.

Condolences go out to Alex for the loss of Charlie… losing a pet is as hard as losing a relative.

Welcome back to the blogging fold, Rodeo Rob. We missed you ’round the ranch.

Here’s a tip: if you’re having trouble waking up in the morning, all you need is a construction crew in your neighbor’s driveway, jackhammering at 7:30am. It works. Trust me.

Overheard at a local lumberyard: “Any day’s a victory when you don’t wind up under the lumber.”

Amen, brother. Amen.

This weekend, in addition to standing in the pouring rain for 30 minutes before watching Prom Night and The Toolbox Murders with Amy and Ryder, Huyen and I got to hang out with the fam and visit with extended fam at my cousin Greg’s new condo. I also was able to identify all but two people by first and last name in my Kindergarten class picture (in that picture, I’m sitting next to the first girl I ever kissed… the deed had already been done, clearly, by the huge smile on her face).

Now it’s Monday and all I can think is, “Another weekend’s four days away…” Is that wrong?

Even the most hardened, embittered amongst you have got to admit, having baby bunnies living in a flowerbed outside of your work is really cute:

After so many huge storms in recent weeks, I start to wonder if George W.’s sitting in the white house thinking to himself, “Jeez… God really is pissed at me…”