I couldn't update on Friday because we had suits visiting the office and we were supposed to limit our internet usage to only call based work. Fuck that. And really, what do they expect us to do in between calls? I have no work specified. I'm not shirking any responsibility if i play online while waiting for my next call. Fuck off.

At any rate, I did manage to e-file my taxes, which means I get my refund in about 9 days. Rock on. YAY refund. This is the first year that I get a refund. In past years, I've had to declare the grant money that the government GAVE me as income - which they then taxed of course. However, that money had already gone to pay for educational expenses, which means that I had to come up with the money I owed, some other way. Let me ask, why not just give me less money in the first place?!

Anyway, we didn't' go out for Mardi Gras but we did get drunk. Jen made this ridiculously strong drink that got us both drunk immediately after drinking it, which is funny, because we had intended to go ahead and make the trek to Novak's....but, then the drink of death, and neither of us could drive.

Sunday was saw Ghostrider. I do not recommend it and we did not see it voluntarily. Sunday was also the L word. Far from last week's episode, each scene this week was exactly one-third as long as it should have been.

In other news, the high yesterday was 58 degrees and Friday and Saturday this week, the high is expected to reach 66 degrees! Open those windows - it's time for spring cleaning!

So while Bush and Co is ratcheting up the rhetoric on Iran, Al Qaeda and Osama are centralizing and consolidating their power in, where else, Iran? no. Pakistan - our ally. With friends like these....anyway, the NYT reports that Osama and CO have set up a number of training bases and an "operational hub" in Pakistan. The leadership is strong and in charge ...so tell me why we're talking about Iran?

Here's your Iran war UPDATE: "Second carrier arrives near Iran"

The USS John C. Stennis is a Nimitz Class supercarrier. It is nuclear powered, has a crew of 3200 sailors in addition to 2500 airmen and has a complement of 90 aircraft and 16-24 surface to air missiles. The Nimitz class is the largest class of military vessels ever built. The carrier is accompanied by a Carrier Strike Group that includes at least one AEGIS Guided Missile Cruiser, two AEGIS Guided Missile Destoyers and at least one Attack Submarine. This group packs some SERIOUS firepower.

and from the BBC "US 'Iran attack plans' revealed" - the attacks would target Iranian military infrastructure, air bases, naval bases, missile facilities, and command and control centers. The BBC reports that there are two "triggers" to such an attack: confirmation that Iran is developing a nuclear weapons, OR a high American casualty event in Iraq, linked directly back to to Iran. " Authorities insist there is no cause for alarm but ordinary people are now becoming a little worried, she says." The article says quotes this in reference to the people of Iran, but I think that it holds true for citizens globally. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6376639.stm

once again they've fucked me over for lunch. cafeteria closes at 1:30. I didn't go to lunch today until 1:30, which means my lunch consists of the foods i brought to snack on. I had a string cheese stick, some pretzels, some nuts and some grapes. I'm a hunter/gatherer yes I am! (minus the hunting, unless you count hunting around in my bag for more food.)

eh. talk amongst yourselves. more to come tomorrow.