Anyone reading this blog from start to finish who didn't know me would think I'm an angry, angry man. Luckily, everyone reading this knows me.
But just in case, I now feel the need to prove I am, on occasion, a happy-go-lucky kinda guy.
So, here's what happened today to make me think that the world does not entirely suck.
1. I am now flush in e-cash.
It's taken five weeks for my direct deposit here in Detroit to kick in. In fact, it still hasn't started, necessitating a 90-mile drive to Fremont, OH to deposit a couple of paychecks in the nearest branch of my supposedly nationwide bank. Of course, since I'd waited so long to do so, baited by the twin promises of direct deposit and a supposedly easy way to wire cash into my account, I put it off until my account was tapped.
And then some.
I'd carried a negative balance for so long, the bank wouldn't even cover overdrafts (and was charging me $7 a day for the negative balance, to boot). My phone was dead, the victim of no e-cash, and I was suriviving on the few bucks I'd gotten when I cashed my first paycheck at a check-cashing place.
In short, things were looking grim for your friendly neighborhood 50-inch-web-slinger.

Keep in mind: I HAD money. It was just in the form of pieces of paper NOT accepted at McDonalds. I'd planned for having no way to put money into my account for a couple of weeks. Had enough money in my account to cover a month's worth of bills, even taking moving expenses into account. (Eating junk food does have some advantages.) And yet, I was tapped.

Even after depositing the money in Fremont (following a long, harrowing drive that took an extra hour, thanks to a blizzard in South Detroit and a collapsed freeway in Ohio), the bank wouldn't allow me to spend it for a few days. My account had been, for all rights and purposes, dead for so long, they couldn't trust random paychecks, especially for large, unexpected amounts. So still I went without phone/cable/Internet, hoping no dying relatives or major news events would necessitate a sudden phone call. I did not sleep well last night, so convinced was I that some family member had keeled over.

Finally, I come into work today, bright and early to finish off some Olympics advance work technically before the Games began. Checked my account online. Lo and behold! I have non-cash. Never have I been so happy to have to visit an ATM. I have phone service, and soon I will have cable. Life is good.

2.) Pierre-Marc Bouchard
I play fantasy hockey. Well, I play a lot of fantasy sports, but it's really hockey season for me right now. I'm in a league where my continued success has made it harder to drop and pick up players -- half the teams just wait until I drop someone, and drop their scrubs and pick up my guy. My waiver-wire finds have grown ever scarcer.
But last night, whoo, last night, I needed a left wing. Some decent options, most of them guys who didn't ring a bell, almost all of them with similar stats, playing bad opponents tonight.
So, I picked the guy who was eligible at the most positions. (Flexibility is to be treasured, both in fantasy sports and fantasy otherthings.)
I picked Pierre-Marc Bouchard, of the Minnesota Wild.
Now, granted, it's only been one game for me. It's far too soon to make a judgment about his overall worth as a player.
But tonight?
2 goals, 2 assists (with 2 power-play points to boot.)
That, my friends, is a good night. Probably the best night Mssr. Bouchard will have in his NHL career.
And he was in my starting lineup at the time.

3.) As I was walking into work, I had to stop at a convienience store to break a $100 bill (I know, my life is tough -- see post above). Sure, I had to spend like 15 minutes waiting for the manager to come to the front of the store and unlock a drawer so I could get $96 dollars of change at 11 a.m. And that sucked, especially as more and more folks behind me became concerned over what I could possible be doing to hold up the smooth movement of the line.
But as part of that ridiculous weight for change that I ended up not needing, now that I can use my debit card once more, I ended up with a bottle of Peach Faygo pop.
Now, Peach Faygo pop may be the most-ridiculous sounding name for a beverage ever. But it's taste? Not ridiculous at all. Unless it's ridiculously good. I can't decide. Best pop I've had in months.
Another small thing that makes all the crap I occasionally have to put up with, well, not worth it, but at least managable.

Damn, it feels good to be a Peach Faygo Gangsta.

And now, I'm off to get a beer.

Later, yall.