Hey all,

How's it going? Just got back from dinner.

The cheesy restaurant attached to a shady looking hotel is no more. It's now blossomed into a real deal restaurant that looks pretty respectable. I was impressed. Like the Jefferson's, the place is movin on up :)

Tonight's musical selections are mp3 tracks from the official Norah Jones website. They're pretty good - all live recordings from a gig she did at the House of Blues in Chicago. I cut the tracks onto an audio CD so I'll be able to enjoy her muzak anywhere in the house :) I guess I'm just sulking a little because Norah Jones is in concert tonight around here and I'm not there. Alas.

So let's see, what else.

I have the "drug dealer / pimp pager" this week, because Brizzai (the boss) is on vacation. It's been a while since I've carried a pager. It made me reminisce about my older skool Motorola that I used to have at the network service provider. I remember when it used to be cool to have a pager. And I remember earlier when only drug dealers, pimps and doctors carried pagers. How funny. How times have changed. Now I'm not really sure what to do if the pager goes off for a legitimate reason. I guess I'll just have to hope that it doesn't :)

So today I put together my model car. Something that I probably won't do for a while again.

I don't know if I've ever mentioned it, but I collect 1:18th scale model cars (among other things). I haven't figured out exactly what to do with them (I need somewhere to display them), but I figure until I decide, I'll just keep buying them. I know, twisted logic, but hey, it works for me.

So while shopping at a toy store, I saw this diecast metal kit where I could put together my own 1:18th scale model. For the same price as a normal pre-built car. (which later, I realized that it should be cheaper since I'm putting the damn thing together myself. I figured I'd try building one of my own models, thinking I'd get more satisfaction out of it.

Yeah, satisfaction. That's it.

Now begins the sweatshop experience.

I bought a tube of modeling glue today. I didn't think I needed it (I just figured things would snap or screw together). Well, lesson learned for next time - There's no such thing :)

So I spent a large part of the day assembling this car (a yellow Ferrari Testarossa, for those curious). As with all of my other assembly jobs, it always takes about two times longer than I estimate. I wasn't patient to allow the glue to dry all the way, so I had to reglue a few things here and there. Also, I had to break down and rebuild a few pieces because the included instructions were a little unclear (at least I thought so) :)

At the end of the process, quality control was marginal. I wasn't going to win any J.D. Power and Associates awards, that's for sure. Maybe next time.

So I spent a large chunk of the day putting the car together. I'm not saying it was a waste. I guess it was fun. There were times I was swearing up a storm though. As an added bonus, the model kit costs as much as a pre-constructed one. End satisfaction? I dunno. The jury's still out on that one.

Oh yeah, I've still got a full tube of modeling glue if anyone ever needs it. The glue smells like oranges :) Not sure why.

Ugh, I'm still so full. I think I ate too much.

-Kirk