Every couple of weeks is not acceptable.

I've been in Lincoln Tower more in the last few weeks than I have been all year. It's the branch closest to my house, shortest drive, easiest access to a Dutch Bros coffee, and I am literally never there. I like it there. I like the people, the proximity, and the iced coffee in the afternoons from Minh at the deli (not to mention the Bi Bam Bap she makes when you really need some eatin' food - holy cow that's good).

Here's what I don't like: I don't like the dungeon (the parking garage and the only "legal" smoking section left since we had a change in building management. Yeah, I smoke. I'll get past it sooner or later.)(And hey, so will you). It's dark, cold, and this time of year spiders are literally dangling from the concrete rafters just waiting to land in your hair. It's dank and dreary and depressing even on those days when it might be sunny outside. We still sneak outside in the parking lot, but depending on the security guard on duty, it's dicey. But it sure is nice to have some sun on your face for once this year.

I also can't stand the bathrooms. The bathroom closest to our office has smelled bad since forever. Not just because women seriously are way worse than men when it comes to leaving a mess behind but there's just this foul sewer smell in there all the time that no amount of air freshener they try to put in there will ever take away. Recently the (somewhat) new management company has installed automatic soap dispensers in that bathroom, along with changing something in the faucets that makes the water come out in more of a light spray than an actual stream of water. My guess is that this is all in an effort to save money.

So here's what happens when you use this stinky, disgusting hell-hole of a bathroom twenty-seven times a day like I do: Hold your breath while you do your business, and run the faucet long enough to get the hot water running. I don't know the first thing about plumbing, but somehow, since the management change, the water goes cold within seconds of the faucet being turned off. It's a main floor bathroom that gets a lot of traffic, so I'm not sure how one day you turn on the normal streaming faucet and the hot water is ALWAYS hot, and then the next they put these grate thingies on and the water is always cold. Or maybe tepid if you let it run long enough, and then back to cold if you wait still longer. The automatic soap dispensers do not work consistently, especially first thing in the morning - you hold your hand in the obvious position, and it sort of spits out this weak soap that's already been sudsed up for you. You have to wave your hand under it several times to get anything close to a lather, and by the time it's time to rinse your hands the water is freezing again. Often times when you go for soap it doesn't even come out. It just stops working all together. Which is fantastic considering what you've just finished doing.

I'm sure it's a cost-saving attempt, but nobody likes a quitter, and I pretty much let that faucet run for as long as I can to a) warm up, b) lather and actually wash my hands, and c) rinse off this cheap filmy soap. It's probably not very environmentally conscious, but it's my little rebellion against a management company that makes me go to a dungeon to get a cigarette. Bastards.

Not much else going on, had some fun weekends, though I lost my toe ring. I'm not even sure when. I noticed it missing during Monday's shower, but it wasn't in my socks or in any shoes I'd worn that weekend, and it wasn't in my bed. So it COULD be in Kim's guest bed but who knows. I mean, I took two showers after crashing there and didn't notice my toe ring-less toe, and it's kind of hard to miss. It's been on my toe since like 2001 (it's not one of those adjustable kind of rings, it's one that I had to jam over the toe pad with a good dose of lotion to lube up the process. I mean, it was on there. I just don't know how it could have happened.) so I'm kind of bummed. Kind of. I guess I really only think about it when I shower.

I'm down to the decision with Cancun in December, and the thing that is killing me right now is airfare is the most expensive it has been in years. It's like $600. Killing me. This will be the most money I've spent on a week in ages. I better be flipping black by the time I get back or there will be hell to pay.

So there, kids, I've done it. Blogged without being threatened by Becky. She's not even in the country right now and I blogged. She'll be so pleased when she gets back because I totally intend to blog again before then.

Yeah, we'll see how that goes.