2002-02-08 - 12:50 p.m.

Have the day off. Just got an iced-cappuccino from Herell's. Birdy, a local Allston celebrity, runs the place. She's late 20's probably, always keeps her dark hair back in a ponytail, and has stress bags under her eyes. She always wears a pair of light blue and very tight-fitting jeans and a t-shirt that never quite covers her little gut, and she has a great big round tattoo awkwardly etched onto her upper chest. You can only see the very top, arching its way across her breastbone.

She's always stressed. Always. It's fun to watch. She glurks and hisses like a cat coughing up a hairball when under pressure. Pressure, like seven or eight people waiting in line. Breakfast (eggs, pancakes, bagels) in the morning, ice-cream in the afternoons and evenings. And always coffee. If you try to order ice-cream before the imaginary ice-cream time, she scolds you. The look on her face is one of utter contempt crossed with the tired eyes of one who must save the world on a daily basis, because everybody should know when it's OK to order ice-cream. What's wrong with these people?

I get stressed at my job sometimes when under extreme pressure. Like when I have 40 people in and I'm in charge of all of 'em, and there's a new project in the field and I have to train everyone and at the same time manage 75 small quotas, and there's a problem with the program and and I have to fix it and still keep an eye on everyone and deal with other people's wacky problems that don't have anything to do with the one at hand. And it's my ass if everything doesn't go perfectly.

And all I wanna do is make coffee and pancakes with four other people helping me in a very busy cafe' that I own.

Of course, I only order iced cappuccinos. This doesn't stress Birdy out too much. I'm good for her health.

I just found out that I can't file my taxes online through the IRS because I live in Taxachusetts. I gotta go through H&R block or someone else, and I gotta pay them. Fuck it. If I'm gonna pay someone, I might as well hire Enron's accounting firm.

Going to see Rufus tonight. The Girlfriend just came home (early). So much for doing dishes and cleaning the room. My own fault.