Today is a special day. Not only is it spare the air day, but many public transportation systems, including VTA, are offering free rides all day. This is great because my inner cheapskate and my inner tree hugger have a rare opportunity to join hands in harmony. So I left home at about 7:40 this morning, hopped on a bus at 7:50 and got off the bus at about 8:40. Then I walked another 20 minutes or so to get to the office. So my total commute time was about an hour and 20 minutes. Cool. My regular driving time is 20 minutes and had I biked, I would have been at work in 30 minutes. That's mainly why I don't take the bus more often. It takes too long to get where I want to go. That and if I leave later, it'll be way too hot to take that walk from the bus stop to the office. Oh and leaving home before 8am is never cool unless I'm going snowboarding.

Anyway, I'm here at work, stranded. This afternoon, I'm going to take public transit back home also. Maybe I'll take a nap on the bus. That'll be nice. I'll dream about driving or something.

Three interesting things happened to me this morning:

1) I went to the DMV to pay my registration renewal. I lost the bill they sent me so I asked them for another one. I got a crumpled up piece of paper in the mail with the amount I had to pay but I couldn't figure out where to send the payment. I'm kind of stupid like that. So I went over there to pay it. It's been maybe 8 years since I last visited my friendly neighborhood DMV and all I remember are horror stories about how long the wait is. I also recently watched the movie Domino which has a scene in a DMV and it's pretty crowded there. They always say to make an appointment but I didn't. Not because I'm daring, but because I'm stupid like that. It turns out, the non-appointment line went faster than the appointment line and I got my stuff done in less than 10 minutes. If you renew your registration at the DMV, they give you the sticker right at the office. It's pretty cool. My dentist used to give me stickers right at the office also. But that's not what was interesting. I asked a clerk if I can exit out of a particular door and he said that I could, but I should cover my ears when the alarm goes off. What? An alarm? Whoa, scary. It turns out he was just messing with me and I could use the exit. So I did.

2) Upon leaving the DMV I saw a license plate that read: LUV*heart*DNA. The *heart* is that heart shape thing that you can get on license plates. I thought that was pretty interesting because I, too, love Deoxyribo Nucleic acid. Without DNA, I could never have become the twisted abomination that I am. I would never have inherited my warrior spirit from my warlord ancestors if it wasn't for that lovable double helix swimming inside of me. So I love DNA. Maybe not enough to proudly proclaim it through a vanity license plate but i do love DNA.

3) When I got to work, I had a message on my phone. It was from the US Census Bureau. They were running a census on college graduates for some reason they told me but I forgot as soon as I heard the period at the end of the sentence. I never got the form they sent me so I did it over the phone. It was fun answering questions over the phone. A lot of them are more verbose than a Tolkien-esque description of a bump on a log and having them read to me over the phone was a soothing reminder of my ADD. (Or ADHD, but I wasn't really hyperactive at 9 in the morning.) My answer to more than one of the questions was, "WhaHuhWhatAreTheChoicesAgain?" Anyway, it didn't take very long and was a fun way to start off my day. Now that I think about it, the last time we had a census, I filled out their dictionary-sized booklet and mailed it in. Apparently it never reached its destination so I had to do that census over the phone also. Hmm, they must know I love answering questions over the phone. And yes, I do hear periods. Quit dotting so loud.

Then I started doing work and nothing was as interesting as these tasty tidbits.

Wow, what a weekend. On Friday, I took off for Las Vegas in an RV for Cheng's bachelor party. I was feeling pretty sick last week but I felt good enough to travel on Friday so off we went. Aside from feeling like I was going to die every now and then, Vegas was a blast! Taking an RV there was a great idea, even though we mostly used it for sleeping on the way there and back. There was a lot of room though, so that was way better than travelling in a car. Although I was feeling good enough on Friday, I felt like crap when I got back. I had Monday off but it turned into a sick day because I was pretty sick. Today, I'm good enough to return to work.

This whole "good enough" thing seems to be as good as I can get. There are a lot of times where I strive for "the best" (or "de bezt"), never reach it, and have to settle for "good enough". Usually, it's because the alternative is "diddly squat" so "good enough" is "loads better" than "diddly squat". Actually, that's not the usual case. What ends up happening is that I try so hard to get "the best" and I never get it, but "good enough" disappears also so I'm left with "diddly squat". I guess it's something I need to learn: when to quit living up here (put hand above eye level) and start living down here (put hand at mid-thigh level). Because if I don't start living down here (put hand at mid-thigh level), I'll end up living over there (point to a spot on the ground some distance away) and that's never any fun.

A lot of people I know won't settle for anything less than "the best" and always end up with "the best". Some of them even end up with "teh best", and that's skillz. Sometimes I wonder how everyone does it. How does everyone strive for and attain the best whatevers they can get? And why can't I do it? Oh, listen to me, I'm whining again. A little more thought and a swift kick in the butt makes me realize that "good enough" actually was the best that I could get. Sure, that might be considered "settling" for "second best" but often, "second best" is great. Looking at it another way, "second best" for me is "way outta reach" for someone else. So who am I to complain about "second best". In fact, I should consider "second best" to be "numba one" for me.

I guess it's all about being happy with what I have. Peace with surroundings or other pseudo-meaningful saying. I've heard that this is something people learn when they become mature or adults or something. I still have a ways to go.

So that's good enough for an update.

Yay! The passing of Memorial Day weekend followed by the onset of June marks the beginning of summer. (Fun fact: it takes two events to mark the start of a season. I said so.) If June was an instantiation of a class Month, then june.weather = WeatherConditions.HELLABADASS; because the weather is always hella badass in June. So why is it that I'm sick right now? And I'm not the only one, as the "I'm out sick today" emails I've been getting from everyone from work indicate. Sucks to my cold. Teh sucks indeed.

On a healthier note, yesterday's California primary election had the lowest voter turnout evar. Well, that's not really healthier. But wasn't sickly. Maybe just anemic. Anyway, with only 28% of registered voters heading to the polls, I thought I could be in and out of the polls in five minutes or less. Nope. It took about 15 minutes, probably the same amount of time as it took every other time (except for the last presidential election). I guess a 15 minute voting time is one of those time constants. Kind of like it always took me 10 minutes to drive to my high school no matter how fast I drove.

And on an even healthier and even less anemic note, I have nothing more to say.