And by real vacation I mean packing my bag(s) and leaving town … leaving the state of ND.

I haven’t gone on a real vacation since I went to visit Melissa in Kansas in the summer of 2002. I drove down there (looooong drive in a car all by yourself). She was living on the base at Fort Leavenworth at the time. I had a blast hanging out with her (and all the cute military boys >:) ). I even got to see the racetrack in Kansas City. Yeah … it was from about a mile or so away (there were Truck and Indy races that weekend so we couldn’t get closer), but at least I saw it.

I haven’t gone anywhere since … not even around the tri-state area. I’ve had vacation time, but I end up just staying home and not really doing anything. I think I need to change that this year.

I only have 4 days of vacation to use this year (or until November when my work year resets). I would have had 5, but I used one the day after Thanksgiving. I’d probably see if I could take a day of unpaid leave so that I could be gone for a full week (as long as we don’t have any big projects due).

But first … I have to figure out where to go … what to do. I have no idea. I don’t want to do anything by myself ‘cuz that’s no fun. Maybe I could talk Robin into taking vacation the same time as me and we could go somewhere. But where?

I do REALLY want to go to a NASCAR race, but which one? And how early to I need to start planning? And would that really be fun for anyone but me? I’m sure my sister would want to go, but I’m not gonna pay her way.

Any suggestions on where I could go … either by myself or with a friend? I honestly have no clue where to go or what to do. I just want to get away somewhere, have fun, and forget about life for a while. I’ve got some money in savings I could use (even though it’s earmarked for buying a house). But I don’t want to spend a fortune on gas or airline tickets.

Yet another day. More random thoughts. I know you were just on the edge of your seats waiting for the next one. </sarcasm>

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I miss “Februany”, especially with the coupons we had in the office for $1 off a footlong. I could get a real cheap lunch. Not anymore. Got a 6″ oven roasted chicken meal, and it was $6.20. They raised the prices on that sub (used to be $3.25 for a 6″; now it’s $3.50) AND on the meal (used to be $2.20 extra now it’s $2.30). But I was sick of the ham & pepperoni sammies I’ve been making and bringing in. That and I needed a pop (stupid pop machine won’t take a $20 bill or a check card).

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I see that the gas price yo-yo continues at Petro Serve.

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Yeah … I ordered supper from Domino’s. Yeah … I know it’s not healthy. But I don’t give a damn. I’m hungry and don’t have anything in my apartment that I want to eat.

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I’m not sure that I’m going to keep these Random Thoughts posts going after today. But then again, I might. It is MY blog after all. I can do whatever I want.

I do know that I want to start over from scratch using 3.1. I’ll import the content in of course, not that anyone reads this shit. This place needs a change. We’ll have to see if I do any homework this weekend or if I work on my own stuff.

I had eggs for breakfast. Yeah … they were Reese’s peanut butter eggs … so what.

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Why is it that I feel bad that I’m taking a full hour for my lunch break (when I stay at the office)? I’m entitled to it. Yeah, the deadline for a project I have a lot of work left on is coming up quick, but that doesn’t mean I should kill myself trying to get things done. I worked almost 5 hours on the project at home on Saturday (even declined going out Sat nite because I was working). And I’ll probably be working on it more this coming weekend. I get paid salary, so I don’t get any overtime for all the extra work I’m putting in. But I’m doing it because I hate missing deadlines, and I want this project to be kick ass awesome.

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And why do I always feel bad when I leave work right at 5pm. I get to the office around 7:30am, so it’s not like I’m not here my full 8 hours. If I’m in the middle of something, I finish it up before I leave. Yet I still feel like shit walking out before everyone else does.

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When will I stop being so damn hard on myself (see previous 2 thoughts)? Is it any wonder that I’m not happy? I’m my own worst freakin’ enemy. Didn’t I get enough of that shit in high school (from my asshole [not all, just a select asshole few] classmates)?

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What the fuck gas station owners? Seriously?

Yesterday at 5pm:
Petro Serve USA (formerly Stamart): $3.44/gal
Little Duke’s: $3.44/gal

This morning at 7:30am:
Petro Serve: $3.31/gal
Little Duke’s: $3.31/gal

Tonite at 5pm:
Petro Serve: $3.44/gal
Little Duke’s: $3.39/gal

Make up your damn mind already.

Earlier this week, I decided to place myself in a voluntary social media blackout. I tweet too much and spend too much time on Facebook (not playing any of the stupid games, just checking my news feed). Because of the blackout, I have a bunch of stuff running through my head that I would have normally tweeted during the day. So … that’s the purpose of this post.

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I didn’t have enough milk this morning to make coffee, and I wanted one, so I decided to stop at Atomic Coffee before work. I believe that will be the last time I stop there. First off, they charged me about $5.17 for a damn 16oz white chocolate mocha. I think he charged me for a shot of white chocolate syrup, and they don’t usually do that. It is a WHITE CHOCOLATE mocha after all. Secondly, it didn’t even come close to tasting as good as the ones I make do. I make a sauce of white chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla extract. I mix in a little of the white chocolate syrup that I bought at Moxie Java (doing so makes both the sauce and the syrup last longer). I also started using regular flavored coffee beans (vanilla hazelnut) rather than espresso beans. I think it tastes better. And it sure the hell is cheaper.

Needless to say, I stopped at the grocery store on my way home from work to get some milk.

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Holy shit. Gas went up about 19¢ since this morning. I swear it was still $3.25/gal (maybe $3.29/gal) when I left for work this morning. When I came home, it was $3.44/gal. I’m assuming this jump is because of the shit going on in Libya. I just wonder how high it will get (regardless of the Libya stuff). I’ve heard rumors of it getting up to $4 or $5 per gallon this summer. God I hope not. I’d start taking the bus to work, but I don’t think any of the metro buses cross the river. If you know of any routes that do, please let me know.

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Prices keep going up while products keep getting smaller. Since Easter is the next holiday, Reese’s peanut butter eggs have hit the stores. And I am such a sucker for those things. I can’t get enough (or the pb trees at Christmas or the pb hearts at Valentine’s or the pb pumpkins at Halloween …). I gave in and bought a bag of the mini ones at the grocery store. They were $3.28, which I think is around the price they were last year. But the damn eggs got frickin’ smaller. They’re tiny now … practically bite size. They are mini eggs, but they weren’t this mini last year. Same price, fewer product. Gotta love our economy. </sarcasm>