this is the greatest thing in the world...

...I mean it's like I'm right there at the pond. Come here, ducky!
  - Strong Bad, sbemail14

Actually, I was right there today. It was day 7 of my every-Monday-off summer vacation. I slept in until 11. I messed around on the Internet for a while, mostly reading forums at Daniel Negreanu's site, which is quite good if you're into poker. Later, I decided it was too nice a day to stay in and I went out, bought a paper, and went down to Jones Lake. Sat on a park bench facing the lake, surrounded by ducks. Read the paper and listened to Steven Page's side project on my iPod. It was very relaxing. It would have been perfectly nice on a Sunday, but what made it perfect was the fact that almost everyone I know was at work and I wasn't. Came home, put on McCown, cut up a mess of vegetables, and made chili. Forgot the chili powder... oops. Old School was on TV tonight - pretty much uncut except for some of the swearing. Bare breasts on CBC at 9pm - I guess whoever watches out for that is on strike... heh. Probably the same guy responsible for Will Ferrell's ass being seared into my brain. My eyes! :)

So, yeah, a quiet day but an enjoyable one. I wasn't sure about this every-Monday-off plan when I started, but I really like the way it's worked out. As much as it's nice to be able to go away for the weekend and stay an extra day, this summer is really about some more time to relax even if it's just bumming around. The geek in me can't help noting that the ratio of days working to days off in a week is 1.3 instead of 2.5, which seems much more dramatic than simply one more day off out of seven. And geekier, of course.

CBC is running a newscast from BBC World instead of the National. I suppose that's better than some manager in Peter Mansbridge's chair. Bizarre, though. Is it just me, or does it seem like this Gaza withdrawal might not go as smoothly as Israel's government might hope?

Come here, ducky!