I spent the evening hanging out with Andy and managed to get birthday cards for my family while I brought Luke some dinner. I got to see Andy�s office for the first time and it was nothing like I expected it to be. My experience with tech companies has always involved sleek office buildings with cube farms and offices inside. Andy works in an old factory building next to a fair trade coffee roasting place and a couple of art galleries. He shares a massive room with two other programmers. The only thing sleek about it is the desks, chairs, and computer equipment. Of course, this is a fairly small tech company and all of my prior experience has been with giants such as Lycos and NewsEdge.

I�ve been making myself some really good chicken salad with the remains of the chicken I roasted Tuesday. It�s so yummy that it doesn�t even require a bread accompaniment. I hate it when people get all fancy with the comfort that chicken salad is supposed to be. I don�t want walnuts or raisins or onions or pickles in it. I just want some diced celery, black pepper, and mayo in with my chicken, thanks. I don�t mind it if there�s some curry powder tossed in to give it a bit of a different feeling, but that�s as far as it goes with me. I was spoiled this week, though, what with having that fresh bread on hand. I had my lunch on Sara Lee crap today and it really wasn�t nearly as good. Homemade chicken salad on fresh bread is like an orgasm sandwich, I tell you. I also have leftover pasta and sausage for dinner tonight, so I plan on curling up to watch Buffy with a ginormous bowl of pasta complete with a little mountain of freshly grated Romano cheese on top in front of me.

I�ve given Luke the go-ahead to drop to part-time. If he�s so miserable and there�s a chance for him to grab some hours at my work, then I want him to do what will make him happy. I got my first major paycheck Thursday night and I was pleased. It wasn�t huge or anything, but it was more money than I have actually earned in a long time, so I had a major sense of accomplishment. I rewarded myself with a year�s worth of Gold account shininess. Sadly, we couldn�t open a saving account this week because we had some issues in the cash flow department over all, but in two weeks, it�ll happen.

I also talked to Luke about money management issues and have told him to get some cash every week when he deposits his check and to only use cash while he�s at work. Gas, groceries, and major stuff should go on the card. I use the cash-only approach and it works. You know how much you have at all times and can�t go over, so it limits what you would ordinarily shell out. Plus, it helps the bank account to stay in the black.

I�m actually a little peeved with the old mothership (uh, diaryland) at the moment. Upon purchasing a year�s worth, you�re entitled to 10,000 banners and, well, it says I can�t use it yet. What the hell? I have two kick ass banners that I want the world to see and I can�t use them! I just shelled out a bunch of dough and I want what�s supposed to be coming to me, damnit! I repeat, Damnit!