this morning on a whim i dug out an old pair of black jeans that i had long since abandoned because i could no longer fit into them. to my surprise, they slipped right on, a testament to the fact that i've been shedding some pounds. still, they were a little snug, and i discovered i couldn't comfortably hold my wallet in the same pair of pants. what to do? like a true slave to fashion (or somebody who doesn't want to admit the fatness of his own ass), i went with the man's wallet. what's the man's wallet you ask? just a bundle of essentials, credit card, t pass, a few business cards, and some money. if you're real fancy you coil a rubberband around the whole shebang to keep things a little more organized. that is the man's wallet, and that's what i had instead of my usual much thicker stack.

today was much like yesterday, a smattering of real work, but the bulk of the day was just waiting around, nothing particularly interesting. it got to the point that i was trying out random drugs in the upstairs bathroom medicine cabinet in order to keep myself amused. i popped a ginseng capsule, thought about the echinacea tablet but chickened out, and didn't bother with the joint pills or this other one i saw with mysterious chinese writing on the box. i went back to my seat and waited for the ginseng to kick in. nothing happened. tomorrow, i'll increase the dosage.

for lunch i got the chicken mango salad from the trucks. i bumped into peter wong, my old tufts university assistant professor, along with haruna and some other dude. they were down in the kendall square area attending some sort of mechanical engineering seminar. we chatted briefly on the street corner before the light changed colors again and they went about their way. i walked away feeling weird. these were people who actually did something with their mechanical engineering degree, while in my case i went the exact opposite and went to work in design and now programming. i have no regrets though, mechanical engineering was interesting but it just wasn't right for me.

to make matters worse, as if the day could get anymore boring, our internet service went down and i was left with literally nothing to do. i passed the time by listening to music, organizing my e-mails and files, and creating funny anagrams for people in the office. toddler ham? one cure hairdo? arranged mania? i also called nikon customer support. i should've called them first instead of calling nikon technical support last night. the woman on the other end, julie, hearing that this would be my third time sending in the camera for the exact same repair, told me that when i return it this time, she'd replace the whole camera with another coolpix 950 (i imagine a refurbished model). i couldn't believe it! that's great, that'd solve all my problems! so it looks like i won't be buying a brand new digital camera after all (the coolpix 4500 will have to wait), and that i'll continue using the 950.

5pm i went downstairs, but not after saying good bye to eliza hoover, today being her last day at work before she starts her summer vacation. now it's just down to elias and i as the two remaining xtshers working at srm. word on the street is friday will be elias' last day, so by next week, i will be the only xtsher left at the office, just like the way it was when i first started at this company.

acting on my weekend promise to get myself back into running shape, i got changed and went out jogging along the charles. the weather suddenly went from a stifling hot and humid near 90's to a cool and breezy 60's. i took it nice and slow, kept my mind free of thoughts, admired the scenery. there were points where i felt like stopping, but surprisingly i kept on going. i didn't stop until i got to the base of the longfellow bridge, 3 miles later. sweaty, exhausted, i walked across the bridge and back to the office, where amanda and todd where still busy burning cd's. i felt guilty. that should be me burning those cd's, i felt like i neglected my duties somehow. but they were just wrapping up and there were no technical glitches (like last minute bugs). i got changed into my civilian clothes and left the office. thats when it started raining, hard. where was this rain when i was running? i could've really used it. irony! i made a pitstop at the new kendall square dunkin' donuts (which use to be alinda's which use to be beantown cafe) and treated myself to a large coffee coolatta. i was excited to see that not only was this a dunkin' donuts, but it was also a baskin robbins hybrid. looks like the ice cream truck just lost my business!

back at home, in the backyard, the bamboos continue to grow. heavy rain like today is especially good for them, they're going to grow even faster now, as if they needed more help. remember that just two weeks ago these bamboos were nothing more than spikes sticking out of the ground. now, they've grown taller than me, and the season's just begun for them. despite their invasive nature, i still find bamboos to be quite attractive, all vertically striped with different shades of green and brown, they're kind of colorful if you take the time to really examine them.

the cold rain has a way of refreshing the air, which made the backyard honeysuckle even more fragrant. i've got my bedroom window open, tonight's going to be a restful sleep.