Got my research memo back today. Got a 'B' which means my grade has slipped slightly. This is only a 'shadow grade,' however, so it counts for nada. Still, I would have liked to do better. But I had to admit that it was a direct result of being crunched for time lately. I forsee a lot of late nights. My classmate Anita must have too, since she announced in class tonight that she resigned from her job at the bank. Her first comment? "It'll be nice to get more than four hours a night sleep." Uh-huh. I know that 'permanently tired' feeling.

Rome trip is starting to gather steam. Only one person has expressed worry about traveling, given the situation. I'm worried, but not sufficiently so to avoid getting on a plane. After all, I could get run over by a car tomorrow walking to my garage. Life is unpredictable.

The real drag came yesterday, when Professor Contracts announced she was giving a mid-term on March 6th. No grade given, and only an hour long, but just so not what I needed right now. And this afternoon's budget meeting went poorly, which just added to the feeling that the mountain is only growing bigger, not smaller.

I had a date Saturday. With the recently-divorced friend of a tax client, whose wife thought we'd be a good match. It was about as uncomfortable as it gets, and yet I told her I'd call. She seemed nice, but she's about 2 inches taller, and I really didn't detect a lot of enthusiasm from her. I'll call her tomorrow. I doubt if date 2 will occur. Heck, I didn't even get the 'handshake of death.' How bad is that?

Ok, I need some bitch time. My neighbors are morons. Mike moved at the beginning of January, and the replacement neighbors, I found out, have a dog. How did I find out? Because the damn thing was whining all through my lunch today. Great. Just what I need - a dog with separation anxiety.

That's not the half of it, though. Our fire door is not (as the other two floors' are) self-closing. So the people on this floor regularly leave it wide open. That's not to say having it as self closing would help, though, since the other two doors are regularly blocked open. I swear this must be some kind of violation, but damn if I can find it on Lexis or Westlaw. I hope there isnt a fire before my lease is up. Otherwise, there'll be one really big lawsuit.

To top things off, I have lazy neighbors. Just about everyone in this complex (save me) has a dog, and half of them get together regularly to walk them. So what makes them lazy? Well, last Friday, it snowed here. And on Saturday, I walked out to go to the tax office. I get a paper delivered six days a week, and most days its tossed right around the front door somewhere. Saturday, it was tossed on top of some snow, just outside the door. And some a-hole's dog had peed all over it. All over my frigging paper. Some lazy a-hole couldn't be bothered to walk across the way to the open field. How annoying. And inconsiderate, since my paper wasn't the only one this dog had peed on. Fortunately, the paper is wrapped in plastic, and one small corner was unimpacted, so I was able to get the paper safely out. But the fact still ticks me off.

Ok, I'm done venting............have a great night. I think I'm taking a vacation day Friday. I need some R&R........