Sans Wifey

So Brandi started her new job on Monday.

You may recall that Brandi got a job in Dayton, while our apartment is in Bowling Green. That's a distance of approximately 130 miles, which isn't exactly a reasonable commute. As a result, Brandi has been staying with my parents in Troy through the week as she works. That will be the arrangement until I find a job in that area, or until our lease in Bowling Green expires later this summer.

It's been very strange without her around. She left on Sunday evening, and when I came back into the apartment after helping her load up her car, the only sound was that of ticking clocks. I'm not much of a people person, and I have absolutely no problem being by myself, but you get used to having someone else around, especially when that "someone else" is your "better half." We've lived together for around three years, so getting back into the mode of providing all of my own entertainment has been quite a switch.

I'm already mildly bored with my PlayStation. Not enough to not play it, of course, but at least enough that I'm not playing it nonstop, which is probably a good thing. I've been watching baseball and reading a lot, as well as updating my resume and trying to figure out exactly where to send it. I definitely want to spend more time on that, as well as writing and some other projects I have in the works. I've got the time, so I may as well use it wisely.

At any rate, I'm glad the first week is almost over. Brandi will be coming back to Bowling Green and will spend the weekend here before going back to Troy again on Sunday and starting the whole process over again. Next weekend I'll drive down there.

Some other recent goings-on:

Brandi and I were invited on Saturday night to a party by some semi-new friends. There we had our first encounter with the Nintendo Wii.

Wow, is that thing fun.

We played only Wii Sports, engaging in bowling and tennis with our friends. I don't know how it would be for any other type of game, but for sports, where you're actually simulating the physical activity of which you're virtually partaking, it's awesome. I mean, it's an absolute blast. I think it would be fun for other games as well--I'm particularly looking forward to wielding a virtual lightsaber at some point, which I'm sure is in the works.

So now begins the arduous task of locating one to purchase at retail price. The last Nintendo system I pined for was the SNES, way back in the day. I've been a PlayStation guy since then. The potential purchase of a Wii does not, in my mind, preclude my eventual purchase of a PS3 as well. I don't see the two as being direct competitors--the PS3 is a standard gaming system, just one step up from the PS2 I currently have, whereas the Wii is something entirely new and different. I think there's room in my entertainment center for both.

At the same party on Saturday night, I met my first pit bull. Strangely enough, with all the negative stories about them, you don't see too many of them. This one, though, was a great dog--very laid back, even with loud, constant rap music and a house full of drunken twenty-somethings. At one point he was licking my face, and I had a brief moment when I thought it was probably a bad idea--if he decided to eat me, I was right there. That really wasn't a concern, though. He was very friendly, and pit bulls who are treated well are no different from any other dogs that are treated well.

Incidentally, we visited the Wood County Humane Society the next day for an animal fix, and they had a pit bull who seemed to be much the same way. All the other dogs exploded into barking and frolicking when we walked into the kennel, but the pit bull stayed very calm. He seemed like a nice dog as well. One of the humane society workers told us that he has been there for over two years. It's unfortunate that someone is missing out on a good dog because pit bulls have a bad name. They're only vicious if they're trained to be. Otherwise, they're just dogs.

Dense fog this morning meant that nearly everyone was driving as though they has recently sustained massive head trauma. I was hoping to get to work early, to get a headstart on a busy day, but it took 40 minutes for a 25-minute drive and I arrived around the same time as usual. I definitely understand a bit of caution when weather conditions are less than ideal, but there's a point at which caution ends and idiocy begins.