Almost a day later and things seem far different. I worked hard today. Well, as hard as one can reformatting content on a website.

But it rained last night. It rained hard. It made a great sound on the roof and today everything looked shiny and bright. The air was clear. The rain is supposed to return tonight at around the same time and stay for about as long as it did yesterday night. Fortunately, I get to stay home tonight.

I had a nice talk with my wife last night on the drive home and I feel a lot better about where things are. I don't feel as bad about my underemployment and I don't feel jealous or envious. I'm back to being happy for our friends with houses. Soon enough we'll have our own house. And a big screen TV! The new house will be great. It'll be smaller than some of our friends, but that means less to paint, less wood-working and trim to make, and so on. I'm re-reading "Building the Not-So-Big House," a book I bought last year. It's full of great ways to make a smaller space seem larger and it points to the California bungalows of Pasadena -- done in the craftsman style -- for inspiration. Basically, at the time that the mansions were being built in Pasadena, the workers were also building their own homes. Skilled craftsmen, they would work during the day on the grand mansions and then in the evenings work on their own homes. While small, the homes boast intricate details and expert craftsmanship. Our home will have that same feel, because we will put a lot of love and work into it.

And it's Thursday already. This week has felt long, mostly because I don't think I've been getting enough sleep. So tonight I'll watch a lot of TV and go to bed earlier than usual and tomorrow is doughnut day.

I think yesterday I used the world malcontent incorrectly. I was trying to be tricky and it didn't work.

And now, what I think you should know...

AOL's Enron game
Off the books, AOL's been using Genuity's dial-up to support its 30 million customers. Genuity is a dial-up provider that basically only serves AOL. It was spun off from GTE before they became Verizon. But it's losing money fast and by the end of the year should be out of money. AOL's been able to keep this investment off the books. However, if Genuity dies, AOL says it can find a new provider cheaper. Can it?
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeatBIZ.asp?/news/719066.asp

Lockheed on strike
Lockheed employees say that the company expects to have a great year thanks to 9/11 but that it's not letting the money trickle down to them.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeatBIZ.asp?/news/719208.asp

United not on strike
http://www.msnbc.com/news/719950.asp

Well, uh, hmmm... ok
States change their tune... slightly... on Microsoft
http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2002/03/05/microsoft.htm

Neuter this
If the entertainment companies have their way, this will be the crappiest country in the world to live if you like entertainment.
http://hardware.earthweb.com/prodop/article/0,,12099_985991,00.html

ABC News Mess
Cokie out, Barbara Walters mad, Koppel bummed.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/719927.asp?cp1=1
Dan Rather and others say "Keep Koppel"
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/06/opinion/L06KOPP.html

Sprint PCS sucks in Chicago
http://www.epinions.com/content_58020957828
(Kevin says I should also mention that Nextel sucks in Hollywood.)

Riding the light to data theft
You know those little blinky lights on the back of your computer next to the ethernet connection? Apparently it's sort of a morse-code of the data coming across the network. It's not easy, but people could eavesdrop from another building if they have line-of-site access to the back of your computer. (There's also a threat if your monitor faces a window, apparently.)
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,50893,00.html

Sit on it
ABC's dumb*ss game show, The Chair, is history.
http://www.mediapost.com/dtls_dsp_news.cfm?newsId=109705

No TV
Some petty criminal gets sentanced to "No TV" for 10 months. Guess that will give him more time to perform internet credit card fraud and identity theft.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/07/nyregion/07SENT.html