May 31, 2004

As I have inadvertently cultivated the self-control (and, I fear, manners) of a fratboy, I am off the drinky until the end of the month (next month, obviously; not today). I'm weary of day-after headaches and the mad scramble to remember previous night's bad behavior, so until I can learn when to say when, I'm grounded from drinking. I already made plans with my good friend alcohol at the end of the month (and it's not polite to stand up a friend), but until then, nix nix.

I'm already looking forward to the savings, both the immediate grocery benefit and the extended savings of being a lightweight, and thus, a cheap date. Also, I'm confident my ass will thank me for the caloric break. (That's actually a triple savings. You have alcohol calories, accompanying excess snack calories from enhanced self-view and concurrent diet abandon, and hangover breakfast calories.) Plus I get to walk around all smug and self-congratulatory for my discipline. I haven't been smug and self-congratulatory in a while. Lately it's more despair and self-loathing, so this will be a welcome change.

Today is my third and final day of building the dog ramp. I'm not as utterly incompetent as I sound--I was using a lady's drill at first, so I had to stop and let it recharge for hours after a dozen or so screws. Jay brought over a selection of drills yesterday afternoon, so now it's easy peasy. So far, it actually looks pretty nice. The platform is complete and the ramp is almost halfway there. I'm going to finish it up while Suzanne and Jay are at yoga so that Jay can be a big strong man and move it for me when they get back. It's made of 6' 12x2s with 2x4 braces and a 2x6 rail on either side--it's like a castle door--so I can't possibly actually lift it myself. And I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to attach it. The plan was this heavyweight hinge, but my diagram wasn't quite as three-dimensional as real life, so I'm not sure of the geometry of it all. I'm not equipped to make any angled cuts.... Anyway, I'll cross that bridge in a couple hours.

I'd better get started. It's barely 9.30 and already it's 4 or 5 hundred degrees outside.

05.29.04