keeping occupied...

i've been a bad boy...

instead of doing constructive things lately, i've been playing Scrabble and Monopoly on the 'puter. the games came free with every box of specially marked (boxes of) General Mills cereals. in my case, i bought some Golden Grahams and Honey Nut Cheerios. i was tempted to get a box of sumpin' that was offering Candy Land too...a favorite from my childhood.

anyway, i've been spending an hour or two a day playing these addictive games. what else could i be doing? i could be watching the tube and getting all the latest results (yawn) on the bombing of the UN HQ in Baghdad...i could be cleaning the basement, which is a mess...i could be filling my tank and checking the tires...i could be calling all the people with whom i've neglected to keep in touch. nah, i sit here and eagerly buy up property and swoon when my thimble kicks the shit out of the iron in Monopoly. awwww...you bankrupt? too bad! gimmegimmegimme! sounds so American, doesn't it?

at least with Scrabble, it gets my mind working in manipulating the tiles. every once in a while, i've been coming up with seven letter words - i like that. and although i find it much more fun to play with people instead of the computer, it seems that my luck sure is better when i select tiles against the 'puter. i swear, i get one 'Q', two A's, three O's, and a 'J' when i play with humans. yeah, that's gonna get me a lotta points! at least D'OH (a la Homer Simpson) will get me a minimum of seven points...

so i'm taking a break from all that time wasting game stuff and blogging instead. am i in denial or what ;)

what should i be doing? i should be going and getting some stuff together for some survey tomorrow. my boss called me and we're going to do a one day survey for the city of Boulder tomorrow (survey will take place near Nederland). apparently, an area that we surveyed four years ago is under scrutiny by neighboring homeowners because the city wants to build a parking lot next to their homes. it's up to us to tell 'em if there's anything cultural worth saving or if they should pave away.

it should be a short day. surprisingly, my boss padded the figures a bit for the projected budget, so we'll be getting $200 plus our meals for one day of work. why can't it always be this way...sigh.

we'll see though. this area that we surveyed was quite rich in both prehistoric and historic resources. there is a large area that served as a Chinese miners camp in the 1800's as well as other sections that were seasonal hunting and gathering routes for Plains Indians, but most of it is much deeper into the tract of land. this mile-long path has been a trail for at least 50 years and may not reveal a large enough sample of good things for anyone to worry about.

almost noon and here i am, boring you guys out of yer gourds...