01: pathetic breakfast scenes - Mangled birds and bludgeoned dogs as I contemplate the new year over coffee, a bagel and cream cheese.
02: adorable sense of wonder - Eric comes over and discusses matters of the workplace as well as those of the heart.
03: Julian, California - Kim, the Brazilian girls and I visit an overly-quaint village in the southern California mountains.
04: antfarm syndrome - Power relationships in a canned community.
05: ra-ra-ree - Yeah, my workplace even has a chant.
06: working cancer - The products of unrealistic deadlines.
07: unusual emotional high - The combination of hard work, a pattern of success, and muscular exhilaration.
08: company Christmas party - Helium, sangria, jumbo shrimp and marijuana all play their various parts.
09: pathetic for the cause - I go to work on a Saturday.
10: hot tub at La Mirage - A fancy place where the Database Administrator lives.
11: Y2K microcosm - A robot proves January-uncompliant.
12: deadline stress & childishness - Co-workers nearby doing their stress-relieving rituals which only compound my own stress.
13: pulled three ways - Deadline week continues.
14: Gus as a liability - A little self-deprecation does much for humour in the corporate desk farm.
15: unleashed in a Lego factory - How it feels to do what I do.
16: privacy for its own sake - A fight over my demands for a semblance of privacy.
17: contribute to the cause - At work even on a football Sunday.
18: eighth day of the week - It's Monday, the eighth day of work this week, and already there's word that bonuses will be small.
19: collect flowers - I need to take advantage of my proven talents.
20: out with the boys - Drinking beers at a bar when I should be helping my girlfriend prepare for the house to be torn apart.
21: night with the Brazilian girls - White the landlord fixes a water main leak, Kim and I spend the night at the Brazilian girls' place.
22: fancy Indian dinner in La Jolla - Kim knows she's done wrong in the aftermath of an expensive dinner, but I keep silent about it.
23: wish I wasn't - Sick and also a bit depressed about the course of my life.
24: sick in sunny Southern California - I lie around all day, unable to take advantage of my weekend.
25: aborted workday - I put in a partial day at work because of the flu.
26: second aborted workday - Attempting to go into work on the fourth day of this flu proves to be even greater folly.
27: sickness vacation - I give in to the flu and take the day off.
28: work me until I drop - The workplace gives me no special consideration in my ill-health.
29: off to San Francisco - Kim and I fly to San Francisco in an airplane.
30: Marin County - Touring the countryside north of the Golden Gate Bridge with a genuine mountain man.
31: touring San Francisco - I run across Jen Wade randomly on Haight Street. Later, Kim and I do sushi with one of her old friends.