--attributed to Mark Twain and Winston Churchill, among others.

Okay, time to catch up.

As I type this, it's Sunday, April 14th. I have a term paper due on Tuesday morning, and, frankly, I'd probably be slipping behind on this journal just a slight bit if I weren't already a week behind.

On the other hand, despite the permission, if not the urging, of pretty much everybody on my notify list (okay, three out of eight, with five abstensions) to just skip the week and move on, my perfectionistic little self hates the idea of skipping seven entries altogether. And so, I'm going to cheat, I think.

The following entries may or may not have anything to do with what I did over the course of the past week. They may or may not be of any interest to you whatsoever. I have no particular plans for them, in fact, except that I plan to finish them all right here, right now. This basically means that the following entries are going to consist of Yours Truly rambling about whatever he feels like, and then posting it.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Well, I went to the library to return some overdue books, only to realize (once I got there) that the library was closed, on account of Easter. Beyond that... oh, yeah. The night before, I got my ATM card in the mail.

See, I do my banking a couple of blocks away, usually withdrawing fifteen to twenty dollars at a time. Over the past year or so, a few tellers have gently suggested that I get an ATM card, so I wouldn't have to actually deal with a human to get my money. I granted that it might be more convenient, and secretly felt that I'd probably be better off not having the convenience of ATM access, as I'm less likely to spend all my cash that way.

But back on Tuesday, the 30th, my teller informed me that she had the forms right there, and I was getting an ATM card, and that was all there was to it. So I agreed. And I have one now. And I've used it. And it's convenient, yes. The jury's still out as to whether that'll be a good thing or not.

'Course, considering that, as I type this, there's just over $40 in my account, there's not much damage left for me to do. Here's hoping that Bell Atlantic's patience and understanding continues to hold...