Forbidden Planet

No, I am not short on ideas, just short on time to sit down and write (well ... write coherently, at any rate). You are happy, driven, and status conscious. You want everyone to know how successful you are. Very logical, you see life as a game of strategy. A bit of a loner, you prefer to depend on yourself. You always keep your cool and your composure. You are a born leader and business person. You can take the test here . Commentary: Happy? I used to be, lost would be a better descriptor now. Driven? Nope, that's been replaced by indifference. Status concious? Hmmm ... I like fine things, but I never felt the need to keep up with the Jones'. Want to flaunt my success? No. Never have (but secretly I do desire to be rich and famous). Logical? I like to think so. See life as a game? No. I always viewed life as progressive, not as manipulative. Loner? I believe I am percieved this way, since I strongly stress my personal independence. But, I really do like people - I just need to

... when you find grey chest hairs. It was bad enough to discover two years ago that there was easy to find grey on my head (not that it is really noticible, since I have somewhat dirty blonde hair). Then earlier this year, when I grew a beard, I found greys in that, but ... grey chest hairs? sigh.

In downtown Montreal, many of the traffic signals have a timer showing how much time you have left to try and cross the street. The other day, we were downtown and crossed a two lane street. I was surprised that we had 48 seconds to get across - since that was more than enough time. Later we crossed a six lane street, with a large median in the middle. This time, we only had 30 seconds to get across. With two little kids, it took about 20 seconds. It makes you wonder how city planners decide durations for various lights - select them out of a hat?

At 39-1/2 I am beginning to suspect that popular culture may actually be more popular than I believe. But, I just don't get it. My first recollection of popular culture was ages ago (I reckon I was probably around 7 or so), and it was a televised Elton John concert. I knew that he was popular and so I sat down to watch. I remember it being exceedingly dull and uninteresting - the music was certainly not appealing or interesting in any way. Of course, I could see the crowds reacting with, for me, unexplained enthusiasm, to his songs. My rationalization of this, was that, since this was the early 70s, people were likely influenced by drugs and not making rational choices. Actually, that is what I tended to believe for most of my life - people didn't really like the music they were listening too, or the activities they were engaging in. I just assumed they were being influenced by peer pressure and simply trying fit in rather than being individuals. Another pop culture phenomen I

One of the reasons I am currently on a leave of absence (aside from spending more time with the kids), is that I really don't like working. This is not to say that I like to lounge around and decompose, but ... there must be more to life than simply toiling away. A few weeks ago (the weekends of May 21 and 28) I had to go in to work to help with some problems they were having. Sofia (my wife), hoped that I would go to work and realize that I really like it. Of course, the opposite was true - I realized how much I hate it. By Sunday night I was down and depressed. I am not sure if there is anything that can trigger a bout of depression in me other than a day of work. My leave of absence is nearing its end and I have to give an answer to my company when (or if) I will be returning. It is a hard decision. I can't say the work environment is bad, the pay and benefits are excellent. But ... I cannot stand the tedious drudgery that is called making a living. Maybe I am spoiled - cert