Real News: The Mail Must Go Through

So, yeah, it snowed. Real snow, finally, not that crappy little inch-at-a-time stuff we've been getting. And that made yesterday interesting. U of I falls into a needlessly complicated patchwork of plowing jurisdictions. The school itself does the sidewalks and parking lots, and their little sweeper-truck-a-ma-dealies can be seen out during the storm, and the walks and some bike paths are in good shape within an hour or two after it stops. The roads fall to the cities of Champaign and Urbana (the line runs right through the middle of campus) and they get done... eventually. And when they do, it puts a drift over the walks and stuff that have already been done. As far as what I can bike through, I can do up to 3 inches or so of clean snow, and thoroughly packed snow works well, too. Where I run into trouble is stuff that's unevenly packed, or has tire ruts. Unplowed, lightly traveled roads and snowdrifts are excellent examples of stuff I can't bike through. So, basically, everything takes twice as long as it should.

Meanwhile, in my ongoing effort to put off actual work for as long as possible, I happened across this article. Turns out the greeting card industry is trying to cash in on the angst of single people surrounding The Day We Do Not Name. Most of the Anti-[] Day cards seem to target those that have broken up recently. The second page goes on to stuff for the vehemently single-and-hating-it crowd. The quote that sums it up is "Singles just want to be part of the holiday."

Um... no.

Maybe back in junior high school. I've piled on an additional 8 or so years of single life since then, and I like to think I've risen above feebly trying to fit in. The whole hyperconsumerism thing has also gotten to me, and now the response is a massive self-righteous tirade against all things pink and cheesy. I'm also not one to go to the bar and cry into my drink all evening. Really, I have far too much homework for that sort of thing. So, basically, buying stuff to celebrate/lament my plight is right out.

Also, a point of clarification: I've already declared Singles Awareness Day to be on Feb. 15. Because I'm far too awesome to share a holiday with all the happy couples. And no, it doesn't have a product line. So there.