and she said.. "how you interpret the dream is probably more important than the dream itself"

What would be far more interesting is if I could somehow connect my brain to the innernector and my stream of thoughts would simply post out like a post out like some news-ticker and gosh, there'd be some reeeally interesting shit to see.. But as it is I get back from my walk, get back from that concert I just saw, get back from class, get back from wherever.. and it's all gone, just dried up like a creek bed in august. Bummer.

So, instead? Updates.

I've been waxing philosophically lately, which means I've been leaving out semi-important aspects of my real life for the sake of "interesting content" but we can see that is failing so... I dropped a class. I know, I feel horrible, you should to. First semester back at this school thing and I'm already bailing? Well, there are circumstances. Things like misprinted prerequisites. Things like absent-minded professors. Things like B_O_R_E boring content. Things like, *shudder*, multivariate matrix calculus. Ugh. So it'll cost me $25 to withdraw. So I'll be a little short on credits this semester. So what? I'll have more time to do well in my other classes (yah right), I'll have more time to do my part-time telecommuting work (yah right), and.. AND.. I'll have more time to drink.

Ahhh.. there we go. It took a whole semester to get down to it but now we come to the crux of the matter. Duder was bummed out about how hard he had to work. Duder didn't want to stay inside, paling in front of a CRT, when he could see all his friends playing outside. Duder, in the end, just wanted his free-time back.

Do I feel guilty? Once upon a time I might have felt a little guilty about such a decision, sure. This decision, however, has been made during a time of semi-adult maturity, a time when - stepping back - I can see the pros and the cons and, while the pro of being able to drink more is certainly a wonderful one, the pro of not failing a class in graduate school is - even in this feeble little drunken mind - a much larger one.

Go me.

In other news, we hate banks. More specifically, Canadian banks. Sure, maybe these northerner got a thing or two on us jackasses to the south (like, at least 50% of them don't like bush) but man, their banks are killer. Whatever happened to the customer is always right? I tried to explain to them today that when I deposit a U.S. Funds check into the ATM here in Montreal I eventually get a deposit error-correction statement in the mail crediting me with the correct currency exchange. No no no! they insisted, You can not deposit U.S. Funds in the ATM or the checks will just get sent back to you. Look, FUCKERS. I DID IT LAST WEEK. You DID NOT send the check back to me. I understand that these checks in my hand were sent back to me, but SOME were not sent back to me and were properly credited to my account. No, that is not possible Sir, they exclaim. EXCLAIM THIS bioootch.

Since, of course, banks generally hate each other, I am forced to write checks instead of performing simple ACH online transfers. As if checks were a MORE SECURE form of money transfer. As if. So the rigamoroll that I must run through in order to get MY money to a creditor here in Montreal (godforbid they accept a U.S. credit card) is as follows:

1. Transfer money from Money Market account to U.S. checking account

2. wait.

3. Write check from U.S. checking account and deposit in Canadian bank (through the teller, of course, which costs money to interact with, rather than the ATM that does not accept U.S. funded checks).

4. Wait for U.S. Funds check to clear.. The standard in this bastard city is 20 Days. TWENTY! As if it takes that long to get fund confirmation from Maine. If you're brave you can ask the bank who issued the check to fax your Canadian bank confirmation that the funds are indeed available, but no doubt the Canadian bank will lose the fax TWICE, thereby ensuring that it will take at least 10 days anyway.

5. Write Canadian check - which, of course, you must pay for beyond your 4 free starter checks. It would be swell if this step #5 was "use ATM/credit card" but the ATM cards up here are in fact for a silly little system called INTERAC*, which is just like a ATM/Credit Card except none of the niceties of a credit card (like being accepted as a credit card). In other words, I can not pay my cell phone bill over the phone with it.. I can buy a candy bar at the local dep (convience store), but I can't pay my goddamn cell phone bill.

Luckily I am so ROLLING in cash that I always have plenty in montreal, the US, and the Cayman Islands, that none of this is really ever too much of an issue. Mmhm, riiight.

* Kudos to Canada for having a system in place such as INTERAC well before debit cards were wide-spread in the states but CRIPES people. CRIPES.