Today we had a major scare from the power company. We got home from having lunch at my favorite burger bar and our power was shut off. I called the power company and explained that we had made payment arrangements with them and the shut off was a mistake. They said we needed to come up with our past due which was about $250 bucks. Fortunately, my wife got paid today and we were able to come up with most of the money. They graciously sent a service man out within the hour to turn on the power. Again, it's another example of bill collectors hitting us hard. We're flat broke and I ain't going to Mordor this weekend. Oh well.

In other bad news... I spoke to my Armenian friend yesterday. He just got back from active duty with the National Guard. He's one of the poor saps guarding the San Francisco bridge. Anyway, he was sent home early from the State duty because his unit was activated for Federal service for one year. Apparently, they are replacing a regular army unit that is being deployed to Afghanistan to defuse landmines. At this point he's not sure where he's going however, he suspects an assignment in Germany. This comes on top of his continuing legal troubles over spanking his son. When it rains it pours.

Tommorrow is my first day of school. Let's hope my classes are at least interesting.