++ MY CAR IS BROKEN. i was driving home from the climbing gym last night and i went over a bump and then my car started making a really loud ugly noise. real loud. real ugly. i can't hear my radio over the sound ofthe car. its the cv boots. don't ask me what it does. i don't know. i do know whenever i accelerate it makes the loud ugly noise. so i'm taking it into the shop tomorrow morning at 7.30. which sounds really early, but then again i've been at work this whole week at 7.30am, so its not too much of a stretch. why? because i have nothing else better to do. really? no, not really. i'm lying. i don't know why. i just have been.

this is what everybody is learning on co-op (one a day for 7 days. yes thats all my 'friends', so yes 70 things to learn in 7 different cities)...

Charlottesville, VA
"Howdy everyone, I completely forgot (living in Cincinnati last summer) that the cool thing to do over co-op is to send mass emails. Consequently, I'd like to take this moment to apologize for my substantial absence, or conversely, my inevitable return (however you see the glass is your prerogative). Luckily, however, this time I got the memo. Two of them actually , because every now and then I do need a little prodding to jump start those creative juices and whatnot (a veritable "shout out" to Rebecca and Jason...East Coast represent!). Taking personal liberties to disregard traditional notions of cohesive paragraphing strategies, I have compiled a list of important life lessons that I've gathered from my first week here in Charlottesville, VA. A "top ten" list if you will. (I would like to preemptively acknowledge that there is a largely architectural undertone to a number of these points. Additionally, I would like to turn that acknowledgement into an apology).
.10. You can't do red lines if the firm doesn't do any construction documents.
.9. When I grow up (which will obviously never happen) I want my assistant to have an assistant, who in turn would have a secretary.
.8. Hydrogen fuel cells are actually a conspiracy of *gasp* big oil companies. (I'm actually not kidding on this one...).
.7. Pedestrian streets can work in regions in which snow falls as late as April.
.6. Northern Virginia, despite my deepest wishes, isn't really the Deep South.
.5. The storage room is actually a perfect place for a ping-pong table (thus confirming a personal heartfelt belief of mine).
.4. A 9:30 start can begin to seem early even after only a week of the unusual practice.
.3. Chicken is truly a respectable addition to any breakfast meal (particularly waffles).
.2. I will never again rent an apartment 20 minutes walk from the nearest Laundromat.
.1. I am no longer convinced that Mr. Jefferson isn't actually a deity.
Well, there's probably paint drying somewhere that I'm sure I will regret if I don't watch for at least a portion of the day." ++