and i thought to myself, why do any work today?

first, i want to let all of you who in any fashion enjoyed, respected, laughed at the writing of the late hunter thompson that there is a free resource of some of his last journalistic endeavors. oddly enough, it is on espn.com. there is something called page 2 on that website, locate it, go to archives of all the writers, and find his name and pic. obviously, he was an avid sports fan and rabid gambler, among his many, many other attributes. his last article that he wrote for them is about a conversation he had with bill murray involving the invention of a new sport. it is a mix of golf and skeet shooting. absolutely hilarious. also, he has over 50 articles on the site, some of which are too funny for words. ok, check it out if you have a chance.

i just got my first pay check! with the check i got 200 pesos (don´t forget the divide by 10 rule) in vouchers which can only be redeemed in certain stores throughout the state. govt stores. social security stores. strange, but they ahve cheap groceries at the issst, the name, so i shop there.

anyway, i eventually found the lady to talk to about my check. she speaks a million miles a minute so i caught about half of what she said. essentially, i have to use a passport for id. next check i might get direct deposit, but it might be later because i will only get my social security number, basically what it is, on monday. so they take out money automatically for my savings account. then, my imployer matches the amount that i take out. kind of cool. kind of like an ira? bankers? hello? this is a question, not a statement. anyway, i think they take a lot out, because they do, but i should get it back at the end of the year. doughman, ever get my taxes done? anyway, the year does not end until next july, so wherever i am in july i should get a fat check. then i will convert it into the currency of whatever country i am in and realize it is not so fat. oh well.

so anyway, my net pay was almost 8000 pesos (two weeks plus a few days in august), but i only get 5500. shaft! damn the government and their taxes. well, i guess since it is indepence day i better only type this and not say it.

i am getting the biggest kick out the 200 pesos in redeamable form. it is like giving someone 50 bucks and a check on friday, saying I know you can´t cash the check, but what the hell, go ahead on down to the 7-11 (circle k or am/pm for the west side), buy a few 40 oz´s and have a great weekend! absolutely hilarious. did i mention that every store who will take my vouchers sells liquor and beer? if not, then the joke is only fun now, and not when i wrote it. oh well. read this paragraph again. ha ha. get it now?

ok. time to try and do a little work. have a great weekend! go hokies! go braves!