rains = pours

Test results still out. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for West Nile. It seems to me that this is the best option out of those which have been presented to me.

For hepatitis, I would have to deal with everyone thinking I was either a man-ho or a dope fiend. I'm told it would be hepatitis A, which the doc informs me is mainly transmitted by restaurant employees not washing their hands. Which is gross. I think I'd rather go with the Pam Anderson conotation than the . . . I'm just going to stop that sentence right there.

Thyroid disease would just be lame. Only chicks have thyroid problems. Think of the last person who told you that they had a thyroid problem. It was a female, wasn't it? Dudes don't get thyroid problems. Especially Soulmaster Surf Fiends such as myself. I'd sooner fly out to Cali and tackle the 15-footers at The Wedge than let thyroid disease take me out.

But West Nile would be sweet, comparitively speaking.

But it's not like I have an 80-page paper due in 2 weeks.

Wow, that's soon. How much more do you have to write?

80 pages.

You haven't started yet?!

Hey raise up, I have West Nile. Or something. Actually I have started, just not on any actual writing. And I promise that's not nearly as bogus as it sounds.

Yesterday I had a meeting with two telecom lawyers. That was fun. The telecom industry is in a state of ridiculous confusion. And guess who's to blame?

The Bush Administration. And I use the term "administration" as loosely as possible.

Only W would be shady enough to pressure the FCC to petition to have their own rules overruled by the Supreme Court. Which of course makes no sense to anyone with more than a 5th grade eduaction, but we all know that W doesn't fit into that category. So off he goes, with just as much of a clue about the highly technical telecom industry as he has about anything else, pressuring Commissioner Martin to vote to file amicus against themselves in the USTA II appeal.

But it's not like the President of SBC (who first sued to have the rules remanded) is a close friend of his. Oh well, I'm sure he prayed about it. He probably lifted it up right along with his decision to allow three times the amount of mercury in the nation's rivers and water sources. And we all know that only unpatriotic liberal baby-killers have a problem with mercury.

My paper will be discussing this at length. It's amazing what you can do with a see generally cite.

This biggest bummer about all of this was a conclusion I reached while chatting with the telecom lawyers. Even though I've been researching and following this field of law for the past year and half, these two guys have probably already forgotten more than I've ever known about telecom law. The irony is this: these kind of people are the target audience for my paper, and there's no hope that I can tell them anything that they don't already know.

Whatever. I care less and less as the days tick by. I just want to get it turned in so I can start watching the third season of The Sopranos.