Ah ...

and here I sit, 6:30 in the evening, in a relatively quiet office with just four of my co-workers nearby (and several others in the Main Office down the hall), awating the final proof of a layout I need to check before I can leave. I don't mind the fact that I have to stay late just so I can see the printout of a page that contains text I already painstakingly checked, but it bothers me that until about 3 p.m. each day, nobody on the fact-checking/copy-editing side of the equation sees the pages to be sent that day. We need a better workflow, and better execution of said flow.

Last week, this article indicated that I live in one of the healthiest places in America (Bergen County) and went to school in one of the unhappiest (South Bend). What I find amusing is the explanation of Asheville, N.C., being the happiest place in America. "Women in the quiet community of Asheville report an astoundingly low frequency of depression � 1.4 days per month on average, ranking in the top 2 percent of our survey." 1.4 days per month. Not even a day and a half. And, I'm not just being a guy here, but how much of that depression can be attributed to PMS? If you, just for the heck of argument, say a day, then that means that women in Asheville, N.C., are unhappy for only 9.6 hours a month as the result of forces other than her monthly cycle. Interesting.

I discovered last night that I may be just a little obsessed with fantasy football. I went to bed depressed last night because I was only 5 points ahead of Will heading into the Monday Night game pitting the Bears against the Packers. He had Bears running back Anthony Thomas going. I had Packers running back Ahman Green on my bench (thinking -- wrongly -- that Lamar Smith would have a good day against Arizona), as well as Rams kicker Jeff Wilkins and the Broncos defense, all of which outperformed those I'd started in their places. I refused to watch the game (though I hoped for a Packers blowout, thereby forcing the Bears to abandon their running attack) and I didn't plan on watching the highlights on "SportsCenter" this morning. But I did. And Thomas only rushed for 45 yards, which at one point for every 10 yards, only gave him 4 points for Wills team. I won, 68-67, my lowest scoring total of the season.

I could've been so much more eloquent today. But I'm not.

I'm going to go find out about this story I need to check.