I read an article on the Drudge Report today about a man living in Australia looking to auction his "life" on ebay, including his home, all his personal possessions, his job, and even his friendships. So I decided to try to find his auction. I wasn't sure which category to search under. At first I considered real estate, but then I found the category of "Weird Stuff."

One thing under "Weird Stuff" was a woman auctioning off the opportunity to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. Even weirder -- there have been 19 bids! Please tell me why anyone would pay hundreds of dollars to be in a stranger's wedding.

I think it should be a requirement that everyone work as a server in a restaurant at some point in life, however briefly. Maybe I should make an entire list of things people must do before they can be considered "members of society." It would be like meeting all your high school requirements for graduation, or going through confirmation in the Catholic church. Yeah.

But I digress.

I finished my server training last weekend and I've had two shifts as a real server. Oh boy. (Side note: don't leave an extra-large tip to someone who is in training - they don't get to keep any of it... unless their trainer is especially nice).

Sunday night I was serving this nice couple. They ordered two glasses of our house Merlot. So far, so good. I bring them the wine and the next time I walk by, they flag me down and ask for our wine list. The glasses of wine, still full, are sitting at the end of the table. I bring them a taste of two more expensive Merlots to sample and they choose one. I talk to the manager, tell them they didn't like the house wine, and he says he'll take it off their tab. I inform them of this when I bring out the more expensive wine, and they seem pleased. I put in their order, they enjoy their food, they order two more glasses of wine (now totaling $32 in wine). All is well, they are pleasant and happy with the service. I take the check, go back to the kitchen to check on someone else's food, and walk back to the front. They are gone, so I pick up the black book and look inside. $45. For a $54 check. What. The. F. So, I'm convinced it was an accident, because they were nice, and happy with everything, and they didn't have to pay for the $8 worth of wine they didn't like. But really? You can't double-check the money you leave with the check? So my manager was very nice and understanding and fixed everything, but, of course, there was no tip from that table. Whatever. Guess it happens sometimes.

I've made friends at work, though, which is always nice. The guy who works in the kitchen on Friday and Saturday nights doing the garnishes is a highschooler from Norway. We were talking about music and he says he likes German rap. He's going to burn me a cd. I'm pretty excited about that.

In other news, Michael and I have been jogging at night. I enjoy it immensely. Michael doesn't so much. I think it's growing on him, though.

Okay, if there are any economics/finance/something-related-to-money-or-the-economy majors out there, please explain something to me. Why does Bush give tax cuts to people with really high incomes? I'm not being sarcastic -- I really want to know. If they're making the big bucks, why would you give them a discount? I thought our country was in serious debt, people!

Is it because we don't want to "punish" financially successful people by making them pay more tax money than financially unsuccessful people?

Also -- I think I need a lunchbox. Preferably one of those metal ones with a cartoon on it.

I don't like blowing my nose when other people are around.

I talk to myself if I'm grocery shopping alone.

People who leave their turn signal on for miles and miles on the highway drive me crazy.

I have very little patience with discussions of eschatology. I can't be bothered.

Anglicanism and Messianic Judaism are very appealing to me. I think it's because they both emphasize traditional observances and liturgy more than churches that I've had experience with. I like tradition. And special holidays.

For instance -- Easter. Random gripe -- what happened to Easter in non-denominational and Baptist churches (I'm generalizing here, of course)? It is pretty much resigned to that one Sunday out of the year when the choir monopolizes the entire morning service with a songfest. What happened to Holy Week in the churches I've attended? I was talking about this with some people at the Crane Scholars retreat a few weekends ago. It seems that Easter has so much more significance and impact when you go through the church seasons and the special services during Holy Week.