things i learned today:

1) What the "Magic Number" is in major league baseball.

this is an obscure number that somehow has some meaning near the end of the season, when we're close to determining who will win the division championship. Detroit's is 13 as of today, and it means that if the sum of Detroit's wins and Minnesota's (2nd place as of today) losses add up to 13, Detroit wins the divisional title.

uhhhh. ok. I can see it getting more interesting as we get closer to the end of the regular season, but, right now it just seems like something statisticians have invented to keep themselves busy in between recitation sections of MA134: Collegiate Algebra.

2) Even Credit Unions are crooks.

I took my ATM card into my credit union today because it's all splintered and cracked, and only works about half the time i try to use it. i got this card in 1998. the expiration date on the card says 02/12. 14 years? this thing is supposed to live for 14 years? even the credit card rapists give you a new card every 3 years. so, i order a new ATM card: 5 bucks. it wasn't lost, or neglected, or stolen. just used once or sometimes twice a week for 8 years. haven't i earned a new card? whatever. i have no problem with the $25 ODP (over-draft protection) they charged me two weeks ago when i didn't calculate correctly, and would have bounced a check. fine. i'm a dumbass. a poor dumbass. but you'd figure they'd support and even encourage my weekly ATM withdrawals (after 4 of which, they get to charge me $2.50). but no, let's screw him out of an additional five dollars.

3) every significant person in my life has their own band

when the radio plays their band, or i insert a cd into my cd player, someone in my life is summoned; with or without my being conscious of it. some ethereal connection is made between every person in my life and some band which may or may not be represented in my cd (MP3) collection. perhaps some day in the future i'll post a list of these connections, and encourage comments about who i associate you with. some are obvious. others will probably require a bit of explanation, though i have the feeling that it still won't really be enough to convince you.

here's an example: the Killers is Christa. it's a stretch, but i can definitely explain it.

most likely, it was the music you either introduced me to, or it was what i was listening to - either of my own accord, or it was being thrust down my throat by the mega-music-machine that is for-profit commercial radio- but sometimes it's a bit more subtle. it's not unlike playing 6 degrees of kevin bacon. sometimes it takes you 2 films, sometimes it takes you all six.

other times it's more personal. it's things that only i experienced. or maybe both of us did, but you may or may not remember.

i'll have to start that list in my favorite crutch: Microsoft Excel. if i weren't on the chassis dyno first thing tomorrow morning, i'd have it done by lunch.