Yesterday, Tobias went back to Stan's, where the wheel work was completed. After dropping him off, I wandered on foot over to the Colony Square, saw Finding Nemo, and ate lunch at Tokyo Joe's.

Back at Stan's, I was informed that in addition to the bent rear wheel (which was replaced), the alignment was seriously out of spec, beyond what a normal realign would fix. The mechanic recommended that I get a camber kit install to properly fix it. I asked how much it would be, shrugged, and authorized the procedure.

Since the work couldn't be completed before the end of the day, and I didn't really feel like rising at the crack of dawn again, I left Tobias at Stan's overnight.

Walked home. Time on foot from Lafayette to Westminster: 3 hours. Another useless fact for my repository.

This afternoon, I utilized the RTD system to retrieve Tobias. (The 228 route is much better than it used to be. Now it goes all the way from Broomfield to South Boulder Road without requiring the use of a transfer partway through Louisville. Much easier. Had it been that way back during the Louisville Compound days, I would have been able to take a single route to and from my former job with minimal fuss.)

Tobias is happy now. In addition to having straightened out rear wheels, his dashboard and cup holders are all clean.

I went to the sales meeting tonight, where I received my first paycheck from the newspaper job.

I'll be working 3 full days in a row this weekend. I was originally scheduled for a half day tomorrow afternoon. My dad was scheduled for a full day up in Loveland. But he has a very important business lunch appointment with someone tomorrow, so I'll be taking his shift.

He says those stores virtually always do really good business, due in large part to some special discounted promotions we offer in outlying regions that aren't available in the metro area. It will be interesting to see how well I do.

From the Musical Wow department: Evanescence. I think I've listened to their new album about 5 times over the past 48 hours. Bring Me To Life, the song that's been running constantly on every radio station in town, only touches the surface of this act's range. (I would find the overplay annoying if it were from any lesser band.)

Amy Lee has the voice of a goddess. That much is obvious. Ben Moody's crisp Linkin Park-esque metal guitar brings in the power punch. But to complete the all-encompassing aural potency, layers of haunting symphonic strings, piano, and choral vocals frequently complement the metal sound. (In fact, on a couple of the more traditional ballads, they form the sole accompanyment. My Immortal is especially touching.)

The lyrics: Mega-dramatic, like an epic tragedy on every track. Need a second opinion?

There is indeed something to be said for the album as a means to musical innovation. It's certainly true in this case.

I gotta get outta here. I was hoping to catch another Buffy episode before bed tonight (the amazingly Emmy-worthy Hush is next in my viewing queue), and I have to rise early tomorrow.

So I'll say peace, and here's a lyric. Whisper, the last track from the Fallen album.