Well, I WAS in a good mood...

So I'm standing in line at Fed Ex this evening - and on the television in the corner, CNN is reporting that according to a study, today (January 24) is the most depressing day of the year. Well, I immediately start a conversation with the guy next to me, because I don't want to hear this.

But I'm a thinker, and I just couldn't leave it alone. So here's my hypothesis:

For starters, the 24th is probably the average day December credit card bills hit most mailboxes. Merry Christmas.

Also, it's a dead spot for holidays. The hooplah of the xmas season is over, and there's nothing really happening until St. Patricks day. Folks are just starting to drool at the thought of beer and corned beef/cabbage - yet still have two long weeks to wait. Well... hell.

Hmmm. What else? Oh, it's January... which SUCKS. And I'll bet the record book says the 24th is when the lowest average temperature of winter hits. That would certainly serve to depress the crap out of normal people.

Uh, let's see. OH! It's Monday... I'm sure that has something to do with it. A cold weekend of wind and snow, staying inside getting cabin fever... then BOOM! Back to freakin' work with the traffic and the boss and the cubicle. Shit.

So I'm starting to see why it's the most depressing day of the year.

"But hey, it really didn't affect me, my day was just fine!" I think.

But wait... wasn't it this morning that Tawnya left for work, then came back in saying, "the truck battery is dead, it won't start"? Yeah, that was today.

Didn't we then call On-Star and get a tow truck - only to have the guy show up, turn the key and p-o-o-f, it started? And didn't the dealership find the ONE thing wrong with the truck (the battery) that wasn't covered under our warranty? Mmm, yes - that was also today.

Wasn't it also this very date that I missed the Fed Ex delivery guy... and had to drive all the way across town to retrieve the package for which I just couldn't wait until tomorrow's delivery? And once I GOT the package from Fed Ex (which is where I heard the report about depression in the first place) weren't the contents useless - forcing me to wait until tomorrow to install my new toy anyway??? Uh-huh.

Which made my trip across town unnecessary. #$&*%!

Side note: by now, you're thinking there couldn't possibly be a pièce de resistance. You're wrong.

A few minutes ago, we turned on the Tivo in the family room to watch some highly anticipated shows which were recorded last week... and it gives us this pretty green screen which says "A SEVERE ERROR HAS OCCURRED." We lost everything we had recorded. And the machine.

And the God-damned dog next door won't shut the hell up.

Maybe there IS something to this January 24 thing.