Oh, I guess there have been times when I've lapsed into a less jaundiced frame of mind, but something always happens to restore my basic belief in man's inhumanity to man. I see it all around me every day. Greed, stupidity, ignorance, and lust rule the planet while we dream of heaven, with our eyes on the stars and our minds in the gutter. We swing through life on a rope we weave for ourselves: if we're lucky, it's a pendulum ride; if the knot slips, it's a noose.

Luck plays a part. Maybe you'll find work you like, maybe it'll be just a job. Maybe it'll be challenging, maybe mindless. But whichever it is, if you're good at your job, you'll be assigned all the work. If you're *really* good at your job, you'll somehow get out of doing it. But no matter how good you may be and how good the job is you think you're doing, one day you find out you're not irreplaceable. No one is. How could you be? If you couldn't be replaced, you couldn't be promoted. When you finally do get promoted and the man gives you a raise, why, then, do you have less money than you did before?

There'll be massive quantities of people coming and going throughout your existence. If you're lucky, some will be friends, more will be acquaintances. But it seems as if we must always be wary. Why? People will call themselves "friend" & then stab you in the back, talk about you in unflattering terms when you're out of earshot, tape record your conversations, get intimate with your spouse, tell you untruths, maybe even gripe about your dog leaving remnants of last nite's meaty bone on their lawn, when, in fact, it's biodegradable.

There's too much noise, too much pollution, too many choices, too many wasted words (the less you say, the less you have to take back :), too many tears, too much stuff, not enough time. Never enough time. Which leads me to the "life-is-short" adage that somehow says it all. Just in case we have only one shot at the hoop, remember that you can't score if you don't take the shot. Attitude is everything and it doesn't cost a thing. So get it, use it, and let the good times roll...