This morning was nice if I write off the horrible headache I acquired from staying up too late and drinking too much with my best friend, Kira…

Robert and I went to a Starbucks which has armchairs and board games for the comfort and entertainment of its patrons. On a whim, we decided to try out “Cranium.” He was flabbergasted that I knew many of the trivia questions. If he had spent more time in the company of my brother, an avid viewer of documentaries on the Discovery channel, he would know more of the answers too. I found out what the velocity of a sneeze was and the speed at which a cheetah can run by listening to Will. He is a veritable font of information.

Later on, we stopped by CompUSA to check out the prices on digital cameras. Eek gad! Doesn’t look like we’ll be getting one of those soon…unless we mug some unsuspecting tourist.

Robert’s got a serious problem. I know it. His family knows it. His co-workers know it. And now…he knows it:

The Twelve Steps of Diablo Anonymous
~by Laura White and Janica White

1. I admit I am powerless over Diablo ? that my life has become unmanageable.

2. I have come to believe that a power greater than myself (not Diablo) can restore me to sanity.

3. I have made a decision to turn my will and my life over to the care of Amy, as I understand Her.

4. I have made a searching and fearless moral inventory of myself (and it does not include enjoying Diablo).

5. I have admitted to Amy, Janica, Laura, myself, and all the others who have had to hear my ?level? stories, the exact nature of my wrongs.

6. I am entirely ready to have Amy remove all the defects of my character.

7. I humbly ask Her to remove my shortcomings.

8. I have made a list of all the persons who have had to listen to my stories of cows and exceptional mauls, and am willing to make amends to them.

9. I have made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them (like Brent, whose life is still controlled by the wrath of Diablo).

10. I continue to take personal inventory and when I am wrong (talk, think or dream about Diablo), I promptly admit it.

11. I have sought to improve my conscious contact with Amy, as I understand Her, seeking only for the knowledge of Her will for me and the power to carry that out.

12. I have had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps and will carry this message to other Diabloholics.

I’m getting a wee bit nervous. If one more good thing happens, I’ll be downright scared. (As everyone knows, what goes up must come down…and my spirits are very, very up.)

As you may remember, I had been feeling very nervous about my performance review. It finally took place today. I had absolutely nothing to be nervous about. The list of my strengths far outweighed the list of my weak points–and I feel confident that I will improve with time. The problems they identified related to a lack of experience…not to a lack of talent or diligence. They even offered to pay for my participation in professional develpment courses.

The icing on the cake, though, was the 8% raise they gave me