This week sucked...

...and several factors conspired to make that happen.

• I slept a normal amount, but it was dreadful sleep. It was not at all recuperative; it was so bad, I woke up feeling not just tired, but furious.
• I have a nagging, cold pain beneath my right shoulder blade that kicks in between miles 5 and 10 of any run I do. If I didn't have a marathon eight weeks from today and if my health insurance didn't kick in only three days before that, this wouldn't bother me so much. But I'll have to bite the bullet and go see a specialist, even if it's just one time.
• I didn't publish as many articles as I should have, and the ones I did were boring. Boring news stories are nothing new, but it's well within my job description to dig for interesting angles to those snoozefests. Whether because I was tired or complacent, I was a bad digger this week. And when that happens, all I can think about is how I swore to myself I'd justify the wrenching, tedious job search that put me here by being a creative, hard-working writer.
• Phillies haven't traded for an ace yet.
• It was warm, very warm -- and now it's cold again. Not very cold, but I feel betrayed by Mother Nature nonetheless; my short-sleeve Under Armour was ready for regular rotation.

Okay, I won't try to brainstorm and pad the list. That's enough.

Ordinarily, here I'd apologize for whining. Not this time. I got that crap off my chest, and that's all I care about.

Whew. Oh by the way Terps, you'll have to excuse me for going against the family; hwong and I are going to a Duke fan's house to watch Duke-UNC tonight. Settle down, settle down, we'll be "rooting" for UNC, but I know some of you will chafe at this news.