Maybe it's just me then, but life seems to be about as easy as it's ever been lately, despite all the desperation. I am able to put away a bigger portion of my paycheck these days than ever before, despite having more expenses than I've ever had. I have more work to do than I have in a long time, I am eating well, I've been getting a lot more sex lately, and my girls not only are no longer whining at me about how tough their life is, but are actually sounding grateful for all the things I do for them, and how fortunate they are for having such great parents (though I won't discount that this is a ploy to soften me up before fleecing me yet again, they are definitely getting wiser, if not smarter).

Maybe it's just that I've learned enough at this point in life about how to play the game that I am actually starting to win for a change, but it seems most of the people around me aren't in too bad a shape either, at least the smarter ones. I won't take too much credit, but I gotta think that I've had my fingers burned enough times to at least know what sort of pitfalls to avoid. Even a monkey can learn to avoid things that don't make him feel too good.