As the year runs down, I find myself with several days of vacation that I need to burn through, so I've decided to take the week off.

I may go down to Philly later in the week, but I don't have specific plans, which I believe qualifies this as a tentative "staycation." Queue "staycation" jokes:

• His disgruntled wife nailed a NO STAYCANY sign to the front yard.
  
• The landlord was no thrilled with his new tennants that he demanded that they staycate the premises immediately.
  
• She knew her son wasn't doing drugs. She'd recognize that staycant expression anywhere.

Okay. Out of my system now. Promise.

This week I'm working off a to do list that I jotted down last night. The big accomplishments for Day One were "Buy Cat Food" and "Clean Litter Box." Huzzah!

I also watched a midday showing of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. One sentence review: "Why is Michael Cera cheating on Juno?"

Also also, I got a chance to watch John McCain's new stump speech on the C-SPAN. Mostly obnoxious drivel, but he got in a (seemingly) fair shot about Obama saying that he wouldn't raise taxes when running for state senate and then raising taxes on the folks making $40-some-thousand.

Assuming that's true, it does underscore the reality that Obama is unlikely to be able to do everything he wants and still keep taxes down. What's more likely (and non-surprising) is that he'll have to make compromises, pick and choose his priorities, respond to crises, and ultimately only fulfill X percentage of his campaign promises.

That's just how the world works. I'd rather that a politician go back on a campaign pledge than honor it and in so doing screw over the country. After all, there's a reason McCain's slogan isn't "Tax Cuts First."

And why is everybody so obsessed with tax cuts these days? We've already lowered tax cuts significantly since the 90s, and it hasn't helped the economy. And at the same time, we're throwing a way a trillion on Iraq, a trillion on the Wall Street bailout, we're not spending nearly enough to rebuild New Orleans after Katrina, there's still a hole in Southern Manhattan...

Obama has a solid lead in the polls right now, which you think would make me feel less anxious, but it actually makes me feel more so. ("More so" is not meant literally, as I would also feel "more so" anxious if he were tied or behind.)

Anyway, looking forward to the debate tomorrow.

More updates throughout the week. Coming up on my "to do" list: working on the novel; throwing out some old furniture; and if I have the time, I may just take a day trip to that gazebo on the lake along the Amtrack tracks to Trenton.