Sputter... fizz...

Well, that certainly didn't take long.

I got up this morning, gingerly stepped over and around a meandering cat on my way to the bathroom, showered, and dressed. Sweetie's autopilot kicked in, and she dragged herself out of bed to help me make coffee and pack my lunch.

After kissing my wife goodbye and wishing her a nice day, I turned the car toward Dallas.

"Nice," I thought. "Traffic's pretty light this morning. A lot of people must've taken an extra day off from work."

There was a little voice way in the back of my brain trying to get my attention, but I couldn't hear it over the radio.

I made it to the office and parked in my usual spot. The fact that mine was the only car on my level of the parking structure didn't trouble me in the least. There's rarely more than a couple cars when I arrive in the morning, and because of today's light traffic (there's that little voice again, a little louder but perhaps speaking with its mouth full of breakfast) I'd arrived about ten minutes earlier than usual.

On the ground level, I noted the presence of a black Mercedes convertible that's always there, parked across three spaces, when I arrive. I muttered something appropriately inappropriate under my breath, like I always do.

The voice receded.

In the front door with my pass card (normal), up the elevator, into the still-dark maze of cubicles (also normal), and to my desk I went. No one around. My favorite time of the morning. While my workstation was booting, I used the time to visit the men's.

"Don't you think it's a little odd that we didn't really get a New Year's holiday?"

It was the voice.

"What?"

"New Year's Day. It was yesterday. A Sunday?"

"Yeah?"

The voice sighed.

"Look, I know we haven't had our second cup of coffee yet, but work with me. When a holiday falls on the weekend, don't we usually observe it on the following Monday?"

"Um..." I said to the restroom walls. "Oh. Crap."

My first brain fart of the new year.

At least the traffic was light for my drive back to the house.