Pad Thai, Krystals, and R. Kelly

There's something so great about a fantastic Thai meal with several of your favorite people on your birthday, followed by a walk around your (tiny) town square, followed by Heineken at your town's best version of a run-down dive bar where you interact with fun, kind people from around your town that makes everything feel ok for a while.

And then there's something about heroically cruising into work the next day and being forced to deal with your new temporary office mate's stinky fast food breakfast and lunch (Krystal's, people), constant raunchy burping, and endless loud R&B slow jams that make you a) really appreciate not eating lunch for that 2 weeks while you saved up every last cent you had for your iPod, and b) realize that you need a long, long vacation that all the leave days in the world couldn't provide you with.