#8 Least Romantic Thing to do on Valentine's Day: Look for new apartments when you're perfectly pleased with the one you have, thank you.

We looked at 3 apartments yesterday, drove by one that we had scheduled to realize that bars on the windows were a no-no, and sort of drove by several others.

The overriding things we've learned:

#1: Palo Alto is not that great. Apparently, "college town atmosphere" means "having almost exclusively coffee shops" - and for someone that doesn't drink coffee, that's not all that exciting.

In all seriousness, there were a few blocks that were mildly interesting, but nothing practical like a grocery store nearby. The rest of it appeared to be sprawling suburbia. Unless getting a $6 haircut is your idea of a good time, it's not the place for you.

#2: If you're showing an empty apartment, it might be a good idea to replace the godawful MIRRORED blinds if you want someone to rent it. Ew. Ew. Ew.

#3: Yes, there is something more expensive than the East Bay, and it's called the Peninsula. Seriously. We're already paying twice what we paid in Pittsburgh for a 2-bedroom...but the decent apartments we saw yesterday near the new office are $500 more than we're paying now PLUS you have to pay for water, sewer and garbage - none of which we pay for currently.

#4: It's a hard sell when you position your "luxury" apartments such that there are high-tension power lines running right above the parking lot. Not so much a fan of THAT view. And yet they were still the most expensive places we've seen so far. Hope the tenants don't start growing extra legs, or anything.

#5: If you walk into a Bay Area Chinese restaraunt and they're offering you 2 plates of food for $4.95, Just. Walk. Away. Nasty little dive of a restaraunt. It's a miracle we're still alive, but we were SO hungry. [According to Hunter: "That pork? It was shiny and red. There's no way it was cooked."] For the record, my food smelled vaguely like poop. Not a good sign.

Sounds like a really successful trip, eh? The only place we liked was the first one I saw on Craigslist. Guess we should have stopped while we were ahead. But the appliances and crap were older, not like the lovely new shiny ones we have here. And it's not in walking distance of anything (except, debatably, the new office) so I'd need to buy a second car. Stupid America and our stupid sprawl. One car per household SHOULD be enough!

It got quite gray and depressing again by the time we left. Now I'm becoming fairly confident that it is the intensity of my foul mood that is affecting the weather patterns around here, so apologies if I made it rain on your picnic or whatever. Blame SimParentCompany.

In the end, even despite the real possibility of a 1.5 to 2 hour commute, I STILL don't want to move. I LIKE it here. Graaaaaagh! [That's sort of like the sound a pterodactyl would make, in case you were wondering.]

We came home tired and depressed, but Society would make us feel even worse if we didn't make an effort to be good consumers of food and drink and tealight candles on Valentine's Day.

Hunter called around to try to get reservations, and several people laughed in his earpiece. There were a few places that were walk-ins only, so we decided to take our chances with them and visit the Cuban place we liked so much last time.

Hunter took a nap to replenish himself, and I sulked on the computer, looking at Craigslist again. Unexpectedly, my cell phone rang - the caller ID said it was Doug! I NEVER get calls from Doug, so I immediately worried that he was calling to tell me bad news of some sort, but I answered anyway.

As it turns out, Doug was just calling to say Happy Valentine's Day. Doug's a sweet guy, but that was still a little out of character, since he hates anything having to do with romance or little candy hearts. Being able to talk to him and hear that he was OK really perked me up a bit. We discussed my situation and then I changed the subject so that we talked about Doug's very first play and his continuing obsession with Star Wars Galaxies.

After we hung up, I almost wanted to call him back and tell him how much it meant that he had called, but I knew he was hanging up to go do something so I decided against being the weird clingy sister.

The evening with Hunter was nice. Good food and good mojitos. On the walk home, we stopped at the Belgian chocolate shop ("If we're moving, I want to take FULL ADVANTAGE of this place while I can!") We filled a box full of Chocolates You Can Get Drunk From. Wooo. We then continued home, where we popped open a bottle of champagne and had a lovely evening of things you can probably figure out on your own.

But now it's back to the Daily Depression. Damn, I'm in such a sour mood lately. I can't say I haven't considered popping a few Prozac, but I am adamant about my independence from my drugs now, and I am going to be stubborn and make it through on my own.

I have a trainer appointment at 2PM today, and then I'll probably go into work for an hour or two. After that? Maybe another weekly shopping run.

Hope you all had a lovely V-day. (If you live in the Bay Area, don't be surprised if my Depression of Doom continues to cause rain and destructive winds.) Happy Sunday.

PS - Dear Regular Readers: Note the "Cast of Characters" link in the little box on the right. I figured I'd try to keep all my acronyms and crap straight and give you a little reference guide to boot. Enjoy!