I wish I could read people's minds. Either that, or I wish people would tell me what's on their minds. I plan to spend most of tomorrow working, even though it's Presidents' Day, but I'd like to know if the Boss expects me to be up and ready at the usual, way-too-early hour of 8:00 am. Maybe a better question is if he even knows it's a holiday.

He'll find out when the state agencies we're working for don't answer his phone calls. I know he'll be upset that none of the checks we're waiting for will show up in the mail, since there's no delivery on a federal holiday. I realize now, too late, that I should have reminded him Friday. If I'd asked him about it, I wouldn't have to try to read his mind.

My mind-reading skills are weighted down by hope. They're heavily biased toward what I really want, which is sleeping in. If I don't know what the Boss is thinking, and it's too late to plant ideas in his head, I'll just have to go with my instinct, which is not to set the clock radio for tomorrow morning. That way, the worst thing I might have to say is, "Sorry. I overslept."

It's not that I want to take the day off. It's no disrespect to Washington, Lincoln and those other guys. I just want to do my job the best I can, and I can do better if I know what's going on. I can do better still if I can sleep until ten.

Today isn't a good example. I did sleep until ten, but I didn't get any work done. That's because I was awake until after five. At five I finally gave up trying to fall asleep on the couch and went to bed. I did sleep some, but I didn't sleep enough, apparently. At 2:30 this afternoon I sat down to read for a few minutes and ended up sleeping for an hour. I doubt that will keep me from sleeping tonight, though. And I'm completely sure it won't keep me from sleeping late in the morning.