I never read forwarded e-mails that begin like the one I received this morning: "Whether this is legitimate or not I do not know for sure, but it sure sounds like it is, and is information worth having...."

In my experience, that's usually a sure sign of an urban legend.

I know that job-hunting requires work, but positions in my field sometimes require more than what I would consider reasonable.

Last week I had a brief phone interview for a position with a local magazine. Later that afternoon, my interviewer sent me three articles to edit, which I was asked to return along with five story ideas (and optional sidebar articles) for the magazine. I have no real sense that I'm a serious candidate for the position at this point. This is something I might expect if they had narrowed their choices down to a handful of people, but I think four hours of work is more than I'm willing to invest in something that seems like a longshot.

This weekend I hit golf balls, hiked Pinnacle Peak, and ate Sunday lunch on a friend's patio, enjoying absolutely perfect weather. It was one of those winter weekends where we all say, "Oh, this is why we live in Phoenix."

I can remember what I had for dinner at a relative’s house 20 years ago, but can’t recall my own cell phone number. Okay, so I finally did memorize the number, but I won’t admit to how long this actually took. It’s an ongoing challenge to get numbers to stick in my head.

Sometimes I miss the simplicity of living in a small town, where everyone had the same phone number prefix. When you asked a friend for their number, you only had to recall four simple digits. Now when someone offers contact information, you have to brace yourself for a list: home phone, work phone, cell phone, pager.

And you still can’t get a hold of people half the time.

My three least-favorite personal chores, in no particular order:

• Going to the bank
  
• Filling my gas tank
  
• Paying bills
  

When I get around to actually doing them, they're really not all that bad. So why do I always seem to put them off until the last possible minute?

The gym where I work out usually has an array of magazines available for those of us who like to be distracted during the more mundane parts of our exercise routine. Since the magazine supply last weekend had dwindled down to a couple of battered copies of Field and Stream, I ended up watching Disney Channel's Lizzie McGuire during my workout last Saturday. I normally can't endure Saturday morning kids' programs, but I have to admit I added an extra few minutes to my workout so I could see how the show ended.

Lake Superior State University has released its annual List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness. One I'd add to the list: "24/7".