A Tired, Old Man

Warning! The following entry contains what is commonly referred to as "whining". You are reading this article at your own risk. Possible side effects include: swelling of the salivary glands, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach ache, fever, headache, metallic taste, and allergic reactions. Prolonged exposure causes lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema, and may complicate pregnancy. Quitting reading now greatly reduces serious risks to your health.

Some days I feel like I'm falling apart. First my weight balloons up, then my knees go bad, then I have a pseudo-hernia. On Friday I was diagnosed with a ganglion cyst. Hopefully my new diet and exercise regimen will get me feeling better.

We left for Alesha's shower in Illinois on Friday, but with one hitch: I didn't go home on Thursday. Due to a thunderstorm, I got to spend Thursday night in lovely downtown Newark. It normally sucks to have to stay an extra day, but the extended stay meant that I only had an hour and a half at home before I had to leave for Chicago. Since I'm gone all week, I have to do things like finances, doctor appointments, oil changes, and get some actual sleep on the weekends. I didn't get a chance to do much this time.

However, Alesha and I had an awesome time in Illinois. We doubled the number of states we have been to together to 4: Minnesota, Arkansas, Wisconsin, and Illinois. Michael, Aimee, and Micah came with us in Alesha's mom's van. My aunts and grandmother were very welcoming and friendly to Alesha; it made me appreciate how awesome my family is. Plus we got a lot of loot.

The weekend was good, but I didn't get much sleep. So I wasn't too excited when my boss called me and said that all the area ARINS-ites were meeting in New York City. And I would be driving. On the way over, I got cut off more times than I can count. Several people let me know I was number one in their lives. Over the George Washington bridge, I missed my turn and got off at the next exit. Unfortunately, it was on a road with a train overhead. The support beams divided both directions of the four lane road at small intervals. When you're in the middle lane, how do you get over? I probably went three miles before I figured out how to turn around.

We ate at a steak-and-seafood place at about 9:00. The food was alright. The good part about the evening was that I got to meet some ARINSO folks I hadn't seen before. The bad part was that I was still exhausted from the weekend. I can imagine I wasn't a brilliant conversationalist. When everyone left for "dessert" at the pub at 10:30, I excused myself.

And got lost. The good news is I now know where Central Park is, and what it looks like late at night. I got back at 12:30 this morning.

At any rate, all is good with the world now. I'm almost seriously entertaining the idea of going to see Ann Coulter at her book signing tomorrow in Huntington.