After a week of steady progress and getting better from not feeling all that sick to begin with, I woke up today with a 103 degree fever.

On my way to the doctor now.

worth a look

One of the funnier blog posts I've read in a long time:

JCPenney Catalog, Circa 1977

It reminds me of the variety of catalogs one would find in our house when I was growing up. I wish I'd had the presence of mind when I was seven to save some of the stuff we had so I could dig it up and post it out there today.

headaches...

Well, I spoke too soon on the post-Thanksgiving illness, though thankfully it isn't strep. It's just one of those colds that's sticking around, so lots of pressure headaches, scratchy throats, body aches, and general fatigue. I've been basically sleeping as much as possible, and then going to work... coming home and going right back to bed. I still feel pretty lousy, but I think I'm getting better. The cough has subsided, at least.

I'm really frustrated at work right now. I have some very serious misgivings about our sales manager, who should have been fired six months ago... but none of my higher-ups really want to do anything about it. That kind of complacency is poisonous, and I've seen how quickly it can make everything else go sour. I want the club to avoid going down that road again but I don't know how to do it without making other people look bad, who don't necessarily deserve it.

The Broadway Strike is over, just in time for my vacation! I'll be staying with my friend Alex. I guess I should start making my list of things to do and shows to see. Opening night of the revival of The Homecoming is on December 9, and I'm tempted to manipulate my way into an invitation. I won't, but I'm tempted. Though I hear it's kind of terrible, I wouldn't mind seeing Young Frankenstein. The Drowsy Chaperone is touring through ATL in the spring, so its not at the top of my priority list. I don't know, the Broadway stuff isn't as thrilling to me this time around. A lot of intriguing stuff off-B'way, though, and a few friends have projects I've been invited to.

a question to get you thinking

OK, I have readers on both sides of the political spectrum here, and I have a question:

If you were taking part in the presidential primary for the opposite political party, who would you support/vote for and why?

"Because that would make ____ win the general election for sure!" is not an acceptable answer.

I posted this on a message board a few weeks ago and got some interesting answers out of it. Those posters were mostly Democrats, so I'm interested to get the other side of the coin.

the curse is broken

OK, it's the day after Thanksgiving. This day has been generally cursed for me for the past two years -- I've come down with a horrific case of strep each year. In 2005 I was out from work for over a week. Last year I was on doctor's mandated bedrest for three days.

This year? I feel fine. Well, not completely fine -- I have a little tickle in my throat and a very slight headache, but nothing to the order of strep. I blame taking a walk in the very blustery aftermath of a light shower. Atlanta felt pretty much abandoned yesterday afternoon, only a diner and a Starbucks open for business. I spent most of the day on my own, my feast being a box mac and cheese (though to give it an air of sophistication, I got creative with the ingredients). I've been off from work since Wednesday and not going back until Sunday; clearly, I've been sleeping a lot. I'm actively fending off illness that hasn't settled in yet.

vacation!

Finally, it's time to start planning some me-time!

It starts next week, with a lovely and glorious 4 (maybe 5?) day weekend! I'm still holding out hope that I'll be able to zoom down to the farm for a few days, though so far none of my transit options have panned out.

Then I'm plugging for a lovely TEN DAY BREAK in the middle of December (5 days bookended by weekends and 1 extra at the end) which will be spent mostly not in Atlanta. Found a round trip to NY for under $200, but still looking at other options too.

Finally, a few more days taken off around Christmas for a proper family holiday at the farm.

I'm looking forward to it all...

UPDATE: Damn, the fares jumped $60 overnight! Looking...

UPDATE II, ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: ...and booking. Still not that nice under $200 number, but a negotiable amount in the neighborhood. In NYC December 8-16.

fear and loathing

Another break-in, this time our next door neighbors. They have an alarm system with a screaming siren that went off at about 11:30 tonight. At first I thought nothing of it, there tends to be a false alarm every two or three months there, and this one got shut off within a minute. Roommate called about an hour later, letting me know what was going on. I peered out the front door to see lots of blue lights flashing. Our neighbors were apparently home at the time, and according to the hearsay, they actually were able to catch the guy on their front porch.

Unnerving. I've been rolling around the idea of finding my own place for the past couple of weeks, and right this very second moving into a nice, tightly secured apartment complex like the one I looked at last week seems quite appealing. But then, Atlanta in general just feels terribly unsafe to me. I'm a big tall guy who looks pretty intimidating and typically not what someone thinks of as an easy target, but I never really feel *secure* when I walk home at night. Hell, I felt safer in pre-gentrification Harlem than I do in Atlanta.

I'd just rather be somewhere else. Not necessarily New York, just somewhere that isn't Atlanta. This place doesn't work for me... but I've got so much lined up in the next six months right now, it's not a viable option.

--
Updates:

Heard from D. Out of the hospital, back at home and doing alright. I'm worried about him, regardless.

J is out of hospital too -- I confused myself by trying to be vague on detail. Not a back problem; a hernia. I'm glad he got it taken care of before it became something much, much worse.

A family friend passed on this morning. I didn't know her well, but knew enough to know what a loss it is.

All of this just shores up those feelings of fragility. Living without fear should be as easy as it is said.

fragile

The human body... remarkable and amazing in its ability to protect itself and rebound from trouble.

And incredibly fragile. My friend D in NYC went under the knife on Wednesday for a heart procedure. My brother J had surgery today for a back problem. And of course, there was my little four day hospital adventure, still fresh in my mind after seven months. (Incidentally, the swelling has gone down and the stiffness alleviated...nothing of great concern at this point.)

And that's where my mind is now. Preoccupied and worried. I haven't heard from D yet, and J sounds like he's having the same problems I did when I was in the hospital. It's a rough go, but they'll be fine. Maybe a bit grouchy (and occasionally loopy from painkillers) for a while, but ...fine.

i've done it again

Yep, I fell once again, this time at work. I was cleaning up in the locker room, slipped on a slick spot I'd just mopped and landed on my arm. The irony is that I was putting out the wet floor signs at the time.

It's been a bit swollen for the past two days, and sends a dull throb through my arm if just barely touched. The good news, though, is that today, the swelling has gone down considerably and the pain is more like a bruise rather than a crack, break, or loose screw. Of course, I slept on my back funny last night so it's possible whatever problems I was having are just being upstaged right now. I'm keeping an eye on it and if I continue to have problems I'm back to get it x-rayed again. It's been reported too, so worker's comp will be easy if it comes to that.

My boss suddenly seems to be on the warpath, which is a great thing. One person fired yesterday, another in the sights for next week. I've been advocating for these releases for months, and finally we're in a position to be able to do so without repercussions.

scary

Beelzebub, the original Hell's Angel.

Alternate interpretations:

An Irish man fresh from the tanning salon
A raccoon on fire
ECZEMA! AAAAAH!!!