The Speech - Aborted

I went Los Patios to give my speech on Wednesday and found out that the breakfast was the 29th, instead. Naturally, I can't get off then, so the speech ain't gonna happen. The retirement center was neat. The staff was friendly and the dining room itself was really nice. If I could afford the rent, I would consider living there.

We had a cold spell blow through Friday, and Saturday my allergies had flared up again. I took massive amounts of medicine to stop the snot fountain in my head.

Well, I am going to get ready to watch the commercials during the Super Bowl. It's gotta be a bit of a downer for the players to know that for all their work all season long, tomorrow everyone's gonna be talking about the Pepsi ad.

I'm Getting Better!

While most of the symptoms of my recent bout with allergies have disappeared, my sinuses continue to flow. I hope the snot machine in my head ceases production soon.

Sean called us today. He and some buddies went to New Orleans. He called looking for me. He wanted to know where the French Quarter was. I was at work, but mom tried to direct him to the debauchery that is N'Awlins.

I have agreed to give a speech about the history of Texas breweries to a men's breakfast at a retirement community in San Antonio. I have worried about what to tell these folks. I hope I inform them and entertain them. I'm not nervous right now. I imagine I won't be able to sleep on Tuesday night. Check back on Thursday to see how things went.

Not a Happy New Year

(6) For the last few days, I have been sufferring from allergies, or a cold, or something, that made me feel like crap: Bouts of dizziness, followed by drowsiness, followed by marathon nose blowing sessions, and all accompanied by a fever.

It all started on 1/1. I attribute it to karma. On New Years Eve, Debbie came into the office and as we chatted, I mentioned golf, and she mentioned that Larry would like to play, and wondered if I was free on New Years Day. I shrugged and said "Sure." I called Larry, who had me call the golf course and set a tee time. I started practicing my swing in my mind as I left the office. I got into my van, started the engine and realized that I had promised to cook dinner on New Years Day, and that Sean was coming over to eat it. Fuck! I got home and called Larry and told him that I was a moron. He said something about "We all make mistakes" but I still felt like dirt.

I had several beers while watching the festivities. On New Years Day I thought I had a hangover. You know: bouts of dizziness, drowsiness, nausea, and fever.But I cowboy-ed up and cooked dinner.

We waited for Sean. What we didn't realize was that he was on Marine time. When we said "come over for dinner (the noon meal)" in Texan, he heard "come over for dinner (the evening meal)" in Marine. He showed up about 4 pm.

Fully sated from my noon meal, I had begun to realize that my desire to surgically attach my butt in my chair had another source. By the time Sean had used up all the guilt I had filled him with to show up (he hadn't planned to, originally), I had used all my energy. After he left to party with his buddies, I crashed.

The next day at work, I was worthless. And I still had two more days until a day off. I came home and crashed. On Friday, I slugged about in bed as long as I could. Then after work, I came home and crashed. I went in on Saturday and tried to work. But I kept thinking about how much richer I would have been if only I had bought stock in Kleenex. I also thought about how much water the snot factory in my head was costing me.Then Hunter Scott, one of the homeowners called, and asked me what beer I had been buying lately. (He called for another reason and our conversation turned to beer. It's not like people call me to find out what I'm drinking. I swear.) I told him I hadn't had one in about four days. For me, that's a record! I went home at 3 pm, and crashed.

On Sunday, I decided on a treatment plan of Vicks Sinex and the homeopathic cold medicine Zicam. Everytime I blew my nose, I shot some stuff up there to dry things out. Then I put some Zicam up there to clear things. Today, my plan seems to have worked. I still had the fever, but I killed fewer trees by wiping my nose, though I still have the occassional watery eyes as I make the pre-sneeze face.