I was actually going to try going to the gym tonight but I got home and though I’d just rest for a teensy bit and and then a hour later I was waking up remembering how I called the doctor’s office this morning to ask just how long a guy should be coughing before he made an appointment to have a MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL tell him things about his (lack of) health. But I’m thinking the people who work in doctors offices are tired of hearing about the swine ‘flu and the bird ‘flu and other types of ‘flu that are POTENTIALLY LETHAL and really would just like a chance to sit in the office with nobody sick bothering them so they could just work on their Facebook updates all day long and deal with the usual OLD PEOPLE who don’t have anything contagious and lethal to worry about. YES YOU CHICKEN SHITS, I’M TALKING ABOUT YOU. I’m sure they don’t need me to come in and whine about how I’ve been sick for over a f*cking week and how I can’t sleep real well or eat or even go to the gym since I’ve been sick because that takes away from their Amazon shopping sprees, but come on, THAT’S WHAT WE PAY YOU FOR.

I mean my life isn’t going the way I want it to. I just want to go to work and surf some gossip sites and watch some YouTube videos but holy hell, not only am I still a little sick but THERE’S ACTUALLY WORK TO DO and it’s cutting into my online slacking time.

See what happens when I don’t get to go to the gym? I get a little stir crazy. Though in all honesty I know that I’m still not feeling well enough to go in. Whatever.

My mom comes back from Japan tomorrow (she’s probably getting on the plane right now) and I sure as hell don’t want to give this cold to her. It ought to be gone by then, right?

I thought I should get to sleep early last night because if I didn’t make it into work they might fire my ass for abandoning my post or something but as the evening wore on my stomach made those grumbling noises that mean if I tried to go to sleep I’d be getting up at some point and running for the bathroom. I didn’t actually make it to sleep until almost midnight and even then I tossed and turned and had ridiculous nightmares. The nightmare would wake me up, go to the bathroom, and realize I was incredibly uncomfortable and needed a drink of water. This repeated a bunch of times. Heck, I weighed 159 lbs this morning.

So I was continually thirsty today, and through no scientific proof I decided it was probably just a lack of fat in my stomach, giving me an excuse to try Slabtown Barbecue. They’re expensive, the portions are small, but it was all very tasty. Heck, most of the time I eat way too much at a barbecue joint so it’s probably just as well that I didn’t get huge slabs of meat. I’m feeling better already.

See what happens when I take the day off from the gym? I really take the day off from the gym.

So I’ve been pretty darn sick lately. Monday I stayed home from work because of a splitting headache. Tuesday I went to workbut Tuesday night I found myself shivering under the covers (using all 3 comforters I use in the wintertime) so I figured I should probably stay home on Wednesday (the day my new laptop was being delivered, coincidentally). Thursday I spent most of the day in bed passed out and getting up for more than five minutes at a time would make me shiver and break out into a cold sweat. Friday I was weak, but feeling better, and today I was in bed until the afternoon. I’m hoping this wonderful yo-yo ride is going to end soon but at least tomorrow should be an up day.

Fortunately my sister comes over and leaves her crap here most Saturdays when she goes running and she offered to do some shopping for me. There really isn’t that much food in the house. I told her I wanted Skippy and tortillas so I could be lazy and at least have something to eat. She also got me a Trader Joe’s burrito, which I didn’t think I could eat because I had a hard time with a tiny cup of yogurt earlier in the day but that thing tasted delicious. I think my appetite is coming back and I’m hoping I feel better tomorrow (and the next day). We’ll see.

She also brought over Thuy’s amineko that they think looks like me.

I still wasn’t feeling great today, but there’s too much work to do at work. It would be so much more pleasant if I could just be left alone there. Been fairly busy with no let-up in sight.

My laptop is supposed to arrive tomorrow. I’m sure I won’t have that much to say about it after I get it. You know how it is. It’s going to be just like the one I have now, just faster. I might have been happier if I just stuck to this one and got an iPad, but nah, I made my decision.

One of these days I’m going to slip up and talk about a sick day when I wasn’t really sick. I just figure if I can sleep over nine hours (something I can’t do anymore when I’m not sick or even hung over) then I’m sick. I woke up with a sinus headache and got up to go to work. Even got partially dressed when I realized I just felt awful and went back to bed until 11AM. I took some Advil around 1PM-ish, and that made my headache go away but just revealed a backache. I did go out to lunch, thinking that would be my meal for the day, but that upset my digestive system. With that list of symptoms I’m pretty sure I’m sick. Not deathly ill, but surely under the weather.

That didn’t cut down on the volume of work I have to do, which is mainly chasing down information from people who don’t respond to email. It’s just as quick to get verbal responses when I find people.

Oh, and my meal for the day was at Tasty and Sons, where I had the Philly Cheesesteak. I wasn’t too excited about it, but they smoke their own meat and add mushrooms that just made it smell and taste that much better than I expected. I sure hope I retained some of the nutritive value.

I went to see The Losers with Jeff today and I’ve been hearing for days that it’s a bad movie. I went in with low expectations and was pleasantly surprised with a silly but entertaining movie. Lots of explosions and similar nonsense. Didn’t take itself too seriously, either.

Other than that I don’t have much to say about today. Spent most of the day at a Chip Conrad seminar where he didn’t do all that much to beat us up, but I still feel pretty banged up. He showed us things that were just different enough that it got me good and tired. That and laundry and there’s my whole day.

Today did not start well. I woke up to my alarm, thinking it was Saturday. I was quite disoriented and had to convince myself to get up. Work was work, but I had to leave work early to pick up my car from the body shop. On the plus side, they decided it needed to come out of my “uninsured motorist” insurance since it was a hit-and-run and so the deductible was a lot less. It was a nightmare taking the bus to the body shop, but I made it before closing (barely) and got my nice shiny car back. The deductible was less than I would have paid to have the car detailed, though I think detailers do a slightly better job because that’s all they do. In any case I was pretty happy.

HOWEVER, when I got home, I heard a hissing sound and so I had to drive to the tire shop to have the tire patched. Not only did that kill an hour, but the tire guys grimed up my shiny car a bit. Ah well.

If you’re wondering about the post title, MY LAPTOP HAS SHIPPED! Not that it really matters, since my current laptop is doing just fine. But still, 50% faster!

So there are several reasons to go to dinner by myself at Ringside. First, everyone ditched me for Burger Club and I was on my own. Second, I had a discount card that was expiring tonight. And third, Ringside is moving, remodeling, and moving back and I’m not the only one who is afraid that things will change for the worse. I mean I had a black-and-blue Kobe beef filet mignon that was charred on the outside, cold on the inside, tender, and so tasty that I had to stop after my first bite to get my bearings. Everything else was just as delicious. I did make reservations for three, hoping that my ex-heterosexual-life-partner Il was free, but he was seeing a play with his girlfriend. Whatever.

I went even though my stomach has hurt most of the day. I’m not sure if I should blame it on the medication I take where abdominal pain is reported in 36.5% of the cases or if I should blame it on the “bananas” they have at work which are really banana-shaped green sticks. And by stomach pain, I mean sharp pains that can make me feel fatigued and sleep all day long. It hasn’t gotten much better, either. Ah well, it usually goes away after a day. It didn’t spoil my dinner.

So now I’m a little drunk and at home and that just means watching dance music videos on YouTube. You know what I mean.

Springtime is still getting the best of me. Thunderstorms with the requisite hail and periodic downpours mixed with slight hayfever symptoms aren’t really the best of fun. But I’ve been making up for it by spending way too much money. This morning I found out that the Apple Worldwide Developer Conference is from June 7-11, so I bought a ticket for $1599. I think work may pay for airfare, though. I also found out that just the hard drive in my new laptop is $1300. Whatever. I’m still trying to buy my way to happiness. Gadget happiness anyway.

Speaking of laptop, it was supposed to ship in 5-7 business days. Today is day 5. I have my fingers crossed.

I had to get to work early for a 7AM meeting. This sounds like a bad idea all around, doesn’t it? I’m cranky as it is, and getting to work with no breakfast and no coffee wasn’t making it any better. Things didn’t get much better until closer to lunch time.

Most everyone bailed on me for burger club again (queue the suicide watch) so I’m making reservations for Ringside. I’m hoping my former heterosexual-life-partner Il can make it to our twice-yearly pilgrimage to RIngside because they’re going to shut it down, move it, remodel the old location, and reopen it in a year and I’m not sure they’re going to have the food as dialed in as they have it now. In any case, I’m dragging my sorry ass there whether Il wants to go or not. I’ve had two birthday dinners already and this will be the third. Of course I never did get a birthday discount card from Ringside so I’m going to have to use the one my mom gets for her anniversary.

My parents married 363 days before my birth date, so it all happens about the same time of the year. Her birthday in March, mine in April, her anniversary a couple days later, and my dad’s death day three days after that on tax day. My dad’s birthday is in May. My sister is the weirdo with the August birthday and the February anniversary.

I didn’t feel lightheaded at the gym tonight, but my stomach wasn’t feeling all that right. I was much more fatigued than I usually am, so I’m still not 100%. Could be worse.

OK, I must admit that I feel a little better now, but right before I went to the gym I felt lightheaded. And when I was talking to Melissa, just nodding my head yes was making me woozy. I stayed and did the workout with less weight than usual, and by the end I thought I was going to throw up. I only stayed because I was thinking no one’s been sick lately so this must just be the weather since it went from almost 70 and sunny to cold and raining today. I just realized that I know PLENTY of people who have recently been sick. Plus, I would have emailed the gym to tell them I wasn’t coming in, but I destroyed one of my servers again and I was off of the intarweb for a while. I need a new hobby.

So I was informed that I spent $1300 on a hard drive. I replied that a single dude with no chance of dating can do things like that. Unfortunately, that reminded me that the laptop hasn’t shipped yet and I’m getting impatient. Oh, who am I kidding, my current laptop is fine and I don’t really care when the new one arrives. I should just buy another Windows laptop like the one I have at work because the pain would make me feel more alive.

Speaking of which, I have a 7AM meeting tomorrow. I better pretend to go to bed soon even though I was told to keep reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Apparently I’m not even halfway through the tedious part, but it’s supposed to be more interesting after that.

Last weekend I actually got out of the house. Went out to dinner with friends, saw a couple of movies, got a ridiculous haircut, etc. This weekend was much more typical, catching up on laundry, reading a couple of books, and I did get out to eat but it seems a little different when you’re doing it on your own. I got to read a lot more. I think someone is playing a prank on me and has told me that The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is an interesting book and not some dry, corporate shenanigans that are as interesting to me as watching paint dry. Oh, the business trickery! Oh, the cleverness! Oh, the painful boredom!

The pace of foreign mysteries is a bit more languid. I want to tell the author to get the hell on with it. I don’t really give a crap about the detective’s whole family unless it furthers the story. Maybe it’s just the stack of ten physical books and four Kindle books that is making me impatient but come on, I want to see some bad guys get caught here.