Wedding Bellz

I've been thinking of writing a 2005 retrospective and with today marking the wedding of one of my best friends, it would seem like a good day to write it. However, I wanted to write a more personal version in my own private journal - a rambling, multi-page monstrosity that I started in 1998 - before condensing a more entertaining edition for 500WPD. No guarrantee of course that it will be entertaining in the least.

For now, I just want to mention the wedding. Congratulations, buddy! And enjoy the posh hotel!

Imagined Disaster Averted

The day of judgement of upon me. Having called in sick from work, I was desperately sleeping away my bitter little cold. Noon rolled around and I was forced to rouse myself and make some lunch. More time ticked by and my hopes were beginning to look very bleak. It was 2pm and the nose had suddenly started running again, not to mention a new wave of fatigue that had me trudging ever so slowly back to my warm, inviting bed.

It would be a miracle for me to be able to make out to my date, let alone function with all cylinders firing.

Then it happened, the minor miracle. I suppose my cursing to the gods of superstition worked after all.

My date called to explain how she hadn't finished her research paper yet and had to postpone our dinner until the next day. Fearing a slower recovery, I took her one day postponement and raised it another day. She happily agreed.

I hung up the phone and almost did a backflip. Of course, people stricken with colds typically are not capable of such acrobatics. I settled for an enthused fist pump.

As for the date on Friday, all was to the good. I was fighting off a fair bit of grogginess but I survived the date intact and with flying colours.

Cruel and Unusual Punishment

I was thinking of calling this post Bad Luck.

I don't know how else to describe my predicament. A day before a big date and barely a week into my new job, I've finally been stricken with the dreaded common cold. I'm not so much in denial as I am praying to a god out there that I'm just hallucinating my symptoms or that I'll be miraculously healed when I wake up tomorrow morning.

I had been through the cold scare a few times since the summer and each time I would wonder at my luck at not catching it. Truth be told, if I caught any kind of routine illness in the past few months, it wouldn't have much mattered because I was a bum and lazing around at home all day anyway.

Now, when I've got two new things going in my life, "Bam", here comes the cold.

All I can tell you is that I was a complete basket-case yesterday and coughed a few times while at work. Meh, I figured it was just my lack of sleep over the weekend. Later that night I made the call and set up my date. All was well.

I woke up this morning feeling like I hadn't slept for very long, despite getting to bed at a decent hour. My nose was running a bit and I was foggy like a muthafucka. It got worse when I arrived to work. That's when the throat soreness kicked in.... and that's what I still have now... combined with my fatigue.

What's a guy to do? I could postpone the date for later this week... but my date takes off on Sunday for 3 weeks to Puerto Rico. My window of time has narrowed. Sure, I could wait until she gets back... but the time gap, along with me cancelling a date, which I've never done in my life, might just send the wrong signals and destroy any momentum I might have had.

What's the alternative then? Remedy my cold to death and hopefully mask the symptoms, then go out on my date and possibly spread my awesome cold to her right before she goes on her vacation?

This is the worst sort of pickle to be in. And I would be ranting out loud about my terrible luck if someone was actually around to listen to my crap in person.

THIS SUCKS.

Working Stiff Redux

Hi kids. Miss me?
I rejoined the working world today after about 18 weeks of unemployment. That's about how long I lasted at the job I got laid off from. Time fucking flies when you're doing jack shit.

Returning to full-time work feels... strange. I have a whole different perspective on my job and what it means to my life. I have a newfound respect for money and knowing that there will be a paycheque in my hot little hands every couple weeks. I also realized that I can still do the work I've always done and still pursue the pursuits that really matter to me.

As for the new gig, things are looking good. There are already some telltale signs that I'll be enjoying my time here:

• My workstation is brand new, modern and it works
  It's also not a Macintosh.
• My monitor is easy on the eyes
  It's almost sharper than the one I got at home... the one that probably cost twice as much.
• I was left to do my work, uninterrupted, for up to 3 hours
• The latest versions of all my favourite programs.
  PhotoShop CS2 anyone?
  
• I have every reason to believe I won't have to talk to a single client... EVER
• There's a bevy of unhealthy restaurants in the area to visit for lunch
• Free parking
  That's right, no more fart-soaked, duct-taped bus seats
• Casual & laid back environment
  Continuing my streak of taking jobs that don't require me to wear a tie.
  
• Access to a monstrous library of DVDs
  Lost Season 1 here I come...

That's about all I can think of now but you have to admit it's a good start.

So you might be wondering if this will affect the content of the blog or how frequently updates come. The short answer to both is: "very little". My other writing/blogging commitments haven't quite kicked in yet despite a flurry of activity last week. When I am finally required to write something insightful for other people to read, you might see this space become a 500 Words Per Week zone for a little while. Such is life.

Anything else to report from the trenches of the working man? Not really. I'm not as flush with excitement as I used to be when scoring a new job. Frankly, I'm just relieved and a little shocked by how I found work just a few weeks before Christmas. Sometimes I love my own timing. It can be so fucked up.