The Update for Everybody Else

[traininthedistance]

Headed back to Philly for a long weekend with the GF.  The occasion being her 5-year college reunion (we both went to the same school, but we're different years).  The school is out in the burbs, but we're spending more time downtown than on campus anyway, seeing friends and finding food and playing boardgames.

We've been having lovely weather for a reunion, by the way.  Where "lovely" is of course anything but.

[traininthedistance]

They've done actual studies that indicate humanities majors are better off than people who go into "business" or "communications" or any somesuch "marketable" BS field for undergrad.  I'm sure a lot of that is the fact that a degree in something like philosophy or history is legitimately good prep for law school.

Though, I was an English major and have not exactly done very well for myself in the job world.  This is what happens when you spend your entire undergrad career expecting to go the PhD route and then realizing a year after graduation that, no, that's a horrible idea. 

[traininthedistance]

And, of course, Cal Tony is 1000 percent right that it's pretty disgusting that people would pooh-pooh the humanities (i.e. that which makes us human) just because they don't pay the big buxx.

[traininthedistance]

I went into Manhattan with the GF to go see a friend of hers, who was having a party at some Irish pub.

We ended up watching some X Games on ESPN (that's what happened to be on the TV in front of us) and talking about how there were no competitors from outside the US... except of course for the one dude from Australia.  Not the sort of thing I'd normally watch but actually really impressive.  It kinda felt like gymnastics... FOR MEN.

Then on the way back she insisted on taking a detour to get on the R train instead of waiting for the Q, because the Montague Tube is going to be closed for fourteen months to repair damage from Sandy starting tomorrow and she thought it might be nice to give it a going-away ride.  Obviously, I thought this was a fine idea.

Goddamn it we really need to do something to make our infrastructure more resilient.  We need to do a lot of things.

[traininthedistance]

Last night we (my GF, a couple friends, and I) were in the semifinals of this super-hard pub quiz we go to each week.  We didn't do that well, but fortunately the team we were matched up with was apparently just as mediocre.  So we were given a tiebreaker question that I assumed they made up on the fly.

The tiebreaker question was, "In one minute, write down as many counties of New York State as you can".

Boom.  Now we're in the finals.  Though the other two teams in the finals are certainly better (it's a three-for-all), so we will likely come in last there.  Which is still good for fabulous prizes.

[traininthedistance]

Got myself a pretty nasty cold, so staying inside today.

Right now I'm cooking up a (mildly spicy) sausage, kale, and bean stew that will hopefully clear the sinuses.  It's not chicken soup, but it's the next best thing.  And we don't have any chicken at home.

[traininthedistance]

I got too active in bed about 3 weeks ago, and sprained a ligament in my foot, it got infected, antibiotics don't totally work, and so I went to the big guns at UCI and the Doc said the pools of puss or whatever attract bacteria, like pond scum, so I am wearing a tight medical sock on one leg now to try to squeeze out and drain the swamp. He said if it still does not clear up, the next step is to see if I have a leaking vein with surgery. I see him again on Sept 3. Then last night, I got a fever (haven't had one of those in decades), could not eat dinner, and repaired to bed with the chills at 8 pm, soaking the sheets with sweat. The fever is down this morning. So hopefully I will still be alive on Sept 3 to explore more new and exciting worlds of medical science.

And this whole cf is just do to being a bit gymnastic seeking just the right angle. It is just pathetic how easily olds can get hurt, and how long it takes to recover.

So this is my cheery little update for the morning. Aren't you all glad you're not me? 

Oh, geez.  Get well soon!