Shhhh.....batteries recharging

It's a quiet Friday night...no plans at all. The only definite item on the agenda is taking a friend out to dinner for his birthday tomorrow night; other than that, there's things to do like bring in the winter clothes/take out the summer clothes, housework, etc. That's all on my time and pace, which I'm thankful for. And with that, I bid you good night.

Super Special Overnight Posting!

I'm sitting on my couch, half-asleep, waiting on a DBA in Dallas to finish a backup and upgrade Oracle software. I went to bed around 9:30 and slept fitfully until 1:30. If I can get back to bed by 4, I'll be shocked. Looks like a long day ahead of me. Ah, the exciting life of the IT professional - and yes, I am getting overtime.

Been trying to get back on my exercise routine. Between football games and a cold, I'd been out of the gym for a week and a half. My gut has expanded accordingly, so it's time to get serious. I made it to the gym last night and tonight, but I already know I'm going to be too zonked to do much of anything Thursday.

Saturday night was a doozy. Got up to my usual parking place at BC around 5pm, and wound up sitting in the car for 2 hrs with The Captain and Count Macula, drinking beer and talking. The weather was horrendous...cold with wind-driven rain. By 7pm, we headed up to campus to meet up with our usual tailgate crew, who ran late. The funny part was meeting an FSU fan who was a good friend of my cousin down in NJ back in the day. Wound up getting stuck with 8 ounces of Bushmill, which I had to down just before gametime.

The weather actually improved during the game itself...the rain let up by halftime and the wind died down by game's end. Not a happy ending for the good guys, unfortunately. I wound up getting home by 1:30am and was appropriately useless on Sunday.

Winter is starting to rear its head - getting the winter clothes out and putting the summer clothes away is at the top of my to-do list this weekend. I already scheduled some maintenance for the snowblower with the local hardware store. It's about 37 degrees in the backyard as i type this, and I'm warm, albeit tired.

Shelter From The Storm

Just starting to see some rain from the remnants of Hurricane Noel. I have a decision to make in a few hours as to my pregame activities before FSU-BC. There's no question of staying home, but I need to decide when and where to meet up with people. The latest forecast is for heavy rain and wind in the hours just before kickoff.

Just getting over a cold, and I'll most likely get drenched even if rain gear, but hey. I'm a fan and this is what I do.

Run Your Body Down

Today is my nineteenth wedding anniversary. All credit should go to L, who puts up with my nonsense. I'm no one's idea of a day in the park to live with, but she manages. :-)

After running myself down all of last week, I hit the jackpot and caught a head cold. I've been working the Coldeez and feel a bit better, but I also know I'm pretty much down for the week. I need to point to Saturday, as my brother's driving up for the FSU-BC game. So, it will finally be early nights and taking it easy...like I should've done last week.

The Jersey trips usually take something out of me...the drive, meeting up with friends. Unfortunately, I had a very late night on Wednesday doing some maintenance, then the BC-VT game Thursday, then out to the local for a while on Friday. By Saturday, I was dragging, but I had promised my friend I'd go see him and the team he's coaching, so that turned into a long day between the game and heading out afterwards. I woke up feeling horrible Sunday, and here I am now. You'd think I would've learned by now.

I'll have to do some housecleaning to be ready by Saturday, but that will have to wait another day or so. All I'm thinking about now is the Nyquil I'll be taking in an hour.

A long few days

Back home from New Jersey, updating the blog and watching the Indians-Red Sox game 7. It's been a lot of driving and late nights, going back to Thursday. And on to the recap...

Went to the Experience Hendrix show at Hampton Beach Thursday night. I enjoyed it a lot - got to see some of my favorites, like Buddy Guy and Robert Randolph, as well as some players I've grown to appreciate, like Doyle Bramhall, who did a wonderful cover of Angel. Mick Taylor played an extended version of Catfish Blues, which didn't do a lot for me. I've never been a big Kenny Wayne Shepherd fan, but thought his songs were good, especially the Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) finale with Randolph. A friend stuck around after the show and talked to Bramhall and Billy Cox and said both were extremely courteous to the fans. I split as I had to be up by 5:45 Friday and had to drive an hour home through thick fog. All in all, a good time.

I dragged through work Friday on four and a half hours sleep. I left from Maynard @ 4:15pm and wound up needing five hours to get to Jersey. Drove through rain better much the length of Connecticut and hit some traffic at the beginning on 495, and at the CT-NY line. I was pretty much exhausted by the time I got to the hotel - checked in and got settled, then headed over to my sister's place to work on her PC. I finished pretty quickly and was back at the hotel by 11.

Spent Saturday with my parents - my dad's Alzheimer's is progressing. He was pretty quiet for most of the day, and I noticed he frequently zoned out on our conversations. He really doesn't initiate conversations very much anymore, although he does well when I or other people talk to him. His short-term memory is pretty much shot. It's sad to see. My mom is holding up OK, but it must be a nightmare to see someone you've been married for 50 plus years disintegrating.

Went out to a Portuguese restaurant in Lyndhurst called Tero's Saturday night with a friend. Dinner was delicious - had clams in a garlic broth for an appetizer and a huge paella as the entree. Highly recommended. I didn't want to bring the leftovers back in the car, so I stopped up where my brother was bartending and gave them to him. Hung out and watched the Sox and some college football. By the time I got back to the hotel and ready for bed, it was 1:30.

Drtove home today after stopping by and seeing my folks...much easier drive and got home in about 4 hours. Listened to the Giants win their fifth in a row on the drive. I'm cooked now though...early nights this week!

The Torture Never Stops

Football season has been wearing me out, but I'm not really complaining. BC is now 7-0 and rolling along to a showdown next Thursday night with Virginia Tech. Watched the Notre Dame game between a benefit at Avenue C and the Ale House. Then off to Burlington to meet up with a friend and watch the Sox. Needless to say, it was a long day, but a lot of fun.

It doesn't get any easier though - going to Hampton Beach Thursday night to see the "Experience Hendrix" show. Some of my favorite guitarists are on the bill (Buddy Guy, Robert Randolph, Robby Krieger, Doyle Bramhall) playing with Billy Cox (Band of Gypsies bassist) and Mitch Mitchell (JHE drummer). Looking forward to it...meeting up with some friends there. Then on Friday it's down to NJ for a family visit. I want to spend some time with my dad before the holidays start up.

The way things are going, I might have a quiet weekend in December. Maybe. :-)

Flatfoot

Managed to get to the doctor this week to have my ankle looked at. He thinks it's a strained tendon, which will take a while to heal. While he's looking at me, he says, "You've got flat feet! Get some arch supports!" Now I've either made it through 50 years without knowing that fact, or I have fallen arches. So out I go to CVS and now I'm adjusting to having the supports in my shoes. I also bought an ankle support for when I work out. Aging is fun, huh?

Been to the gym three out of the last 5 days, so I'm making progress. I've lost a couple of pounds, so I'm getting there. Busy day tomorrow...going to a benefit in the mid-afternoon, then over to my local to watch the BC-ND game.