Good God Damn Almighty 27 April 1999

3:12 PM: 3:12? How did it get to be 3:12? It was yesterday a minute ago. I noticed today, a day with an unusual number of meetings for me, that some of my poor cow orkers have not only been in all of my meetings, but in others of their own in-between mine. And they're still going even as I type. I vaguely remember that sort of existence. I vaguely remember going insane, too. You think I'm kidding about that.

In other news: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!

Or, I just spent pret'near An Thousand Dollars. I booked my ticket to Australia, nominally to go to Aussiecon 3, actually to go to Melbourne again and get rained on. The convention is a good excuse because I know there will be parties that even I can get into. As Mayor Quimby said recently, "Greetings, futurists, cyberphiles, and all the rest of you dateless wonders!"

I should explain. I don't travel. I certainly don't take vacations. I don't even drive, fer Bob's sake. The times that I've gone anywhere, I've managed to do it on a company tab for the most part. I've been carrying the maximum number of vacation hours you can accrue for the last ... three years, I think. Two at least. Mud, stick, that's me.

So this has an intense flavor of insanity. I still can hardly believe I'm doing it. But now I'm committed. I have to save the money because I've already spent just as much. I'm going. I'm going. Can't just go back to sleep, nope. 3 AM or something horrible. Long hours over water with no cigarettes. Better get some gum. Or maybe just Darvon. Make those stewies earn their pay. Or, not, they might just put me in Unclaimed Baggage. What if I got claimed? That'd be interesting. I'm a little disoriented right now.

Many thanks to ace parodist Lucy for invaluable assistance with fearsome creatures like airline 800 number operators, not to mention the entire concept of voluntarily going to a far away place.

In other, other news: HA HAH!

Health Nuts
For those of us who swear by Nyquil, this is divine justice indeed: A Seattle researcher has determined that echinacea, hailed by the roots-and-berries crowd as a magic herb for warding off colds and viruses, not only fails to prevent respiratory illnesses but may actually increase your chance of getting sick. In a six-month study involving 200 subjects, Dr. Carlo Calabrese found that those receiving echinacea developed sore throats and runny noses 20 percent more often than those who received placebos. The doctor told ABC News that he wasn't surprised to find echinacea did nothing to prevent illness. But he was at a loss to explain the herb's negative effects, suggesting that perhaps it somehow weakens the immune system. By the way, Nyquil comes in a nifty cherry flavor.

8:21 PM: Cleaned my desk off today. God knows what possessed me. I think this was after I bought the tickets, so probably nervous energy. Unless it was before. I've been here a long time I think. Suppose I could go home. But the fan stopped! You don't know how much I wished it would do that all day. I feel obligated to stay and listen to the noise it's not making for a while.

Time now to stop being human
Time to find a new creature to be
Be a fish or a tree or a sparrow
For the earth has grown tired and all of your time has expired

- Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, "Noble Experiment"

Willfully blind self-indulgent nebbish or amusingly quirky old coot? And how bout that local sports team? Discuss among yourselves.

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