Rest, More Rest and Recuperation

The word of the week is stupefaction.

August 17 – Wiped

I’m not getting any worse.

It’s a week of complete bedrest for me though, according to the doctors. My body’s used up a lot of energy fighting off the bacterial infection, so I’m to take it easy this week, not working or doing much of anything. I’m on some powerful daily antibiotics, so those also need time to do their job.

Fine by me.

Staying at my parent’s place has definitely helped, as it’s incredibly quiet compared to my downtown apartment. The loudest things here are neighbours occasionally being gabby a few yards over, or the wind in the trees picking up to where it’s noticeable. Even packs of motorcycles on the main road a few hundred feet away are reduced to background rumbles.

Yes, it’s restful indeed.

I’m doing little with my days, tired as I am: reading, resting and repeat, with doses of nap as needed. Not being on a schedule, or having things hanging over my head, is really helping my recovery. While I’m not too pleased that I ‘only’ managed to get 2 whole chapters of Book 2 written last week before the poop hit the fan, health-wise, I’m wise enough to know that was enough.

I won’t be pushing myself to do any writing this week. It’s a hard decision, but my energy’s low enough day to day that I can’t manage to juice up my brain enough to drive my Muse into action. I can feel things are on a hold mentally, so to speak, until I’m better, well-able to create on cue.

I’m fine with that too. I need the rest.

August 18 – G33kmeter=1000

If I had a lot of time on my hands, what would I do?

Asking myself that question this week, I had to wonder. What if I didn’t write a novel, or need to catch up on reading the 1000+ books on my To Read List, or the dozens of TV shows or hundreds of movies that I’ve yet to make the time to see?

What would I do with my down time?

Not having a house, I can’t easily slip into a basement workshop to take up hobbies such as woodworking or the like, or create cosplay costumes from the fount of my imagination. Nor do I have the leanings towards learning a musical instrument, taking up a sport… the list of ‘maybes’ and even more ‘mehs’ goes on apace, which I find interesting when I put my mind to the question.

Other folks don’t seem to have a problem filling their time with unique projects.

Take, for example, this fellow: he decided his PC needed a fully-functional control panel:

According to the posting, he didn’t know much about electronics or anything else that was needed for the project, yet he gamely threw himself into creating something from nothing. What I find most intriguing is that he could have performed almost ALL the functions of said control panel via his PC, but he felt the NEED to physically create an interface of his own design.

Bravo. I salute those who listen to their inner creativity!

I have to say I’m thoroughly impressed with what he ended up with. It reminds me of the projects I wanted to create as a kid: spaceship control panels with Real Working Switches and so forth, to power my own adventures of the imagination. Back then, I had only cardboard and markers to make things happen; neither my skills nor easily-affordable electronics were at hand for me.

I wonder if Panel Guy will take orders for a spaceship console I’ve always wanted…?

August 19 – No Big Hairy Deal

I haven’t shaved in more than a week now.

It’s a little weird, because I’m not used to feeling scruffy, in any way – yet here I am, all fuzzy-faced and feeling like a sea captain. Looking like one too, according to my lady.

I won’t be shaving for a while, either.

Looking back at last week, I’ve been trying to figure out exactly how I managed to get cellulitis on my face. After much thought( what else am I doing this week? )I came to the conclusion that after I last shaved, I didn’t moisturize or take a shower, as I usually do per my usual daily ablutions.

That, as they say, is all it took.

In the interim, while I recover, I’ve decided to simply forego shaving until I need to return to work. That said, I’ve realized that I’ve never actually tried to grow a beard: for the most part, it’s been contraindicated from the jobs I had at the time, in customer service.

So here’s me with a week’s worth of beard, plus my celluitus face on the right from last Sunday:

Like I said, pretty scruffy, eh? I knew it would come in grey, but I hadn’t expected so much of it to be white, with as little leavening on pepper as there is evident. As I don’t colour my hair, so I don’t colour my moustache, or beard in this case. I’d much rather just shave it off, which quite honestly is the best answer, as it’s easy enough to knock off a few decades with a well-wielded electric razor.

The only thing I might want to save it for is a costume…

August 20 – Planning Ahead

For some reason, costumes are on my mind this week.

Perhaps it’s because I have a little more time on my hand to think? I’m not sure, but I do think that it’s partly due to my wanting to get things done ahead of time before Halloween this year. Biting my nails while waiting for a last-minute costume piece to arrive isn’t really my thing.

Also, I broke my old phone, so Cobra Commander is out of the picture for the moment. Besides, I don’t like to repeat myself, year to year… there’s something to be said for trying something new. My costuming skills( plus available space, time and budget )tell me this year, I’m buying in…

So: superhero? Villain? Pirate? Monster? Historical figure? Hipster?

So far, this is the frontrunner...

I’ve had my eye caught by a few medieval costumes I’ve found online, as I’ve always had a soft spot for such( which some of you know from my time spent in the SCA long years back ). I still have some SCA garb in storage, but nothing that’s a ‘real’ costume… that takes time and effort and I’ve already done the ‘catch-as-can’ medieval knight a few years ago. I got rid of the helmet during the last move, as it was going funky, was quite heavy and I just didn’t want to wear it again after hauling it around for almost twenty years. I passed it on to an appreciative fellow and that’s that.

Besides, the darn thing was impossible to hear or see out of, and who wants that for parties?

We’ll see what I come up with in the next month or so. I’d rather not spend too much money, but I do want to get something unique AND of value for what I pay for it. Too many of the costumes I’ve seen this week are of questionable materials, which look good online but on closer inspection are tissue-thin or otherwise break if you look at them sideways. Such don’t bode well for wearing more than once; I’d like to look good and know that I can recycle a few pieces in the future, if needed…

I’m definitely not into one-Knight stands when it comes to costuming.

August 21 – On My feet Again, Sorta

Today I managed to get out and do a few things, for the first time this week.

First stop was my workplace, to pick up a few forms. I checked in with my co-workers, who assured me that I was missed and at the same time, not to push things until I am ready to come back, whenever that happens. As I became ill while on vacation, the forms are for ensuring that my ‘sick leave’ gets activated and my vacation time is put back into place for use later in the year.

Such things are one of the many reasons I love my current job, in addition to the wonderful people. Getting sick no longer means I am tossed to the wolves if it’s more than a day or two, for though my pay is lesser on Sick Leave, I’m still GETTING paid, as long as the right forms are in place.

After dropping into my work, I went to my banks( plural: old one and much better new one )to get a few more things done that I couldn’t do from home as easily. A few more stops here and there and then it was home to rest, as even a few hours out and about had worn me out.

Good thing I can nap whenever I need to, this week – and I’ve really needed to, every day.

It’s funny, but I’m having to remind myself daily that I have to rest, in order to get better. I don’t have any of the usual ‘sick’ symptoms: no stuffy nose, no bleary eyes… nothing that I’m used to staying home from work with.

I just get tired easily, despite resting for most of every day.

It’s disconcerting, so I ensure that I don’t try to exert myself in bursts of ‘good idea, do it!’ enthusiasm. The most strenuous thing I’ve done this week, apart from going out today, was to revisit and slightly reorganize some of my book collection that resides here at my parent’s place. We’re talking several hundred books, so I took my time over the course of several hours( with breaks )and when I was done, they were finally grouped as they should have been when they were first unpacked a long time ago: by genre.

Feeling of accomplishment? Check. Nap time? You betcha!

August 22 – Saturday Hurray!

I had a visitor today: my girlfriend!

She dropped by to take me out to breakfast, to a nice little place down the road called Adrienne’s – perfect, as it wasn’t crowded at all. I had my first tea in a week, careful not to overdo it in case my body didn’t know what to do with the caffeine, it’s actually been nice waking up naturally.

After a lovely and relaxed breakfast, we spent some time making buoys.

That’s right: buoys. Here’s a pic of before( left )and after( right ):

These are painted Styrofoam floats, meant to be strung on a weighted line and used in the model-boat pond whenever we go sailing the Haulin’ Trawler( soon, I hope! )again. Six of the buoys have provision for an LED light to be snapped into the circular base on top, allowing them to be used at night, which should be pretty cool.

While the paint dried, we relaxed over on the patio at the Beach House, in perfect temperatures under blue skies. I had another cup of tea while we watched people prep on the beach for a wedding, which seemed a little underwhelming in terms of props: just a trio of fake windows hanging from an unpainted beam, some chairs and a few small flower vases set atop log slices. I suppose they were going for simplicity…? 

My lady and I amused ourselves by seeing how the planners could have done things differently, as well as just enjoying the view out across the sea.

We ended our visit with dinner at the Olive Grove, a hidden gem just the other side of the highway nearby. We had the patio out back to ourselves for almost our entire meal, as it wasn’t busy. The staff were attentive, the food was delicious and in quantity and we had a great time together.

It was hard to say goodbye, but even my relaxed day had taken a lot out of me. I found myself nodding off well before 10pm, feeling worn out but not wiped, as I have for the last week or so.

It’s impressive what spending time with the right person can do to help one recover.

August 23 – Sloth, me?

It’s funny, but I don’t feel lazy, even with all this rest.

My days have progressed easily from when I wake to when I sleep, for which I’ve been grateful. There’s been no need to ‘keep tabs’ on things in my life, for I’ve naught which requires my constant attention; even FBook has taken a back burner, with the occasional check every few hours for interesting tidbits. I’ve quite enjoyed catching up on a bit of reading, or watching some shows on Netflix, but to be honest, I’ve not done as much of that as I have simply resting.

This morning, I hauled out my hammock to facilitate that in style.

It’s been a few years since I last used my hammock, not having had anywhere to put it since I moved into the city in early 2012: not even a balcony or side yard to speak of.

My parent’s place, on the other hand, has patio space galore, out the front and the side both: ideal for a hammock, especially one I can move around easily. This particular model, ideal for one person, has a folding frame and carrying bag that makes it portable, if not easily totable due to its size:

Relaxing on the patio, I felt more at ease than any day so far since last Sunday, when I had my last IV treatment. Phone at hand( just in case )with a few books( plus Calvin & Hobbes! )plus some critiques I’m re-reading for the next meeting, a glass of water and some snacks: I’m set.

Until I fall asleep mid-sentence, that is. Have to be careful my critique pages don’t blow away!

One good thing about being on a ‘rest cure’ is that I have time to write my blog. More than enough time, in fact – I popped in sentences all day long and by late evening had enough of my blog done that I could spend some more time with my girlfriend. Neither of us can get enough B5, so we worked our happy way through a few more episodes of Season 2, grinning all the while at little bits and remembered pleasures as we went.

A great way to end the weekend, and start out my week on a high note.

It’s been really great just being able to REST as needed. While I don’t yet feel recharged, I don’t have the punch-drunk going-to-keel-over-now feeling I had earlier in the week, when I didn’t know what time it was or if I needed to sleep. I’m happy to be waking up around my regular time in the morning now and getting tired about when I should, but that does seem to be varying the last few nights. I’ll have to ensure that I’m tired earlier, or go to bed earlier, to get my body clock back in proper tune for the work-week to come. At this point, I’ll likely be back to work at the end of this week, though I’ll play it by ear the next few days to see how I’m feeling, energy-level-wise.

Sudden Summer Super-Sickness!

The word of the week is stupefaction.

Special note: I didn’t know until this Sunday the 16th if there’d BE a blog entry this week! Read on to find out why…

August 10 – Good Start, Bad Start

My vacation got off to a good start this week, writing-wise.

Two whole chapters had materialized by the end of today, part and parcel of the second book. I was particularly happy with several of the scenes, which turned out better than I had envisioned.

Always great when that happens!

The hard part now arrives though: more planning and plot-tweaking for the next 5 chapters or so. It’s the hardest part of the book, as I’ve already mentioned, in that all the little threads have to be tied together nice and neatly so as to create a perfect tapestry for the last third of the novel.

That’s a trick, that is, one that takes a lot of detailed effort.

On another, unrelated note, I’ve tried four times now to install Windows 10 on my newer 8.1 laptop: it’s failed each time with a generalized error that’s proven maddeningly difficult to trace.

This wouldn’t be so annoying if Win10 also wasn’t able to be installed on my other machine, a Win7pro desktop. That machine has a few issues however, so I’m not surprised that it might not happen without a full wipe and clean OS install. But the newer laptop serial failing? That hurts.

I’m in no super rush at the moment, so I think I’ll wait a few months until I try again, to give MS time to make a better Win10 build. In reading about other people’s experiences, most folks seem to be having a straightforward time of things, with only a few driver glitches – to be expected in a new OS release.

Disheartening, though. I really wanted to give the new car a spin around the block.

August 11 – A Year Without Smiles

A year ago today, Robin Williams left us.

What can I say? The world is poorer without him.

It’s still shocking that a man so beloved could feel the need to leave us so suddenly. Millions of fans worldwide have felt the same way, many of whom created tribute videos like this one that illustrate what a fantastically talented man he was. I’ll leave you to enjoy Robin in his many forms:

August 12 – Summer Snowbirds!

It's pretty dry here on the island during the summer. The grass goes completely brown except for those areas where it's watered several times a day. A good example of this is near my own building, where I took this picture today:

That's quite a contrast, isn't it? It's a little sad that so much of the population that lives here on the island doesn't realize how precious a resource water is - much like the recent kerfuffle about California's critical water supply, the same may happen here all too soon.

Though I was feeling a little off tonight, I did make it out to see the Snowbirds perform at dinnertime! I walked down to Moss Rock Park, near where I used to live just a few blocks away, for a perfect view of the performance and also neatly avoiding the huge crowds gathered at the seashore. I climbed up a few paths to raise myself a neat fifty feet high, clearing any obstructing trees or houses. I took a few glorious images, with this one being my favourite:

August 13 – I’m what, exactly?

Today was a tad… difficult.

I woke up definitely not feeling right, after sleeping only lightly on and off since midnight. Not sick, per se, just tired, woozy, too hot and fuzzy-headed. Yet I wasn’t congested or had any other signs that I had caught a cold bug or something similar.

Having set my alarm early, I wobbled off down to the walk in clinic, where I proceeded to give myself a scare by almost fainting while waiting in line for the clinic to open at 8am. I suddenly felt dizzy and hot and recognizing what was happening, promptly sat down while taking off my jacket – which worked. The doctor who saw me said I looked terrible, had a slight fever but didn’t show most of the classic signs of a cold or flu. He suggested getting blood work done, wrote me a prescription for antibiotics in case it was a virus and sent me home – I was so tired I had to cab it.

I struggled to stay awake at home, unable to do much except read slowly until my lab appointment in the afternoon, which I had to be driven to despite it being just down the street. I’d barely eaten anything since yesterday, neither having an appetite or the stomach to keep much down at all. Neither had I been drinking much fluids, despite having water next to me all day; no thirst.

After the bloodwork was done, I headed home, where I slept fitfully on and off until my sister got home – I had a little dinner, then watched a little TV, then went to bed really early and dozed. I felt rotten too, in that I’d had to cancel my writing group meeting tonight, when I was supposed to be giving a presentation… but given the circumstances, it was a good thing I did cancel.

Not an auspicious way to spend the sixth day of my vacation, really.

August 14 – Misery

My night was not spent comfortably.

I dozed, not really sleeping, as I was alternately sweaty and chilled – not good signs. I woke up well after 8am in a state I can only describe as having my head inside a warm cotton hoodie, complete with slightly fuzzy off-colour vision.

Around 10am, I took a good look in the mirror and it hit me: my face was red.

Red, as in like someone had slapped my right cheek hard, repeatedly, and it was swollen.

That did it. I packed a bag with essentials as quickly as I could with a woozy brain and poor balance, then called a cab to take me to Emergency. I wasn’t playing games with whatever this was.

Unfortunately, the cab took nearly 20 minutes to find me – delays aren’t fun when you’re scared by being sick with a mystery illness.

Once I was at the hospital, I was admitted to Emergency and had blood work done( again )in fairly short order, then I took a chair to wait. It wasn’t all that busy, so I was able to be looked at within an hour or so. The doctor on duty, along with a med student, both agreed that it didn’t appear that I had a cold or flu virus, or any of many other possibilities( bad tooth, gums, etc )so they set me up for an immediate CT scan to ensure it wasn’t an unusual sinus infection – fun.

Once that was done and the blood work was in, they determined it was cellulitis.

Now, I’ve heard of cellulitis, but what I didn’t know was (a)how easily anyone can get it and mistake it for many other less-devastating ailments (b)how serious it really was – yikes! If you want to scare yourself, Google it... but don't search for images, or you might lose whatever your most recent meal was. I made that mistake, adding the word 'face' and instantly had to Google some happy images in order to de-shock my brain... some of those horrors could have been me, if I'd been less quick in taking action to get help!

The staff immediately put me on an IV, both to administer powerful antibiotics and to rehydrate me; apparently I was pretty far along on that road too, thanks to all the water the bacteria had sucked out of my body to power their sub-cutaneous invasion of my face.

Which had spread by that point across my nose to my other cheek and almost to my right ear: oh, the fun we’ll have… and to add insult to injury, I had a rapid heartrate: 115 beats per minute sitting down ‘resting’ in a chair. Not a good sign, considering all the energy it was taking to run so rapidly. Not good, not good…

The hospital finally released me at 4:30pm, with the admonishment to come in again tomorrow morning at 8am for another round of IV antibiotics. They told me that I would need to keep coming in for the IV until the infection was under control, due to the rapid and deadly nature of the bacteria.

Great. At least I knew what it was now, and how it could be combatted.

Once home, I ate some dinner( soup and chicken, separately )and went to bed early again, hoping to get some actual sleep. I estimate that I’ve had about 3 hours of actual REM sleep total in the last two days, with the rest being light dozing when I was generally aware of not being asleep quite yet…

August 15 – Sleeplessly Sick

I barely made it into Saturday before I had to return to the hospital.

Around 1am I woke up, sweating and feeling extremely weak. I immediately looked in the mirror to see that the redness had spread all across my face to my right ear: everywhere that was red was hot to the touch and swollen.

Hospital time, part deux.

A fast cab trip got me there well before 2am, to an Emergency that was far less crowded than a post-Friday night should be in a big city – lucky me! The doctor on duty, when he saw me, was surprised that I was ‘so early’ for my 8am appointment but when I described what was happening, he agreed I’d done the right thing coming in as I had. While the swelling and heat may have been due to the bacteria getting whammied by the first IV treatment, it was best not to take chances.

Second round of IV antibiotics at 3am, please.

I stayed in Emergency until 7:30am, just to be able to ask the doctor a few more questions before I headed out. I even managed a solid hour’s sleep around 6am, surprising myself. After that, I cabbed home and slept for another few hours, until my sister was up and headed out for the weekend.

Fortunately, my incredibly amazing, awesome and downright heroic girlfriend offered to come over to look after me around lunchtime. Have I mentioned how much I adore her already?

Yeah. I adore her. Repeat as needed in my head every minute or so...

I dozed on and off for a bit, then managed another few hours of badly-needed solid sleep until I woke to the smell of Something Delicious Cooking! I staggered out, staying upright to see my lovely lady putting the finishing touches on her homemade chicken noodle soup. I immediately felt better just from smelling it, and I’m extraordinarily grateful to have such a lady in my life now.

With all that’s happened this week, I feel I’m a lucky man.

Later on that evening, I packed myself up and headed to my parent’s place, where I can just rest and not be a burden on anyone – one of the benefits of being retired, thankfully working out for me right now.

August 16 – Borderline Better?

It was another early trip to the hospital today.

Not as early as the previous one however, as I arrived a little after 8 AM as I had been instructed. The Emerg doctor on duty was fairly quick to see me and commented that my conditions appear to be improving thanks to the antibiotics. He ordered another dose of IV antibiotics and wrote me a prescription for the same in pill form for the rest of the week, declaring that there was no need for me to continue the IV treatment given my improved condition. He was especially pleased that the swelling seems to have gone down a little.

I'm not out of the woods yet, though.

My face still feels puffy and looks like a day-old sunburn, without the peeling. I feel quite weak, get headaches a few times a day and well, there's other less-pleasant aspects going on too. I'm taking the next week off, both from work and vacation, to recover at my parent's place - far less noisy, so I can nap whenever I need to. As a bonus, there's no cat to constantly demand attention.

So where does that leave me for the coming week?

I’m not quite sure, yet. I’ve sent off a request to my workplace to not report in until next Monday, instead of this Wednesday. Part of that request is to juggle around some vacation days and sick days, so that I can retain some vacation time and use my sick time as it’s supposed to be used – I really, really don’t want to be stuck with a vacation that only half-happened, as it is.

We’ll see what happens tomorrow. For today, it’s been a cycle of eat, nap, hydrate, entertain and repeat, with occasional sides of blog. Plus applications of cold compresses to my face every hour or so to help bring down the swelling, along with a mix of antibiotics, aspirin as well as assorted vitamins and herbs to ensure I’m hitting all the marks to Get Better Soonest.

I might be semi-functional by the time Wednesday rolls around, but I don’t want to put that to the test. The way I’m feeling right now, I could easily last but an hour and then have to pack it in. I’d much rather spend the time resting so that I can be fully recovered by the time I go back to work. It’d mean I would have been away for 2 weeks, only 3 days of which would be vacation… but that’s what sick benefits are for and I, my friends, have been a poster child of a Sick Son this past week, let me tell you.

Oh wait, if you’ve read this far, I already have. Thanks for sticking with me, and I hope your week is a far, far better one than I just had served to me.

Thankfully, that’s probably an easy hope to achieve.

There’s little else to say, really: a vacation meant to produce 5 book chapters produced only 2 and veered far off course into the harsh realities of random bacterial infections. Life lesson learned: let’s hope this week is a far better one!

Vacation, Vacation, Vacation!

The word of the week is edification.

August 3 – Catchup

Life is going well.

For those of you haven't been keeping up to date on the blog, I am far happier these days than I have been for many years, professionally and personally.

Professionally, my job is a good balance of challenge and stress without necessitating overtime or me taking anything home with me after clocking out. No after-hours phone calls or evening work. It's been a wonderful experience and seems to keep getting better month-to-month in terms of the quality of people that I'm working with and the overall office environment.

Personally, I met a wonderful woman last year, who became close to me three months ago and since then we've been spending the majority of our free time together. Both of us are constantly surprised by all the different things that we find we have in common, every time we see each other. I never thought I would have this kind of connection with someone and it's a uniquely precious thing, indeed.

If you would've told me a year or even six months ago that I'd be feeling the way I do right now, I'm not sure I would have believed you. It's been an extraordinary change for me, though not one that I feel I am incapable of experiencing fully; quite the contrary.

I'm fully committed to enjoy my life as it is now and making it better every day.

August 4 – Writing Weekend, Weekday?

My job does have its upsides, more often than I give it credit for...

Today, for instance: it’s my EDO( Earned Day Off )so it meant that I had a four days off, the first long stretch in quite some time for me. While some people are tempted to take their EDO’s on Mondays or Fridays, I've been quite happy so far with having a Tuesday off every other week.

It's meant that I have a day where I can get around town to do what I need to do or just relax: it's my choice. Strange thing is, I don't sleep in anymore: having acclimated myself to getting up early for work, I do so even on my days off. I don't see this as a bad thing, it just means that when I'm not working I have to ensure I don't waste the morning, this time is fairly precious these days.

In combination with the holiday yesterday, I ended up with a four-day weekend which helped contribute to reducing my stress levels. I've been giving serious thought to finding a hammock, but given that I don't have anywhere to put it that's in any way private save hauling it to Beacon Hill Park, it's only a passing fancy for now.

Today’s EDO also meant that I could get a good chunk of writing done and I did, completing an entire chapter by late evening which was extraordinarily satisfying. As my game plan for the next few months is to try to complete at least two chapters a week on average, I am pleased that today was added to that total.

It was especially satisfying that I didn't have to summon the energy after working, either.

August 5 – Two Rooms and a Cubicle

What sort of spaces do you inhabit?

I've spoken on this topic before, where people need three spaces: work, home and somewhere in between – wherever that is. For me, that would be a room that's isolated enough from the outside world that I can write or relax in equal measure, but I don't have that where am right now.

What I do have is my work and my home. At work, I have my own corner workspace, probably the best I could hope for without having an actual office which I’d likely have to share with someone.

At home, I have my sleeping space and the living room, where I have my computers and entertainment devices. It’s a shared space though, so in addition to keeping it tidy I have to fairly frequently give it up to my sister’s use, which isn’t always convenient for us.

Hence the need for third place, which I've yet to establish. The SkyLounge is nice, but I have to bring everything I need with me and there's always the possibility of someone else climbing up those same stairs to try to enjoy the same solitude that I want to use – not ideal, that.

I've no real solution at this time, so while I'm thinking about it, I'll leave you with this: a virtual tour of the ISS in orbit around our planet. They really know how to make use of limited space!

August 6 – Scared of Smart?

Someone called me a genius today and I wasn't sure how to take it.

It was at my writing group and during the discussion, one of the regular members came right out and said that they considered me to be a genius. I was a little taken aback and I immediately downplayed the compliment, which in hindsight perhaps wasn't the best thing for me to do - from or them.

All my life, I've been told repeatedly how intelligent I am. I know I'm smart, real smart, but in ways different than people who can do logarithmic math in their head while chewing gum. 

I think is that I'm just not comfortable with people calling me a genius, which to me seems like an ego trip… and I don’t have an ego, or at least a palpable sense of pride without cause.

There are many quotes on genius out there, so many that it's hard to really wrap your brain around what the word really means. As I've shown above, for today's entry I've gone back to the Latin root where genius is associated with the creative spark. I think I'm pretty comfortable with that definition, as it doesn't posit a sort of hyper-intelligence but rather one that looks deeper into things to find associations that others miss and to express them creatively in new ways.

Add a sense of humility to it all and I think I'm good with that definition, for now.

August 7 – Beer Bleh

After work today, I went out to the Yates St. Taphouse to celebrate the end of a long week, having two pints with my sister over a nice meal.

Apparently that wasn’t a good idea.

By the time 8pm had rolled around, I’d managed to develop a headache, which was confusing to me. By all accounts, two beers shouldn’t have done a thing to me, but for whatever reason they combined with the weather change to make my head complain somewhat moderately. Not enough to derail me for the night, but enough to make it uncomfortable to do more than simple tasks and light reading. Frustrating but not debilitating, thankfully.

Over the last month, I’ve had more to drink on average than usual, so again that’s been somewhat confusing, in that I haven't felt any ill effects prior to today. Certainly not from two beers.

What it did do is convince me not to have anything to drink this week coming up. In addition to saving you money, it will ensure that I have a clear head as well as give my liver break from any sort of alcohol processing. What with all the weather changes we've been having this last month, it's probably a good idea.

You could say I'm trying to get 'ahead' of the game.

August 8 – Let The Vaykay Begin!

I woke up this morning and I was on vacation!

To be specific: I have 10 days of vacation time to enjoy, going back on the 19th of this month. Which is great, as I only have a three day workweek and then it's the weekend again…

I really do love my current job for this sort of thing: not having to slog through week after week, hoping for holidays that I don't have to work and too-short vacations that seem so incredibly far away.

Nope, I have to say I'm pretty happy with how things are set up right now. Especially as I making use of my vacation time to pursue the creation of my novel trilogy. I can't imagine sitting on my butt for an entire week doing nothing, though perhaps swinging in a hammock with a stack of unread books next to me does have a certain appeal to it.

Still, I'd rather be writing my own books at the moment.

This time next year, I hope that I'll be able to afford to go somewhere nice with my girlfriend. My first choice would be to head back out East to visit friends and family, as it's been a few years. Next might be somewhere like London or Paris, though I wouldn't mind seeing Australia and New Zealand to do the Lord Of The Rings Tour… g33ky, I know, but then so’s my girlfriend…

One thing I'm very happy about is that I'm not needing to escape. By that I mean that I don't need to use my vacation to ‘run far and fast’ away from my job in order to keep my sanity:

What I do I know right now is that I am extremely happy to be on vacation, where my time is my own to do with as I please. I'll be making the best use of it possible while still finding time to relax for a few hours every day…

After all, vacations are about enjoying yourself, right?

August 9 – B5 and My Book

Settling in for a few hours down at Moka House this afternoon, I managed to read a fair number of chapters from my second books first draft. I took the step of converting the document to an e-book, so that I can easily read it on my tablet or phone. This is important so that I can should familiarize myself with the entire set of chapters as I've written to date, to better dive back into the story I've created so far without having to carry awkward piles of papers around with me.

My girlfriend and I spent the evening watching a few episodes of Babylon 5. We're working our way through the DVD sets and this week were up to the second season, which is when the action really starts to get rolling. It's a shame that the DVD transfers have such terrible conversions for the CGI, but it's more than made up for by being able to watch it with someone who appreciates the show as much as I do. It makes each episode all the more special and they feel like new again.

One thing I will be doing on my vacation is resting up, physically. It's frustrating that both my arms and my legs hurt, though in different ways. My arms you probably already know about from years past, but the leg thing is really proving to be worrisome to me, as the muscles still hurt over a months now after riding my bike for an hour around town. This is on top of my right leg's knee tendon still being swollen on a regular basis, a year and a half after I injured it all running briefly one day.

What's frustrating is that I have to wait until September to find out if I have specialist appointment with a physiologist, who hopefully will be able to shed some light onto whatever the heck is going on. Until then, I'll be taking it easy, not riding my bike anywhere this summer and ensuring my walks are not so extended that I aggravate whatever is going on.

It's maddening to be afraid of hurting yourself just by doing everyday activities. Then again, if all I'm doing is working in an office daytime and writing otherwise, that's not too bad.

Tomorrow's Monday, not a holiday and yet I still get to do whatever I want while still getting paid for it. Such is the power and pleasure of vacation and I intend to make the most of it this week and part of next week, too. I have enough to occupy me all my waking hours for the next 10 days and while I don't plan on enjoy myself to exhaustion, I do plan on making the best use of my time off so that I can go back to work with the feeling of accomplishment when it's all said and done.

**blog edited AGAIN for silly voice-recognition-induced errors on Aug.11th 9:55am PST. Sheesh!