Yep, the feast is officially over, and I'm back to scratchin' out a living again. I took all the cash I made last week, minus about $200, and put it in the bank this morning, then spent a half hour or so sending off the next batch of bills. So I've got a little bit of walking around money, but the work schedule is all blanks from here to the horizon.
I was supposed to work the graveyard shift last night, and around 11:00 pm, my phone rang. For a second I thought I'd get called in early, which is always nice--it means I'll be busy, but that was not the case. The graveyard floorman had just gotten in, and was calling to tell me to not even bother coming to work. When he arrived fifteen minutes earlier, there was one single 4-8 table going, and it only had two people playing heads-up (dealer hell if there ever was one), and they had just wrapped it up and the room went dark. So he closed down the bank and locked up everything, and told me to take the night off.
That kinda sucked.
So I was wide awake with nothing to do. I didn't want to drive downtown to play or head over to MGM, so I just stayed home. Luckily Next Friday was on Stars, so I stayed up and watched that. Yay--excitement.
This morning, once I finally crawled out of bed, I went down to the bank and such to take care of all my financial obligations, then I motored over to the Omelet House to get some lunch and see Marcie. Although it was sunny and clear out, and it seems like the storm has finally passed, it was still breezy and cold, so I wanted something to warm me up. I'm tired of always getting the chicken noodle soup, even though it's damn good, so I wanted to try the chili. But I didn't want to commit to a huge bowl of it, just in case it sucked.
So she brought me a small cup with cheese and onions, and I have to admit that it was better than I expected. Yeah, it had a few beans in it (I'm a non-bean chili-head), but it was mostly meat, with just enough spice to keep it interesting. Very passable, especially on a cold day. My biggest gripe is that they don't have cornbread on the menu, but I guess that's more of a southern thing, but I want cornbread with my chili.
I also got a bacon cheeseburger and some fries, and of course it's just impossible to finish a half-pound burger and a plate of fries that's bigger than my head. But I sure enjoyed trying. Besides, there's nothing wrong with a little feasting now that the famine is here. I lingered a bit, as her lunch rush tapered off about the time I'd waved the white napkin of surrender, and we were able to visit for a little while and catch up on the previous week's adventures.
Eventually, I picked up and got out of there, my main priority was stopping to buy some shaving cream and some Aleve. Normally, I horde the toiletries like an old lady hordes stray cats--I'm always buying in bulk and making sure I have enough on hand to make it through the lean weeks. But for some reason, I managed to run out of shaving gel. I thought I had four or five cans under the sink, but I guess I used them all. And I have to shave my head every day or I just look plain ridiculous with that toilet-seat stubble pattern growing out.
When I realized that my last can of Edge was empty, and the cupboard was bare, I panicked a bit. But I went rooting around and found a bag full of 'spares', and in it was that five-dollar miniature can of Barbasol I bought at the 7-11 two years ago when Rob and I went there to check out the new Simpsons decor. Yep, I used it once or twice back then until I hit the grocery store, and I've been carrying it around ever since. It's good in a pinch, but I hate the smell of it. Give me my Edge gel anytime.
So I've been using that Barbasol all weekend (and again this morning), but as much as I needed more shaving gel, I *really* needed the Aleve more. Back in 2001, when I spent six days straight living on a sailboat, I wrenched my back at the end of the week. It was so bad that I couldn't bend over to tie my shoes for a couple of days. Eventually, the kink worked itself out and I made a full recovery, but ever since then, it flares up about once a year and my lower back just kills--and I end up walking around with a stoop like an old man for a few days. That's how I am right now, althought this particular episode is much milder than usual.
Even so, it still hurts if I twist the wrong way, and if I sit or stand to long in one spot, it really tightens up. Sitting at the poker table doesn't hurt it too much, and all the stretching and reaching I do actually tends to help. But driving, or just sitting up for more than ten or fifteen minutes makes it hurt.
Anyhow, after sitting in the restaurant for over an hour, my back was killing me. So I stopped at Walgreens on the way home to pick up some Aleve, as it seems to be the only thing that helps, besides, of course, a hot tub or an Asian midget walking on it. Since it was bothering me so much, I totally forgot about the shaving gel while I was doing my shopping. To make matters worse, that chili decided to upset my stomach, and it was Go time--I was afraid of another Green Valley Ranch ladies room episode, so I paid for the drugs and got out of there as quickly as I could. Of course, I was a block away when I realized that I'd forgotten the shaving gel. Damn.
I made it home without incident, took my medicine, and instead of sitting at the desk typing, I'm lying on the floor with the laptop out in front of me, arms outstretched to the keyboard looking like a superhero with a gravity problem. And right now, my back feels fine. Of course, in a few minutes I'm gonna have to go downstairs and puts some clothes in the dryer, so we'll see what happens.
In the meantime, I've got nothing but free time on my hands. I don't see picking up any shifts this week unless a full-timer calls out sick at some point, so I should have plenty of time to read, watch movies, and oh yeah, crank out some blog posts. Speaking of which, I just got off the phone with Reverend Dave, and he's gonna do a guest blogger piece for me this weekend, following up that last guitar post with some stories of his own. So y'all have that to look forward to.
Catch ya later,
Mikey
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