Well, this time tomorrow, I'll be in Atlanta fidgeting until the St Thomas flight leaves.
As a result, I'm sick to my stomach. Why? Oh, that's simple. I'm a lunatic. Only towards the end did I stop getting sick to my stomach over the flights to PHL. And, it's not because I'm nervous about the trip. It's because I'm an over planning, dork who can't leave well enough alone. My brain is spinning in 47 million directions today. Everything from work stuff to tie down, to flight and ferry schedules, to the allegedly balky luggage carousel in St Thomas, to Shmuppie, who we spoke to last night and does not sound 100% thrilled to be in NJ with Grammy and Grampy :-( . The list goes on.
But, I have boarding passes for tomorrow printed and have my clothes lain out in the guest room. JewelrySlut is torturing me by not packing yet. She knows this is KILLING me and is happy to oblige. The small suitcase is basically packed with our snorkel gear, toiletries and other junk. The cooler needs to move downstairs so I can start fretting over it. (Rule #1 when watching me pack: Count how many times I swear and announce "None of this shit is going to fit. What the FUCK?!?!") Last time I forgot some of the food so I'm doubly under pressure to get it right this time. Who's putting me under this pressure? Me. Only me.
I even laid out rules for the trip and emailed them to JewelrySlut ChurchBomber and MerlotMan. Here's how it went:
From: NoGoodDaddy
To: JewelrySlut, MerlotMan, ChurchBomber
Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2006 3:09 PM
Subject: The rules
And, stop rolling your eyes, ChurchBomber!
Here are my rules for the trip. Allow me to have them:
Saturday:
I am allowed to twitch until we all meet up in Atlanta
We land at 1:30. I am allowed to twitch because I REALLY want to be on the 3:00 ferry from town and it may take an act of God to get this to happen
Once on STJ, MerlotMan and I will handle getting the car and the bags to the house
I am allowed to twitch over the AC unit in our bedroom. I suspect it and I will have a talk
Sunday:
I will go grocery shopping in the morning because I NEED to
I will stop twitching
Monday:
No twitching allowed because I plan to try to relax
Tuesday:
We need to be up and moving early. I am allowed to twitch a little bit.
Wed-Fri:
No twitching allowed.
Saturday:
Twitching allowed as I figure out how and when to get back to STT
I plan to try something novel again: relaxing. Please note that I have had maybe 3 days off from work since we moved here. It may take me a while to decompress. But I plan to do so.
Thank you for your assistance and adherence to these rules
See what I mean? The rules seem to have been written in a jocular tone, but I swear to the Dirty Old Hobo Jesus that it is dead serious. Dead Serious.
But, at least things are better at home. The White Trash Carnival pulled out of town on Wednesday night at 10:30. They left their house in really bad shape, but not as bad as we'd anticipated. After I got home from the Y yesterday, the landlord and his wife were there and we stopped over. It's a mess, but it's mostly cosmetic stuff...except for the kitchen. If you recall, they had sold their kitchen/swapped it with a neighbor. Well, they put everything back in the house...but it's just in the house. Nothing is installed. It's all just there...It's a good look.
And, we had a mini-meeting of the Board last night. The Rev didn't show up and we discussed what it's going to take to either vote him off the Board or ask him to resign. He's bad news and we don't like him. It's fun being a dictator. In fact, the rest of them are allowing me to be a dictator because they know it's best. If we make this a Democracy, the Rev will fuck things up. So, I'll have him pinched. I know people.
And, because I'm never dull, the job situation is changing again. Now, they can't seem to figure out how to allow me on the network as a consultant who works from home. So, on Wednesday, there's a meeting to file an appeal to allow me to do it. What if they get rejected? Who knows? But, I'm going back to my existing job for a month. However, I was on a call with some people from RedVendor the other day and all but asked for a job with them, supporting the efforts of HealthCareRelatedCompany. They nearly fell over themselves to offer it. So, if Wednesday's meeting goes poorly, I'm going to call them and start working out those details. RedVendor is somewhat concerned that it will look like they're poaching me away, but if HealthCareRelatedCompany can't figure out a way to keep me, fuck it how it looks. RedVendor is still chomping at the bit to get me in the fold. The job in PA just never panned out...mostly because it was in PA and I was not going to live there Sun-Fri and come home on weekends. Everything for a reason.
This is fun. Look at This site. It's a webcam showing the ferry dock in Cruz Bay on St John. Maybe one day next week, I'll wander over and giveWarCry a call and have her capture an image of me mooning the camera of something. But, tomorrow, if you're bored, check it out at about 4:00 Eastern. If you see a frazzled idiot in an UNTUCKED yellow Hawaiian shirt, that will be me.
Boy, I wish I had more to say, but all I can think of is all the crap that I think needs to be done between now and tomorrow. I'm not sure they have the word that properly explains just how much I need this vacation. I'm really down to my last nerve and need a week away from computers, emails, phones, parking spaces, tow trucks, wet underpants, redneck politics, pool chemicals, and anything else that has been causing me stress. I want sun, snorkeling, rum, beer, grilled food, JJ's Texas Coast, The Beach Bar, conch fritters, and some time with my sexy MILF of a wife.
Wish me well.