Maybe all one can do is hope to end up with the right regrets. – Arthur Miller

Okay. It’s Friday, and why do I feel almost lucky to be alive today.

I still hurt today.. terrible sinus pain. It started last night, all of a sudden, like my eyes were swelling and going to pop inside my head. The pain was enough to make me nauseous if I tried to move. Still, this morning, the pain lingers, but there is work to be done. Man do I not want to be here, but well.. I don’t think I’d feel much better at home. I’m on a regimen of Tylenol and coffee and no talking to people.

I think I brought this on myself, though. Yesterday sucked. As if it wasn’t bad enough, my new role of being involved in the Q/C process for every new site being launched, even if it isn’t a custom site I worked on, has made the end of the month a new hell day. Stack that on top of the goofiness and interruptions that came about with most of us being dressed up for Halloween, and it made for a late stressful day yesterday. That costume was so hot, that I changed into my gym clothes about 3, and then managed to finally sit down and get some shit done. Then, come about 4ish, talk of Thursday night hiking ensued, and I let myself get talked into that. Everybody just wanted a break, it was a beautiful day out, and well.. they swore they’d go easy since we were all sort of under the weather. So, the decision is made to go at 4:30.. but by then, Greg and Anthony are tied up with problems and can’t leave, and Billy is on a conference call, so it looks like it’s just going to be Jason and me. So.. we go.. it is wonderful outside. He is in good shape, so thankfully he can talk 100 miles a minute and fill the silence of my gasping for air on the steep uphills, and I manage to recoup enough to talk my own blue-streak on the long downhills. It starts getting dark on us on the downhill, but not pitch dark. We have to take it slow, but we make it all right and are back to the office by 6:30, feeling much more ready to tackle the rest of the days crap. And actually, at 6:30 when most of the office is empty, it’s a fine time to really get things done w/o distraction. I manage to sit down and crank out almost everything I had to get done in about 45 minutes… with only one funny distraction….

Greg. Now, Greg (aka Ozzy Osbourne for the day) had MEANT to go with us on the hike, but couldn’t. He ended up staying at work doing crap until nearly 6, then finally broke away. In the back of his mind he’s thinking, boy it’s getting dark and they’re still not back. But, he thinks, they’re both grownups… so he starts home. On the way, more worries set in… what if? What if Jason fell in the dark and Kim doesn’t know her way around well enough to get help? What if it’s so dark they lost each other? What if… So, he picks up the cell phone to call the office… gets voice mail.. and is more worried because it’s almost 6:30 and we SHOULD be back. So, he turns around and heads back toward the office. There’s a flashlight in his trunk, and he was perfectly prepared to walk that trail in the dark and find us, but decides to stop by the office first. Of course, we are back by then. So, he comes in with the parental like urge to yell at us for being out after dark and making him worry, but just can’t bring himself to do it, since, well, we are both adults.

It was sweet of him to worry. It was outstanding that he came back to mount a rescue party if necessary. I had no idea he was so nice.

Anyway…. end rambling story. Signed up for NaNoWrMo today officially. But I think today my next writing assignment shall be a REAL version of my self-evaluation.