I'm back and in half-effect. Why half? I've got a really sore throat and a headache. I was due to head back into work today but didn't sleep last night because of the ill feelings so I called in sick and headed to the walk-in clinic. The doctor didn't know if it was strep throat but took a swab (I managed to control my gag reflex pretty well) and said he would call if it was strep. Blech. Two of my colleagues, Chantal & Kevin, had strep throat in the past couple months and Rick had some viral infection at the beginning of last week. I hope it's better tomorrow.
As I said, my sleep was poor last night. Mostly because I was not conscious yet my brain decided that the pain of swallowing was not something it wanted to put up with so, instead, let my mouth hang open and drool all over my pillow. It was gross and irritating. I kept waking up in cold slobber. I hope that doesn't happen again.
Well, as promised, I will recount our trip to the wonderful land of Wildwood Crest, New Jersey. We had a great time visiting with Bill & Ronee as well as Ronee's brother, Jay. Wildwood is such a nice town, in spite of most of it being closed. Ronee pointed out that the McDonald's was having a re-opening celebration after having been closed for the winter (i.e., everything except summer). The company is what made the trip so great. It's like getting back together with old friends and just picking up where you left off. Conversation never drags, can be both silly (such as a very long, hilarity-filled discussion of flatulence at 1 AM) and serious as well as being authentic the whole time. We ate some awesome meals at the Star Diner (Bill & Ronee's favourite breakfast place - they share our love of the first meal of the day) and the Vegas Diner (we ordered and received our food freshly made within five minutes). Melanie and I visited Cape May on Saturday when Bill & Ronee went to Asbury Park to see Further Seems Forever (with Chris and the whole original lineup) at the Bamboozle festival. I didn't buy tickets early enough so we missed out. Apparently, Mr. Carrabba flubbed the words a few times, though was great at other points. It would have cost us around $60 U.S. ($75 Canadian) to see that one show, which lasted 45 minutes, so I don't think I'm that disappointed.
Oh, and on Sunday, Bill was able to change his schedule so we loaded up his car (including Jay) and drove up to Ocean City. Wow. Ocean City is, as Bill described it, 'a classier Wildwood'. The boardwalk is much wider, neater and there are better shops (not the same ones with different or the same names - 'the food at Hot Spot IV is great but I hate the food at Hot Spot II' - and all of the same merchandise). There's also killer breaks so there were plenty of surfers out as the sun was shining (Melanie got a bit of a burn even!) I ploughed this huge piece of pizza pie (it was really a pie), Bill rocked a mammoth bean burrito, Jay & Ronee had burgers at Stewart's (though Ronee barely ate any of it) and Melanie had some classic ice cream in a waffle cone. That night, Bill had to work so the rest of us watched 'The Contender' and a Mystery Science Theatre 3000 episode, 'A Touch Of Satan' - truly a crappy movie that was made brilliant by the on-going sarcastic commentary. It wrapped up a great trip and we can't wait until we get to see them all again.
Bill sent a copy of Mark Saloman's book, Simplicity, for Blondel. I had it read before we got home. I was interested in from back when I heard about it in 2002 (but couldn't buy initially because it wasn't sold in or to Canada) because I was a fan of Mark's old band, The Crucified, and love his current band, Stavesacre. Bill & Mark are good friends. The book was very interesting with some good content but I fear that it would be dismissed by those who weren't already interested in what Mark had to say because of poor editing and structure. It was re-printed through Relevant Books and I hope it was re-edited as well.
I've been loving U2 a lot lately. When driving (which included overnight stops in Scranton, PA and Binghamton, NY), they played a lot of U2 songs. I re-discovered the incredible song, 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For'. It's amazingly powerful and moving. I can't wait to see them in September.
Last night, I met up with Mike and we chatted at Chapter's before moving over to Futureshop. I hate Futureshop. They are unreliable and often over-priced. It was not for these reasons which I made multiple purchases. They had good prices on what I wanted. I felt like a hypocrite the whole time. Anyhow, I picked up the new albums from Ben Folds, Songs For Silverman, and Bruce Springsteen, Devils & Dust (the title track is the lead single and it sounds awesome). I also picked up 'The Big Lebowski', which we finally saw at Bill's house and was hilarious, and 'Taxi Driver', because Phil raved about it. Mike got the Smashing Pumpkins 'best of' album for only $10! He also "indulged" in some Ringolos - he's so crazy!
That brings you up to speed. Nothing dramatic or fascinating or frightening. I finished listening to the Ben Folds album while I typed and it was really good with limited sarcasm. The Boss is playing right now and it's really interesting. I should probably eat something. My head is still hurting. Time to not look at a computer screen. I hope you're well and that we talk soon.