Two rooms done and I was out for the count. Had to take an hours rest. A few hours later I spent about 15 minutes trying to finish up and I was done in again.

Time to rest and eat my soup. Can’t wait for my next dose of pain meds. I could use then now. Thankfully I have time off from work to rest. Too bad it looks like I am better. I don’t feel that way anymore.

I should have known it was going to be a rough night when I heard somebody saying that the lane we were in was having issues earlier. We were told it was ok and that the problem was a pin blocking a sensor. We got put our shoes on and got ready to play. After watching the screen slowly churn we asked if it was normal. Clearly not. They switched us to a new lane.

We started play in the new lane and immediately discovered that only one of the bumpers was up. James scored a big zero since all three balls went in the gutter. Another trip to the counter and they fixed it. Two delays and we are playing again.

Not so fast. We played another frame when we noticed that there were no more balls. I saw them enternthe ball return but nothing came out our end. After waiting an appropriate amount of time we made another visit to the counter. Thet proceeded to pull up a piece of floor to look for stuck ballsmbut didn’t find any. So they switched us to another lane.

We picked up the last half of the second frame in this lane. Things went ok for a few minutes when Sue was playing and the machine thought she bowled three balls when she only bowled two. We started to ask about this but gave up figuring things were not going well already. At some point the staff did something that was displayed on the screens and Caitlin was playing when it ended. She “won” a free t-shirt. Yay. We were so enthused (heavy on the sarcasm).

This lane worked for a whole but eventually that ended when the ball return didn’t return any balls. Caitlin thought it was good to get balls from other lanes but we figured it would be better to fix the problem. Another visit from the staff reveals a clogged ball return. Shortly after that the lane was not detecting pins that Sue knocked down. Yes we got another visit. This time they used a ball to move a pin that was blocking a sensor.

By the eighth frame the girls were completely bored and no amount of Hi-C and popcorn would get rid of it. Sue tried to keep them busy while James, Amy and I finished the game for everybody. Sue won with 83, followed by me with 82 and third place taken by Amy with 72.

Needless to say we were happy to get out of there. The kids had there fill and we had our fill. James had a great time and the girls said they had fun. I should also mention that the staff took 20 minutes off our time for all the issues. Seeing as we paid for 5 pairs of shoes, two drinks and two popcorns as well as a couple of games of skee-ball for the girls they made out very well. I think we deserved more than 20 minutes off but I needed to get out of there. I could not stay there just to give them crap. I just won’t go there ever again.

After a few calls I got pissed and fought back. I submitted numbers and names to the FCC and told each one what I would do. I have to say it worked so far. The next day I only got a few calls and now I only get on every other day.

The text spam has dried up a bit but I disabled texting through email. I only get the occasional one now. I just report those to my carrier and the FCC and move on with life.

It was my first experience with this and I have to say it ruined my week. Unproductive at work and overwhelmed the entire time. I am glad things are better.

I told the guy at Dell and he tried to blame it on the “factory” for sending the wrong part and that there are so many power supplies for this computer. He fucked up and would not admit it. He goes on the Dell loser list along with the guy that tried to sell me memory when my laptop drive failed.

My lower legs and upper ankles felt sore. I happened to have a physical two days after my ride and only casually mentioned my sore legs. My biggest concern at the time was a whistle and wheezing that developed after my bike ride. That has happened before, but always went away. Not this time. I officially have asthma. My worst fear was cancer. Thankfully my imagination is worse than reality.

Thinking nothing of my ankles the night of my physical Sue and I did about 30 minutes of P90X. I used my new aspirator and was ready to get going. I was dumb and started off bare foot. Five minutes into it my feet did not feel right at all. I put on my sneakers and finished as much workout as we could muster.

The following day my legs were in pain like never before. I stretched and worked my ankles and lower legs to get them moving, but walking became a chore. Stairs were a new enemy. I finally self diagnosed myself as having achilles tendinitis. I am 99% sure of it. A week later my achilles were better but my upper ankles wasn’t. My screaming legs and Sue talked me into seeing a doctor again

Unfortunately for me my doctor was on vacation that week. So I went to an urgent care facility. For xrays and en exam later I get news that nothing is broke but that I strained things. It will take weeks to recover.

Being nearly five weeks into it I can say it will take many weeks to recover fully if that is possible. I have been off my meds for two days and the pain is still there. Not as bad as three weeks ago, but nowhere near gone.

Bottom line is that I am getting old fast. I think stress at work and plain working at a desk have also taken their toll. If I ever recover I may actually be able to ride my bike again. For the moment walking with the kids is more than enough. I can even keep up if I take a hit off the aspirator first.

We usually get three phone books each year. We don’t even have a home phone and we still get them. I can’t recall the last time I even used one of them. You can use the URL above to opt out of receiving yellow books.

The laptop is off warranty now so I ponied up for a replacement. Went with a 500GB WD 7200rpm drive this time. It’s an upgrade in space and speed. It’s louder than the previous drives, but the speed and capacity are worth it. Now, if it lasts longer than two years I’ll be happy.