The New Year

For the third day in a row I'm stuck at home with the flu. Funny-- with all of the physical abuse I put myself through, it's after a week of rest in Puerto Rico that I get sick like this!

The last two days of Liu's visit were a lot of fun. We went to see "Tales of Hoffman" on Thursday night and "Wonderful Town" on Friday afternoon. Thursday night was filled with a lot more "medicine," part of the adventure with the British kid who wants to name his son Billy-boy and left me with $100 and a few bruises; Friday was New Year's Eve, which went smoothly except for when FightingMensch threatened to beat up my brother-in-law and my friend AGrub. My only New Year's Eve regret--BigSis tells me that she tried to introduce me to a cute boy after my swaggering rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," but I was too drunk to care.

New Year's Day I woke up at 7:15 am in the doorway between the bathroom and the hallway on the floor in my overcoat. BigSis and Bro-in-Law were supposed to pick me up in a cab at 7:30 so I had to jump up, zip the suitcase, change my clothes, and stumble, still drunk, into the lobby. I barely had the chance to wish Liu (or my cat) a proper goodbye. Not the best way to start a New Year... In any case, Puerto Rico was a lot of fun, minus the 24-hour stomach virus that Hammer and I both came down with. We managed to pack a lot into our last day though, including horse-back riding on the beach and a sunset cruise. There's a lot more to say about the trip, but I really don't feel like writing about it right now.

Sunday I spent the day cleaning and hanging out in Cheers for a while, talking to BarMan. I got my film developed and the photo-shop guy who always flirts with me made a point of giving me free panoramics. It was cute. All day I was SO psyched for the season premier of 24. At around 7:00, B came over to watch, but by that time, I was already feeling a little run down. We went for a walk to pick up Indian food and someone threw a cigarette out of a window, almost hitting me in the head. By Monday I was sick beyond belief. I managed to get myself to the doctor late in the afternoon, but passed out by the elevators while attempting to leave the office. An office assistant found me and they made me wait in an exam room until BigSis could pick me up when she got off work. Since then I've been napping and running a fever while subsisting on Saltines and Gatorade. Yesterday I watched "Twelve Angry Men" on DVD.

The one benefit to such forced down time: more distance from my last contact with Narc. The more time that goes by, the less likely that I'll ever call him again. It's becoming more clear that in many ways he's just another addiction--another bad habit...

That's it for now... Seinfeld is starting...