Whichever it is, I've been awake since arising from a glorious 11-hour snooze on my futon at 8 Monday morning--unless you count that half-hour nap I took while sitting up on my futon from 7:15 to 7:45 this morning. The first thing I did was wipe the drool off my phone--if I don't sleep on my back, I drool, but if I do sleep on my back, I snore (don't you just envy my future wife right now?). After that was a shower, then laundry. While laundry was going, I read the Daily and the (Des Moines) Register and did the puzzles in the Register--and learned that the Super Bowl had indeed been played, and points were scored.
After laundry--where I discovered I have been using the second-best dryer in my building (thank you, mystery laundry neighbor for leaving your clothes in the dryer overnight)--I checked email and did internet stuff--including writing a post on this here blog.
Nothing else really happened until 3, when I decided it was about time to clean my bathroom. I had to quit before getting the shower completely clean because the fumes were making me dizzy, so I went on to vacuum the rest of my apartment.
At 7, I went to some mini-sermons at the MU chapel. Since I get no signal on my phone there, I decided not to put it on silent--so naturally, during the third mini-sermon, my phone decided to let everyone in the room know I had a voicemail, even though I had no way to check it there.
When the sermon was over--about 8:35--I slunk outside to check the voicemail. It took 5 minutes to convince my phone that there was signal to be had, and then I still had to turn it off and on again to make it understand that signal means I can make phone calls. It was about the snow we've had here, and there would be an opportunity to shovel. I called the guy back and said I could, and he told me he'd pick me up at around 2:50. I was now forced to make a decision: to go back to my apartment and get 4 hours (at most) of sleep, or get a bottle of pop, go to MMM and just stay awake. I've already given away what option I went with--Nacho Libre was great, btw.
After MMM, I went back to my place and watched Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, including all the DVD extras. Then it was time to suit up.
I wore two pairs of socks, two pairs of pants (one tucked into the boots, the other over the boots), boots, a t-shirt, a sweatshirt, my jacket, my hat (which is actually two hats), and my good gloves--with a scarf in my jacket pocket just in case.
We got there a little early, and waited in the car until 3, then got started. Around 4:30, I decided my face was too cold, so I put on my scarf and took off my glasses--they fog up if I wear my scarf. After a couple minutes, I noticed a funny smell, which was oddly familiar, but I couldn't place it. I thought it through: "okay, I've worn this scarf a few times, and breathing my foul breath on it..." Suddenly it hit me. New Orleans! Oh, crap! My scarf smells like New Orleans!
You may be wondering, "Why is this an 'Oh, crap' moment? What's wrong with New Orleans?" Well, it has to do with why I was there--and when. I was there during the Spring Break after Hurricane Katrina hit. One of the strongest memories was the smell--a damp, musty, moldy smell. The mold there was principally black mold. This can cause severe health problems. However, it is unlikely that the mold on my scarf was the dreaded black mold. So, keeping in the spirit of this post, I took a few simple steps:
1. Remove scarf and put glasses back on
2. Tell NO ONE (until this post goes live, that is)
3. Resume work as normal
4. Plan to wash the scarf when I get back to my place
5. Hope that the slight burning sensation in my nasal cavity and the coughing go away soon (they did)
Anyway, I shoveled for another 2 hours, then we called it quits. When I got back to my place again, I threw the scarf--and other things--into the laundry, making sure to use the good dryer. While things were in the washer, I took a shower--and nearly passed out from a combination of exhaustion and lingering cleaner fumes, so I naturally took the rational route (sit on my futon for 10 minutes with my eyes closed, then ignore the whole episode). I took the aforementioned nap after the 10-minute sit-down (I dressed and got a drink of water in between). I woke up, and got the Register after moving stuff into the dryer--the Daily wasn't out yet. When laundry was done, I tried to sleep, but couldn't, so I came out to post this and get the Daily.
I wonder if I can make it to connection group without falling asleep.
.......STAY TUNED FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS.......
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