"It'll be, better than before
Yesterday's gone...Yesterday's gone!"
- Fleetwood Mac, 1977
I need time away...real time, real fun, no drama... I need this for me - for every part of me with every ounce that I am, I need this.
So...ROAD TRIP!!!! That's right, Ladies and Gents...I'm leavin' on a jet plane...again... I do this, I know. This time to Florida, where I haven't been in about a year - and that is a LONG ass time for me to not be down there.
The timing of the trip is good, because the Yankees are playing the Florida Marlins the same time I am there...and Pro Player Stadium is right by my condo. Score! Of course, the games are mostly sold out, so I resorted to "Stub Hub" to get me some tix.
(Note: someone mentioned that "stubhub" sounds like a porn site - wondering if it could be a site focusing on men with small dicks... I wondered, if she thought that, WHY I WOULD BE GOING TO LOOK AT THAT SITE!! C'mon now, be real!)
So, after much deliberation, searching, and checking credit card balances, I took the plunge and bought 2 tix for $150 a piece. It's on the club level, directly behind home plate, 2nd row of the section - not 2nd row behind home plate, but 2nd in its section. Generally, these are regarded as being some of the best seats to see a game, so I was in like flynn. Cool thing is, the club level has its own air conditioned lounges, bars, food, etc, reserved just for club ticket holders. Oh yeah, snobbery!!! Lovin' it!
Oh, and its COWBELL DAY!!!! How 'bout THEM apples!!!! Just LOOK at what I will have....
I got a FEVER! And the only PRESCRIPTION is MORE COWBELL!!!!
"When your life has been bad for you
Just think what TOMORROW can do!"
Of course, this is what will happen - it will rain cats and dogs all 3 days, cancelling all games and having no time to make up the games at all while I am there... I will then be struck by lightning on my way to the box office to get partial refund for my tix. On the way to the hospital, my ambulance will be hit by the Yankees team bus, throwing me clear of the accident but into a field filled with old WWII landmines... As I wait for rescue, I again get hit by lightning, setting off all mines around me, which will throw me into a barbed wire fence - fixing my dislocated shoulder from the Yankee bus accident, but putting several puncture holes in my skin. Since now all I am is a bit charred and bloody, I opt to walk home. I stop at a local gas station and, thinking I am lucky, buy a scratch off. I win $10 million... and in my moment of rejoicing, I grab the woman behind me on line and kiss her deeply. I find out soon after that she has Swine Flu and herpes, and once again I wind up in an ambulance after passing out due to my shock and astonishment.
Somewhere along the way, I lose the ticket, my shoulder becomes separated again, and I now have to take Valtrex forever to stop the symptoms from herpes...
Now, this might very well NOT happen, but it's just a theory...Please, don't ask me where I think of this stuff. It just sorta pops in my head.
I need a brain scan.
"All I want is to see you smile
If it takes just a little while"
I really, really, really want to see "B" - a very dear friend who, like me, has many problems of her own to deal with. She was there for me when I was at my very worst and darkest, and I never, ever can thank her enough for that. She should have nothing but happiness in her life, and I have never seen someone so deserving be so denied. I just wanna give her the Über hug, and let her know it will be alright, and make her smile... All she has to do is be herself. If you are reading this, B, know that I love you very much. You are incredible! :-)
I wanna smile, too. I'm hoping I can after this...I'm sure I will - just being away in a non-pressure situation is reason enough to smile!
Now, for the road trip part...
Check this ridiculousness out - a rental car for a week during that time in Florida will cost ABOUT $400....WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?! I'm talkin' Ford Focus, NOT Corvette... I'm baffled.
However, Hertz has a deal where if you drive the car out of Florida and drop it off somewhere else you get a discounted rate. So, I'm gonna fly down, but drive back...with gas and tolls, I'll still save about $200. Can you f*cking believe that shit??? And that is for a Mid-size car...I can get a truck or something, but that would burn too much gas for my liking.
"Open your eyes, and look at the day
You'll see things in a different way"
So, I'm gonna make a few stops along the way, see some friends, and hopefully enjoy the scenery. I know about long drives, and can do it in less than a day straight thru, but no need to rush, right?
Possible stops are: Tampa, Fl; Orlando, FL; Atlanta, GA; somewhere in NC; Louisville, KY; Wilkes-Barre, PA; and some others that aren't deeply in the running...but we'll see. Wish I had more time off, but the minute I get back I have to to Maryland for 3 days of meetings...so the trip may be truncated to 2 or 3 stops.
"Why not think about the times to come
Not about the things that you've done"
Hopefully this trip will be a 'mental detox' and I'll be able to think more clearly about shit - whether it be work or personal - but it better be fun, or I will be forced to punch someone in the pancreas. Yes, the pancreas...don't worry, I'll find it.
I'm feeling melancholy recently...so I really need to shake off the past and get with the future. I'm attmpting to lose weight again, and I realized that I have been punishing my body unnecessarily. This has to stop. Now. And it will...and results will come with time. I'm just impatient.
For now, though, I look forward every day to playing with Scrappy, my new doggie, who loves me for who I am. I wanna be like her...
Tell me she isn't awesome! I DARE YOU! :-)Anyway, I'm tired, and the Xanax is kicking in...laterz!
"Don't Stop thinking about tomorrow
Don't Stop, It'll soon be here...
It'll be, better than before
Yesterdays gone...YESTERDAYS gone!"
Lyrics used completely without permission
from "Don't Stop" by Fleetwood Mac
off the 1977 release "Rumours"
Warner Bros. records
