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12:05 am - Mon 6/26/06
The Story I've Got

The Story I've Got

Sun 6/25/06 (12:45 p.m.)

I�ve been thinking a lot lately about the news, and how grim it is�North Korea testing a nuclear missile that could reach the US, Iran acting up, Iraqi insurgents kidnapping and murdering two American soldiers, Congress once again rejecting a minimum wage hike, etc.�and, not for the first time, it makes me think of myself as some kind of burrowing animal, sticking my head out every so often to see if it�s �safe�, seeing it isn�t (by a long shot), then retreating back into the relative safety of my warren.

But this was worth sticking my head out for.

Wouldn�t it be nice if this idea caught on with multi-billionaires everywhere...?

_________________________

Well, I did venture out into the big, scary world yesterday...

I went down to the bus stop on 3rd, thinking I�d take the bus to La Brea, walk to Target (Which is on La Brea and Santa Monica), buy something with my g.c., have lunch, then walk back to 3rd, and take the bus back home.

I waited for the bus for awhile, then decided to give in to an impulse I was having, and walked to the Guatemalan bakery down the street, where I paid seventy-five cents for a pineapple turnover.

So after enjoying my turnover, I caught the bus further down on 3rd, and got to LaBrea without incident.

I walked to Target�which was tiring, but do-able�and after first checking out the action figures, I ended up buying a new pair of work pants (I�m so responsible).

Then I had a slice of pizza, some Doritos, and a Diet Snapple Iced Tea (Which I know doesn�t exactly read like health food. But the way I see it, I�ve been pretty good since getting out of the hospital, and normally, it would have been two slices of pizza, Doritos, and a Diet Coke, so I felt pretty good about myself. Though honestly, I would have felt better about myself if I hadn�t had the turnover earlier).

(At that point, I didn�t know just how much I was going to regret that turnover. But we�ll get to that in a bit...)

I lingered over my meal, reading one of the books Cary loaned me for my convalescence (To Say Nothing Of The Dog, by Carol Willis); I was starting to feel pretty tired, and wasn�t looking forward to the walk back to 3rd street, maybe eight or nine blocks.

But eventually, I headed out, taking it pretty slow, and was happy the walk back to 3rd actually didn�t feel as long as the walk from there to Target had been.

I made it to the bus stop, and again, was happy I didn�t have to wait long before the bus pulled up.

And that, sadly, was the end of my happiness that day.

I reached into my pocket for bus fare...and all I found were four quarters, a quarter short of what I needed.

As you can imagine, I really regretted that pineapple turnover right then.

I waved off the bus, and went through my pockets, but no matter how many times I checked, I was one quarter short. The 75-cent pineapple turnover notwithstanding, I thought I�d made sure I had enough bus fare to get to Target and back, but apparently, I�m even less of a �math-magician� than I thought.

I considered just nonchalantly getting on the next bus and hoping for the best, but it would have been too embarrassing if the bus driver called me out, and I didn�t want to have to beg for a seat (�Please let me get on the bus. I just had surgery...�).

I actually called Casey R., to see if he could pick me up (He had offered at one point to �help me out�, if I needed him to get groceries or what-have-you), but he wasn�t home.

(Like a lot of people at ArcLight, he works two jobs, so I figured it was a long shot anyway).

I went through my address book, but there really wasn�t anyone else to call...so I walked home (Bizarrely, considering my giant brain and all, a very obvious solution to my problem eluded me till it was too late�there�s a Ralphs right on LaBrea, so I could have just went in, bought something, gotten some cash back from my debit card, and been on my way. But for whatever reason, that didn�t occur to me till some time after the fact. Go figure).

It was a long, long walk home�I�d guess maybe two miles--and I was both exhausted and a touch �twinge-y� along the way, but I did get back to my apartment eventually.

Seemed a heavy price to pay for a bit of pastry...

(Yes, I know what you�re thinking, and I couldn�t agree more: I�m a regular �Profile In
Courage�.)

_________________________

(Wow, I just read that over, and it hit me--"Jim, that's one really boring-ass story...". But what can I say? It's the story I've got.)

Gonna end this entry patting myself on the back a little bit...

Since getting out of the hospital, I've been doing great with switching over from Diet Coke to water and juices.

Another goal has been to eat better, to have "treats" in moderation, and to not eat every hour on the hour (When I'm tired or bored or whatever).

That's been a bit tougher--I realize now just how often I go for a sandwich or a bowl of cereal because I'm bored or depressed--but I've actually been doing pretty damned good on that front as well.

I don't want to become one of those people who obsess about what they eat. I don't want food--whether it's what I'm eating, or what I'm avoiding eating--to be this big "thing" in my life.

All I want, really, is to look better, feel healthier, and feel like I'm controlling what I eat and when, and not just letting my bad habits run wild.

That seems do-able to me.

And so far, so good.

Well, I think I've bored you poor people long enough--I'm going to watch a little tv now.

See ya...


 

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