Return/Escape/Liberation

Not only does it seem that my time spent in southern Mississippi makes me bitch about my life all the time, but it also seems to be dulling my personality. Making me into a dull boy. All work and no play, etc.

Speaking of Wendy's, I'm starting to live a "Supersize Me" life here on the road. The selection of restaurants in Pascagoula isn't all that great to begin with, especilly if one sticks to the Exit 69 area of I-10, and on top of that, my lifestyle had been pretty sedentary: sit at a computer pretty much all day working on the project, then get back to the hotel and sit at the computer all night trying to keep up with office email. Then flop on the bed and watch t.v. until I fall asleep.

There's a workout room in the hotel with some limited apparatus, and I've used it a few times, but there's often families of tourists in there not really working out per se, but just sort of lounging over the equipment and bogarting the joint.

There's also a running trail I found down by the Gulf - probably the nicest thing in Pascagoula - but it's been so blasted hot and humid in the afternoon that even if there aren't late afternoon thunderstorms, if it doesn't really lend itself to outdoor exertion.

So in response I've resorted to basically just skipping dinner. Two meals a day to avoid looking like Jared before he discovered Subway.

Blogging has been getting very difficult. I can't think of anything to say anymore - "I got up. Went to work. Had lunch at Wendy's. Went back to work. Went to the hotel. Went to sleep." That's about the extent of my so-called life these days. Trying making an interesting, Zen-themed post out of that. Okay, now try making another one, and then keep doing it every day.

It's hard.

I flew back home today. The flight was delayed by an hour. Instead of arriving in the ATL at 3:30, it finally got us here at about quarter to five. Just as I left the terminal and began the epic odyssey to my car deep in the bowels of Economy Parking, a thunderstorm started pouring down. I got to my car soaking wet, just to pull out into some of the worst Friday-evening traffic that I can remember. It took over 90 minutes to make the normally 15-minute drive. If the plane were on time, I would have missed the storm and the traffic. Thanks, Delta (but there I go with the bitching again - "You want some cheese with that whine, Shokai?").

When I got home, there were no messages on my answering machine, nothing but spam in my inbox, nothing but bills in the mail.

(Sigh). It's still good to be home though.