Hello, It's Me: OK, I've spent the last week(ish) in San Diego. I don't know if I'll write an extended essay about it; I've done that before (I've been to SD three times). And let me say up front that SD is one of the best places in the world. Of the two places I would re-locate, should I ever get motivated to leave my warm and freindly home in Dexter MI, San Diego (specifically LaJolla) would be first one my list and Naples FL would be second. But for some reason I couldn't get out of my anxiety ridden skin while I was there this time.

I had the same wonderful Southern California moment that I have had each time I've visited - the hop in the rental car, hit the freeway in the sunshine, crank the radio moment - but the rest of the time I was still fretting over my life like I always do. Part of the reason for this is that I am suffering from a injury that is beyond annoying. Head's Up: Piss and Moan and Whine and Snivel Alert.

I have a problem with my foot that comes and goes; actually it never goes, just eases up from time to time. It may be a stress fratcture. It may be a bone spur. It may be Plantar Fasciitis. You can look them all up on foot.com if you have some sort of foot fetish. Whatever it is, when it flares up I can't walk for more than say a couple of hundred yards and I can't run at all. I have no doubt that this was a long time coming, owing to spending eight hours a night on my feet while tending bar through most of my 20s, and more recently, owing to the fact that I am pathetically addicted to exercise - primarily high impact sorts of stuff. Bottom line: I spent a few days in Coronado (most wonderful beaches in California) and I could barely take a walk up the shore. As I sit and type this, however, I am in no pain at all. I'll get up in the morning and be in pain, by the time I get to work it's not bad, half way through a workout in the evening it flares up.

However, it seems the worst thing is walking - presumably due to the longer time extended pressure is put on the foot. If you think about it, you'll realize that when you are travelling, an enormous amount of walking in involved. Walk the beach. Walk the Gaslamp District. Walk around the mall trying to squeeze in some Christmas shopping. Walk from one end of the airport to the other to make your flight.

As a result, I was measuring everything I did by how well my foot would hold up. On the flight out, I was resolved to drive up to Newport and catch the ferry to Catalina Island, after a day or so I realized that would involve a lot of walking around once I got there - nope, better write that off. Another thought I had was to spend a day wandering around Tijuana. Oh wait - bad word: wandering. That won't do. So basically I spent a lot of time in the hot tub and in bars. And despite what you may have heard, that's not how I usually live my life. You see, if you are not a workout maniac like yours truly, you have no idea what it means to be deprived of your endorphins for any length of time. It means depression, anger and all those other nasty emotions that the endorphins usually cover up. Woe is the 90 year old driver who happens to get in front of me, or one of the slothwitted simpletons at Taco Bell. Luckily I can still vent to you on the Web.

I don't want to go to a doctor about it because I have no doubt the diagnosis will end with, "Stay off it for a few weeks. That'll be $200," or something to that effect. But still, I had better do it just in case there is something they can actually do for me. Like a foot transplant.

Do I sound like some kind of decrepit old man or what? End Piss and Moan and Whine and Snivel Alert.

In other news, I've decide to sack doing football picks. It was a misguided plan, as I realized this weekend. I spent so much time trying to hunt down enough superficial information on games I didn't see, that I didn't get a chance to enjoy the ones I did. This weekend I saw the Chargers/Raiders game amidst a bunch of rowdy Chargers fans, and the Fins on Monday. (I would have picked both correctly, by the way.) Both were a lot of fun to watch, at least partially because I watched them in Coronado at the Costa Azul where they claim to have the best Margarita in the world. Not strictly true; but they use a homemade sweet & sour mix which is somewhat less offensive than the highly toxic chemicals most places put in their Margaritas.

There are only a few weeks left in the season anyway. I may take a different tack next year - I was thinking of picking three or four teams and just following them, picking and commenting on their games, and maybe tracking hypothetical wagers. We'll see.

The primarily reason is that I suspect all of you were bored stiff with it.

One good thing that came out of San Diego is that I got a minor revision of A Pleasure Doing Business With You sketched out. I'm also back to the Hope side of the interminable Hope/Disappointment cycle of trying to get a publisher. I have set a goal to have a contract in place by July 2003. If not, drastic measures will have to be taken.

By the way, if any of you webloggers out there are willing to make a commitment to read Apple Pie and, if you like it, say nice things about it on your site, I can probably see that you get a review copy. Drop me a line and we'll make arrangements.

I owe TAD Chrissy and apology of sorts. I had thought about giving Lord of The Rings another viewing in response to her shock at my dismissive comments of it. Then Miss Kate (who, like me, felt it was interminable and tedious) scared me away. Apparently the DVD edition is EVEN LONGER - which I find unimaginable. Sorry, Chrissy, I couldn't work up the courage. Maybe someday there will be a condensed version.

I did see Attack of the Clones on the hotel tube. Chrissy was quite correct about that one. It was a startlingly stupid movie.

I'm off to bed. More on SD this weekend. And some links. Thanks for waiting so patiently.