My back doesn’t even feel bad. My legs, however, feel tired. I was encouraged to take it easy on my first day back, and I think I did, but I’m glad to make it back. Several of us made plans to see the new Indiana Jones movie and I even avoided hearing the “big secret” but then my sister told me. Ugh. I’m not telling. I think the place we’re seeing it tomorrow has beer. That should make the movie better.

I lent a buddy my Wii. I figure it’s going to get a lot more use at his mom’s party than here. I probably would have played an hour of Mario Cart this weekend at the most. Heck, I even watched Team America: World Police today. That was sort of like eating saccharine cotton candy with swear words. In any case, I just wish I had the books I ordered from Amazon Marketplace so I could just sit around and read them.

That’s what I need. More sitting around.

I went to the D.O. today and he said I’m much better. He gave me some exercises to do to work on my core strength, and I think I’m already on my way there. I’m going to make an appointment with my massage guy and show up at the gym soon. Especially since Amazon Marketplace has screwed me and I haven’t received 3 out of 4 of the books I ordered last weekend and I have to find something to occupy my time. I can’t sit around watching Undercover Brother and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back over and over.

Other than that, I think I got bupkis today. A low-grade headache is making me think very little at this hour. However, I am still on my quest for my first cheeseburger in almost 2 months. I took a look at the burgers at the Industrial Cafe today (my brother-in-law and our California friend Thuy had them) and I thought I’d like HALF of one. Or maybe TWO-THIRDS. But certainly not a whole cheeseburger. Somehow this whole salad thing has unmanned me.

My mom got back from Japan today and we all went out to dinner including Thuy who is visiting from San Francisco. I can tell already that I’m going to regain a lot of those 15 pounds I lost so far. My sister is tiny and my brother-in-law is just tall, but they can both put away the food. Not a very good influence, if you know what I mean. And you know how moms like to fatten you up.

So there was a big update to Mac OS X from 10.5.2 to 10.5.3 today. I thought that was what was keeping me from watching Big Trouble in Little China tonight, but when I popped in Undercover Brother things were just fine. I wonder what my computer is trying to tell me. (Undercover Brother is one of my favorite movies, by the way.)

It feels better. Better enough that I feel like doing something foolish, like going to the gym. However, I promised the D.O. that I’d hold off until I saw him again. You see, I’m a foolish, foolish person and I can’t be trusted to have any common sense. However, I am clever enough to ask the D.O. to make an adult decision for me and I am actually following his suggestion.

I keep getting emails telling me to come visit the gym even if I’m unable to work out, but I’ve been holed up either with cramps in my back or with my stack of Michael Connelly mysteries. Harry Bosch mysteries, for those in the know. I’ve read four of them in the past week, I think. I have four more in the mail to me from Amazon marketplace, but right now I’m out. So now I have no real excuse for my hermit-like ways. Well, besides that my mom will be back home tomorrow from her trip to Japan and I should probably be home for that.

One of the more sobering things about this blog is the realization that hardly anyone reads it. Or so the WordPress stats say. The funny thing is, 34 people got here from my sister’s blog but there’s no views on my newest post? Something is fishy. My highest rated post is one complaining about a dating spam I got. And look at the “Search engine terms” that are supposed to be coming to my page:

• gay gym stories (two days in a row)
• how much am i supposed to weigh?
• closing key bank account
• menace to society brigham young
• raising my right leg makes my lower back

It just makes me feel sorry for anyone looking for any of those things and finding all the blathering going on here. Sure I used all those terms in my posts, but without providing any worthwhile suggestions.

Oh, and I did sign up for a new dating site a couple of weeks ago: Nerve.com. The site is so broken that I can’t get past the sign-up page. Apparently I got a free premium account but no credit for it. Today I got a reminder that I had an account, and instead of a proper link, they sent me a directory listing of their local hard drive. Genius.

The last two days the Flexeril hasn’t been helping much. It has relaxed my muscles and my brain but my back still hurt. It went from being an intermittent sharp pain to an almost constant soreness. In any case, it didn’t seem to be an improvement. My guess is that it was keeping me in bed for at least 10 hours and being in bed too long is something that always seems to make my back a little sore. So the Flexeril is going on the shelf with the other medications I don’t take. Back to the Advil for me.

I didn’t do all that much this weekend. Probably read two books and sat around otherwise. Didn’t hurt myself any worse, so I can probably call this a successful weekend, even though sitting around isn’t helping with my weight loss at all. Whatever.

Last night I just ate things that I found around the house. Cashews, string cheese, and some yogurt. Tonight I’m trying to get myself to go BUY something, even if it’s just another Jack-In-The-Box salad. I finally have to admit that the closest I got to cooking lately is opening the salad dressing and pouring it over the salad, and I don’t always use salad dressing. I even bought an egg steaming gadget because I don’t want to be bothered with boiling eggs. Man, that’s some avoidance of cooking.

The only interesting thing I did today was have breakfast with my sister and her running buddies. I was still a bit goofy from the Flexeril, but the advantage to hanging out with runners after their run is that they’re a bit goofy and not exactly well dressed or kempt. Now is kempt the opposite of unkempt?

I also figured that one way of getting rid of the Flexeril is to diffuse it out by drinking a lot of water. Whee.

This stuff is supposed to make you tired and I was sleepy all day. Of course, it’s cold and rainy and that makes me sleepy as well. My back still hurts but boy did I sleep last night. I woke up with my right wrist hurting and I wonder if I didn’t just sleep on it all night long and not notice until I finally got up.

Hmm, having trouble thinking of anything else to write about. I’ll blame it on the Flexeril. I’ll write a sentence and then wonder where I was going with my thought. This must be an ADD enhancement drug. My brain is pretty skittish to begin with and it hardly needs any help to get distracted. Certainly not pharmacological help.

I knew there was something wrong with my back when the D.O. prescribed Flexeril, a muscle relaxant. I wasn’t expecting him to prescribe anything but stretching. We also found something that always hurts, sitting and lifting my right leg while it’s straight out. Right now, after 3 Advil, I was able to bend over to pick up the newspaper, but I still can’t raise my right leg straight out. I also asked him, since I have no sense at all, if I should avoid the gym for a while, and he told me to do nothing but stretching until I see him next week.

Here’s an example of having no sense. My co-worker Eric wanted to go to Helvetia Tavern for hamburgers a couple of weeks ago and I was able to have a chicken sandwich instead of a cheeseburger. But all it took was for him to say, “What the hell? It’s Friday,” for me to end up with a pile of onion rings as well.

Speaking of no sense, I ate a can of Dinty Moore Beef Stew today. My sister bought me some groceries on Sunday and I asked for Progresso Beef Stew because I saw it in the “Zone” book. I guess she wasn’t having much luck finding it. Dinty Moore Beef Stew is kind of salty and nasty and probably as close to dog food as I’m ever going to eat on purpose. I will tell you that when you’re out in the woods camping and everything tastes good, Dinty Moore Beef Stew tastes great. Don’t try this at home. In any case, she got me other stuff that was pretty good but a little salty: Progresso soups and some canned chili. None of it is really matching any kind of diet.

By the way, the gelato fairy came by today (not so much the fairy part). Plus, I went to the gym enough times to put the deal in my favor. Hooray!

I’m not sure if it was just being sick, or the heat, but I wasn’t all that hungry lately. It was nice not having to work real hard at losing some more weight. But, alas, it’s less than a week after our almost 100°F day and it was only 58°F today. Quite a drop in the temperature, and I’m back to craving fried chicken. Ah, well, no one said this would be easy.

My back is feeling a lot better, and maybe the osteopath can tell me something tomorrow. I’m not really expecting all that much (except for him to tell me to keep coming back for more visits) but whatever I can do to get me back on my regular scheduled lameness is good. Especially since all the TV shows are re-runs now. It was nice taking a break from the gym so I could watch all the season finales, but geez, someone died in almost every show I saw. Heck, someone could have died in, “How I Met Your Mother.” What’s up with that?

I think my back is probably feeling better because of the handful of Advil I took. The dosing information on the web just says divide the daily maximum into three our four doses over the day. It’s working. I’m still walking around like an old man but at least I’m not in great pain. I’m going to see an osteopath on Thursday to see what he has to say. Probably to watch it when I’m lifting things into my trunk.

Some lazy <moronic> <fiend> put his <friendly> dog <excrement> in my <friendly> garbage can. Why the <fiend> couldn’t carry it one <friendly> block to the public garbage can is beyond me. The dog <excrement> is now going to sit in my <friendly> garbage can for a <friendly> week and stink it the <fool> up.

It’s not my <friendly> responsibility to take care of you <f riendly> dog <excrement>. You bought the <friendly> dog, you’re responsible for the <friendly> dog you lazy <friend>. <Golly> <dingdong> idiot.