It's the stomach flu not influenza

There is a pretty nasty stomach flu bug going around Sacramento.  It's really the Norwalk virus or Norovirus.

Of course, some geniuses hear the word "flu" and instantly think if you'd have gotten a flu shot, you wouldn't have gotten sick.

Um no, think again there Jonas Salk.  There are in fact two different things with the word flu attached to the symptoms.  One seems like a really bad cold that knocks you out fast.  The other makes you lose 5 pounds in 24 hours because you are barfing up everything you've eaten or attempt to eat.

Of course, I'm of a mind that those supposed flu shots don't work for influenza anyway, but that's neither here nor there.  I mean it's a virus right?  I thought viruses mutated so fast that a vaccine was pointless.

Random Thoughts on the Home & Landscape Show

Sheriff Bob!

Because I can't get enough home improvement by watching HGTV, I went with my parents to the Home & Landscape show at Cal Expo.

Basically, every type of vendor your could possibly need to fix something in your house or yard was there.  Air conditioning, roofers, flooring, blinds, cabinetry, and even bankers were all present and accounted for at this shindig.

I've heard tell that it's a good place to research various contractors.  You can talk to them, ask them questions and everyone is in one place.

Am I the only one who is over granite?  Granted, I never really liked it in the first place.  It soaks up liquids faster than a sponge. It's pretty, but it's so 2000.  Same thing with stainless steel.  It's all starting to look dated to me.  I've always liked classic looking timeless appliances and fixtures.  Give me a look that will be cool in 15 years and not what you think of when you see a house that was decorated in 1995.

Storage for your island

What really caught my eye, was the fact that some of the food stations were open.  The scent of barbecued meat wafting from this one truck/trailer almost lured me in.  The weird country music turned me off though.  People were chowing down on corn dogs left and right.  Which would go really well with the slushie machine I saw for sale.  Maybe it wasn't a slushie machine.  It was some kind of giant Snoopy Sno-cone maker without the Snoopy.

I even saw one guy walking around with a beer.  Genius!  It's like being at the State Fair without the rides, crowds and insane heat.  You still have two days left if you want to check it out.

Nocturnal Habits

My optometrist scoffed at me when I told him I didn't have any kids. "You should be able to get plenty of sleep then..."

Um...what?

Just because I haven't procreated doesn't mean I'm sitting around twiddling my thumbs. Honestly, I can't even remember the last time I had time to think about how to twiddle thumbs or why one would even want to twiddle their thumbs.

I work like 10 hours a day. It takes me 30 minutes to get home. I have chores to do. Just because I'm single and childless doesn't mean I don't have to clean the house, do laundry, get my car fixed, go grocery shopping, or have a social life. On top of all that, I write and am addicted to Twitter.

OK, I should do something about the Twitter thing, but even so...I don't appreciate the fact that I'm thought of as having a life of leisure just because I don't fit into a mold from 1955.

I wish I had a life of leisure...well, maybe not. I'd probably get bored after about two days.

I do need to get more sleep, but I want to write. I want to interact with people. I want to watch some TV, dammit.

But, I need to sleep. I finally got 7 hours of sleep last night and it's amazing how much lower my anxiety and stress level got because of it. One damn hour makes a huge difference. Who knew?

Grubwithus? Why not?

You know how they say you should do something that scares you every day? Well, in an effort to break out of my comfort zone and talk to random strangers, I signed up for a Grubwithus meal.

What is Grubwithus? As far as I can tell, it's a social media site that allows people to have fixed price meals at restaurants. You have to get a minimum number of people to go before the restaurant & menu is revealed. Members of the site set up the meals. You pick the date and time, invite people and then Grubwithus sets the restaurant.

OK, I knew a few of the people who signed up for the meal, but the purpose behind it was to meet new and interesting people. It's kind of a fun idea. I always want to meet people in real life, but I don't want to have to set up an entire event. Plus, the pricing of the meals seems fairly reasonable. Also, the sooner you commit to a meal, the cheaper your price.

There is still room and time to sign up for next week's meal at the Porch. I'm kind of excited because I've heard good things about that restaurant and have been wanting to try it.

Don't be afraid! Do something nice for yourself. Was that too sales-y? Sorry. I've been working too much lately. I've got pitchman on the brain. That just might be a real psychological state...HerbTarlek-itis

Online Dating Chronicles: Frustration 2 Electric Bugaloo

Men of the greater Sacramento area: you are on notice. If you should receive a wink from me, it's because I'm putting as much effort into letting you know I'm interested as you did in writing that cliche ridden profile.

Since I cannot find anything even remotely interesting to distinguish you from the rest of the men on the dating site, I sent you a wink to entice you to talk to me. See, I took the time to try to let my personality shine through in my profile. I wrote things to help you strike up a conversation with you. I didn't list a bunch of adjectives that my friends would use to describe me. Of course, your friends would use nice words to describe you. That, however, doesn't tell me about you. That tells me that you think your friends think you are nice.

And that's nice...but...boring.

You have 30 seconds to reel in a great date and you go with "I'm funny. I'm laid back. I'm easy going. I'm goal oriented."

Snooooooze.

Who are you really? Are you a left handed golfer but eat tomato soup with your right hand? Are you fascinated by hurricanes? Do you know the difference between affect and effect?

Put it out there. How are you quirky? Do you still play with Legos? Then again, maybe none of you really know yourself. You need a backpacking trip through Europe to find your true identity.

The eye of the beholder

The good news is that I'm not going blind.

The bad news is that apparently I've been having migraines for the past two weeks. The thing is that I haven't noticed any major headaches. I've just had this weirdness happening in my vision.

Glares have been my trigger. I'll see a bright light reflecting off some surface and suddenly this spot appears in my vision. Except, it doesn't go away when I close my eyes.

When I told my optometrist this, he said, "Well then it's not your eyes..."

"So it's my brain?" Panic! What?! Not my brain! I have nothing else!

That's when he told me I've just been having migraines.

The spots in my vision then expand to these zigzag blue starbursts which impede my sight a little bit... Enough to annoy the shit out of me.

They have been happening enough to scare me into going to the doctor. He actually told me that some people even go to the emergency room when they get these migraine auras, which apparently isn't the name of the newest Disney princess.

The thing is that the actual headache wasn't all that bad (knock on wood). It was just a dull sort of ache. I was freaking out about my vision too much to really notice it. Allegedly, there are a few other things that could occur like nausea and a heightened sense of smell. No thanks to either!

The Mayo Clinic website said that difficulty with speech or language can be a symptom, but I've always got a problem with both of those things. Anyone who's read my blog can attest to that! Plus, I've always had a little dyslexia to contend with, so I wouldn't know the difference anyway.

So, now I have to get more sleep and cut down on sugar. He said to cut back on the caffeine too, but I really don't drink much of that. One cup of coffee a day can't kill me. It's the sleep and stress that are making me see these auras. I know it.

Random Thoughts on Hotels

You know what I don't like about hotels? They always put a mirror in behind the desk. So, when I sit at the desk and surf the web or do some writing, I keep getting distracted by my face. I see movement out of the corner of my eye and wonder what it is...it's just me.

Isn't there some other place they can put that thing? I know it's someone's job to design hotel rooms. Granted, most of the ones I've stayed at recent are fairly dated. But still, why did they do that? Couldn't they have put a mirror on that empty wall between the TV and the door? I guess if I wanted to make the desk a makeshift vanity, I could, but the lighting is for crap.

The hotel I recently stayed in had 4 ESPNs, Fox Sports and the Speed Channel. That's quite a lot of sports at one time. It was almost like being in a bar. Heck, I did have a bunch of wine in my room, but sadly, no men.

It also had free WiFi which seems to be more and more prevalent. In fact, I'm not sure why a hotel would still make a guest pay for Internet access. It seems so 2002.