Worthless Information

Sometimes I’m downright stunned by how much absolutely worthless information is rolling around my head. Last night, at the annual Trivia Night held by the high school where I made seven of the best friends anyone ever had (and got a diploma in the bargain), I was amazed yet again.

The event brought out B., CD, PB, Mr. and Mrs. Monkeygirl, Teacherlady and B.’s friend, Gar, who managed to add some extra testosterone to our table. (Mr. Monkeygirl is often the only dude.) We managed to get six of the Excellent Eight together at once, better than our average 4-5. That’s always good. Thanks guys for coming out to play!

We scored a respectable 78 out of 100 in the 10 rounds of play with topics ranging from lesser-known athletes to television law shows to Top 150s (an audio category featuring music clips from hits of the ‘70s and ‘80s. It was a category we kicked ass in, too.) Third place went to a team scoring 87 and the top scorers hit 96. So, pretty respectable indeed.

As we always have, we achieved the primary goal: not to be the lowest-scoring team who generally go home in disguises (Groucho Marx glasses and mustaches). That was a noticeably absent part of the evening. (At least it was to me. I guess it’s part of a kinder, gentler approach to Trivia Night.) As it always does, the time flew by. This group has the market cornered on that. No matter how long it’s been since I’ve seen them, get us together in a room and the calendar fades yet the clock seems to roll forward at hyperspeed.

At some point in the evening, I turned to PB to pass a possible answer down to the other end of the table where they were being quickly collected and BAM! Something in my right shoulder shot across my back and down my arm. It worsened as the evening wore on. I begged off continuing the evening at a local bar.

I stopped at the store on the way home and when I went to pick up the small bag with the handful of items I either couldn’t find or forgot during yesterday’s shopping trip, the pain was almost unbearable. Items that are important that because about 12 hours from now, we’re supposed to get hit with yet ANOTHER blast of winter, this time with a twist: ICE. Ugh.

I put a heat patch on last night after spending extra time under the shower’s hot water and relied on one of my other best friends, Advil, for help. Things are only a little better this morning. I found a Bio Freeze stick and that has helped some but turning my head to the left beyond a few degrees is still a big challenge. No idea WTF is up with that. Maybe it’s related to whatever I aggravated in my back shoveling snow last week? At any rate, I hope it lets up soon.

And snow … I can’t bear to think of the roads going to hell yet again. The commute is going to be a nightmare. And with ice starting tonight and running through early Tuesday, I’m wondering how I’m going to stay vertical to GET to the bus stop … not even thinking about how the bus will stay on the road. Knowing that ice is coming, I find myself wishing for another foot of snow instead. Never thought I’d find myself envying the northeast. GAHHH!!!

It’s going to be a long week…