10/05/01 - Four hours of sleep today, yea, that will do. It's what I have to do to get "normal" after a week of graveyard shift. Actually, I just didn't have time to sleep today. I had invited my father over for his birthday, 82 years old. He's very good about not mentioning the condition of my house. He wants to be invited back I guess. We had a good visit. Maybe it was because I was mellowed out knowing it was my night off, I didn't get upset by anything he said. Only upsetting thing was having to yell everything to him. I don't think he has much hearing left. I had a hoarse voice by the end of the visit. Three out of four boys managed to be here and wish grandpa a happy birthday. There was only The Child, my dad, and me left when it came time to go out to dinner, well it was Friday night with more important events on the agenda for the others.
We went out to dinner at Chevy's (Mexican). It was a nice kind of OK. Had to wait 10 minutes to get seated. The food was good and my dad really enjoyed getting out. This place had too many families and too much noise for me. I'm not used to that. I've been spoiled by interesting dining venues and booths ... I miss my restaurant buddy.
My dad left immediately after dinner, giving me time to add bunches of layers of clothing and head off to make the second half of The Jock's college soccer game. It's very neat to have a Friday night off. There's that TGIF feeling in the air. With such little sleep I was amazed at the energy I had. They lost the game, but they gave it a good fight. I enjoyed hooking up with a couple of my old "soccer mom" friends. It's amazing how much catching up you can do all while keeping one eye on the game. I've run into a lot of old friends this week. They all ask me where I've been. Between strange work hours and having spent a year of weekends away, I guess they thought I'd dropped off the face of the earth.
Still amazed at the energy I had when I got home, I ventured onto the computer for what turned into hours (a couple) of meandering. I managed to trim down some of my unread e-mails, write a couple, read a few on-line newsletters and ... I visited a few chat rooms. Well, I'm out of practice there. I haven't hit a chat room in about 1-1/2 years. Nothing much happening there, I've lost the knack. But, I might try it again. I'd met some very interesting people in them rooms in the old days. However, I haven't much time these days. I've got real people to meet, places to go, things to do ...
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