Back From Tampa and the ER
8/26/2

Monday, August 26, 2002, I�m sitting at the computer upstiars and it�s 1:09 pm. I�m wearing underwear and the undershirt that I wore to church Sunday morning, I haven�t changed, and no, I�m not at work.

But let�s do this chronologically.

Friday afternoon, a week and a half ago, I took out seven hundred dollars. The daily allotment for travelling days was $50 and for Tampa days was $100. And I say Tampa, but I really mean Saint Petersburg, or, more specifically, North Redington Beach.

Usually when I go on vacation I either take the old Macintosh Classic II and type in entries as they happen or I at least take notes. Once I got down there, I decided that this wasn�t just a vacation from Huntsville, but it was a vacation from who I was up here.

After all, I did die my hair black on Friday night also. Aisai died hers slightly red. My reasoning was if mine looked bad, since I shave my head about every month, it wouldn�t last long, in fact it could be gone instantly. But it looks pretty good. I look like I�m more from my Dad�s side of the family than usual.

When I was down there, I kept seeing people who looked roughtly like my family on my father�s side. They are from Whorlando [ok, just this once I�ll call it Orlando]. The 14 hour long drive back made me think about it and about family trees. We tend to only trace the male side due to the renaming aspect of things. Aisai ends up being a card carrying Ichota Cherokee this way. She�s only 1/32, but it counts since the Ichota lied and said they were white people, the only real way to own land back then.

Most of the gals which I saw which looked very similar to my sister or my aunt Janice were cuban.

We went to Universal Studio�s Islands of Adventure and that has to be the cleanest and most impressive park I�ve ever been in. I get impressed by effort. There was tons of effort put into this place. It really popped when it was supposed to pop. And the park was kept about 20 degrees cooler feeling do to hundreds of mist fans. That was a full day.

The first day we were there, Saturday, we didn�t do much. However, on Sunday, we did something for Aisai, we went to see Gone With The Wind in it�s original aspect ratio [square, oddly] at the old Tampa Theater. It was good. Sure, I enjoyed it. But I�ll never see Gone With The Wind voluntarily in my life again. Best parts for the uninitiated: �At least the beginning is funny before it turns into an 1880s version of Married With Children that isn�t funny� and Scarlet poppin� a cap in that union soldier�s face. Wowsers. I wasn�t expecting that.

I�ll write more about the vacation later.

The drive home was much more taxing on my system than the drive down. I think it was a little longer and I got only a few hours of sleep the night before. When we got back home, we picked up some Subway on the way to the house and greeted the cats. That night I dreamed that someone offered me $10,000 for Zapato and I wouldn�t take it. Damn Straight. I can�t say that cat�s name without smiling.

We caught up on our Big Brotherness, although I had programmed a little too little time for it and it had already cast off the Friday before we left Big Brother by the time we got home. Was that Friday a two hour special too? I gave the thing five hours. After that, sleep.

Sunday morning, not much to eat so I have my iced coffee that I learned the easy way how to make while on vacation and one little packet of melba toast. Aisai had to help her mother in the nursury so I sat with Christine, my neice. Or I sat for a little while. When the third song was sung and we were asked to stand, I stood for about the first half of the first verse and then had to sit. I got back up at the beginning of the second verse, I felt that staying seated was a bad example for small kids or something, and then I realized it.

I was going down.

I asked Chris to let me past her and I got to the isle and an older man, I think his last name is Whisnant, helped me into the lobby. One of our elders which is an EMT helped me. I ended up lying on the floor for a while. They brought a wheelchair for me but I managed to walk to Aisai�s 626. I went to the ER.

That was 9:26 when I collapsed. I literally had no energy and couldn�t get up or think straight. I don�t think if some sissy little teenage girl collapsed that they�d freak out about it as much as a person like me which everyone just assumes is strong. But to the ER we went.

I got out at 4:30 in the afternoon. Aisai dropped me off and went and got Burger Badboy while I think I lay down. We ate, watched last week�s Food Unwrapped and Futurama, and I went to bed at 8:30 p.m.

I just woke up at 12:50 p.m. when Aisai called. I slept a straight 17 hours.

Did I have fun on my vacation? Yes, lots. We�re starting to learn the St. Pete area and what is good. I�ll write more about this later.

Did I come home feeling rested? No. Even now after nearly a full day of sleep, I feel like crap.

Before we left, a lot of brochures that Aisai ordered in the mail came. They were tourist info for Chicago.

No es bueno.