One moment please

I'm all over the place today, so please bear with me.

I could whine some more, which I find entertaining. What would I have to whine about today? My back! Oh, my aching lower back. It's been hurting me something awful for two and a half weeks. I had a bout of trouble with it back in mid-September, which seemed to be cured by a night of drinking, a tiny bit of PT and getting back to my regular gym schedule. This round flared up right before I left for Seattle and it seems to be exacerbated by my fancy office chair and sitting in chairs in general. I dosed myself on ibuprofen for a few days, which did no good. I'm now taking naproxen sodium (aka Alleve™), which seems to be moderately helpful. Amanda recommended acupuncture, but I'm not quite ready for that. It is starting to get better. I give it another week.

What else? My officemate! She was gone yesterday and it was eerily silent--so much so that I had to put on the headphones to keep myself company. Today, she's back and with a vengeance. All phone, all the time. The talk ranges from complaints about the small, annoying children in her life to the injustice of her low wages (I think she's a GS-9). It goes on and on and on. She doesn't like working in this office. Big surprise. Go away now, please. GO AWAY.

What I'm thinking about writing:

A new installment of the RealLife™ Dating Guidelines. It's about time, don't you think? I think an installment about breaking up is more than due. Maybe the worst break ups and the best break ups? Maybe something about how to behave in the opening weeks of a relationship? When and how to have the bf/gf conversation? How long to wait to have sex? What do you think? Any topics you would like me to cover? I'll consider suggestions.

Another topic is married men. I've had four run-ins with married men and I've written about three of them on this here blog (this guy, The Republican and Tim). The fourth happened a long time ago and it's kind of a good story. Maybe I'll get to work on that.

Last, I know that things aren't that bad. Honest. But when I like someone as much as I like Tim and when it was almost (but not quite) real, there is something to feel sad about. Getting over it will take as long as it takes, but even I know it will not take forever.

Grateful for: ideas.