I've been shaving in the shower for the last coupla months, and I have several observations on shaving:

• Shaving cream is mostly a guide to where you've shaved.
• Other than that, it's pretty useless.
• Shaving in the shower, essentially blind, is hard.
• Like most hard things, it's good for your soul.
• O'wait, I don't believe in souls.
• Tactile sensory inputs are not to be relied upon until they're fine-tuned.
• It takes longer than I've been at it to get fine-tuned.
• Always inspect the final product before you put it on the shelf.
• I haven't cut myself since I started shaving in the shower.
• I tend to miss a few places every day, but I've learned that I need to look in the mirror after I've dried off and do touch-up with a dry razor.
• Shaving your head is not nearly as hard as it looks like it might be.

Work today was a bitch. Complications after complications after complications.

And I was running the room, and of course all of my physical failings came through, legs hurt, back hurts, feet hurt, tiresome goddamned body.

But neat patients, each and every one. Patients get me through the day.

I got there on time, in fact I got there early enough to eat a bagel for breakfast. I'm really starting to like bagels with creme cheese, preferable strawberry. It does piss me off that they charge $0.85 for a bagel until 09:00, then reduce the price to $0.40. Of course, I can't wait that long for breakfast.

My fasting BS for this morning was 103. I felt good about that.

And since my bitching yesterday, I got on the scales this AM and I'd lost four pounds. I don't weigh myself all that often, it's been about four days, but I'm encouraged.

Jody brought over the amp that I bought from him, a Crate 100 watt, and I love it. Sounds a whole lot better than the one that I've got now. And it's not flaky, it won't quit because there's too much moisture in the air. And I was talking to JD earlier, about different left-hand methods, and I decided that there is a new guitar in my future, and that guitar is going to have a significantly thinner neck. Thick necks mean that it's harder to hold your left hand properly. I've got a friend who is a retired machinist, and I'm gonna ask him to help me design and build a neck that's very, very thin. He has a fully-equipped machine shop at his disposal, and I'm hoping that he will see what I have in my mind and be able to build it. Actually, we could make a fortune.

The reason that I was talking to JD earlier is that I tried to call Tyler, and his phone had been disconnected. So I called JD to see what's up. Seems that he has changed vendors, and hadn't got around to giving me his numbers. And he's got a cell phone now, so I might get to actually talk to him and not just his answering machine.

I really miss being connected to Tyler.

I've been connected, after a fashion, to JD, every since he was 16. But Tyler is a different story. I love him, more than I can say, but we just can't connect.

We can connect, after a fashion, when we're together, and that's really cool, but when we're not together, and we aren't very often, we just kinda forget about each other. Or, rather, he forgets about me.

And that hurts.

Because I think about him a lot, and I love him a lot, and I miss him a lot, and I really want to be a part of his life, but I'm afraid that I've just missed out... and I don't know how to fix it, and I don't know if it's my problem or his, but I know that I'm the one who's hurting from it.

And I really, really hope that he isn't hurting too.

But if he is, I hope that we will find a way to connect, so that neither of us will be hurting.

And no, I don't really know what "connecting" is, or how it's accomplished. I just know that I want it.

Damn, it's bedtime. Gotta go play through that amp and smoke another cigar and have another drink and go to bed.

I had thought that I might take call tomorrow night, and I still might, but I'm thinking that I really need the whole weekend off, y'know? It's been a hard week, and I'm ready to sleep. As in, at least 12 hours every day this weekend.

But the money, the damned money, calls to me.

O'yeah, we are now getting $1.75 an hour for taking call instead of $1.25, hoo hah!

Goodnight, all ye fair maidens. O'yeah, and all you studs, too.