My Throat Exploded

Well, not literally but for a few days it felt like it did. I ignored my severe sore throat for about 5 days, because I am an idiot who feels he can always self diagnose himself, before going to the doctor. Upon my visit I realized I had a fever (which is absurdly rare for me), sore throat (duh), an achy breaky body (I'll be here all day folks...) and an overall "where the fuck am I and who the fuck are you" state of mind. I was basically slighty delirious and intensely annoyed at my swollen throat. Turns out I didn't have strep, which is nice but was kind of the preferred disease this time around. No no...I had tonsilitis with a chance of mono. OH JOY OF JOYS!!!! The tonsilitis thing didn't bug me too much, no surgery and just a few pills a day and it would all disappear. The mono thing scared the piss out of me...highly contageous and doesn't go away for weeks or months. Turns out it wasn't mono, so anyone who has been in contact with me can rest easy. Tonsilitis is not contageous, it is just my own body giving me a swift kick in my throat and then trying to make nice by coating it in mucus. Charming anaology, I know. I am feeling 150 times better than I did 3 days ago so I should be back to normal by maybe Sunday, which is awesome because there was no way in hell I was missing Silverchair next week. I finally get a free Matt Stiff to come to a concert with me, I am not going to jeapordize that shit.

My sickness did cause me to call out of work at Hallmark two days straight, which I don't think was appreciated one bit. I didn't exactly have a choice in the matter but both Jeff (district manager) and Betty( Key Holder) did not sound amused when I told them of my sickness. I know scheduling is tight but telling me to get better or to take as much time as I need would have been nice. Just saying, "Oh...well then" isn't really a caring response. I know it is hard for them to find replacements with short notice but honestly, I can't exactly do anything about it. Unless you want me coming in hocking up mucus, blowing my nose, not being able to talk and all the while boxing candles and riniging up cards...not gonna happen. I make my glorious return to the mark tomorrow night, working with Diane. I love working with Diane so that shouldn't be too much trouble.

The 90's Come Storming Back!

Brace yourself people...I have seen the Gin Blossoms in concert. The loveable bar band from Tempe, AZ( as the lead singer mentioned after every song) played at The House Of Blues Atlantic City last night. The thing that surprised me the most about the show, aside from the fact that a place called the house of blues never has any acvtual blues performers, was how tight the Gin Blossoms actually sounded. They knew how to play to a crowd and their entire set was incredible. After nearly two decades performing in front of mid level/smallish crowds, the Gin Blossoms knew exactly what to play, say and do on stage to get the crowd going. They played a fair amount of new material, which wasn't half bad, before launching into the big 3: Hey Jealousy, Til I Hear it From You and Follow You Down. The three biggest hits of their 90's career and the three songs I am sure they are really tired of playing by this point in their lives. They still approached the songs with energy and the crowd ate it up,though it was kind of surreal to see a whole crowd of people rocking out to songs made at least 10 years ago. The encore was intriguing as an acoustic cover of "Rocketman" was played to a slightly confused yet appreciative crowd. Oh, I have to note that half the crowd left before the encore because they just really didn't understand the "If the lights are still off, they are coming back for an encore" rule. Rookie/drunken mistakes on their part. They closed out the show with a new song no one had ever heard before, which was a little weird. Overall good show though and it was incredibly nice to see Deanna again, rocking out 90's style the whole show.

I officially hate croc shoes and anyone who wears them immediately will be put on my "Not getting a Christmas present" list.