I think that I contracted the mildest case of Poison Ivy ever! My family knows that I don't just get poison ivy. I become it. I'm the saddest sack of flesh when I get it. When I worked at a plant nursery, I would get poison ivy once a year and it would always be in August. In June and July I would always refuse to load up the Pine trees in customers cars, because I knew they were evil. Then, inevitably, a customer would arrive and I would be the only male available to load pine trees into the back of someone's car. I would protest, then finally accede and I would pick up that 50 or 60 lb root ball and put it on my knee as I slid it into someone's hatchback or van. By nightfall, I was cooked. This happened every summer for 3 years. And each year, I missed in the neighborhood of 3 days each time. On one of those occasions I went to the Doctor's office and he quickly excused himself. He returned with 2 other doctors proclaiming that it was the worst case he had ever seen. I never felt so special, and so pathetic. Because the poison ivy was so active in that leg, my leg was perpetually overheated, and runny. At one point I even detected a red line running down my leg which can indicate blood poisoning.

    I mention these things because it highlights how comparatively mild this current dose was. I had poison ivy in about 4 spots. I had it on both knees, around my ankles, in the crook of my right elbow and between my index and middle finger. Only the crook of my elbow and between my fingers broke out in any real noticeable way. I could feel the other parts but couldn't find them. There were merely dots. I haven't been in the woods, so at first I was perplexed by the itching. I surmised that it was Fritz that had given it to me, but then I realized it wasn't Fritz. It was his leash that did it. I got it like I did because when I pulled the leash off him, it would off whip-saw across my thigh, or my ankle on the way back to the banister that I leave it on. Fritz often pulls and I'm sure that the leash was tugged straight through the webbing of my fingers, thus causing an outbreak there. The same could be surmised about my elbow. Mystery solved. I can only remember one time that Fritz might have come in contact with the stuff, and I guess that's all it took for me to get it. I'm glad it was only a glancing blow.

    I think that I've caught up on the sleep that I've lost. I had a business trip down in Charlestown, WV. I decided that 5 1/2 hours wasn't all that long of a drive. That's true, if you get some rest, but I did the round trip in two days and worked in between the drives. On the way there I was stopped for speeding in Maryland. This is the 2nd ticket I've gotten this year, and the 2nd one out of state. On this one, I was headed downhill on a pretty steep incline when I realized that I was going pretty fast. As I applied the breaks, I saw the cop at the top of the next hill. He was kind and knocked the ticket down to 9 over the speed limit. I should be more angry I guess, but it's only $65 and I deserved it. About 10 minutes later, I was on the same road when I saw a deer reach the median. It was obviously scared and made a break for it across my road, with the baby lagging behind. I hit the breaks and managed to fish tail my way between the mother and the baby deer. It was both more frightening and less exciting than my description.

    As I drove into West Virginia, I had this feeling of being swallowed. You drive these roads that have a beautiful view of the mountains, but you get this sense that there is no escape, unless you live here. I guess Charleston was alright as far as a town goes. It's the capital of West Virginia and it's much nicer to the eye than Wheeling is. Sadly, I didn't spend a lot of time there. I was only in and out as I was only there to teach a class on Thursday morning. We were done a little after noon, and I decided that I would take the Virginia route home and shoot across West Virginia over to Route 81. In my 21 years that I've lived in Virginia state, I have never been down to Virginia Tech. I stopped off there on my way back home.

    I had a chance to see the stadium and the duck pond and even stopped into a bar / restaurant and talked to some of the locals. I chatted with C and M, and for some strange reason the topic of conversation turned to crime and criminal activity that had happened nearby or even to these individuals. From my seat, I could see the alley where a girl had been beaten and raped, despite the near constant presence of law enforcement. One of the girls even described a scene where she was at a bar and a man slipped her a roofie. She was brought to her own home, and felt her limbs beginning to become immovable, in a last ditch effort, she grabbed her phone and dialed 911 before it slipped out of her hand. She remembers seeing him come out of her bathroom stark naked, but fortunately the sirens arrived before he could touch her and he hurriedly grabbed his clothes and left. Unfortunately for him, he left his business card. Apparently, he will be on trial sometime in August. I got this story 2nd hand so I can't vouch for it's validity, but if it is true, it leaves me chilled with a few thoughts. 1st thought: This guy has done this before and probably done it frequently. If he were new at it, he would have probably jumped on her immediately. This guy set the whole thing up, took his time, waited for the drug to kick in properly so that she wouldn't remember anything. That's just calculated, cold and premeditated, and frankly evil. 2nd thought: College is a scary place. Predators, alcohol, drugs and it's all part of the educational experience. (Granted, we were talking about the worst of the worst stuff that they have seen, but it's more than I've seen and I'm older and I haven't exactly lived the cloistered life)

    After talking to these students I discovered that one grew up near the school, and the other actually lives in my backyard! I of course passed on my web address so that they could see where they were made famous. While I was using the bathroom, some dude from Ecuador walked up and engaged them in conversation. I returned to my seat and listened to him talk in broken English for a few minutes, and then I heard him ask C to marry him. I kid you not! This dude asked her to marry him. Now, he didn't get down on one knee, but he would have if he thought it would have gotten him further with her. Immediately after he proposed, I leaned over to her and said "Did he just propose?" She laughed and said "I think he did!" Anyway, S as we now know him, described how American Girls are not like Ecuadorian girls. American Girls are stuck up, he said and they just have problems. My guess is that S is frustrated because American girls don't find him attractive, and one of the reasons they don't find him attractive is that he complains about American girls not finding him attractive. The first rule of impressing girls in any language is not to whine! Everyone knows that! It make get you sympathy, which might make a friend, but it seldom, if ever ends up as a relationship. At one point in the conversation, he asked us if I was her boyfriend, and I just gave him a blank stare because I've really just met this girl, and she tells him "Yes! he is." So, for the next 20 minutes I was her boyfriend and I protected her from this sad little Ecuadorian, and I hardly had to say a word.

    The drive back from Tech was more straightforward than the drive down to Charleston. For the most part it was all 81. I made good time too. I did it in 3 hours and 40 minutes and no tickets. I was completely exhausted though. I went to bed before 10 and was still nodding off with my coffee. I even slept in today to finish the job of recovery.

    Today was boring, I worked on the computer. My jukebox got the blue screen of death, so I decided to just retire the jukebox and bring the hard drive over to my primary computer. I think this will work better anyway. The other computer hummed obnoxiously and took up desk space. I guess it's just as well. I also went to Costco, did laundry, unloaded the dishwater, bought a few Xbox games and finished this diary entry. Oh and I talked to more friends. I reconnected with one of my A's from Albany. I talked to one of them on Thursday on my way back north and the other I talked to today. The A I talked to today looks to be headed toward "Happily Ever After". Her boyfriend, who lives in Houston (how is that for twisted?), is going to be moving to Albany on my birthday! How bout that? I'm really happy for her. She's seems happier now than in ages and marriage may be in future for them. It gives me hope! I also received a call from roommate from last summer M. He is in California for the next 5 months or so, and called me on the road. He seems to be doing well as well. His love life seems to be budding as well. Must be the freaking water! No, I'm not bitter. No, really, I'm not. Shut up! I hope that you know that I'm not jealous of others victories in this area. I just like to have a sense of humor about my own singleness. Having said that, I still need an outdoor hobby on days like today. Maybe it's time to buy a bike... Yeah! A bike! Does that mean that I have to wear one of those goofy helmets? We didn't have to wear them as kids. Hmm, I think that I've talked about this before... Oh well. Night folks. Have a happy and safe 4th of July!