6

As requested, here's a photo of Redbeard.

Thank Buddah for aloe vera gel, because it feels as bad as it looks. When I'm home I slather the stuff on every 15 minutes, force myself not to scratch, and try to zone out on DVDs.

This week's favorite is "Fishing with John". I just sit mesmerized as Tom Waits sticks a fish in his shorts in Jamaica and Dennis Hopper hunts for the giant squid in Thailand. The show is hilarious in a zoned-out, stoner way. Too bad there's only six episodes. Thankfully, I have a high threshold for repetition.

My speech is much better, but "t" and "s" is still a problem. Since the office subscribes to a few government-related magazines, I've had to take surveys on the phone during the whole renewal process. Just to amuse myself, I pretend that I'm deaf by waiting a few seconds before responding to questions, as if I'm reading from a screen.

Yes, I live an exciting little life.