I don’t have many good things to say about the stomach flu thingee that wiped out my long weekend, but two days of cold turkey withdrawal from both caffeine and the Crackberry might have left me in a really good place to reexamine some bad habits I’ve developed lately.  The lack of caffeine is actually on day three now, but I had to pull the Crackberry out of the charger to cancel today’s appointment.  Baby steps.

Doing much better, and currently enjoying my first attempt to caffeinate since Monday (five days ago).  It tastes like metallic sludge, but then again everything tastes like metallic sludge due to my antibiotics.  At least it smells like good coffee.  Maybe after nearly thirty years of addiction I’m finally to the point where a scratch and sniff picture of coffee would be enough to trigger a Pavlovian response or release some of the accumulated residue from my cells back into my bloodstream.  Somehow I doubt it would work long-term, but it sure would save a lot of time and dishes in the morning.

Drinking too much coffee this morning, when I really should be on decaf.  Need a zen moment or twelve.  Its nearing the end of the month, and the end of the year for that matter, and I’ve been contemplating the Business of Law™. 

Every year there’s a slump through the holidays.  Competing for people’s money with christmas bonuses (the business clients) and christmas presents (the personal clients) is just futile.  That chubby guy in the red suit gets it all.  Looking at the numbers this year though, it didn’t start at Thanksgiving – it started during the wildfires.  The checkbooks were thrown into the evacuating cars along with the passports and treasured photographs, and that’s that.  

The numbers are really reinforcing some conversations I’ve had recently about local legal industry layoffs and a discussion over Thanksgiving about a major insurance carrier doing an out-of-state relocation.  Maybe it’s just the winter SAD kicking in, but I’m not that optimistic about the local economy.  I’m beginning to think this this will be a domestic issues election in 2008, with Why didn’t war in Iraq bring us cheap gas? replacing Why war in Iraq? as a key question.  Be interesting to see when the candidates pick up on this: before or after the Christmas shopping season plays out?  Does any candidate have the cajones to say Don’t shop, save, dark skies ahead?  If a front-runner said it, would it end up being a self-fulfilling prophesy dragging down the retail sector even further? 

Yep, way too much caffeine this morning.

An accidental overdose of caffeine this morning is preventing anything remotely like focussing on work.  Much too bouncy.  Much too easily distracted.  Gotta run.

Woke up this morning to find there were just enough caffeinated beans left for one pot of the magic elixir.  Must remember to shop today.

Today is all about attempted balancing…
…my desire to calm down with my need for caffeine (compromised with a 50-50 mix of iced coffee to get me through the morning).
…my work need to make phone calls with my delusion that I should keep the line free because BorgHealth may decide to return any of my recent calls (still self-deluding).
…my desire to escape the four walls and unwind with my need to do billable hours and talk to BorgHealth (I’m sitting here blogging, aren’t I?).
…my checkbook (yeah, right, not this month).
…my envy of Pongo with my use of opposable thumbs (wearing more than a little collar despite the heat, not licking myself, but I can get my own snacks).
…____________________ with ______________________ (comments are open).