I'm resting the body, like I should, but the idleness is driving me nuts. I've watched about as many dvd's as I can stand.

Dietary discipline holding, though. I'm down a total of 8 pounds in 3 weeks.

Resting now. Too much working and working out caused some painful difficulties in the hip and shoulder regions.

Drank some narcotic cough syrup a couple days ago that was left over from my dad's stash. It's basically the equivalent of Hydrocodone. Looked it up, and I think I got the equivalent of a mild to moderate dose of morphine twice. I have to say it wasn't nearly as fun as I expected. It was a bit dizzying and then I got really sleepy, yet when I tried to sleep my thoughts were frenetic and fragmented. I still felt it up to about 18 hours after I drank the last of it. I was unusually sleepy for more than 72 after. Bleah. I'm not a fan.

Woke up to pee the other night, and came across a furry grey spider on my floor. It's abdominal segement was a sphere about the diameter of a quarter. It didn't move at all, but it was compact, poised, like it was amassing energy. When I splatted it with a giant textbook, it made a big yellow stain on the carpet.

Working my ass off getting this house ready to rent. Next order of business is to lay some ceramic tile, which is one of the worst tasks imaginable. Soon as this one is done, I'll actually have enough free time to build some stuff in my garage.

Lost 5 pounds in the first 12 days and none in the last 6. It's so easy to slack on dietary discipline. Gotta feel that hunger.

Watching the box set of 'Sports Night'. The rapid-fire His Girl Friday-style dialogue is starting to have strange effects on my thought patterns.

Time to get lean. Calorie restriction and increased endurance exercise underway. My energy levels have skyrocketed. I'm working on moving all stuff into one house and making the other ready for sale. I've just worked three 12 hour days in a row. No rest until I've lost 15 pounds and that house is sold.

After one week of detox from my exceedingly unpleasant trip up north, I feel pretty good... with a dash of melancholy.

I have just about finished up all the work I'm going to do on my new Madison house on this trip. Have a major headache. The former owners of this house were the biggest cheapskates ever. It seems like every little thing in the house was DIY'ed as cheaply and ignorantly as possible. Which means I have to redo it all.

Going to see Sun Kil Moon in Chicago tomorrow, then back home.

Also, what the fuck is wrong with health care in this country? My girlfriend wants to see an endocrinologist for symptoms suggestive of low thyroid levels. So far the only one who would agree to see her is booked until November. The rest won't see her period because she isn't insured... even if she offers to pay a couple thousand up front cash deposit. She may end up having to buy a cheap policy with a high deductible that she'll never reach just to satisfy their bureaucratic rules to even get an appointment.

Had a bad customer service incident with a bank this morning. Got really pissed and spent all day shopping for another bank. Went over the crap for so long that I don't care any more. A full day of banking can be depressing.

Looks like two houses that have taken forever will finally be sold and out of my life tomorrow. Only two more to go.

One day soon, I'll be free to do something besides pimping houses or slaving away fixing them up for the first time in over two years. It's going to be weird.

Contents of brain still jealously guarded.