I can see clearly...

It's been an interesting past few days here. I was hammered by a cold since Thursday that now seems to be waning which I am at last grateful for. Catching a cold was as predictable as the sun coming up considering all the activity surrounding my life lately. One of the first symptoms of aging I fell victim to a few years back was the loss of my ability to stay up late without any side effects the next day, or beyond. Now if I wear myself out two or three days in a row with maximum amounts of activity and limited sleep, I will assuredly get a nasty cold as a result. This is tough to reconcile with the fact that I can be a very focused and determined individual and can ignore pain which only makes the impending cold that much worse.

That's been the case with the move. Neither my wife nor I can stand living in chaos. The idea of taking weeks to unpack and get organized is simply not an option with us, so we've been hitting it hard since the moving truck tail lights faded away last week. Thankfully, we're pretty much done. Of course, there are many little projects (hanging curtains, pictures, etc...) but the heavy lifting and piles of boxes stuff are done. The next big project will be wiring up the studio which Jackson is pledging to help me with. This should be easier than the last time I had to do it since there is so much more room to work in.

The worst part of this cold was feeling crappy for college football opening day Saturday. I was in no shape to partake in any libations hoping to just feel good enough to make it to my seat and not ruin anybody else's good time. While I did accomplish those things, it was almost not worth it since Georgia Tech scheduled a cupcake for their home opener and trashed poor Samford 69-14. We left at half time and returned to the tailgate site and watch games on TV where we were able to catch the last quarter of the Army vs. URI game. There was Army playing their "cupcake" home opener against a Div 1AA school and to mine, and many others I'm sure, they were locked in a 7-7 tie late in the 4th qtr. Army won it in over time, but with what I witnessed with the the Samford trouncing by GT, it will be a blood letting when my diminutive Black Knights come to Atlanta to play GT in late Sept. GT will score 70+ points against Army. West Point has made another huge blunder with their choice in head coach and again this mistake will be at the expense of, first and foremost, the cadets who suit up to practice and play each week and the entire Long Gray Line. They all deserve better.

Another challenge has been on the work front. My company announced a massive layoff of half our work force as part of a huge restructuring plan our new CEO is guiding (that's right, the day before we closed on our new house) . While some affected are sticking around until late Nov/Dec, most are leaving this coming Friday. Lots of disgruntled folks. Try attempting a brain drain on a person who's work you're supposed to be taking over when they've got nothing but venomous feelings for the company. I don't blame them at all. Many long tenure employees will be leaving and it's just going to be awkward and weird until Monday.

This weekend GT's got a night game against Boston College which will mean some VERY serious all day tailgating activity. I should be fully recovered and taking full advantage of my rejuvenated health to make the most of it. Let's hope that Army, The Falcons, and the Jets can find some footing this weekend and give us something to look forward to this season.