If you’ve played an RPG before, this is how my health bar looked on Monday. I was operating at about 25% efficiency. In my mind, I incorrectly reasoned that if I stopped drinking by 4pm on Sunday, I’d be fine. I ended up quitting at 6pm which wasn’t horrible, but my nutrition during the day is what made me pay the ultimate price. I ate a Healthy Choice frozen meal at around 11 and then some Ham and Cheese Sliders at 2pm from Misconduct. After trying to find the beer Pliney the Elder, and getting yelled at for talking to some dude’s girl, I went to Fado and caspered out around 6. I drank 1 glass of water for the day and wound up essentially passing out at 6:30 and sleeping until the next day. Productive Sunday.

The previous paragraph is setting up what it takes to recover. On Monday I knew I was hurt. I walked in to Dunkin and the music seemed like it was blaring. I ordered my coffee and felt like an unsure human driving to work. I sat behind my desk and tried to settle in but it was to no avail. I then went to the gym and ran for 30 minutes which was painful but I deemed it necessary. I then ate another small meal and chugged two coco-waters. I had bowling that night and knew that I was in trouble which proved to be the case. The team went 2-2, but I was about 60 pins below my average, which just doesn’t happen if I’m feeling 100%. Another negative side effect is you don’t sleep for more than 2-3 hours. Your body keeps waking you up either to pee or just because. Not fun.

HH – UD Highschool BBall Game

I survived a tough Monday and knew it was only going to get better. Not quite. On Tuesday, I did start to feel like a normal human but there are dehydration symptoms that don’t go away in a 24 hour period. You think all you have to do is drink water but this doesn’t work. Your body can only take so much water so the more water you drink, the more times you pee it out. My mouth stays dry. My brain is still not fully smart. My shits aren’t normal. You belch up acid and pray to god it goes away. I was at least able to eat some food which, when you can’t do, is when you have the ultimate length in recovery time. I went to the gym where I powered through another work out and then went to Upper Dublin basketball game and got through it.  I watched some TV and actually got a full night’s rest.

This brings me to today. I was able to write the trip blog post which I hadn’t been able to do. Frankly, you can’t do anything when you feel like this to its full potential. It’s sort of what it feels like being the slow student in school. You can’t pick up ideas quickly and everything you do is below your ability. This weekend was coming off of my trip and essentially 3 weeks of not doing any think like this to my body. It sort of confirms my thought that these issues stem more from my environment than my personal addiction to drinking. It’s not like I crave a beer. It’s like I drink because I’m at a bar watching a game. I share this info so other people read it and know that you don’t want this. I also probably write it so I know that I don’t want it for myself. It’s not the best way to go through life. This is obviously not the first time I’ve gone through such a process so I’m sort of like an expert on it now so that’s the other reason I post.

If I was smart, I would have spent my Sunday finishing my entries for the Euro trip because then I would be done. Instead, I went to the bar and drank for a few hours and pretty much ruined my Monday. Not only did I feel horrible throughout the day, I was pitiful at bowling after being a maestro over the weekend.

I sort of combined this with an 8 hour poker session on Saturday which trailed into the early hours. I did end up winning about 2 hundo, but the amount of money I tip on drinks and won pots could have easily made it 400. Either way, I’m almost through the full recovery mode and will be back to normal tomorrow where I hopefully continue the aforementioned posts. Just an FYI why I haven’t been posting.

I boarded the train to Innsbruck at 8:25 am. The train departed at 8:40 am. Fun fact about me is I’m a bit of a nut when it comes to timing. Some people would see a train schedule of 8:40 am and arrive at 8:39 am. I would have a meltdown if I had to travel with this person. There is a re-assuring, stress free, feeling when you show up ahead of schedule. Not only do you usually get first choice of seats, you aren’t rushed. For this particular journey I spent 5 extra Euro to reserve a seat which was unnecessary. If you’ve never took a train in Europe, you wouldn’t know that you can reserve seats. On crowded trains, I would recommend spending the money. There is nothing worse than not having a seat in a country you don’t speak the language.

The train ride is 4 hours and the views are spectacular. The Alps surround the train and you could take the same picture of the mountains over and over. The only point of interest on the train ride was in the last hour a couple sat down next to me. I was seated in an area with 2 seats facing 2 other seats. The seat in front of my was occupied by a foreigner (or native depending on how you look at it) and an English couple sat down next to us. They started chatting and speaking English which is obviously enjoyed by me. They spoke very eloquently with an English accent. At some point I asked where they were from and they said England. The man’s teeth were all over the place so I should have known. We talked for about 45 minutes on the train ride to Innsbruck and I kept honing my listening and engaging skills. I enjoyed the ride.

I got off the train and met up with my contact. We got some pizza and discussed shop for a few hours. We ate dinner at a very authentic Austrian restaurant and I had some pork, vegetables, and some noodle type food which was delicious. We capped off the day with a few beers and I went back to my hotel. BBC was usually the only channel that I would put on and Trump was all over the airwaves. I know this day wasn’t my most entertaining but it was one of the true “business” days.

Back in the USA

It’s 4:05am and I decided that now is as good a time as any to start writing about my 8 day adventure to Europe. I arrived down in Philly at 6:30pm yesterday which was closer to 12:30am from the time zone I came from. When I got back to my house, I threw my dirty clothes in the washer, watched some Sixers, and went to sleep at 8:30pm which is why I’m writing at such a bizarre hour.

I want to organize the trip into about 5 or 6 different posts highlighting each of the cities I went to. I generally try to write with the reader in mind, but this will be more for my mental memory of the trip when I think back to it. So if you don’t like it, get the fuck out.

1/16/17

Martin Luther King Day was my unintended day to travel. I had packed the night before and was only putting on the finishing touches in the morning. A few tips I learned from previous trips:

• 

  You need this.

  Bring band aids (I walk around a ton and a sore on an ankle can be devastating as I’ll write about)

• Bring an extra contact case & toothbrush (The cleaning service lost both my toothbrush and contact case last time and made it challenging to replace when traveling)
• Remember the European charger adapter

Things I forgot to bring:

• Shampoo
• Mouthwash
• Enough deodorant

I know these sound stupid but these minor steps in preparation can solve major issues. I went to work for a few hours where I made the intelligent decision to book a few tours through the Trip Advisor sister site, Viator. I chose a tour of a mountain in Switzerland and a Hofbrauhaus beer tour in Munich. I left there and came back to my place to take a shit. I immediately regretted it because then I had to shower after. I wasn’t going to spend 8+ hours traveling without feeling like a fully clean human being.

Red rocks near Vegas

Jeff and I drove to the airport. I checked in my sole bag and went through security with ease. I had two of the bigger Hop Devils and one of the worst wraps ever prepared at Chickie & Pete’s. I boarded the plane to JFK and was sat next to an older gentleman. I can’t remember how we got to talking but it turned out he was a botanist and a professor for a small school in Utah. I had re-read the 7 habits of Highly Effective People and Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People, so I was happy to put these practices to the test. We talked for the entire 30 minute ride about the places he’s visited and how different wildlife grows in various areas. Not my specialty, but he said I could call him anytime and he’d show me around Red Rocks of the Vegas area. The sickos probably envision this as a queer meetup but it was purely being friendly.

I got off the short connection to JFK and went to Buffalo Wild Wings where I had a few wings and 2 more beers. I boarded the plane to Zurich, Switzerland and was off on my trip. Not too many people were on the flight which is nice. I got to watch Neighbors 2 (not very good) and was unsuccessful getting any sleep as I was to arrive at 8am to Zurich, which is when I would normally be going to sleep. People do this.

Didn’t move for 8 hours. Probably still there.

Tomorrow I’ll be headed to Zurich, Switzerland to begin a European adventure. I feel the same type of anxiety as I have on previous trips which shows the feeling never goes away completely. It stems from the idea of going to a place where you don’t speak the language and having to navigate all by your lonesome. Trains in different languages. Ordering food like an idiot. Looking at people like they are from Mars when they talk to you. Fortunately you get used to it to a certain extent and there are English speaking people along the way.

I’m feeling pretty good which is important. I took 4 shits today and my system is clean as a whistle. I ate a salad and some fruit for nourishment which is a bit different than usual. My brain is working and I still have to pack but it should be too long. I also cleaned my entire house which I like to do before I go away so I come back and it’s like a full reset. The blog will be updated on 1/25/17. Until then you don’t have to come to this site because it won’t be updated but if you want to follow me on Snapchat, I’ll be snapping. Rnningfool is the name.

I’m too late to make a football post but I’ll be taking the Packers +4 and most likely the Chiefs. It really depends on how the first game goes and if I like my reads or if I have to pivot off of what I think. Sorry for the Seahawks pick last night.

I’ll be missing some important bowling weeks (and Winter Jam today) but I have full confidence in the squad to pick up my slack. I’m probably the only one who is over-achieving anyway so we might even be better. Viel Gluck.

Saturday did not go as planned. I had written that I was going to take the Raiders and the Seahawks which would have been ok. At the tail end of the Raiders game that I had just lost, I went with the Shee who lead me astray to the Lions. This was a double loss and resulted in my losing 200 smackeroos.

Who is going to bet on Dak?

I woke up on Sunday none too pleased and decided to re-deposit because that’s what winners do. I met up with the Mood Man at Fox and Hound and we both put money on the Stillers which hit.  It was an even money prop so I had 80 to win 80. With some liquid courage and against my better judgment, I put 180 dollars on the Packers even though I thought the Giants were going to cover. If you watch football, you’d know that this won. This has me up about 40 dollars and still a far cry from 2k.

Moody and I got pretty shit faced during the 2nd game and I feel like shit today. Either way, a win’s a win and I want to keep the blog updated.

I had to pop open a window because it was so hot in my place which is unusual for January 3rd. Also a shout out to Jeff who is celebrating his birthday today. A brief blurb on what happened on the day of his birth:

Someone in the family had to get a few of the good looks.

It was Sunday, under the sign of Capricorn. The US president was Ronald Reagan (Republican). In that special week of January people in US were listening to Faith by George Michael. In UK Always On My Mind by Pet Shop Boys was in the top 5 hits. Good Morning, Vietnam, directed by Barry Levinson, was one of the most viewed movies released in 1988 while The Tommyknockers by Stephen King was one of the best selling books. Nancy Stortz had a son named Jeffrey.

I wanted to use this post to detail my cash winnings during the football season. Here is the league I entered, the amount, and what I won:

Evan’s The Dynasty  100, -100 (If I made the playoffs, I would have taken it home)
Steve’s Philadelphia Soul  100, +800 (Benching J Matt and playing C Meredith brought home the bacon)
Baker’s The Dundees (he spelled it wrong, it’s Dundies) 25, -25 (The story of Charles Clay will not be forgotten which is more than money)
Rich C’s Pigskin Pick Em 25, +75 (I had the high card but did not fare that well ATS)
Rich C’s Eliminator 25, -25 (Eliminated the 3rd or 4th week with the Cards against the Rams for the 2nd straight year)
Softerware’s Pick Em 25, +10 (Won 1 week but pretty poor showing against people who don’t know what football is)
DraftKings 211, -211 (Rough, rough, year. I have to imagine 95% of people who don’t do this for a living feel this way.)
Bovada 400, -400 (I’ll get the exact amount tomorrow but this is to be expected)
College Bowl Mania – If Alabama wins, I should net +75

After an entire season’s worth of action, I come down to winning a few hundred dollars. I invested a lot, I mean a lot of time into football. Now there’s obviously a key factor I’m missing and that’s NFL Playoff action which will swing this one way or another. I’m a big fan of the Chiefs, Falcons, and Packers so we’ll see what happens.