A dispatch from the land of night sweats and McJunkins.

Sitting one week on the other side of surgery, I have a few thoughts.

Firstly, pain killers, while excellent at killing pain, can absolutely suck it. They are the devil.

Secondly, I hate night sweats more than any living person on the planet. This is likely because of my experience with them after a horribly misdiagnosed appendicitis in 2001 or so, and a slightly underestimated case of severe cellulitis this past March. They give me so much anxiety, that I basically get to the point I can't sleep.

Am I detoxing? Is this an infection that is growing in my body which I will once again likely defeat, (just part of being too tough to die, but too dumb to quit trying I suppose), but will chip away at my psyche and metal well-being in the interim, and cause the entire medical field to collectively scratch their heads?

This is the plight of a person who has historically been wholly asymptomatic. Since I was a baby I just cruised through shit that probably should have killed me, often times leaving doctors a bit befuddled. Maybe I should have gone to med school instead of embarking on a lucrative career of fighting for scraps and selling stickers with bad words on them.

Anyhü, chalk this up to one more thing that hasn't done me in yet, and I'll get back to mediocre execution of action sports real soon.

 (Postscript) - I checked myself into the ER Sunday morning- *Everybody got they own kind of church.*

It turns out I perhaps was ripe for a low grade infection, and instead of letting it go into full blown sepsis again, we nipped it in the bud and got me on some pills. Hallelujah, and better living through chemistry.

At this juncture I would like to address the previously mentioned Go Fund Me account. I discuss it in length in this week's episode of Revolting but would also like to put a very humble thanks here in ink.

I'm floored, gobsmacked, overwhelmed, and so, so, so grateful. Not having to stress about rent, food, bills, medical fees, etc. and so on over the next couple of months has made the post surgery stresses virtually non-existent. I don't exactly remember the details when I had this same surgery in 2015. I mean, I do, but I recall the days after surgery considerably more arduous. Hell- After the bone graft surgery just this past March, I had a far worse time than I am currently.

I've gotten in and out of a bath tub on my own twice, kicked the pain killers within three days, so far have had zero spasms, and am starting PT today, which is exactly one week after surgery. While I can't yet walk well, I feel 100% better than I thought I was going to, and I'm convinced it's because of the financial help. It was a total game changer, so it's with all that I am, and all that is good and right, I offer my sincere thanks to everyone who threw into the pot. I hope I never have to utilize this service again, but am so glad it was, and the people who contributed were, both there for me.

Now then, getting down to business- One of the favorite hobbies in this camp is building Wizard Staffs. To be fair, I've not competed professionally in a number of years, but I'm always good for a six to twelver.

Some (several/many/bunches of) months ago I was thinking it might be funny to make a merit badge for us to wear on our little Webelo sashes or whatever;

(Clearly this guy has advanced well beyond a mere Webelo status).

I chatted with a designer, and plans were laid. I chatted with him again dozens more times and then I decided maybe he wasn't into it, so I got off that horse, hollered at my patch guy, and just a few weeks later took delivery of a real nice product;

Also, don't bother making a toiler paper joke because it's already been done three times to date, none of which were very funny, so save your boring joke for a less refined audience.

"Running a business while being incapable of putting on pants without almost repeatedly falling down?! Is there anything he can't do?"

-you're probably asking yourself... And besides the pants part, the answer is probably nothing.

Everyone knows Cosmo. I mean, I might even know Cosmo.

I mean, I did a podcast with a person for a year and a half before I realized I knew my co-host, so I'm no authority on anything.

Anyway, of course HTRWW has an Instagram feed. It's bite sized snippets of all of the race highlights whittled down perfectly just so in order to fit into your woefully short attention span. If you didn't know, now you know.

Lastly, I would like to present the newest episode of Revolting;

Spoiler alert- I'm pretty sure this was an episode in which I get weepy again, but from a place of gratitude.  

I'm just a big ball of emotion.