All things rejoice in youth and love,
The fullness of their first delight!
And learn from the soft heavens above
The melting tenderness of night.
Maiden, that read’st this simple rhyme,
Enjoy thy youth, it will not stay;
Enjoy the fragrance of thy prime,
For oh, it is not always May!

Am I concerned about privacy? A little, but not much. Truth is: there isn’t much privacy. A motivated person can find out about you, whether or not you actively manage your online presence. You have to work hard at it to be off-the-grid. And if you are, people will assume that you have something to hide, which may damage a reputation as much or more than if you were up-front about it all. For example: I know this one person who is a nut about being on-again-off-again with his/her online identity: unsearchable on FB, hidden profile on Match, doesn’t blog, has an unlisted phone number, etc. My joke about this person involves the witness protection program… and a rat.

Am I leading an uninteresting life? Nope. I have more and different kinds of activities than most people I know. I have cash, which means that I can afford to go places, unlike some of my younger friends. Plus, without kids and soccer practice or ballet lessons, I have time. This separates me from friends my age or older. I also have hobbies. It still shocks me how few people have hobbies.

So what is it? Perhaps it’s that I’ve been there, done that, got the shirt. It’s not new and exciting to me anymore. I don’t get an adrenaline rush from writing a great blog post. I hated user comments on my blog (bad experiences). I don’t get all warm-and-fuzzy when someone reaches out to me on Facebook. Most of the time, I don’t even look at the person’s profile anymore when I get a connection request on LinkedIn or FB.

But this may all change shortly. I am in discussions with someone about helping out with a Social Media Marketing company… this would necessitate my re-engaging in this space again. And it would undoubtedly give me a fresh perspective and a “twist” on the whole conversation, such that it would launch me back into the daily practice of managing my online identity. If so, you might see me blogging, tweeting, FBing, and getting on-board with every social media player in the marketplace.

Take it for what it’s worth, but these are my personal observations related to my experience of the swine flu:

• I am now a believer in Vitamin D for health. I was prescribed a cocktail of Vitamins B, C, D, and saline intravenously the other day. I really felt a lot better after that IV. But since you probably won’t be hooking up an IV drip in your home anytime soon, pile on the vitamins and go get a real (not tanning salon) tan. Next year, maybe I’ll be more Baywatch than Twilight?
• If you feel a slightly sore throat, be aware that you might be in the early stages of the flu. I woke up with the slightest little sore throat. “Maybe I strained my voice?” I thought. A mere 4 hours later I was incapacitated by a terrible fever, headache, body aches, and nausea. This flu comes on super-fast, and hits hard.
• People are either completely underwhelmed or overwhelmed by the mention of “swine flu.” The truth is somewhere in between. Wash your hands every couple of hours to be on the safe-side, but don’t think that you’re going to die from this thing. Even if you get it, you probably won’t need to go to the urgent care.
• Doctors disagree about the flu shot. One doctor told me to get the swine flu shot, and regular flu shot. Another, equally qualified MD, said not to get the vaccine. The doc that advocated the flu shot said that it is just a good habit to be in: every year get the vaccine as soon as it is available and you’re healthy. The other doc was against the vaccine in general, and specifically warned me away. His reasoning was two-fold: “1) You already had the flu and came out the other side. You already developed antibodies. 2) It is less tested, and there’s no testing related to how people are affected by the vaccine if they’ve already had the flu.”
• Be aware that once you have this flu, your immune system is shot and you are a target for everything else in the environment. Hence my triple whammy of flu, sinusitis, and conjunctivitis. I’ll really need to work hard to build back up my immune system. Bring on the spicy food, vitamins, and antioxidants!

I typically order a #2, with onions, sometimes upgrading to a chocolate shake. My mouth starts watering as I wait for those first, scalding-hot fries. These fries are the best. I swear that they must put crack in the oil. This is the only burger where I’ll eat the tomato. The wax-paper wrapper is a godsend, keeping all the juiciness in tact. And I laugh when my breath is fierce after the onion overdose! Love it.

I avoid other fast food joints just so that I can save up the calories and lifetime allotment of transfats for In-N-Out. I can go about a fortnight, but then the irresitable craving, the hunger sneaks up on me. I’m not going to pretend that it’s healthy, but I really don’t care.

No… I’m not getting paid for this endorsement. It’s heartfelt. If you haven’t had the opportunity to visit one of these restaurants in CA, Nevada, Utah, or Arizona…. you really ought to put it on the list of “to-do’s” on your next trip. Look, there are better burgers to be had, but I’ve honestly never eaten at a better fast food joint.

Today, one poor phone jockey actually said to me: “I’ve been told that I am not allowed to escalate the call.” I then responded: “So what are you supposed to do? Wait until I hang up? Because I won’t. I suggest that you put me on hold and figure out to whom you can escalate this call.” Let’s put it this way: I’m not someone to be trifled with when it comes to phone service. I always get my way by being creepily calm and logical, while simultaneously purporting to be “irate.”

By the end of the fiasco, they ended up giving me a free 500GB portable external hard drive for my trouble. Retail cost: +$200. This is almost 100% off-set for the cost of the Apple Care Protection program.

It took long enough, but I am now a satisfied customer. Thank you Apple.

I’m just trying to rest up in preparation for next weekend: Vegas baby!

Oh, and my dog continues to ROCK!! I am just bonkers about her. I am planning a party next week: a “Retirement” party for CC (since she’s a retired racing greyhound.) I’ll be serving Greyhound cocktails (that’s vodka and grapefruit juice.)