Roland Garros 2008 - Day 13

Woke up yet again feeling like poop.  I didn't run, knowing I was still too ill.  My only hope is that I can tune myself up enough to actually get to the soiree tonight.  Otherwise, it will be a really crappy day.

I made arrangements to allow Brian to work a very short day.  His girlfriend arrived today and he needed to pick her up at the airport, and then get her settled at the hotel.  He also needed to pick her up for the soiree.  So, I came in for the morning and he let me leave for a little over an hour so I could grab my stuff to change.  The soiree is a white party, so there was no way I was going to wear it all day and of course wearing it on the metro is risky to begin with.  I've already got a stain on the jacket they provided that had to come from the metro.  So, I took my backpack to the room and swapped it for an RG bag full of the essentials to get through tonight.

The weather got cold.  I hate it.  I have managed yet again to pack incorrectly for an event.  I am tired of being cold, tired of not having any way to compensate, and not having enough clothing. :(  Oh well, it is going to end soon enough.

I made arrangements to leave on Monday instead of Tuesday.  I don't care about a free day in Paris, my wife is about to give birth.  I'd rather be sitting in my living room with her than wandering the streets alone.  Besides, the dollar being so weak means this trip is brutally expensive anyway.

The soiree started at 8 and play ended just before that.  By the time I had finished my work it was about 8:15.  Walking in, they immediately hit us with a shot of mango juice, vodka and something that had a coffee taste that was the consistency of a grape.  It was very odd.  From there, it was a few glasses of vodka and either basil and ginger or crushed berries.  The crushing was so bad, though, you risked getting red berry on your white clothes.  That seemed a poor choice.  All in all, I pounded drinks as much as I could.  I was in a sour mood and I figured it couldn't hurt. :-)  Dinner was portioned fairly small.  It also wasn't well suited to Brian's need for vegetarian.  There was one French woman at our table who did eat vegetarian, but apparently that required some advance notice we had no idea about and so Brian really got the short end of the deal on dinner.

Walked back to the train stop in time to catch the last train heading our way.  I could have caught the one  before, but while running the venue cell phone fell out of my pocket so I had to double back to get it and the metro pulled away.  I used the opportunity to call Colleen.  It was good to hear her voice.  We agreed I'd call her after I got back to the hotel.

I guess I ran out of minutes on my calling card.  The phone hung up part way into the call at the hotel.  So, I took a risk and dialed directly on the cell phone.  I was able to talk to her, so maybe I have enough time left on this SIM to do that for the remainder of the trip.  I don't know what happened, and there's no English version of the operator for me to understand what they are trying to tell me.

Passed out more than drifted off, knowing I had to work late tomorrow, and that it was the next scheduled day of rest so no risk of missing a workout due to this stupid cold.

Cheers!