Too tired to sleep

I'm back up here in alaska again, and if I thought it was
dark last month, wow, now it's uber-dark. Really dark
until about 9, then dusky light until 4 pm, then dark.
I'm not sure if I'll be here for the Solistice next week, I'm
supposed to be in New Olreans next tuesday or so, if I
don't leave here by Sunday I'll miss the traditional furlough
or conjugal visit that most prisoners get.

[one of my favorite movie scenes is the one in Face-Off,
where travolta is trudging in circles wearing magnetic
boots as exercise, and he turns out to be on an offshore oil
platform converted into a prison. I saw the movie offshore,
where my main exercise was walking in a circle on the
heliport. All I was missing was some magnetic boots.]

I just popped awake an hour ago as my alarm clock in Houston
went off. It's now 3:30 am, and I'm waiting for a phone call so I
can trudge through the snow over to the client's office and start
work when the rig up there on the slope starts drilling.

Trudging is walking slightly slower than an amble, with slightly
hunched shoulders, but faster than a sphincter clenched
shuffle this guy used. I can imagine his problem clearly, because
I almost slip and fall every time I cross an ice encrusted street here.
Maybe I should slow my trudge to a shuffle? A shudge? A truffle?

Who knows. I could go work out in the hotel gym, but I'll fight off
that urge by surfing the blogosphere instead. Steve over at hog on
ice has an entry worth a chortle.

I got out of the shower just now, still feeling the effects of my workout, and I looked in the mirror and realized I now have pecs just like Arnold Schwarzenegger's. However, if you've seen him in a bathing suit lately, you know that isn't much of a boast. In fact, I'm pretty sure Madelyn Albright can say the same thing.

I'd laugh, but I fear I'm closer to Madelyn than Mr Universe. Pot
meet Kettle. Oh well. Insomnia is much worse when it's 4 am and
dawn is still 5 hours away. If I ever live here I'll have to buy a spare
fridge that I can fill with bullet holes every January.

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