Swollen, hot, and red (my day wasn't as bad as the other guy's)

So after all my adventures traveling in inclement weather recently... what did I get to remember it all by (no, I mean after all the cool freebies and stuff that I collected)...

I ended up with a majorly swollen leg.
My right leg swelled up twice its size, was bright red, hot to the touch, and felt like it was going to burst out of its skin.
Did I mention the immense pain?

The hospital thought I might have a blood clot and took it very seriously. As it turned out, I had cellulitis (not the fat butt thing), which is an infection of soft tissue. It can be caught in any manner of ways, and is the most common infection.

I sat waiting in the hospital for 8 HOURS - from 2 am until finally being seen and released at 10 am.

The official diagnosis was Cellulitis of the Leg. Done.

As I'm about to leave, I overhear the nurses talk about the next guy who is coming into my room.
"He's been waiting over 12 hours.", one nurse said.
She continued, "Poor guy has Cellulitis of the Penis."
ARGGHHH!!!!

I thought to what my ordeal for the past whole week had been before being seen... and then waiting 8 hours when I couldn't take it anymore. This guy had been sitting there in agony - in a much more tender area - for 12 hours!

Suddenly, my problems just didn't seem so important anymore.
I thought I would just go home and know that I am being treated.

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As an added note: I'm driving home and think out loud... That man's penis... swollen to twice its normal size... hot to the touch... feeling like it's going to burst out of its skin. Hmmmm... Don't men pay good money for pills to give the same effect? I'm sure I've seen it advertised on TV.

But the bright red part? I wouldn't want a dog's organ either. Nor the pain involved.
"Oh well." I thought.

Jan. 2005 - Travels galore!

So it's January 2005. I just went to the CES Expo (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas.

I got to the Gibson Guitar tent for a private party and performance.

An amazing show featuring 14-year-old guitar virtuoso Nick Sterling - http://www.nicksterling.com.
That was followed by Ike Turner (yes, the wife beater), who did a smoking performance.

Finally it was a treat to see a 90-year-old Les Paul (the creator of the electric guitar and the Les Paul guitar's namesake) perform live.

Hopping onstage was Journey's Neil Schon, to jam with Les and the band.
It was an early birthday party for Les, and he loved to be playing.
Apparently Les suffers from severe arthritis, and still is able to amazingly play, albeit with two fingers.

After that, I went over to LA to shoot photos of singer Challece at the Whisky-A-Go-Go.

Then back to the SF Bay Area to the MacWorld Expo at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, to see what new Macintosh's were coming out.

THEN... the Fancy Foods gourmet foods show, also at the Moscone in SF, to sample some great new goods.

Quite the amount of traveling.
Here's the clincher.. Through my trip down to LA, over to Vegas, back to LA, and back to SF...
I went through the following:

• 6 snowdrifts
• 6 rainstorms (one a major thunderstorm)
• 5 thick fog banks
• ONE sunny break in a day
• a flood at the CA/NV border that looked like a major lake
• and some drizzles.

Don't forget the mudslides, but I didn't get caught in them.

Adventure is my middle name.