Day 13244, & love week is over...

So, Valentine's Day is one of the most ridiculous holidays. From my point of view, it goes something like this:

Me: Thank you for calling "Restaurant Blah Blah". This is Chris. How can I help you?

He: Yes, I wanted to make a reservation for tomorrow night at 7.
(Now, in this case, tomorrow is Valentine's Day. Notice, he didn't say Valentine's Day, but rather, tomorrow night. It is like he thought that he was going to be able to slide right in; yeah, he'll fool me because I have not been dealing with these calls non-stop for a month...)

Me: Unfortunately, all we have available is 5 o'clock and 9:30, or later.

He: Really? It is just a party of two?

Me: Yes, we are quite heavily booked for the evening. There is just no way to fit any more reservations into the dining room.

He: (With desperation in his voice) OK, I might call you back.

Now, what kills me is that this ridiculous holiday has now become a defining moment in this poor guy's relationship. He forgot about Valentine's Day. That is too bad, since it is on the 14th of February EVERY YEAR! On the other hand, it's not like he forgot her birthday or, god forbid, their anniversary. Rather, he has only forgotten about a silly Hallmark holiday that will now leave his significant other pissed off and questioning whether or not he really cares. Now, he is going to have to go buy flowers, candy, and, most likely, something from Tiffany & Co. so that she does not question him about why they are sitting down to dinner at either the tail end of lunch time, or so late that they might as well order breakfast... This, because when he said "OK, I might call you back," what he meant was "I am going to hold onto the hope that another restaurant will give me the 7 o'clock reservation that I want." Yeah, good luck fella! He will spend so much time clinging to this hope that eventually, when he does call us back, we won't even have the space we did when he called the first time.

This is why I hate Valentine's Day. It is just a silly societal construct designed to make people spend...

Now, on that note, we did 257 people for dinner on VD. God bless Hallmark!!! That is a respectable number of people, regardless of the day. But keep in mind that it was 96.5% parties of 2. That is over 100 tables. Four turns. That is a lot of people.

Anyway, Friday and Saturday, filled with all the real losers that couldn't get a table at all, along with those that recognize the stupidity of going out on VD but still have to show their partner that they care, turned out strong numbers too!

If only these people dined out more than twice a year (New Year's Eve, in case you weren't clear on the other night they go out.) I could retire.

The point? Well, the point is that my leg's are still broken. Well, hopefully not broken, but maybe... I will find out tomorrow at 2, after my visit to the orthopedic office. Anyway, they are sore, and they didn't feel any better after being on them for 4 days straight. Yet another reason to hate Valentine's Day.

I have not been to the gym since last Thursday. That was upper body day, and I skipped my cardio warm up. I think that my legs could do the elliptical, but why tempt fate? I still can't do anything that resembles a walk when I get out of bed each morning. It takes about an hour to build up to a respectable shuffle. I have a week to recover from whatever is wrong. Actually, from today, I have 9 days, as my first ski day will be next Wednesday.

Hopefully, the Dr. will understand my dedication to my vacation plans and not try to spoil them with some crazy instructions like stay off your feet for a month, or don't do anything that might put stress on your knees. Yes, hopefully, he will give me steriods, a painful cortizone shot, or some hardcore anti-inflamatory and call it a day. And, hopefully, he will be able to offer some insight as to what I did wrong, other than failing to recognize my own limitations and pushing myself too hard. It has always worked out in the past, why would I have thought that this would be different?

So, we leave for CO next Tuesday at 6 am. My high school friend Katie will be meeting us in the Denver airport for the drive out to Silverthorne. Then, next Friday, our other friend Karen will shuttle herself from the airport. I am so excited. Skiing, drinking, eating, and sleeping (listed in order of importance, mind you!)

Downside, I will have to go to Starbuck's for internet access. Other than that, no downside. Just downhill...

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...