I should apologize for ending the previous installment as a bit of a cliffhanger, but given that I was exhausted, and that I felt that exhaustion contributed to bringing on the first episode of whatever-it-was, I figured the best thing to do was to turn off the ringers on all of my phones and get some serious sleep.

Right now, I feel fine. I’m not imbalanced (mentally or physically) or otherwise impaired. I can walk, I can talk, I can recall all the usual obscure bullshit that makes my friends scratch their heads. What I had on Wednesday felt like a highly localized seizure in the part of my brain responsible for proper names, and it lasted maybe half an hour before passing.

Even while it was happening, it gave me some fun glimpses into the working of my own brain. I could remember Rob’s and Art’s names alone of all those on my row, but not Venkat’s, Podi’s, Michael’s, Sri’s, Ajay’,s Keith, Lawrence’s, or Yoko’s. Why? Is it because I’ve known Art and Rob longer, or because they’re friends, and so my brain has additional pathways to them that don’t exist for the others? (Klash would have been the acid test for that question, the one to answer it one way or the other, but I didn’t think to think of him at the time.)

My doctor, Dr. Lifshutz, has advised me to keep driving to a minimum, and to avoid activities that might elevate intercranial pressure, so I’m guessing no radical hill-climbing. I’m going to say that walking or biking casually on flat stretches is okay. I’m not going to starve, and I’m sure as hell not going to by lying under the blankets, staring at the ceiling and working on my tournament-level collection of bedsores.

Right now I’m going to do the archetypal slacker geek thing and, after a shower, wander down to Starbucks to work on Part 2, which will bring us up to date. Oh, and I’ve just discovered that my divorced parents independently made the decision to travel our here today; while the real thing is around, no one else will have to play Mom.

All wry snark aside, the outpouring of support from near and far has been really overwhelming. Thank you all.