Basta with the bitching. I'm sick of it myself, which means I've probably driven all around me straight of the wall with my whinging. It's a wonder I have any friends left, really.

I did find some medicine, since the pharmacists here won't give you anything over the counter for it. Whenever we go home, I stock up on no-aspirin sinus medication-- like Tylenol Sinus or Dristan, but generic-- Walgreens or Kroger or Target, etc. I've been taking some occasionally because, while it doesn't do a single thing for my allergy related congestion and sneezing and throat, it does help with the headache. I ran out Saturday, so went into my Duffle Bag O' Goodies for another box and what I found was No-Aspirin Allergy- Sinus. I don't know if they were out of my usual stuff, or if Elvis was with me and I was consequently in an unnatural hurry and just grabbed the wrong box (much more likely), but Somebody was watching over me that day. In any case, they help. Not completely, but some. And I got a good night's sleep last night, for which I am eternally grateful.

Only problem is, this stuff does not mix with alcohol, which goes a long way to explaining why I managed to trip over a car on my way back home from the Late Night Bar of Evil on Sunday morning. Now, I've never claimed to be coordinated-- quite the opposite, in fact-- and I'll freely admit that I've been less than steady on my feet after an extended session at the LNBOE, but tripping over a CAR? So I had a closer look at the box when I got up at around noon on Sunday, and sure enough. No drinking. I also discovered that I wasn't taking the medicine often enough, which is good for me considering that I had stupidly been knocking back the beers, but which certainly would cut down on its effectiveness, so we'll see if things improve.

Saturday we went to a barbecue held in the honor of yet another friend who is moving away. It was held at the home of an Amercian, so it had all the kinds of food an American would expect to see: burgers, steak, chicken, chili, potato salad, some sort of taco salad and deviled eggs. (That doesn't look right, deviled. It looks to me like I was intending defiled and made a typo. But WordWeb says it is, and so does The Joy of Cooking, so I'll defer to them.) Our hostess had a proper deviled egg platter, and this caused a bit of wonder among the Brits. I don't know if they just don't do much with devilling of eggs in the UK, or what. They were good, though. Sometimes I'll make them for myself (Elvis, of course, won't touch them), but I rarely make them for parties, even if I intend to do so. Maybe it's because I don't own a proper deviled egg platter. In any case, I resolve to serve them at my next party.

The food was good, but the party itself was a bit of a bore. Nice people, tons of food and drink (including a wickedly spiced punch), but a bit dull. We discussed this on the way to the pub and decided it was the complete and total absence of music. You really cannot have a party without music. Come on, people!

All in all, not a bad weekend. Janet was in town for a vist, so we saw her and Jack on Friday night, followed by the LNBOE. Saturday was the party, followed by the pub. Popeye is also in town for a visit, although he wimped out on the barbecue. We left him at the pub, still waiting on Sweetie. They are still together, and still engaged, which is good. Then it was off to the Irish bar, followed, as ever, by the LNBOE.

Two weeks ago, the LNBOE closed for renovations. When we went last week, though, we didn't see any change at all, aside from a small and somewhat tasteful disco ball. I'm all in favor of the disco ball. In my opinion, a disco ball is exactly what the LNBOE was needing, and I have no idea why they waited to long to get one. However, it does not take an entire weekend to put up a disco ball, so there had to have been something else. We even checked out the bathroom-- which, admittedly, could use a lot of work-- and there was no change their, either. I meant to ask Lady Jane, but didn't get around to it.

This weekend, I figured it out. I would like to say that it was entirely due to my razor sharp powers of observation, but that would be a big fat lie. Instead, someone told me last week that Mr. Evil had moved the bar several feet to one side and nobody noticed. So when we went in Friday night, I had a look around and I'll be darned if there wasn't a lot more space. Since the LNBOE is a tiny, cramped place even now, it's something we should have noticed. I will note that they did not move the bar: what they did do was hack a couple of feet off the edges all the way around it. The LNBOE used to have a vast wooden bar that, I would imagine, used to be housed in a much bigger barroom. Its new, streamlined size is a big improvement.

Miss Kitty and I pointed this out to Pooka Boy. His response was to look around in amazement: "They have a disco ball?" As a whole, observant we're not.

And now, it's off to the grocery store for me. I'm making meatloaf for dinner because I've been craving it. I cannot remember the last time I made meatloaf, and it's odd that I should be wanting it now, when it's nice and summery here. Meatloaf seems to require cold weather, or at least rain, possibly because of the traditional accompaniment of mashed potatoes and gravy. I suspect my craving has a lot to do with Saturday's Festival of Americana.

Whatever it is, I'm a slave to my desires, so off I go.