I've been sick most of this weekend. Sick enough for me to actually think I'm sick, which is quite unusual. Friday I wasn't feeling great, but it wasn't until Friday night that I started really feeling bad. That night as I was trying to sleep I had chills and couldn't stop shivering. Then again, I remembered that I have a comforter which I haven't used for a couple of years. That helped warm me up, though I still didn't get a huge amount of sleep.

Saturday morning I still felt bad, though better than last night. I had contemplated Friday emailing that I wouldn't make gaming and I contemplated it again. Then I thought that it'd probably be just me and Shannon and either Pick or Donald so I should go anyways so we have minimum players. So I drank a lot of soup, bundled up and left on a drizzly Saturday.

When I got to Shannon's at about 12:30, the streets were practically empty, with everyone gone on Holiday. Nice parking spot. But Shannon's door was locked and the lights were off. Uh oh, maybe gaming was cancelled and nobody told me. Not wanting to embarrass myself by ringing the doorbell, I decided to check my PO box. That was a long walk there and back. I was just trying to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other. At least I did check my PO box which I haven't done in two or three weeks.

Back at Shannon's the door was open but the lights were still out. Everything was eerily quiet, but Shannon and Kimberly were home. It seems as if Eric flaked at the last minute. Something about family dropping by. Shannon also relayed a message from Eric: leave the end of August open in your calendar. Shannon and Kimberly think it's some sort of wedding hint. Could be, but I'm not in the habit of making conclusions until I have to. So I'll keep an open mind until Eric says definitively what's up.

Pick showed up eventually and he wanted to order a pizza. I convinced him that large was good enough, even if Donald shows up, since it was only him and me and I was kind of not feeling too well (though I didn't mention this to the guys). We also got an order of buffalo wings. I still ate, even though I was shaking from the exertion.

We played a three man game of Empire Builder, this is the version with our friends south of the border. Everybody started out pretty much in the west. Shannon concentrated in Mexico. I started out in Seattle and concentrated in the Northwest. Pick started out in LA and ran straight through the country to the East Coast. Not having three other players, the game went faster, we didn't have to compete for cities (except occasionally the small ones), and with fewer cards being turned there were very few disasters.

We all started out well. I had my usual strategy: concentrate only on the big runs. I think I had one or two runs where I didn't do the big run (once I had a run of $25 instead of $28 and the other time I was locked out of the city I needed to deliver to). I also got lucky with my draws, as I kept getting two runs going from end of the board to the other, to pick up stuff that I needed on the return trip. So I wasn't running to a destination with nothing to deliver. Rarely does it work out this well for me. In fact, this is the first time.

And it paid off this time. I got very lucky when I got to Seattle to deliver an item and then I drew a card with another Seattle delivery of textiles which I happened to have, for $43. In the end, it was just me trying to get from Mexico City back to Seattle to win the game. Pick and Shannon were a bit too far behind to catch up and so I finally win a game of Empire Builder. I usually come in like fourth or fifth or last, this was quite a moment for me.

And I was still quite sick. I was achy and fidgety because I couldn't get comfortable. I'd do my turn then I'd sit back and breathe heavily trying to catch my breath and I was shifting around. I was sick but I had to pay attention so I was going a mile a minute and everything was clear and yet I still felt bad. Funny day. And a fun day.