Yesterday, I didn’t feel well when I woke up, but I went to work anyway. After suffering through most of the day, I went home about an hour early. By 7:00, I was asleep for the night.

The morning brought no relief, so I did something that I’ve never done before: I called in sick. Yup, first time for any job, ever, though not for school. I remember skipping class due to illness one day during my freshman year, so that means I haven’t had a similar occasion in about five years. Still, the act of skipping work for the sake of my own recovery feels very odd.

I spent most of the day today feeling miserable and snoozing on the couch. Fortunately, I am feeling a bit better as I write this in the evening. I hope to be back in the office tomorrow morning, a quieter (not as much coughing) and less infectious (but of what?) man.

After a long flight, I have arrived in London. I’m glad I brought my heavy winter coat; the 40-degree temperature is surprisiingly frigid.

My flight on Northwest was quite pleasant, not the least reason being that it actually happened — the pilots have not yet struck. The plane was a relatively new A-330, which was equipped with a surprisingly enjoyable individual entertainment system. Each seat had a screen on which the passenger could watch one of several dozen movies on demand, watch the progress of the plane, or even play games against the other passengers.

It is amusing to watch people drive on the left instead of the right. This switch also applies to right-of-way on walkways — people habitually go to the left when approaching others.

It is nice not to deal with a language barrier. Sure, there are subtle differences, but the gap is nothing like the one between English and Italian. Everybody sounds so proper and British — imagine that! I swear, the airport train announcement voice sounded exactly like Pierce Brosnan. Unfortunately, the voice kept telling me that my train was running later and later; German trains, these were not.

I am somewhat underwhelmed by my first Tube experience. To be sure, it wasn’t a bad experience, it just wasn’t the zen that I was expecting. At this stage of my journey, I would still rank the Paris metro as my favorite subway system.

Jet lag sucks. Gotta stay awake…

I suppose it was bound to happen: geeksta rap.

Today’s forecast high in Minneapolis: -2° F. Current temperature: -7° F. Current windchill: -32° F. Brrr…

Of course, this hardly compares with Ojmjakon, Russia, which is currently clocking in at -45° F. The forecast high for Ojmjakon for Sunday is an incredible -48° F.

My hockey team won a game last night! The wins don’t come very often. In fact, our single previous win occurred back in November when we last played this team. Do I feel guilty about our only two wins both coming against the same team? Not the slightest.

I’d like to think that this win came about because of my new stick, but the reality is that we simply played well. It’s easy to stop shots when the shots never occur in the first place. Likewise, it’s easy to score goals if you keep pounding the net; eventually, something will go in.