I have to apologize for not posting.  I’m not going to make any excuses, but if I were it would probably sound like this:  

A few days ago, I was hit with a case of what I’ve dubbed Ho Chi Minh’s Revenge (similar to Montezuma’s… possibly worse).  Aside from the obvious physical symptoms implicated, I’ve also been suffering from extreme homesickness, depression, anxiety, extreme fatigue, and sweeping bouts of paranoia.  While all this is really only about two-thirds true, the low morale has had a direct effect on motivation to do much of anything, especially write.  

In truth, I miss the intimacies associated with close friends and family that I don’t have here.  I’ve never really thought of myself as that affectionate of a person, but not having much human contact is really getting to me.  Attempts to reach out to friends and family, while not unsuccessful, have been mostly fruitless.  I suppose it’s probably a passing phase.  I recall having the same experience the first night I moved into the dorms my freshman year of college.  we’ll see.  

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The couple had made arrangements to leave from Boston specifically so they could bring their oversized bike as checked baggage, which cost only an extra $5, plus a couple of $15 bike boxes. "We arrived at the station on July 26 and wheeled our bike up to the baggage dock, where we were met by a rude worker who said, 'We don't take tandems, and besides, we don't have any boxes. They returned from their trip by train, but a big mistake on Amtrak's part meant they were forced to leave the tandem bike behind. ' " When White insisted a supervisor be called, he agreed with the Whites that Amtrak takes tandems as checked baggage. The Whites were forced to leave their Raleigh road tandem bicycle with a friend who had driven two hours to get them to the station.

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