...mrrph... Wake me when menopause gets here.

I apparently am entitled to one Day of Hell every few weeks.

Today was it.

I worked midnight - 8am, drove home (whee, watch Lyss dodge the bumper cars) half asleep. Hopped online 'cause I needed winding down (I get REALLY hypersensitive, for some reason. The least little tickle can keep me awake. Fucking annoying, really)

Went to bed.

Got up after 4 hours. Had to drive sis to work, but wasn't sure what time.

So. Snoozed in the living room for an hour, then drove her.

Came home.

Mucked about for a little bit, ate. Had to leave for work early to get gas on the way.

Now. A quit piece of background: about a week ago, I got this bright purple zipper bag (probably for makeup). I've been storing M&Ms and Skittles in it. Chocolate fixes are a must.

I'd left the bag by the computer a lot, and kept forgetting to take it to work.

So. This afternoon, I stand up, reach for the bag... And forget it's not zipped closed.

I almost cried. M&Ms and Skittles scattered all over the floor and under the computer table. My beautiful, precious chocolate, GONE.

I left a note on the board that I'd clean it up when I got home from work.

Got to work fine.

There was shit on tv.

And. Wonder of wonders, about 7ish, my day-long nausea turned into a nasty case of cramps.

Which lasted all evening, and are still hanging around.

I also found something out this evening. The new guy is leaving for fall semester on Monday.

Which means I'm back on 7 days a week.

I want a new life.

People die every day.

Intellectually, I know this.

Personally, this is a rare occurrance.

Normally.

Several years back, Darla passed on. She had a fatal disease, we knew she wouldn't last. But we hoped.

A few weeks after her death, another St. Louis fan died. Cam Nickelberry.

I didn't know Cam, but a lot of others did.

A few weeks after him, one of the local vampire RPG guys committed suicide.

Three deaths. One year.

It blew most of the fandom community in St. Louis into shock. If we didn't know these people personally, we'd run into them at conventions, we knew them by sight.

And they were gone.

A couple years went by.

Then 2001.

Mary Ana was the first to die, killed by the cancer that had spread through her entire body.

Dragon went next, of heart failure.

Then, just last night, Tim Casey passed away in his sleep. They're not sure why, but he's gone, too.

I knew them all. Hell, Mary Ana was Cato in the Green Hornet skit at Archon last year. Dragon used to hug me and let me play with his huge knife collection (mmm. Blades.). Tim I knew because he was a friend of Rhona's, and I used to see him at the coffee shop East Meets West all the time. He worked there, and he'd give me free soda.

Three people isn't very many.

Out of billions, it's not even a drop in the bucket.

But this isn't three out of billions.

This is three out of a few hundred.

And it is more than a drop in the bucket.