The End of the Innocence

          My god, Northeastern made me forget that my room isn't heated. It's cold as balls in the morning, and it's almost impossible to get out of my bed seeing as I can't just swing my legs out of it (five and a half feet off the floor). Upstate New York's winters are pretty awesome, but I need to get pajamas of some sort. For brunch I made a sandwich without a sandwich, that is to say, a beefy slice of turkey with a piece of American cheese on top. All this was held carelessly in my hand. I'm just too cool for bread. Which is actually true, because I was too cold and lazy to get the bread and a plate out.
          We had dinner at my aunt Judy and uncle Steve's place in Kingston. We were joined by some aunts and my grandmother. Stuffed shells and meatballs with sparkling cider, nyaga -- meal of kings. At one point, my great-aunt was discussing the unfamiliarity of her cell phone. "I'm not used to it when it goes off, I realize 'that's mine!' and by the time I get it out it's over." I was so close to saying "sounds like my first time," and then I remembered the present company. For shame, Northeasterners. You let me do this to myself.
          In more somber news, Vertis Logistics' local branch is closing in January. This company prints those advertisement inserts for newspapers from New Jersey to Maine, and its shutdown here means the end of one of the single biggest industries in Saugerties, if not the biggest. That's one hundred and fifty jobs lost, and another blow to our already weak local economy.
          Once home I prepared my battlestation: my laptop, Lancelot; my external hard drive, Oscar; our geriatric desktop computer; and my headphones and speakers. Thus begins my internet adventure.