"You Can Be President Now."

Been a hectic week... But am now in the West Indies on vacation.

FINALLY!

But before I left, I did get the chance to celebrate my birthday.  And it wasn't just any birthday... A my friend Bail pointed out, "You are old enough to run for president now."

"Damn right!" was what I should have thought, given my nature of self confidence.  But what I really thought was, "Oh shit! I am not mature or responsible enough to do that job. It's meant for far, far more qualified people."

I received that birthday greeting from Bail while sipping a glass of sauvignon blanc at a hotel bar. Despite it being my birthday, I had a work function to attend. And I was waiting for my cohorts, who were from out of town, and flipping through emails I had missed during the day. After receiving it, I sat there thinking about my age... But not in the way I think other people tend to when they hit their mid-30s.

"Gosh... 35. I still have at least 50 more years of life left.  WTF am I going to do for the next 50 years?"

I was waiting for my evening companions for a while, so I was able to enjoy two glasses of wine while waiting.  And anyone who knows me even slightly well (as my evening companions probably do now), I don't handle alcohol well.

That is to say, "I get drunk very easy."

Always have. Always will.

Two glasses in under an hour... I was talking NON STOP.  And of absolutely no use to anyone as we tried to take a car half a mile to a restaurant.  You would think the car service driver would know where he was going, but you would be wrong. We ended up driving around for 45 minutes in lower Manhattan, because the driver had absolutely no concept of the smaller streets in the area.

(And being a mature 35 year old, here is my tip for those of you who do not live but only visit Manhattan, "Trust only yellow cabs."

Yellow cabs know where they are going. Car service drivers are scammers. Not all the time. When you call them to pre-book a ride, they are good. But if you hail one off the street and ask it to take you somewhere, it will be useless.)

Eventually we got to the restaurant for dinner. I had a third glass of wine and a small glass of sake over three hours.

I am shocked I was still standing. Four drinks in four hours???

The rest of the evening was a lot of the same: Traveling from location to location... Sipping a drink and listening to loud music. It was fun. And the evening ended at about 1:30am.

"This is very late for me," I thought to myself. "I have an early flight out tomorrow. This is bad form. I will only get about three hours of sleep tonight. I will should set a few alarms tonight to make sure I don't sleep through."

Then I realized I wasn't lacking in maturity.  I never have been. I've always been very responsible.  If anything, I am too anxious and rarely take the time to recognize a proper adventure. 

I should run for president. That's what I can do with some of my next 50 years. Find a way to get elected.