Saturday December 30^th, 2006 - Chicago, IL/Calgary, AB

Back to Canada to begin my personal New Year’s boot camp. I am glad the club wanted me in a day early. If they hadn’t suggested it I’d probably have done it myself. It’s just not smart to push my luck and assume everything will run smoothly on a border crossing trip. A lot of things could cause a delay like bad weather in either Chicago or here or a terrorist scare or getting questioned by Customs or who knows what? The flight was scheduled for arrival at 6:20 Calgary time and that would cut it way too close for the 7:30 early show.

Instead I took my time and finished up a lot of things at home that I’d been putting off. I wrote out all my bills for January and did a load of laundry so every bit of clothing I have is clean. I’m going to start wearing and tossing the stuff I don’t want anymore so I can get even leaner in the new year. I’ve got a huge stack of t-shirts and I don’t need that many so I will wear the ones I don’t really want and put them in a big garbage bag. Thrift stores all wash the clothing donations they get so I’ll drop off the bag and donate them. I bet I have at least fifty shirts from comedy clubs or radio stations that I’ve collected over the years. I probably won’t have to do laundry again for a few months and that’s totally OK with me.

Underwear and socks are another thing I need to thin out. Why men won’t throw out an old pair of underwear is beyond me but I’m guilty of it too. I always say I’ll wear this pair just once more and toss them but I never do. I just throw them in the laundry pile and then do the same process all over again. I bet I’ve got fifty pairs of underwear that I can get rid of and lots of socks with holes starting in the heels or toes. All of them need to get tossed but why toss them without wearing them one more time? They’re washed and I would be stupid to waste perfectly functional socks and underwear so I’ll wear them and toss them. This time I promise it will be the last, but I won’t donate these things. I always get a little squeamish to see other people’s used underwear for sale at a thrift store. I’m not a fanatic about saving just a few cents. At least all my old socks and shorts have one owner. Me.

I took my time and cleaned up my paperwork and laundry and got to the airport with no hassles at all. Traffic was light and Warwick dropped me off just like I’ve done for him in the past so I didn’t feel guilty about taking advantage of it. Security was a breeze and I got to the gate in plenty of time so I took that opportunity to clear out all my voice messages I have been letting sit for way too long. I don’t have cell service in Canada so I thought I’d get caught up and down to zero to close out the year. It felt great to get all that stuff out of the way. I closed out the year by getting the clutter out so when I get back I’ll have a clean slate and can hit the ground running, or at least not drowning in past things I left undone.

The plane was on time and my luggage was prompt and there were no major hitches. I had to deal with Canadian Immigration who asked why I was bringing in materials for my business but that took about five minutes. I didn’t have CDs last time I was here but I did bring some this time. I made it to the hotel and let the club know I was here and went out to get a pair of shoes because I forgot my dress shoes back in Chicago. I did that last time I was here too and there’s a Walmart three blocks away so I got a cheap pair and then got back to the hotel and started working on the movie script. This is a trip to get work done.