Wednesday Racket (OT)

[Ed. Note: Peter Bodo is on vacation until Monday.]

I have a confession to make -- I'm an unrepentant, obsessive, and constant daydreamer.

You name it, I've wasted time dreaming about it while I was supposed to be doing something else.

I've spent hours mulling over owning my own 50's modern Neutra mansion. How long have I imagined a brand new, shiny Jaguar XKR convertible in my driveway? A few weeks each year. A brand new, shiny Jaguar XKR convertible that doesn't cost an arm and a leg to maintain? A few more.

From eating Chocolate Cream Pie with unnamed tennis-playing redheads to finding a lawnmowing service, I've thought of all my desires in between building this server or fixing that desktop machine.

My most cherished daydream, though, is one which I find hardest to accomplish in real life: to disconnect from my daily life. To go on a true vacation and not be leashed to a cellphone or laptop. To be able to sleep deeply, knowing that no one from work will be calling from India, Norway, Pakistan, or Bahrain at 3am.

Before he left for Belize, Pete and I spoke on the phone concerning this week at TennisWorld. He was exhausted from running around Thursday and Friday, preparing for his trip and wrapping things up at the mothership. He was adamant about taking his phone to Belize -- ostensibly to use as an alarm clock. He mentioned that there were a few internet cafes available, and he would check in.

I put my foot down and told him that under no circumstances was he to call or email me. His only concern was to go on vacation.

I like to think of him in Belize right now, sitting on a beach somewhere, sipping a tropical drink out of a hurricane glass topped with brightly colored umbrellas. Actually, I take that back -- his wife would be on the beach having a daquiri; Pete would be hunkered down in a leaky boat in the middle of a jungle lake, fishing, swilling the cheapest local hooch available.

Gone Fishin', indeed. We miss you, boss. Come back home when you're ready..and rested.

--Steggy