I opened my eyes suddenly thinking there was someone in my room.  The shaking of my bed frightened me and it took me a moment to realize I was in the middle of an earthquake.  I waited a moment, trying to decide if I should get out of bed and run outside.  I imagined all the neighbors piled up in the driveway screaming and yelling and watching the telephone poles fall on them.  By the time I made a decision, the shaking stopped and I wondered again if I should get out of bed to make sure nothing was broken.
I looked at the clock and it was one minute before 3am.  Why was it that all the earthquakes in Los Angeles happened so early in the morning?  Is mother nature intent in waking up its citizens occasionally to let them know she still rules the continents?  Are we not paying enough attention to her and she needs to remind us that she can still shake us up into paying attention?  I looked at the fragile candle lamp sitting on top of my dresser, it hardly moved from its position.  I waited a few minutes to see if we would have an even stronger aftershock, nothing happened.  I wanted to get up, but the pain in my back was still too intent on keeping me in bed.  I wondered if I could run outside forgetting my pain in an effort to save my life.  I made a quick decision that if all my knick-knacks on my fireplace mantle had fallen and broken, this was not the time to deal with it.
    My wondering and questioning stopped soon after the effects of the Advil I took earlier again put me to sleep.  It was wonderful to know that a simple pill could take my pain away and help me sleep again.  If there was an aftershock, I didn't feel it.  I was in a happy land free of the pain in my back.  I thanked my friend for suggesting I lay in the Jacuzzi and let the jets soothe my back before going to bed the night before.  That simple action and the Advil had done the trick.
    I woke up again at 7:30.  I needed to take my pills before having breakfast.  I was hungry since I had very little dinner the night before.  There was something weird about the body not wanting food or rest when one is in pain.  I wondered if I continued in pain for a significant amount of time I would lose weight.  I discarded the thought as being too radical, I'd rather be fat than sick.  I took  my pills and promptly headed to the computer to check my mail.  The past three days had been spent in front of the computer only, my prospects of being outside riding or working out shot for the week.
    I waited for my trusty (and sometimes not) MSN to give me my mail for the day.  A little message on my screen told me also that some bills were due.  I ignored the warning thinking it was not nearly the beginning of the new month.  I made a small mental note to change the reminder messages in my financial program to something less than 15 days before the due date.  I had been making that mental note each morning I saw the message, but I was afraid that I would miss some deadline and someone important person wouldn't get a check from me and get angry.
    Soon after hearing the dialing tone and the familiar static noise disappear I saw the lights of my modem busy finding my mail.  This was the exciting part of each and every one of my mornings.  Who would send me a letter today?  What news would I learn today that would change my life, even if slightly?  I became impatient and looked at the clock.  In exactly 23 minutes I could eat my breakfast.  My stomach reminded me how little food I've had the last 24 hours.  I ignored it, I was following doctors orders.  I had to eat exactly 30 minutes after taking my new medication, no less and no more.  Only in that way he would be able to tell if my liver would respond to the fat buildup it had experienced in the last few weeks. 
    My inbox started filling up. There were posts from the many lists I subscribed to.  Each and every letter neatly filed in its folder as it came in.  My Alpha One list was the most active. Next was my 1 Wondering Italy list.  I made another mental note to get rid of that list.  My trip to Italy had been scratched 3 days ago.  I tried not to think about that loss, I kept watching the box to see if someone else would write me a letter telling me I won a million dollars.  Ok, I would settle for a little less, and maybe even not money.  Was I so desperate for something different in my life? Why is it that everyone thinks money will make them happy? Has it become an imbedded belief in everyone's life that money will solve every single one of our problems?
    I decided to stop trying to solve life's mysteries and read all the messages in my inbox, looking for a special one.  I didn't know what I meant by special, but every morning I waited for it.  I saw a letter from someone in Germany, he wants a date.  I wondered how I would set that one up.  He was leaving it up to me, wasn't giving me any options.  I made another mental note to find out what I had done to my ICQ messaging options and turn it off.  I was getting tired of receiving notes from 18 year olds full of hormones.  I smiled at the prospect of dating a teen and watch his mouth drool.  Don't all teenage boys mouths drool when they see a female?