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Well, I now have a big mystery on my hands. For several years I’ve suffered from a chronically sore right shoulder. About six months ago, my left shoulder joined the crowd, and a few months later my neck did too. My entire upper back is now perpetually in pain, especially at night.

But guess what? During my stay in Chicago the pain largely abated. Not completely, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as before. I figured this was because I wasn’t tapping away at the keyboard all day, but that’s not it. Last night, the pain was back as bad as ever, and after getting home from the airport I hadn’t done anything more than spend a few minutes clearing out email.

Thus the mystery: what was different about Chicago? The mattress at the hotel? It’s the obvious candidate, but it didn’t really feel very different from the one we have at home, which is new and seems pretty nice. The pillow? I didn’t notice anything special there either. Something in the air? The fact that I took a sleeping pill the first couple of nights? What what what? I sure felt better in the morning there than I do here, though. It’s really very annoying to come so close to an answer but still not really have any clue what’s going on.

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