In which Tony prepares for his trip to Westerchester.

Showing my trademark caution, I checked in on The Admiral and asked him what to pack. He was a regular at the Munich Beer Festival so he suggested a first aid kit. He rummaged in his bathroom cabinet for a bit. Various items crashed into the sink below, one of which he handed to me. It was a long white tube of something called ‘Cryofreeze.’

“Take this,” he said. “It’s relieved a great deal of pain for me in the past. Apply to the affected area and numb’s the word.”

“Numb’s the word?” I said.

“You won’t feel a thing,” he replied. “Cryotherapy is the new aspirin.”

“Do I rub it on my head if I get a headache?”

“Only if you’ve been hit with a frying pan.”

“What if it was a saucepan?” I said. He told me I was being facetious, although I can’t see what politics has to do with it.

I read the back of the tube. It said ‘do not use in combination with a heating pad.’ I asked The Admiral if, had I applied Cryofreeze then added a heating pad, I would start to melt. He said something about me not needing Cryofreeze to numb my head.