Having tasted genuine fear. It is like a drug.

I often remind myself of an acronym for fear (False Evidence Appearing Real) in some situations, but I know exactly what you mean when it comes to genuine fear. The acronym doesn't work very well in those instances, except maybe to help ground your thoughts amidst panic. Glad to hear you both survived anyway, dancing with the devil can go two ways.

Anyway,

Happy birthday, ya old bastard!

Idea for a fun weekend: pretend you're retiring from a cushy public service government job, send yourself hundreds of "congratulations on your retirement!" cards (you'll need to simultaneously grit your teeth, feign envy, and embrace insincerity as you write each one though), then open them up one by one while you try to keep your raging hard-on strapped down during each read.

In all seriousness though, enjoy your weekend fella. Have a drink on me! (and @richardcrill and other curation trailers since I've given your post a little good vibe flava)