Chorizo ahumado and goal-setting in Esquel

 I gave myself the goal of writing a blog post tonight and then completely forgot. But here I am! It's December 3rd, 2023, 10:43pm, dear reader. I'm in Esquel, Argentina, at a placed called Hosteria Las Cachi, run by a lovely couple probably in their 40's. I came for no great reason other than a friend had told me it was cool and I hadn't been here before. The goal was to stay three nights. Tonight is night four. I've met my goal. Setting goals and meeting them makes me feel powerful. Moving toward a goal makes me feel like I have purpose. Like the goal I'm moving toward right now, fasting for 36 hours. I've been fasting for 25, and basically just need to go to bed, wake up, and then I can have breakfast at 9:45am. The plan is to only have eggs and mate for breakfast, and then the rest of the day no grains/junk food. So for lunch -- well, lets be real, I'll probably have two lunches -- it'll be that chorizo ahumado con papas españolas at PilPil, and then food from a grocery store or ideally just a similar dish at a different restaurant. I can't have beer, only wine. God I hope to god Mijal is at the climbing gym tomorrow. Pretty much the only reason I'm going. I've felt a bit desperate with that whole thing. 

Oh, you know what I should do? I should just get an early lunch at PilPil, chill for a bit, and then order a second lunch. I mean, shit, they're open from 9am to 1130pm. But also I need to go by the aduana tomorrow and also possibly rent a car and drive to Piedra Parada or Los Alerces. 

As far as getting home from Argentina, I just need to make a decision. Checking flights every day and waffling back and forth between Santiago and Buenos Aires doesn't feel good. Am I flying from Esquel to BA? Taking a bus to Bariloche and then to Puerto Varas? I need give myself a timeline for making the decision. 

I'm excited to get home to Washington. Not excited to chill on the boat, but hopefully I can mostly avoid that. Hopefully I can get an apartment in Leavenworth. It's daunting and overwhelming moving to a new place. What if I'm super lonely? What if I have no community? But I've made the decision, set the goal, and it feels good to move toward it, to know I'm getting off the boat. Moving toward the goal of Leavenworth feels like moving forward. 

Mijal, que diablos paso? 

Time to get ready for the tournament

 It turns out I'm the only follower of this blog. Which is fine. I'm sitting in my friend Hannah's apartment, it's 11:49am on August 30th, 2023. I say this because looking back I always like to know the exact minute I was writing something. What it was like outside. In this case it's cloudy, not too hot, not too cold, kind of humid. Nova is lying with his hind legs against the wall, sleeping, twitching, one of his favorite positions. In 10 minutes I start an ACW non-ranked tournament on GeoGuessr. I'm stoked. I'm going to record it. I hope it goes well. 

Then after that it's off to meet Adi for coffee with the dogs. Falkor and Nova will get to hang out. Nova likes Falkor, wants to play with him, but I'm not sure Falkor likes Nova. I'll probably get a matcha latte at Santo. I haven't eaten anything today. I can't till 12:35pm. 

Mostly I'm writing this blog to kill time before my GeoGuessr tournament. I guess I could tell you about what I'm thinking of doing this fall, but I'm not really sure what I'll be doing. I'm moving out the marina where I've had my boat for the last four years in just over a week from today. Sailing up to Bellingham via the San Juans. After that I have a trad course in Squamish on Sept 16th, basically the only obligation I have. Then I have to figure out what I'm doing with the boat. Am I selling it? Keeping it in the San Juans? Somehow sailing south? I feel a little bit manic from the coffee I had earlier. Last night I was having a stressful dream and Nova woke me up in the middle of it. I wonder if he could sense I was having a bad dream and wanted to come comfort me? I wonder if I smelled different since I was stressed, and he smelled it, and came over to see what was going on? Or maybe it was just a coincidence. Who knows. 

OK, time to get ready for the tournament. 

Gratitude Journal #1

 Here I am in Vancouver, August 4th, 2023. I'll be 40 years old in 12 days. Damnnnnnn. Where have the last 20 years gone? An easy thing to say -- to just write off the last 20 years like nothing's happened in them. Like I've accomplished nothing. Done nothing. Met no one new. Not really lived.

But actually, I have done those things. And I realize it when I think about things I'm grateful for.

But today I'm just focusing on this morning. I've only been up for a couple hours, but I can already think of at least three things I'm grateful for. 

I'm grateful for the cold brew sitting on the table next to me, how it's stimulating me. The nice cafe experience getting it, the landscaping dude who was chatting up the baristas. The fact that afterward he went outside and said to some older guys, "That's a mighty big umbrella." And they said to him, "And that's a mighty big oak tree. That's why this place is called The Mighty Oak."

I'm grateful for the GeoGuessr duels I've won this morning. Reading a sign and seeing the word Yucatan and knowing just where in the world to guess. Seeing Swedish road lines and recognizing them. Seeing a sign that just says the first half of the word Coyhaique (Coyh--) and knowing to guess in southern Chile. I'm grateful for all I've learned from GeoGuessr. 

Finally I'm grateful for planning ahead, the fact that I'm already mobilizing as if going to Squamish even though I don't know if I'm going to Squamish today. But if we go, I want to be prepared. And if we don't go, we'll probably go tomorrow, and I need to be prepared for that too. Being proactive about it makes me feel good. 

These are easy things to be grateful for. The real wonder of gratitude lies in finding things you're grateful for about situations that seem bad on the surface. A breakup. An injury. A tough situation at work. Can you find things you're grateful for even in those situations? This is the great secret. 

Reflections #1

 I'm experimenting with starting my day differently today.  I've been doing various non screen-related, "productive" tasks, like coiling the ropes on the back of my boat, sweeping the back of my boat, taking something to the recycling I'd been meaning to, and then sitting back and reflecting on how I feel after. I haven't ingested any food yet. I haven't been on the internet or my phone yet. I've had a little apple cider vinegar and a little water. I've un-made my bed, which is crucial because my bed is the main bench seat of my boat. I feel, so far...fine. I've had no caffeine yet. I felt a little foggy when I was walking around on the dock and to the recycling, but nothing extreme. I'm going to lie back and reflect instead of just looking at my phone at 8am like I usually do, starting the cycle of caffeine, GeoGuessr, YouTube, email, etc etc. 

I'm starting to feel restless and like checking my phone is imminent, but I feel like if I check my phone it'll be all downhill from there. Will anything really come of it? Plans for this morning? Because that's the only decent reason to check it. I can't imagine any email in my inbox of any significance. I can't imagine anything on YouTube of any significance. I've put some apple cider vinegar treatment stuff in my hair, and some CBD lotion on various parts of my body, including all my fingers. I don't think it works. The only real anti-inflammatory is a good diet, that and maybe ibuprofen. The former is much more effective. 

Of course, writing this blog is also an activity that needs to be taken into account, since it's influencing things. It can't be done in its own vacuum apart from the rest of my life. It will influence how I feel. I may feel PRODUCTIVE because of writing this blog, or I may feel useless, like it's not doing anything, like it's not written well. The only thing it won't do is have NO effect on my state of being. 

I felt called to move my body a bit, to do a bit of "yoga," so there's that. Not really sure how it's affected my mood. Still haven't looked at my phone. Thinking of delaying that till 9am. Still haven't had any caffeine. Still haven't had any screen time except for this blog. Moved my body a bit. Have cleaned up a bit. Have read a bit. Time to sit back and reflect for a while, maybe even meditate. And then I'll come back here and report. 

I don't know why I'm kid of "afraid" to check my phone. I think it has more to do with text messages I won't get than ones I will. 

I took the walk. It required a mildly superhuman effort. I just walked to the top of the locks, not to the top of the hill. Now I'm back on the boat, reflecting but not lying down. The time for lying down is over. I don't want to feel sleepy. 

I don't HAVE to look at my phone. I don't have to go to the grocery store. I don't have to drink caffeine. I don't have to be on this computer. I don't have to eat. I don't have to do much of anything, really. 

I think I'm going to check my phone, mostly because it might mean that coffee with Hannah would be happening. And that would be nice. But that's it. No email. The diver up in the parking lot just started playing his bagpipes. I kind of love it this morning. We talked briefly last night about the sunset. My opinion of him immediately went from "loathsome creature" to "possibly tolerable human being." 

There's an 8:56 message from Hannah. I'm listening to it now. I'm not going to recline. 

I'm also going to take half a serving of my dietary supplement. And then reflect!!!

OK, I listened to the message from Hannah. It's about an hour later than when I started writing this blog. It's almost 9am, and I started writing this at about 8am. In that hour I've done a little cleaning on my boat, reflected a bit, taken a short walk, taken something to the recycling, written this blog entry, did some stretching, etc etc. Oh, and I also had a half serving of the dietary supplement for my stomach, of course. But now it feels like the rubber needs to hit the road. I'm probably meeting Hannah for coffee or something 930am or after. Which means I need to GET to Fremont to hang out with her. I have three options for this: bus, bike or car. If I left RIGHT NOW I could also walk. But I probably won't do that. that leaves bus, bike and car. I don't know if I feel like taking the bus. That leaves bike and car. Driving my car seems wasteful. That leaves bike. My tires are not nearly as inflated as I want them to be. I will have to keep checking my phone periodically to see if there are any messages from Hannah. My succulents, meanwhile, through all of this, have been perfectly still. They have not moved today nor will they move tomorrow. They'll be in the same place all day unless I move them. They'll bask in the sun if they have the chance, though it does look like the sun is coming out, so that's probably more like when they have the chance. 

I am suddenly craving caffeine. 

I need to reflect. 

But I also want to put a video on youtube real quick. 

UPDATE: Things are all jumbled now. I left the boat. I had caffeine (coffee!). I had a cinnamon roll. I hung out with Hannah. I hung out with Adriana. Ran around Greenlake. Downloaded a WILD app I didn't even know existed. Feel a bit strange now but just going to hang out on the boat and reflect. Maybe nap. 

Countdown to Tokyo

 The flight from Seattle to Tokyo appears to be on time. The flight next to it is going to Seoul, and the flight across the hall is going to Haneda. 

No is lined up yet. There are gate agents milling around the entrance to where people line up. The mask wearing is more pronounced the closer you get to the gate. Masks are mandatory on the flight. 

What are people going to go do in Japan? Everyone seems to have a purpose for this flight. My seat is seat 1A, in business class. ANA is supposedly one of the nicest airlines in the world, and the business class seat is next to the window with a little table distancing it from the aisle. Hopefully there will be opportunities for mask removal. Certainly when turned away from the aisle. 

The United Club lounge was a bit depressing. There's something depressing about watching overweight people stuffing their maws before getting on a 10 hour flight where they'll remain stationary, and then they'll get off the flight and take a taxi so they can sit at home and continue their sedentary lifestyles. There's also something depressing about the amount of people drinking in a priority lounged at 1030am in the morning. Alcoholics gravitate to places where they can drink without judgement. The airport is one of the few places in the world where it's not that weird to drink at 7am. 

Forty five minutes before the flight. People in wheelchairs being loaded on. The prospect of a cappuccino or latte looms. Or champagne. A 787-8 Dreamliner. Watching movies. Reading the Railway Bizarre Theroux book. 

No cold plunge for me today, unfortunately. The streak is broken. Yesterday was 12 seconds, and it felt glorious. Tomorrow afternoon upon arrival there should be opportunity, and also opportunity for yoga. 

One of the gate agents looks as thin as a wisp of smoke and can't weigh more than 50 lbs. It's sunny outside. Spring is coming soon, only a couple months away. No need to travel for a long time. Spring is nice in Seattle. Why flit about the country when you can remain rooted at home. 

They're still not quite boarding.  Any minute now. 

More of a management problem

 He walked into Herkimer coffee, where the girl working the counter was still beautiful but not quite as radiant as the first time he'd seen her. Last time he was there he'd been uncaffeinated, like really uncaffeinated; it'd been two months since he'd had caffeine. But this time it'd been 20 minutes since he'd had caffeine, 100mg in a FocusAid with yerba mate. 

Can I get a 12 oz oat milk latte? He said to the bearded guy working the espresso machine. Men in coffee shops in Seattle tended to be bearded. He himself was bearded, but that was out of sloth. He also believed the beard accentuated his eyes; there'd been some scintillating eye contact in the last few days. 

The beautiful girl didn't ask him how he was doing. The exchange was perfunctory. He took his oat milk latte to a stool by the window, looking out at Phinney Ridge. Behind him he could smell the coffee roasting. What a treat to be in a place where they roasted coffee on site, not like smelly Colombia where the coffee was roasted two months before in vietnam. 

After the coffee he walked around green lake, which was less than three miles but more than two. And then he went back to the boat and did yoga and a cold plunge. For the cold plunge he stayed in the water 10 seconds. That was his goal. Ten seconds. Ten seconds was his goal. And he met his goal. He met his goal but didn't exceed it. He did yoga. The girl at the coffee shop. Radiant. A walk around green lake. Oat milk latte. Oat milk. Oat milk. Oat milk. Latte. Green lake. Radiant. 

Wait! Wait! Actually, he didn't walk around green lake. Or he did. It doesn't matter. Ok, it matters a little bit. He walked around green lake, but then after he didn't go home. He got ANOTHER coffee at milstead. He looked at flights to Japan. 

Ok the flights to Japan part is also a lie. 

He looked at flights to Mexico city. 

His dad had told him that morning that he DIDN'T pass the interpreter test. But it didn't matter. He hadn't expected to pass. 

To the level of what AutoCAD could do in 2000...

Almost none of it is rocket science...

But it's a lot of hard work...

In some ways it's more of a management problem...

Should I Freeze My Membership?

 I don't know if I'll post this but I just wanted to do a bit of writing this balmy January 5th morning. I don't know why it's so much warmer today than yesterday. Definitely didn't need long underwear this morning. This morning for coffee I had one BIG tablespoon of grounds with hot water poured over it. Twice. Poured the water over it twice. That was it. Tomorrow coffee will be axed completely, and I'll have either mate or just cacao in the morning or whatever. Today NO REFINED SUGAR FOR THE LOVE OF YAWEH. 

Ginger is sleeping. Darren and I are trying to figure out where to go, and when to go. Should I just keep my SBP membership for this month. Cuz like I feel like we might leave in the next few days, or we might leave like midway through the month. And if we leave midway through the month then what am I gonna do till then but climb?

Climb.

I wanna climb outside but there's rain in the forecast from now till the endtimes. 

I don't really wanna go to westport this weekend. 

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Today is a 1:15 longer than yesterday. The sun sets at 4:32pm. It rose just before 8am. Civil twilight lasts till 5:09pm. Nothing super exciting. The next milestone is the 8th, when sunrises finally start getting earlier, moving from 7:57am to 7:56am.

Around the middle of the month we have several milestones:

 1) A two minute daylength increase on Jan 16.

 2) The first 6pm nautical twilight on Jan 17.

 3) The first 9-hour day on Jan 19. 

4) Civil twilight till 5:30pm on Jan 23. 

And FINALLY, 5) the first 5pm sunset on Jan 26. Which is no longer "middle of the month" but whatever, who's counting? Slash I'm counting. I count every day. 

Going to SBP Fremont in a bit. Can't decide what the goal should be. Climb as many oranges as possible?

OK I'm gonna go down there. Should I freeze my membership?????

Japan, Maybe

They call it sunshine in a cup. This is what I think about as I sit at Forecast Coffee, in Vancouver's Mount Pleasant neighborhood, drinking an oat latte. This is not a decaf latte, which means in a couple hours there's a decent chance I'll have a nervous breakdown. I'm kidding, of course. Well, maybe emotional breakdown. Coffee seems to have that effect on me. But possibly not GOOD coffee. Good coffee, or rather great coffee, can send me into a state of euphoria. Like the time I was in Berlin and I went to a coffee shop in (I think!) the Prenzlauer Berg district, and now I can't remember for the life of me what it was called, but I came out of it feeling like I'd just taken ecstasy and spent the next couple hours marauding through the streets and swinging from tree branches.

I was going to go to Squamish today, but my shoulder is hurting and I don't know if I can be bothered to drive up there. It is supposed to be dry, though. But then if I climb there that could hinder a possible Gold Bar session on Wednesday. My body needs rest now, and needs it bad!!!!! Last night I didn't drink too much. Maybe three or four drinks. Maybe five? I don't think so, though, because I never even felt that buzzed and certainly never drunk. You see the drinking was spread out over a long period of time. A glass of beer at the beginning. Two or so brandies with ginger beer later on, and then at the end of the night a glass of sparkling wine. Throughout the WHOLE evening, though, sweets. Lots of sweets. Sweets make my body feel so bad. So inflamed. But hey, it was New Year's Eve. It's not the end of the world. 

Speaking of end of the world, the world is reborn today, this first day of two thousand and twenty three. The sun isn't exactly SHINING in Vancouver, but it's pretty damn nice outside. The oat latte is just starting to kick in. I have half a mind to do a LONG walk around the city, a randonée, if you will. I find that after coffee a long walk can be the best idea. You definitely don't want to sit around. Hell, maybe I'll even still drive to Squamish. Why not? I could walk around the Grand Wall, check out boulders, maybe even climb a bit if it's somehow dry. But then again, my shoulder. 

Tomorrow I leave early to drive back to Seattle, where I'll be dog sitting for a few days. I'm excited. I'm also excited to go somewhere after that, somewhere far away, and warm. Mexico City, maybe. Hong Kong, maybe. Japan, maybe. Australia, maybe.