still high

today... was wonderful! i woke up early, got some stuff done, then returned to bed. getting up the second time was tougher, as can be expected, but it was a beautiful morning and i met with urchin outside a quiet coffee shop where we found a shady spot in the cool breeze. her mom joined us at some stage, and then grabbed the bill and left, and in general the talk was pleasant and my croissant and iced coffee were well placed.

i then walked to the bus to get to work, each step through the gorgeous day making me less and less enthusiastic about ruining it on a job that by now i care little for. pg's brother called me up to ask if i wanted to go surfing later - i said that i'd love to, but i wasn't certain how things would pan out :/

---i got into work thinking about the fact that it was the fifteenth of the month and that that put them behind on my salary by a month and fifteen days. and that out of the eight months that i've worked for them, i've only been paid four times because of their "complications" and "it'll never happen again" "mistakes".

i decided that i'm ready to quit, but i want to inform scr before i slap the bosses. by now i know precisely what i'm going to propose, too: i'll finish my current projects, and be very happy to consult at twice my present rate. if they mismanage badly enough to need my assistance, it'll at least be worth my while.

i'm very glad the payment finally made it through today.

hooray.

---i left after a couple of hours so that i could go surfing. that's right - it's been almost a decade of being embarrassed every time i look at my beautiful board, and it was finally time to do something about it. pg's brother, his friend and i dressed down*, walked down to the beach, and hit the waves.

and it was magnificent. the waves kinda sucked, and i didn't manage to catch a single one, but i achieved my personal goal with flying colours and paddled out strong. i even kinda got the hang of sitting on the board, only i now fully understand my physiotherapist's comment about my upper back muscles being weak... after a short while i was forced to return to lying on my board with my neck bent backwards, and i'm actually impressed that it took so long for that to make me nauseous that i had plenty of time to paddle around and try for waves before i had to head back to shore for the superb sunset.

i cannot express how good the whole ordeal made me feel. makes me feel. i'm still feeling *awesome*.

* boardies, a second-skin and a board. no phone, no keys, and no id or money feels very naked!

---after i began my twelve-hour bloodwork fast, on my way to meet my tenant, i had an incident that leaves me unsure of whether or not to take action. some guy had stopped his pickup in the middle of a very narrow street, door open and engine running and himself nowhere to be found. after waiting a while and watching a motorcyclist manage somehow to squirm past, i stepped up to the license plate to take a photo. just then the driver arrived. "what do you want?"

i told him it doesn't make sense to stop like that. then i carried on walking.

he got into his car, drove about 30m ahead of me, stopped in the same manner and took out his phone to photograph me back. i asked him why, if *i* had done anything illegal that interferes with other members of the public, and he mumbled something unclear as he walked on. i stopped, because i realized that if he *did* do something with my picture i should be able to recognize him (not every vehicle is registered to its owner). i took a video of the scene while waiting for him to return. in the meanwhile another car had become stuck behind him - i'd say patiently, but i'm sure that's only because he could see i was filming.

i captured the driver's face, turned around and carried on.

third time's the charm? again he stopped about twenty metres ahead of me, this time coming straight to me for a chat.

fortunately, he's apparently not violent as the chat only consisted of words - that's already something really positive in this country... he told me he's collecting scrap, that he doesn't really have a camera on his phone and that he just wanted to get me riled. okay. i explained to him that i really don't want to interfere with his livelihood, and if he would only stop on the corners and not in the middle of the streets (it's possible, i promise), the assholes that he's blocking won't hoot and drive everyone in the neighbourhood crazy in the middle of the night. i thought he'd understand, but he didn't want to understand. we both concluded the chat with "good evening"s, i wished him luck and continued on my way fully aware that everything could have ended tragically.

so... i have a video of a few seconds, in which one can see his license plate, where he's parked, that somebody's stuck behind him waiting (silently, it's amazing to see that in any event), and his face when he eventually arrives back at the vehicle. the whole story angers me because it's completely unnecessary to block the road, and it demonstrates a complete lack of consideration both for the other drivers and the people who live in the area, and i don't know if i should do something or just let it slide.

---it's early, but i gotta sleep. early wake up for bloodwork, food, and another go in the water before heading to work. i won't hit the waves if i'm not feeling up to it, of course, but i really want to!

---fascinating answer on quora: does bouncing your leg improve cognition?