I was on my way to work this morning, but when i got to the train station, everything was closed. and then i remembered that everybody's been talking about the coming strike for days, so i felt like a complete fool.
the guy i'm working for drove all the way to fetch me, which was really nice of him. i worked for about 4 hours. or more, i don't really remember, but i'm almost finished! this is SO weird. i'm still waiting for something to go horribly wrong.
he gave me a ride back home afterwards too, and even bought me lunch. it's nice to work with decent people.
i got a phone call while i was working, from my taekwondo trainer. she's been fighting with the guys who wanted the medical examination, and has gotten them to agree to let me do the physical there, when i'll be there anyway. that's much more logical, not to mention not so fucking stupid. damn my foul mouth.
so i went to the beach for an hour, and it was really windy. we watched the kite-surfers flying about and a few not-so-good looking girls, and then went home.
i had a shower, and took the bus to work, and we're about to begin. we'll finish around 05:30, hopefully i'll get a ride home and then a few hours sleep before class starts.
*** later ***
i did my first helpdesk tonight. i fucked up at first, and i really needed the help - i was so confused half the time!
but all in all it went okay. i'll need some time to get the hang of it.
and i had to try really hard not to laugh at this one southerner, but other than that nothing eventful occurred.
it's 04:43. good night.
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
Monday, April 28, 2003
28/04/03
(i'm supposed to be doing a course in teaching for taekwondo)
hmmm. i just got a phone call that says that i need to get to a doctor immediately in order to obtain a piece of paper that says that i'm not going to keel over and die unless someone hits me very hard.
i *just* got an sms that says that it's not nearly as urgent as the phone call made out. phew. getting a doctor's appointment in israel is rather frustrating.
i would have had a great morning this morning, except that my throat's irritated and i seem to have lost my voice. *grhk*
and i've been training at work, which, although i've learned something, has been quite boring.
it bothers me that i have a project that i'd really like to do, that's really simple and could ultimately change the world. and i'm too damn lazy to get started. properly, at least, as i've already begun building the infrastructure. but i need a lot of time so i can get back into it.
i could make a LOT of money with it. i just need to get off my ass. like THAT could happen.
*** later ***
well, that was just great. i messed up my day trying to get the doctor's signature, and it turns out that the only people who can give it to me are in ramat gan. which is where i was in the first place.
DAMN.
so i missed training altogether tonight. and i really needed it.
something had better make tonight worth it, i don't just want to do work and go to bed.
hmmm. i just got a phone call that says that i need to get to a doctor immediately in order to obtain a piece of paper that says that i'm not going to keel over and die unless someone hits me very hard.
i *just* got an sms that says that it's not nearly as urgent as the phone call made out. phew. getting a doctor's appointment in israel is rather frustrating.
i would have had a great morning this morning, except that my throat's irritated and i seem to have lost my voice. *grhk*
and i've been training at work, which, although i've learned something, has been quite boring.
it bothers me that i have a project that i'd really like to do, that's really simple and could ultimately change the world. and i'm too damn lazy to get started. properly, at least, as i've already begun building the infrastructure. but i need a lot of time so i can get back into it.
i could make a LOT of money with it. i just need to get off my ass. like THAT could happen.
*** later ***
well, that was just great. i messed up my day trying to get the doctor's signature, and it turns out that the only people who can give it to me are in ramat gan. which is where i was in the first place.
DAMN.
so i missed training altogether tonight. and i really needed it.
something had better make tonight worth it, i don't just want to do work and go to bed.
Sunday, April 27, 2003
27/04/03
i just lost the file during a save, so this is a rewrite. grrr.
today was a really messed up one. i went to bed this morning at around 2am, after viewing dex's modifications to his side of the site (japan). he's put up a pic in his memories section that was taken on an absolutely awesome morning, where we had our own private afterparty on the road next to the beach.
anyways, woke up around 8am, left the apartment at around 8.30 and just made it in time for the bus, that got me to the train station with a couple of minutes to spare.
i was on my way to work - i'm not only holding a job but i'm doing small contracts as well, and today something really freaky happened.
normally, when i quote an hour the work turns out to be around 30, and i get a headache and not enough pay. not to mention sleepless nights and high stress.
i quoted 10 hours for this job, and i worked 1.5 this morning and got quite a lot done! something's veeeeery suspicious about this. but it was really nice to work on a system that's been put together by professionals who actually know what they're doing. i've been working too long with cowboys, all frills and no cows. this group doesn't do anything fancy, they use what works and they do it all properly. i'll be happy to continue working with them.
i then went to university to go organize my macroeconomics homework. when i got there, i couldn't even read the questions, but i soon realized that neither could anyone else. so we sat down and eventually came up with some reasonable looking answers.
i promptly skipped the class.
i still have marketing homework to do for tomorrow morning 10am, but i'm not really ready for that so i'll see if i can get some help. or i'll study, but that's not likely.
i just came back from shopping - i finally remembered to buy vinegar (scares away the mosquitos), and olive oil (i've been stealing from my flatmates), but i forgot to buy tinfoil. so i'm not gonna have a real meal tonight. oh well.
the only other news i have i've been forgetting to put up all week - on tuesday my mommy had her graduation ceremony - she's now a BA! I'm SOOO proud! (now i've just got to get mine...)
today was a really messed up one. i went to bed this morning at around 2am, after viewing dex's modifications to his side of the site (japan). he's put up a pic in his memories section that was taken on an absolutely awesome morning, where we had our own private afterparty on the road next to the beach.
anyways, woke up around 8am, left the apartment at around 8.30 and just made it in time for the bus, that got me to the train station with a couple of minutes to spare.
i was on my way to work - i'm not only holding a job but i'm doing small contracts as well, and today something really freaky happened.
normally, when i quote an hour the work turns out to be around 30, and i get a headache and not enough pay. not to mention sleepless nights and high stress.
i quoted 10 hours for this job, and i worked 1.5 this morning and got quite a lot done! something's veeeeery suspicious about this. but it was really nice to work on a system that's been put together by professionals who actually know what they're doing. i've been working too long with cowboys, all frills and no cows. this group doesn't do anything fancy, they use what works and they do it all properly. i'll be happy to continue working with them.
i then went to university to go organize my macroeconomics homework. when i got there, i couldn't even read the questions, but i soon realized that neither could anyone else. so we sat down and eventually came up with some reasonable looking answers.
i promptly skipped the class.
i still have marketing homework to do for tomorrow morning 10am, but i'm not really ready for that so i'll see if i can get some help. or i'll study, but that's not likely.
i just came back from shopping - i finally remembered to buy vinegar (scares away the mosquitos), and olive oil (i've been stealing from my flatmates), but i forgot to buy tinfoil. so i'm not gonna have a real meal tonight. oh well.
the only other news i have i've been forgetting to put up all week - on tuesday my mommy had her graduation ceremony - she's now a BA! I'm SOOO proud! (now i've just got to get mine...)
Thursday, April 24, 2003
24/04/03
an interesting day - finally made a few necessary changes to the site, plus got some banking done. I ran into this girl at the bank, who's really beautiful. i've known her since i started banking there, and we've always been friendly. then i discovered she was studying in my university, and i started seeing more of her.
i finally got her phone number, called her, she called me a few times, we spoke, but when i tried to meet up with her for coffee she told me she had a boyfriend. i said fine, and that i'd still like to see her, as a friend. she seemed cool with this, we spoke more.
then, when i tried to meet up with her again, she promised me she'd call and make plans, and she never did. i give up. i don't need to fight for her.
anyway, so i saw her this morning and she was all "hey! how you doing?". i really don't know what to do about her. and she is FINE.
this afternoon was my cousin's batmitzvah. so we went on this long hike in a nature reserve, and had a really great meal. i ran into my law professor there - he's a really nice guy from canada. he kept making fun of me in class because i'm south african - he knows all our stupid expressions (like we don't have traffic lights: we call them robots).
the entertainment was brilliant - a magician for the kids, but really good firedancers who were doing their thing to classical music.
NICE.
the dj started off playing disco, and everyone was having fun, but he then started moving to dance music. we fought with him, and managed to convince him to stick with 70's so everyone would dance (not just the little kids).
this dj really sucked. couldn't mix for shit, no style whatsoever, and he even had the audacity to change tempo in the middle of a tune! swak.
anyway, after a while he got the idea, and started playing only funky tunes.
that was a nice day.
i finally got her phone number, called her, she called me a few times, we spoke, but when i tried to meet up with her for coffee she told me she had a boyfriend. i said fine, and that i'd still like to see her, as a friend. she seemed cool with this, we spoke more.
then, when i tried to meet up with her again, she promised me she'd call and make plans, and she never did. i give up. i don't need to fight for her.
anyway, so i saw her this morning and she was all "hey! how you doing?". i really don't know what to do about her. and she is FINE.
this afternoon was my cousin's batmitzvah. so we went on this long hike in a nature reserve, and had a really great meal. i ran into my law professor there - he's a really nice guy from canada. he kept making fun of me in class because i'm south african - he knows all our stupid expressions (like we don't have traffic lights: we call them robots).
the entertainment was brilliant - a magician for the kids, but really good firedancers who were doing their thing to classical music.
NICE.
the dj started off playing disco, and everyone was having fun, but he then started moving to dance music. we fought with him, and managed to convince him to stick with 70's so everyone would dance (not just the little kids).
this dj really sucked. couldn't mix for shit, no style whatsoever, and he even had the audacity to change tempo in the middle of a tune! swak.
anyway, after a while he got the idea, and started playing only funky tunes.
that was a nice day.
Wednesday, April 23, 2003
23/04/03
*** yesterday ***
got a ride from work at around 5, got to bed around 6. woke up at 9 and discovered that the place to get tickets for the party (in the next city, of course there's none here) had two left, and would only hold one for me for around 20 minutes.
so i RAN to the bus and caught it just in time, and made it to the store with a couple of minutes to spare.
i then took the bus to tel aviv, and from there to the party. i planned on finding a place to crash until the evening. there were 4 tents, each one a different dj, but all playing really good trance, ranging from "chilled" goa to crazy psychedelic. the only problem is that each dj was playing all types, so every time i found a place with music i could sleep to, the dj'd start playing faster and funkier, and i'd have to get up and move on or my body would begin bouncing involuntarily.
so i didn't get any sleep.
i don't remember who started, but the music began on a good note, and just got better. my favourites of the night were infected mushroom, talamasca, raja ram, space cat and gms. astral projection started off a little housy, but after a few rather boring tunes they started up some serious shit!
the guy i was meant to be going with originally rocked up around 11pm with some friends, so i finally had someone to talk to. the majority of people there didn't speak any english, so i had to speak in hebrew, and it would've been ok except that it's hard to communicate when you're trying to scream over the music, and the people you're talking to are so trashed they don't understand their mother-tongue.
speaking of trashed... we weren't.
speaking of it.
infected mushroom played a set that has scarred me, probably for life. those dudes spent an hour fucking with everyone, and kept surprising us even when we thought we'd heard it all. half the time we weren't sure they were playing music. but we couldn't stop our bodies from going wild.
those motherfuckers are SERIOUSLY messed up. all respect to them.
oh, and the best part of all. i woke up at 17:30 for work, checked my voicemail and discovered that my shift tonight was cancelled.
got a ride from work at around 5, got to bed around 6. woke up at 9 and discovered that the place to get tickets for the party (in the next city, of course there's none here) had two left, and would only hold one for me for around 20 minutes.
so i RAN to the bus and caught it just in time, and made it to the store with a couple of minutes to spare.
i then took the bus to tel aviv, and from there to the party. i planned on finding a place to crash until the evening. there were 4 tents, each one a different dj, but all playing really good trance, ranging from "chilled" goa to crazy psychedelic. the only problem is that each dj was playing all types, so every time i found a place with music i could sleep to, the dj'd start playing faster and funkier, and i'd have to get up and move on or my body would begin bouncing involuntarily.
so i didn't get any sleep.
i don't remember who started, but the music began on a good note, and just got better. my favourites of the night were infected mushroom, talamasca, raja ram, space cat and gms. astral projection started off a little housy, but after a few rather boring tunes they started up some serious shit!
the guy i was meant to be going with originally rocked up around 11pm with some friends, so i finally had someone to talk to. the majority of people there didn't speak any english, so i had to speak in hebrew, and it would've been ok except that it's hard to communicate when you're trying to scream over the music, and the people you're talking to are so trashed they don't understand their mother-tongue.
speaking of trashed... we weren't.
speaking of it.
infected mushroom played a set that has scarred me, probably for life. those dudes spent an hour fucking with everyone, and kept surprising us even when we thought we'd heard it all. half the time we weren't sure they were playing music. but we couldn't stop our bodies from going wild.
those motherfuckers are SERIOUSLY messed up. all respect to them.
oh, and the best part of all. i woke up at 17:30 for work, checked my voicemail and discovered that my shift tonight was cancelled.
Monday, April 21, 2003
21/04/03
basically, work's not difficult (i'm not actually doing anything yet), but i'm finishing way after the last train/bus and way before the first train/bus. i'm screwed.
and i can't afford a taxi.
been reading webcomics and playing online games (stupid ones), and i can't think of anything productive that i should and want to do.
but tomorrow's party time - tyoshi suzuki and talamasca live on the beach.
this is gonna be fun.
*** later ***
oh, HEAVEN FORBID i should get to have fun.
the guy i was meant to be going to the party with just bailed on me. so now i have no ticket, and no transport.
and it's the day of the party. so basically, i'm not going.
FUCK.
and i missed the 3 day festival with my niece, just so i could go. so now my holiday's ruined.
FUCK.
and i can't afford a taxi.
been reading webcomics and playing online games (stupid ones), and i can't think of anything productive that i should and want to do.
but tomorrow's party time - tyoshi suzuki and talamasca live on the beach.
this is gonna be fun.
*** later ***
oh, HEAVEN FORBID i should get to have fun.
the guy i was meant to be going to the party with just bailed on me. so now i have no ticket, and no transport.
and it's the day of the party. so basically, i'm not going.
FUCK.
and i missed the 3 day festival with my niece, just so i could go. so now my holiday's ruined.
FUCK.
Sunday, April 20, 2003
20/04/03
More night-time discussions... most people find that a man and a woman kissing is okay, and two women kissing is okay, but two men kissing is not.
In my words, this is because a women represents a certain "softness", and as long as there's a woman in the equation everything's fine. However, when there's none, then the act becomes almost violent. And an effeminate man is just weird, something that sends a "wrong" signal to the brain.
No offense to anyone who's gay, but this is just a theory / perspective. Oh, and DEAL WITH IT.
In my words, this is because a women represents a certain "softness", and as long as there's a woman in the equation everything's fine. However, when there's none, then the act becomes almost violent. And an effeminate man is just weird, something that sends a "wrong" signal to the brain.
No offense to anyone who's gay, but this is just a theory / perspective. Oh, and DEAL WITH IT.
Friday, April 18, 2003
18/04/03
i just spent the whole night discussing my previous realization, that god is the othering of one's own internal power.
i have been refining this realization, and am attempting to come up with a non-contradictory version of it.
for the moment i'm not going to discuss god. i am, however, going to discuss the soul. we have been told that we are "created in god's image", and i believe that the only questionable thing in that statement is the word created.
the soul is a part of god. we know this. but it is from this that we control our bodies (and minds, i suppose), and from this that we draw our power over the rational, physical world. i refrain from giving examples, there are too many and there is no concrete proof of any of this.
this soul, is the very same thing that we call our astral body, our kundalini, our buddha, whatever. whether we believe in a god or not, we all find ourselves in times of need or desperation calling on something, and in reality all we are doing is willing something to happen (or not happen, as the case maybe).
this is the point where we are activating our own power, our own "bit of god".
i'm too tired to write this out neatly, but i'll make a better attempt later. just needed a rough draft.
i have been refining this realization, and am attempting to come up with a non-contradictory version of it.
for the moment i'm not going to discuss god. i am, however, going to discuss the soul. we have been told that we are "created in god's image", and i believe that the only questionable thing in that statement is the word created.
the soul is a part of god. we know this. but it is from this that we control our bodies (and minds, i suppose), and from this that we draw our power over the rational, physical world. i refrain from giving examples, there are too many and there is no concrete proof of any of this.
this soul, is the very same thing that we call our astral body, our kundalini, our buddha, whatever. whether we believe in a god or not, we all find ourselves in times of need or desperation calling on something, and in reality all we are doing is willing something to happen (or not happen, as the case maybe).
this is the point where we are activating our own power, our own "bit of god".
i'm too tired to write this out neatly, but i'll make a better attempt later. just needed a rough draft.
Thursday, April 17, 2003
17/04/03
Othering: the process of projecting our fantasies upon another entity.
Realization: The concept of a supreme being could, in fact, be us "othering" our metaphysical power. Since the dawn of time man has been unable to successfully explain his non-physical effects, such as his will to survive being enough to face extreme odds. In order to rationalize this control over other objects / forces, we create "god" and attribute our effects to him.
Realization: The concept of a supreme being could, in fact, be us "othering" our metaphysical power. Since the dawn of time man has been unable to successfully explain his non-physical effects, such as his will to survive being enough to face extreme odds. In order to rationalize this control over other objects / forces, we create "god" and attribute our effects to him.
Wednesday, April 16, 2003
16/04/03
sunday morning i woke up around 05:45 to go to eilat on a planned trip with the international school. the weather forecast said good, so i packed very little (we were only going for one night).
eilat
1) bus ride
LONG, LOOOOONG bus ride. mostly tried to sleep, but that never really works properly. i remembered to take water, i learned a very hard lesson about dehydration last week, but i still got sunburned. stopped off in s'dei boker (emphasis on last syllable), meaning 'fields of the cowboys'. david ben gurion's buried there, so we visited his er, grave / tomb, thingymabob. beautiful view, i wouldn't mind my body resting there one day (preferably once i'm already dead).
2) skipped hike
we managed to vote 'no' to walking in the desert. everyone was keen to get to eilat.
3) wrong hotel
amazing. we ended up in completely the wrong place. eventually corrected, ended up in a place called 'paradise garden'. yeah, right. i didn't wait for check-in. i went with some friends who were already staying there to the beach, swam a bit, and then went to play basketball for 3 HOURS. i'll admit i enjoyed it thoroughly, but after a while my legs began to hurt, and after the game i could barely walk. dirty and smelly, went to the apartment they were staying in, showered, stretched, and went in search of supper. we left after 23:00, so only one place was open, but we ate like pigs for relatively cheap for eilat (tourist prices in israel are scary), and then went missioning. noplace interesting, so
4) finding my room
took a long walk back to the hotel, figured out the name that my roomies wrote me down as (i don't even remember it now, no relation whatsoever), and got the key. fortunately, they came back around the same time, so i didn't need to get up and open it for them. 'paradise garden'. soap, yes, but no toothpaste. DAMN. at least there was toilet paper. went to sleep around 04:00
5) waking up at 6:30 for breakfast
6) waking up at 8:30 for breakfast
7) breakfast
a typical israeli breakfast consists of some form of cereal (maybe), a cup of coffee, a slice of toast (maybe), and if you're REALLY pushing it you might get fruit of some form. oh, and milky (chocolate dessert type thing with cream). this breakfast contained all sorts of weird things, but none of the above. the coffee barely rated 'dirty water'.
8) checkout
did i check in? don't remember.
9) boat trip
well, the music started off chilled, very peaceful, but as soon as we got out of earshot of the docks they began with samba. i don't like samba. the tempo increased rapidly, and i was considering jumping, when we began to slow down. now i'm not saying i wasn't enjoying this. i love being on the water, and the view was breathtaking. staring at aquaba (however it's spelled). pretty. the water is completely clear. it's actually quite frightening, it's deep blue, but transparent.
9.5) diving
the captain (?!) mentioned something about diving. so i got on the rail and dived. WOW. warm water (everyone else was complaining about it being too cold, i still don't get it), but salty and i had a cut on my arm. mmmmm. then they released this swing-type thing. the first guy to go on it swung out, twisted his body so his arms were above his head from behind (don't know how to explain that), and then released into a somersault and decent dive. then the next guy went, did a major belly-flop. so we all stood in the line and took our turns. i managed to land face- first. surprise.
the first guy went again. he did the same twist, but for some reason didn't release. so he came swinging back face first towards the hull, with his arms stuck behind his back. with speed. fortunately some dude managed to stop him just before he headbutted the boat. we all released our breaths, as we'd been praying that this schmuck wouldn't be responsible for us going back to shore early.
"what could be easier than to pull?" - charles sheen, terminal velocity.
9.9) return to shore
they played decent, DECENT trance. for about 30 seconds. then it was back to chilled. rats.
10) aqua sport
this is the place were you go snorkeling (shnorkeling in hebrew), s.c.u.b.a. diving, etc. i sat under the big tent, smoked nargila (hookah) (ok, a couple of puffs, nothing serious), and slept. my friend's came for a brief visit, they left most disappointed. we sucked at volleyball for about 25 minutes, and then headed back to the bus.
11) snoopy come home?
nah. after an hour's kip, we were rudely awoken to a marvelous sight. sand. and rock. did i mention sand? oh, and dust. it was 'get your kit and go', so we went. walked up a mountain, listened to a really silly poem about echoes, and then discovered the only way to the rendezvous point was down the face. with no board. sandboarding is fun. running down the face of a dune isn't. not as such. and getting to the bottom with your shoes and socks FILLED with sand is frustrating.
getting back to the bus, we discovered that one of the guys had hitchhiked from the drop-off point to the rendezvous. brilliant. we all applauded him, and wished we'd thought of it. lucky, lucky bastard.
12) 7.5 hours later
7.5 hours. in a bus. with the airconditioning on and no jacket. brrr. one pit stop, and some dude who didn't understand that i was only joking about playing 'i spy with my little eye'. growl.
13) shower
sand. sand. sand. hell, i started my shower fully clothed, including my shoes, and they've STILL got sand in them. got to bed around 02:00.
*** tuesday ***
1) waking up
06:00
2) bus to taekwondo trainer
06:40
3) trainer's house
trainer not there. at the gym. proceed to walk halfway across ra'anana to the gym. my legs HURT. i'm TIRED. we walk to the bus stop (it's drizzling), which is only another 3 blocks uphill, and catch the bus to the venue
4) competition
it's a memorial competition, in honour of a soldier who died in (i think) 1995, in a bomb blast. i think he had something to do with tkd. dunno, couldn't understand a thing. i weighed in at 82/83kg (i think there's something wrong with their scale), was told i'd be fighting the same guy i fought last week. we were meant to fight around 14:00.
4.1) training
started training with the black belts, learned all sorts of interesting things and kind of got back into the whole fighting thing.
4.2) drinking
remembered my previous fight (i was completely dehydrated, it was a miracle i could stand let alone fight, and i won anyway), and drank plenty of water.
//this is just FULL of details, isn't it?
tried sleeping, managed about 5 minutes. little kids walking over your body don't cause sweet dreams.
lurked.
4.5) discovered that i was put into the 85+kg weight category. this means anyone greater than, which includes some 120kg 'big-boys'. from the national team.
uh huh. right.
so we argued and finally got me moved back to my category, only i was the only one in it. so one of the national team members with similar weight agreed to compete.
4.6) i'm scared. he's a big, dangerous person. with experience.
5) i'm too tired to continue like this
we started fighting around 20:00.
the first round was 3-1 to him, i kicked him out of the ring twice (you don't get points for that). the second was 3-3.
i feel GOOD about that. real good. i drew a round with one of the olympic team. oh yeah.
bussed home, took a way-too-quick shower, went to the bus station, and had just missed the bus to the last train to work. hitchhiked (sortof, kind of started talking to these guys on the side of the road) to the bus station and bussed to work.
my legs hurt, i've slept around 8.5 hours since sunday morning, and i'm going to be at work till around 05:00.
and i'm supposed to be concentrating
eilat
1) bus ride
LONG, LOOOOONG bus ride. mostly tried to sleep, but that never really works properly. i remembered to take water, i learned a very hard lesson about dehydration last week, but i still got sunburned. stopped off in s'dei boker (emphasis on last syllable), meaning 'fields of the cowboys'. david ben gurion's buried there, so we visited his er, grave / tomb, thingymabob. beautiful view, i wouldn't mind my body resting there one day (preferably once i'm already dead).
2) skipped hike
we managed to vote 'no' to walking in the desert. everyone was keen to get to eilat.
3) wrong hotel
amazing. we ended up in completely the wrong place. eventually corrected, ended up in a place called 'paradise garden'. yeah, right. i didn't wait for check-in. i went with some friends who were already staying there to the beach, swam a bit, and then went to play basketball for 3 HOURS. i'll admit i enjoyed it thoroughly, but after a while my legs began to hurt, and after the game i could barely walk. dirty and smelly, went to the apartment they were staying in, showered, stretched, and went in search of supper. we left after 23:00, so only one place was open, but we ate like pigs for relatively cheap for eilat (tourist prices in israel are scary), and then went missioning. noplace interesting, so
4) finding my room
took a long walk back to the hotel, figured out the name that my roomies wrote me down as (i don't even remember it now, no relation whatsoever), and got the key. fortunately, they came back around the same time, so i didn't need to get up and open it for them. 'paradise garden'. soap, yes, but no toothpaste. DAMN. at least there was toilet paper. went to sleep around 04:00
5) waking up at 6:30 for breakfast
6) waking up at 8:30 for breakfast
7) breakfast
a typical israeli breakfast consists of some form of cereal (maybe), a cup of coffee, a slice of toast (maybe), and if you're REALLY pushing it you might get fruit of some form. oh, and milky (chocolate dessert type thing with cream). this breakfast contained all sorts of weird things, but none of the above. the coffee barely rated 'dirty water'.
8) checkout
did i check in? don't remember.
9) boat trip
well, the music started off chilled, very peaceful, but as soon as we got out of earshot of the docks they began with samba. i don't like samba. the tempo increased rapidly, and i was considering jumping, when we began to slow down. now i'm not saying i wasn't enjoying this. i love being on the water, and the view was breathtaking. staring at aquaba (however it's spelled). pretty. the water is completely clear. it's actually quite frightening, it's deep blue, but transparent.
9.5) diving
the captain (?!) mentioned something about diving. so i got on the rail and dived. WOW. warm water (everyone else was complaining about it being too cold, i still don't get it), but salty and i had a cut on my arm. mmmmm. then they released this swing-type thing. the first guy to go on it swung out, twisted his body so his arms were above his head from behind (don't know how to explain that), and then released into a somersault and decent dive. then the next guy went, did a major belly-flop. so we all stood in the line and took our turns. i managed to land face- first. surprise.
the first guy went again. he did the same twist, but for some reason didn't release. so he came swinging back face first towards the hull, with his arms stuck behind his back. with speed. fortunately some dude managed to stop him just before he headbutted the boat. we all released our breaths, as we'd been praying that this schmuck wouldn't be responsible for us going back to shore early.
"what could be easier than to pull?" - charles sheen, terminal velocity.
9.9) return to shore
they played decent, DECENT trance. for about 30 seconds. then it was back to chilled. rats.
10) aqua sport
this is the place were you go snorkeling (shnorkeling in hebrew), s.c.u.b.a. diving, etc. i sat under the big tent, smoked nargila (hookah) (ok, a couple of puffs, nothing serious), and slept. my friend's came for a brief visit, they left most disappointed. we sucked at volleyball for about 25 minutes, and then headed back to the bus.
11) snoopy come home?
nah. after an hour's kip, we were rudely awoken to a marvelous sight. sand. and rock. did i mention sand? oh, and dust. it was 'get your kit and go', so we went. walked up a mountain, listened to a really silly poem about echoes, and then discovered the only way to the rendezvous point was down the face. with no board. sandboarding is fun. running down the face of a dune isn't. not as such. and getting to the bottom with your shoes and socks FILLED with sand is frustrating.
getting back to the bus, we discovered that one of the guys had hitchhiked from the drop-off point to the rendezvous. brilliant. we all applauded him, and wished we'd thought of it. lucky, lucky bastard.
12) 7.5 hours later
7.5 hours. in a bus. with the airconditioning on and no jacket. brrr. one pit stop, and some dude who didn't understand that i was only joking about playing 'i spy with my little eye'. growl.
13) shower
sand. sand. sand. hell, i started my shower fully clothed, including my shoes, and they've STILL got sand in them. got to bed around 02:00.
*** tuesday ***
1) waking up
06:00
2) bus to taekwondo trainer
06:40
3) trainer's house
trainer not there. at the gym. proceed to walk halfway across ra'anana to the gym. my legs HURT. i'm TIRED. we walk to the bus stop (it's drizzling), which is only another 3 blocks uphill, and catch the bus to the venue
4) competition
it's a memorial competition, in honour of a soldier who died in (i think) 1995, in a bomb blast. i think he had something to do with tkd. dunno, couldn't understand a thing. i weighed in at 82/83kg (i think there's something wrong with their scale), was told i'd be fighting the same guy i fought last week. we were meant to fight around 14:00.
4.1) training
started training with the black belts, learned all sorts of interesting things and kind of got back into the whole fighting thing.
4.2) drinking
remembered my previous fight (i was completely dehydrated, it was a miracle i could stand let alone fight, and i won anyway), and drank plenty of water.
//this is just FULL of details, isn't it?
tried sleeping, managed about 5 minutes. little kids walking over your body don't cause sweet dreams.
lurked.
4.5) discovered that i was put into the 85+kg weight category. this means anyone greater than, which includes some 120kg 'big-boys'. from the national team.
uh huh. right.
so we argued and finally got me moved back to my category, only i was the only one in it. so one of the national team members with similar weight agreed to compete.
4.6) i'm scared. he's a big, dangerous person. with experience.
5) i'm too tired to continue like this
we started fighting around 20:00.
the first round was 3-1 to him, i kicked him out of the ring twice (you don't get points for that). the second was 3-3.
i feel GOOD about that. real good. i drew a round with one of the olympic team. oh yeah.
bussed home, took a way-too-quick shower, went to the bus station, and had just missed the bus to the last train to work. hitchhiked (sortof, kind of started talking to these guys on the side of the road) to the bus station and bussed to work.
my legs hurt, i've slept around 8.5 hours since sunday morning, and i'm going to be at work till around 05:00.
and i'm supposed to be concentrating
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