gearing up - part i

it's friday afternoon, i'm still feeling a bit offline after my first cup of coffee. it's been a political day mostly, which i might mention in another post, and i've done all the dishes and i've got the weight of unfinished business on my back. i'm also quite nervous about monday, because that's when i'm going to go through the border for my permit. i'm a little bit nervous about getting back into an office and a routine, too. i feel like i need to shake some cobwebs out even though i'm sure i'll be fine.

i need to be 100% motivated, focused and ready for anything. i cannot afford to fail.

---sunday:

gd and i watched the source family, a wonderful documentary on a wonderfully strange cult, and that put me into a deep sleep from which i woke up in the morning feeling stuffy. fortunately that went away. i had things to do but gd was on a video call so i spent that time consuming (having fun). afterwards she attempted to make carrot-and-apple juice with the resurrected blender, but that attempt failed miserably and we won't be doing that again. blended ice, maybe. blended carrots, nuh-uh.

the high from my call to my point of contact was short-lived, as gd heard about something remarkably stupid, mean and unprofessional her boss had done almost immediately afterward. that's all referred to here.

we finally cleaned the floors and made the living room livable, and i walked out into a hot, muggy and rainy afternoon to make the boxing class. boxing was solid, although my right arm was hurting and i wasn't sure if it was muscle strain or a pinched nerve. yesterday i realized that it's just muscle strain, the pinched nerve hits other areas.

note to self: bring clean underwear to the gym. i'm not used to showering there; i had things to do (shopping and picking up mail) and i aside from the discomfort i was walking around looking like i'd wet myself where my sweaty boxers touched my shorts. add to that discomfort the realization that i'd left my brolly at the gym when i was more than five minutes away... at least i was still in the same neighbourhood...

after shopping i arrived at my apartment just after realizing that while i've kept the mailbox key, i've given up my entrance key so i can't get to the mailbox without assistance. nice one. to round out the evening, i just missed the metro with frozen goods in hand.

concern for the evening: why are my arms so weak lately? is it nerve damage?

a shower, a quick frozen dinner, a load of laundry and bed.

---tuesday:

i woke up to gd's nightmare pre-confrontation morning; there's little as difficult as telling someone to risk becoming dependent on you when you yourself are in a financial rut. so when things went well, and everyone was happy, you can imagine that there might have been a little post-drama celebrating.

...

i went to meet vfmp for coffee, the beatles - let it be being played by a busker as i left the metro felt quite appropriate. vfmp and i argued about the value of plush toys forgotten in the far reaches of musty cupboards and drew inspiration for a reboot of an old television series. after chatting we were considering going to get lunch somewhere when i realized that i didn't have house keys.

wtf?!?! how did that happen? i called gd to make sure she was there and hurried back, rather ashamed of myself and my ocd failure.

...

i spent some time installing emulators with the intention of playing chrono trigger some day, then rushed out to meet horseman. the metro was overly-warm and i had to wait a while for him to arrive, but once we cleared the surface it was beautiful weather and we walked around, ending up in griffintown visiting abyss. not only is it an awesome art gallery / studio / tattoo parlour, but the owner's prepared to discuss our slam team using the space for fundraising and her mother has aerospace contacts. nice!

i awkwardly called the woman subletting my apartment to ensure i'd be able to get in to the building. it was hot and packed in the metro, i was forced to stand while my blood sugar dropped and the half-hour ride took almost an hour due to service issues. i walked out clammy and unhappy. after making the new tenant feel uncomfortable, someone else let me in to get my mail so i hope she didn't rush home on my account :$

i didn't have time or energy to train so i went for a run along the canal. vfmp let me use his (virtual) library card to download an audiobook and i listened to the first chapters of suzanne collins - the hunger games in between zombies, run! pieces. it's a pretty good system, and i've since figured out how to add podcasts to an accessible playlist so i'll be combining running, zombies and french lessons in the future!

it rained for about half of my run, and i'm grateful that my arm strap is water-resistant enough to protect my phone. in addition to coming home soaked, the pinched nerve in the middle of my back was acting up :(

primary thought for the run?
which do you prefer, winter or summer?
whichever has less rain.

[continued...]