Accruing Karma

A year before my Camino I quit running.  To avoid injury.  With only 71 days to go until the great UK adventure I'm following that advice again.  Because I don't want to end up with something like...oh, I don't know...something like...tendinitis.  Just weeks before the Camino I also decided that keeping a low profile was the safest bet after a series of potential injury causing missteps.  And it worked -- by departure day I was fit as the proverbial fiddle. Not so much as a paper cut.  Today it became painfully obvious that it's time once again to break out the bubble wrap...

First, let me just say that there is nothing funny about people falling down stairs.  Second, wood exposed to relentless rain develops a slimy surface.  But it's like black ice -- you don't realize it's there until it's too late.  Third, doing someone a favour is a good thing. The gods of karma should be paying attention to that. 

So I'm leaving my neighbour's house.  I've gone over to get instruction on how to give some medication to one of his cats while he goes away over night. There's that good thing I'm doing.  Which the karma gods apparently missed. I put one foot down on the top wooden step -- did I mention the part about our relentless rains of late?  Feet go straight out from under me and I come down hard on my tailbone.  That might have been the end of it had there been a handrail to grab onto.  But nope, no handrail.  Lawsuit pending.  And because the steps are so greasy I thump down onto the next step...and the next one...and the next one...and the next one.  

Okay, that hurt.  I mean really really "fuck shit goddamn" that hurt.  All right, maybe it wasn't "oh, crap, I think it's broken" hurt.  For which I am beyond thankful.  But hurt enough that I've spent the day popping ibuprofen and cursing every time I have to crouch down or bend over or sit down or stand up. 

I'm lying in bed now.  Taking bets as to whether or not I'll be able to get out of it in the morning.  I'm betting no.  But I'll have to so I can get next door to give the cat his pill.  

Hear that, karma gods?

Downsizing My Life

Call it whatever you want -- purging, downsizing, simplifying, minimalizing. I'm getting back on the bandwagon.  Not that I ever really got off.  In 2013 I spent a year (albeit on and off) purging a lot of stuff from my house.  At the time I didn't think I was going after a minimalist lifestyle, but in retrospect I can see that is where I am slowing heading.  The whole 'live more with less' idea really resonates with me.  One of the things I like about minimalism is that it can be absolutely personal.  No two minimalist lifestyles have to be the same to lay claim to the title.  Today I'm embracing a different aspect of downsizing, because it's not just the physical stuff that needs purging.  I feel freer having made just two simple moves.

First, I changed my cell phone plan.  The kid's too.  Because our phones had been tied together for years due to one of those 'family sharing' type options, I had always assumed payment for both of them.  But it was time to cut the wireless cord.  And what did we really use the phones for?  Not as phones, that's for sure.  I rarely use mine to make or receive calls.  And the kid?  Well, if hers rings, nope, doesn't answer it.  And because there are so many other options, she rarely even texts anymore.  The biggest expense when it comes to cell phones?  Data.  Sure, nice to have when you're out and about but do you really need it when there's free wifi just about everywhere these days?  So we nixed the data and went from a post-paid to a pre-paid plan.  For $100 each for the year we get 100 anytime calling minutes and unlimited texting. Simple and basic.  Compare that to my previous plan and I'm saving about $1,400 a year.  WHAT?  Seriously?  I was utterly gobsmacked by that number.  How had I gotten so used to paying a non-essential monthly bill that could easily cover the cost of a flight just about anywhere in the world?  Every year.

And that's the thing with technology.  It wiggles and worms its way into every aspect of your life making you believe that you can no longer function without it.  Which brings me to move number two.  I deleted the couple of games I had downloaded onto my iPad.  We have never been into video games in our house -- no Nintendo or Xbox or whatever is currently de rigueur.  But somehow I had ended up with a couple on my iPad.  Word games and the such.  Strictly to exercise my brain, you understand.  To ward off dementia. But talk about a time suck.  And talk about an umbilical cord to the iPad. Because not only did I fall into the trap of "just one more game" but I had to keep jumping through hoops to get the 'free coins' or whatever was required to allow me to continue to play these games for free.  The only thing that was free was me -- after I hit DELETE.

It's not that I'm ridding myself of all my tech.  Because after all I am typing this on my iPad in bed at 4:30 a.m.  (Damn that mid day coffee.) But in two simple moves I managed to downsize my budget and a major waste of time.  Next up?

Facebook and the cable bill.

Medical Mysteries: Something's Afoot

Afoot:  walking or in progress

It's hard to be afoot when something's afoot.  So despite the fact that the mystery pain in my foot had subsided to tolerable levels, I felt a trip to the doctor was in order.  After all, I'd been ignoring said pain on more occasions than I can remember. It's just that I don't like to be one of those people who rush off to their doctor for every little thing.  With injuries I pretty much wait until all hope of a full recovery is long past.  Hence the chronic tendonitis in my shoulder for an injured rotator cuff I just knew would stop hurting 'any day now.'  Ten months later...

'If something hurts for a month, come in,' my doctor had admonished me.  So off to the doc I go.  I explained my symptoms, offered up my diagnosis. 'Tendonitis,' I said.  'Gout,' he declared.  'Don't have the risk factors,' I countered.  'Family history?' he inquired.  Damn!  Bloody genetics.  I'd need to have my blood pressure meds changed, water pills are an aggravating factor. I pushed for tendonitis; he wouldn't budge.  But off to the hospital for blood tests, just to be sure.  And even if my blood tests didn't indicate gout, it could still be gout.  HUH??  That seemed a pretty random diagnostic tool.

I return a few days later for the results, prepared to bid adieu to red wine forever.  Okay, so I might indulge in one of the risk factors.  'It's not gout,' he says.  What happened to it could still be gout even if the blood tests were negative?  Apparently my uric acid levels were way too low to indicate gout. I further describe the mild pain I'm still experiencing -- it's localized, only hurts doing certain weight bearing exercises, going down stairs, and where the arch of my orthotic presses against it.  'Tendonitis,' he declares.  Oh, really?  Tell me something I don't know.  'Treatment?' I ask.  'Rest,'  he pronounces.  'Uh, no can do,'  Like I can quit walking.  Yeah, right.  Two weeks into that program, I'd be Jabba the Hutt.

So bottom line? I split the difference and quit running, just like I did before the Camino.  I'm hopeful -- nay, confident -- that I can avert any further outbreaks leading up to and during the UK extravaganza.  And of course I will be well stocked with Advil Liquid Gels should things flare up again.  And if that doesn't work?

Well...there's always red wine.


Book Reviews:  I'm a fan of the John Cardinal mystery series written by Giles Blunt.  His latest offering, The Hesitation Cut, is a stand alone.  In a nut shell -- monk meets suicidal writer.  It is a story of obsession, simply written, but very powerful.  Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Our latest book club offering was The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri.  Definitely outside my preferred genres.  One of those literary pieces that is more a slice of life, little plot.  Looking at the pages themselves was daunting -- sparse dialogue, huge chunks of narrative without benefit of paragraph breaks, long chapters.  But the writing itself was lovely, albeit rife with description.  The characters were beautifully realized even if nothing ever really happened.  I just know the folks in my book club will give this rave reviews.  Me?  I'm in the middle, didn't love it, didn't hate it.  Just not my cup of tea.

The Best Laid Plans

Ever notice the more you look forward to something, the more likely it is something will happen to throw a screw into the works?

For a full week before I left for my Camino, I don't know if I had a bug or if it was nerves that were making me feel so nauseous.  Lasted pretty much until the day I started walking.  

When the kid came home from her European travels in October, she brought a nasty, persistent cough with her.  I managed to steer clear of picking it up for three weeks.  Right up until the day we left for our little Seattle sojourn. Then I got it with a vengeance, along with a wicked sore throat.  I soldiered through but it really took a bit of the shine off the trip.

But nothing was going to ruin our planned post Christmas trip, my gift to the kid and my mum.  Three nights, December 26th - 29th, at the beautiful Crystal Cove Resort at McKenzie Beach on the west coast of the Island.  I'd booked it back in July because there was no way, no how I was doing the usual Christmas schtick another year.  Enough with the presents and the tree and the decorations and the turkey.  This year I'd be lounging in the hot tub, strolling the beach rain or shine, sipping wine by the fire.  I was so so so looking forward to it.  Yup, shouldn't have done that.

December 26 I wake up with a sore foot.  Nothing unusual in that.  I get this thing I call my 'foot pain' every now and then.  On the inside of my right foot, right on the bone above the arch.  99.9% of the time I can walk it off.  This happened to be the .1% time, forcing me to walk on the outside edge of my foot.  No biggie, I can deal.

We drove through a winter wonderland to arrive in pouring rain in Tofino.  You haven't seen rain until you've seen it bucket down on the west coast.  The wind picked up.  Surf crashed on the beach.  People pay good money to spend time at the coast during storm season.  And what would make that foot feel better than a nice soak in the hot tub before bed.  Umm...not a nice soak in the hot tub before bed?  I paid the price all night.  It ached, it throbbed, it swelled.  By morning my toes looked like stuffed sausages on the end of my foot.  Guess this was one of those ice, not heat, injuries.

I googled foot pain diagrams. I've had plantar fasciitis and this wasn't it.  Best guess? Something involving a tendon.  Posterior Tibial Tendon Tendonitis seemed to fit the bill. Treatment?  Ice.  Uh, yeah, I figured as much. And ibubrofen.  I always carry ibuprofen in my purse.  Except I didn't bring my purse.  Neither did the kid.  Or my mother who kept saying, 'we should go home.'  Did she know how much I'd paid for this retreat?  There was no freakin' way I was going home. To top it off it was Sunday.  Not much open on a Sunday.  So I hobbled on the beach, soaked in the hot tub with my foot hanging out the side, and drank wine.  And more wine.  After two nights of serious pain, I toodled into town and went to the pharmacy.  It seemed like mere minutes after taking an extra strength Advil Liquid Gel that the pain waned, the swelling deflated and I could walk like a semi-normal person.  At least I'd have one day and night without contemplating loping it off while I split firewood.

If there's a bright side -- and there always is -- I learned this.  It forced me to slow down and appreciate everything around me.  I was suddenly walking as slow as my 87 year old mother without getting frustrated by her pace.  I learned that I should keep ibuprofen on my person at all times.
    My plan had been to go to the doctor as soon as I got home.  That didn't happen post-holidays.  And it was no longer Emergency Department worthy.  Isn't that always the way?  By the time you get into the doctor, the problem has resolved itself -- until the next time it crops up and the vicious circle begins anew.

And now I'm thinking about my upcoming trip to the UK...the 160 km walk on the Cotswold Way...all the tours we have booked...

And I'm not looking forward to it at all.

Nope, not one little bit.


Book Reviews:  Didn't realize I'd gotten so far behind.  Descent by Tim Johnston came highly recommended to me personally.  The kind of book that my book club had me pegged for.  There was much to like, especially in the climax and ending, but the lead up dragged a little for my liking.

Michael Connelly writes two series, one featuring LA cop Harry Bosch, the other Lincoln Lawyer Mickey Haller.  He puts the two characters together in his latest, The Crossing.  Another good read in a long line from Connelly.

December's book club selection was Savage Harvest:  A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism, and Michael Rockefeller's Tragic Quest for Primitive Art by Carl Hoffman.  It didn't go over big with the club.  Except for me.  I couldn't put it down.  Fascinating stuff.

I picked up YA novel Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger because a young girl I know writes a book review column in our local weekly rag.  She made it so sound intriguing I just had to read it.  And I'd always wanted to check out the steampunk genre.  It didn't grab me at first, but once I tuned my ear to Carriger's tongue in cheek style, it was a pretty good read.  Might even pick up the next one in the series.

She's a prolific writer but I've never picked up anything by Karin Slaughter until Pretty Girls.  I would have liked to have read this one in a shorter time frame to keep the tension going but as these things go it was rather spread out over a couple of weeks.  Definitely a book where one's credulity is strained but it was a decent read with some pretty graphically disgusting descriptions.

There's A Big OUCH Coming

I'm the first to admit it -- I don't understand economics.  Except for balancing my budget and cheque book.  I kick ass at that.  I'm talking about world economics.  The things that happen that cause one country's currency to be valued more highly than another country's currency.  I've even googled it. And frankly, I still don't get it.  

Take Canada for instance.  We're a pretty stable first world country.  We weathered the recession of 2008 better than most.  It even says so on Wikipedia.  And if you can't believe Wikipedia, who can you believe?  It says our dollar is "popular with central banks" apparently due to our "relative economic soundness" as well as our stable "legal and political systems."  

And yet our dollar is worth shit.  I know.  Because every day I check it's value against the Euro and the British Pound (GBP).  Waiting, waiting, waiting to see if it will inch up even a teeny, tiny bit.  I was fully prepared for our dollar to tank when we changed our government this past month.  Of course it could also have done the opposite and soared but nope, it didn't do either.  It just keeps meandering along at about $0.75 compared to the US dollar.  We haven't been worth more than the US buck since 2007 and it had been 30 years before that since we'd achieved that status.  Sure, it didn't last out the year, but it shows it's possible.  I'm just not betting there will be a repeat before I have to shell out my hard earned loonies and toonies for Euros and British Pounds.

As it stands right now the value of the Canadian dollar $1.42 Euro and $2.01 GBP.  But of course that's not the exchange rate.  For example...I booked a tour on line with my credit card and when the bill came in the exchange rate was damn near $2.10.  That's what I call a big OUCH.  So when saving for a trip these days you really have to save double just to cover the cost of exchange.  

And it's not like the prices go down to offset the exchange rate.  Take for example our recent foray into the US -- a $5 latte at Starbucks is still $5. Making that latte about $6.75  Because even though our dollar is worth about $0.75, when you do the conversion it is C$1.00 to US$1.34.  Never been a whiz at math, but I don't get it.    

But enough belly aching.  I'm lucky I'm in a position to travel at all.  And once the money is exchanged I stop converting in my head just how much things are really costing.  Well, I try to anyway.  And because we will be booking and paying for the majority of our tours ahead of the actual trip, the ouch will be much less come trip time.  Unless of course things go for a shit and our dollar tanks.

'Cause that never happens...right?

Book Reviews:  A couple of disappointing YA reads.  Dumplin' by Julie Murphy was highly predictable and read much younger than YA despite the main characters being 17 year old high school students.  

Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs is the third and final instalment in the Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children series.  After loving the first one, being so-so on the second, if this wasn't the last in the series I wouldn't be reading another.  Love the premise of mixing in the vintage photos but this book didn't really get going until well over half way in.  Bogged down by endless description, if I hadn't been invested in the whole series I would have put it aside.  As it was it took me two weeks to read and I really had to force myself to pick it up.  

 

It's All Just Talk Until The Ticket Is Bought

"One day you will wake up and there won't be any more time 

to do the things you've always wanted.  Do it now."

- Paulo Coelho

We all know them.  The people who talk about doing stuff and then never seem to.  They never get around to it, or the timing isn't right, or something else comes up, or any of the other myriad excuses.  When it came to my camino, I didn't want to be that person.  I'd talked about doing it for two years so not going was not an option.  Once the flight was booked, I was locked in. There was no going back.

Same for the upcoming UK extravaganza.  I could talk about going all I wanted but it was time to seal the deal and hit PURCHASE on the Air Canada site.  Ordinarily I go to a travel agent.  Usually I'm booking a package, like a trip to Disney including air, hotel and tickets.  For some reason I just feel more confident letting them hit the button.  But hey, this was just a flight and there was a seat sale.  A seat sale that I have since found out can last mere seconds on line.  Trust me, they can disappear that fast.  I know.  It happened to me.  Twice.

So I checked my dates and times, my departure and arrival airports.  Twice. Three times.  Okay, maybe four or five times before I hit BOOK THIS.  And then I checked it all again -- because even the best editors and proofreaders miss stuff -- before hitting the all important PURCHASE button.  Don't know why, but that part freaks me out just a little bit.  And that could be the reason some people just talk about doing stuff.  Fear of commitment.  Fear of fucking up.

Talk is cheap.  Airline tickets are not.  But I'm pretty sure I got a good price. At least I'm happy with the price I got.  It was several hundred dollars cheaper than the amount I'd budgeted.  But I always highball so when I get something for less I feel like I've got a good deal.  Mind games.

It's only just a shade over five months away.  Seems so much longer but that's probably because I still have to say I'm going next year.  But in less than two months it'll be this year.  Going on the Camino was exciting but I was also scared shitless.  I am beyond excited for this trip.  The line up for our itinerary is amazing and I want to share it all now.  But I also don't want to ruin the fun of blogging about it as it happens. 

And so the ticket is bought -- it's not all just talk.


Book Reviews:  A departure from my usual reading genres, The Illegal by Lawrence Hill is the story of Keita, a marathon runner fleeing the corrupt murderous government in his fictional homeland, Zantoroland, to live and run illegally in the fictional country of Freedom State.  It seemed a very timely tale given the current situation with refugees fleeing Syria, but I'm sure any of them would be happy to trade places with Keita.  He just didn't seem to have it that rough, comparatively speaking.  Regardless, I enjoyed the book (although not nearly as much as Hill's previous novel, The Book of Negroes), especially the character of enterprising young John Falconer.  The ending, however, was so wrapped up in a feel good great big bow that I felt ripped off.

I finally got The Last Town, the final book in the Wayward Pines trilogy by Blake Crouch.  (The first two are Pines and Wayward.)  I haven't reviewed any of them as I wanted to wait until I'd finished reading the series.  The mistake I made was watching the series on TV whilst reading the first two. While generally sticking to the story line, the televised version differed somewhat -- as they all do (just don't get me started on Under the Dome) -- and things started to get confused in my poor little brain.  I'm happy I read the finale long after the show finished.  It was definitely the best of three and the ending was major kick-ass.  I love it when the ending of a book (or trilogy) surpasses my greatest expectations.

 

Persistence Pays Off

When it comes to technology I'm a luddite. But I'm also a Capricorn -- patient, resourceful, determined, perseverant, stubborn.  And if there was a way to find the photos on my iPad to link them to my blog, I was bloody gonna do it.  And I did.  So without further ado, some Seattle highlights...

Crossing the Strait of Juan de Fuca

NOT inside the original Starbucks

   

    The Original

    

       The infamous "Gum Wall"

The World's largest collection of DNA?

So there ya have it. I have conquered the Blogger photo link problems. Only one question remains...

What are the chances I'll remember it?