UGH! UGH! UGH!!!

Yes, this is my fist.  (And it's not that easy taking a selfie of your fist...trust me...or go ahead, try it.)  Yesterday I was putting it through my computer. Then my phone.  Today I'm putting it through Blogger.  Because silly me, I actually thought I'd just be able to access my blog on my phone and write my posts while I'm away.  I mean I can post on Facebook from my phone.  I can send e-mails on my phone.  Why not a blog post?  But first we need to backtrack a day...

It's 3:00 a.m. and I'm lying in bed.  No one is e-mailing me at 3:00 a.m.  No one is posting anything new on Facebook at 3:00 a.m.  Okay, I'll google shit. But how many times can you google Johnny Depp at 3:00 a.m. and expect to learn anything new?  Oh right, I need to google How to blog from your phone.  And lo and behold, of course there are a couple of ways to do it.  Via e-mail or by simply downloading the Blogger app.  Piece of cake.  I fall asleep confident in the fact that I will soon be blogging from the Camino.

Not so fast.

Later the same morning...I'm back on the wikiHow site and going through the steps to e-mail the blog posts.  Just have to change my blog settings to add an e-mail...but first I'll open a new gmail account to use just for the blog posts.  Don't want any of my personal e-mails accidentally ending up on my blog.  But what's this?  No charge from Google Plus to use this feature but individual carriers may have a charge, like for texting.  That's no good.  I take my SIM card out of my phone when I travel to avoid those dreaded roaming fees and use free Kik instead of standard texting.  Okay, no problem.  I'll send a test blog, then take the SIM card out and try it again because I have Wifi.

Check blog, check blog, check blog.  Hmmm...no test message.  Time for plan B.

Download the Blogger app.  Piece of cake.  Sigh on.  What's this?  There are no blogs assigned to me but hey, why not start one?!  WTF???  No blogs assigned to me?  There are two blogs assigned to me. Frustration level rising.  Fists clenching.  Try the first gmail account.  Try the second gmail account.  Change all the passwords for all accounts.  There are still no blogs assigned to me.  Okay, breathe...breathe...

Time to say FUCK it and take a break.  I've now wasted two hours during which I had planned to walk the dog and mow the lawn before the heat of the day.  Walking and mowing in 30+ degree temps did not improve my mood. Just so ya know.

And here it is today.  I've taken my blood pressure medication and I'm going in again.  First off, uninstall the Blogger app.  Maybe it will work when I put it back on.  'Cause that always works, right?  Back into the settings page on my blog and oh, look -- here's some info I didn't read yesterday.  There's a whole section for adding a mobile device.  I just have to send a verification code.  Of course, it had to be that simple...right?

Not so fast.

Your carrier is not supported by Blogger Mobile.  WTF???  Oh look...here's a list of countries with supported carriers -- Australia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, UK, US.  No Canada.  Second largest country in the world and we don't have a carrier that supports using our mobile devices to do something as simple as posting a blog.  That's total crap.

And this is where I call it quits.  I'm going on this zen-like journey of personal discovery and I'm getting myself all bent out of shape because I can't get the technology to work for me?  Anyone else see something wrong with this picture?  So I'm back to my original plan -- a tech free experience.  Well, almost tech free.  When I hit a Wifi spot I can use e-mail.  Maybe I'll even find a computer on the Way and be able to log into this blog to post a little something.

But don't hold your breath.


Book Review:  I enjoyed The Husband's Secret even though it was pretty easy to figure out what the secret was and then to see what was coming later on.  I will admit, however, that I was getting pretty tired of the three main female characters.  All that angst.  But it was an easy read, lots of dialogue and the fact that I read it quickly means that I was engaged with the story.  A good summer, feet up with a cold drink kind of book.

In The Buff

Have you ever found something and your second thought was, "How cool is this?!"  Preceded of course by your first thought, "Wish I'd invented it!"

That's how I feel about my buff.  It is simplicity personified.  For anyone not familiar with the buff it is a seamless tube of microfiber polyester.  That's it. But it is oh so versatile.  Worn around the neck it keeps you cool in the summer, warm in the winter.  Pull it up to protect your face from wind or dust. Pull it up over your head and it's a hood; then pull up the front and it's a balaclava.  A twist here, a pull there and you've got any variety of headwear. Or just a simple headband.

Of all the gear I've bought, my buff is my favourite.  I feel like Linus when I wear it around my neck -- it's my security blanket. And as all good outdoor wear should be it's moisture wicking, quick drying, breathable, wind resistant, stretchy and has active odour control that will last "the lifetime of the garment."  Hmmm...another lofty manufacturer's claim, just like the socks.  We'll see about that.

I chose my buff partly because it's so colourful.  And partly because in some of the books I've read about the Camino they refer to St. James (the apostle for whom the whole thing is named and whose bones are allegedly housed in the cathedral in Santiago...yeah, right) as Jimmy the Fish.  Don't ask me why.  I'm not current on my Bible stories.

But here's something really cool.  When I dug out the card that the buff came on from the store to test some of the headwear styles, this caught my eye -- Made in Spain.

Whaddya know?  I'll be returning my buff to its homeland.


Book Review:  Anyone who knows me or reads this blog must have figured out by now that Stephen King is my favourite author.  I would say that I'm his #1 fan, but that title forever conjures Annie Wilkes.  And just what does Mr Mercedes do for Steve's position in my author's rankings?  It solidifies it 100%.  (And hey, I've been reading Steve since Day 1 so I figure we must be on a first name basis by now.)  Mr Mercedes is a thriller -- there is no horror (other than the horror of humans doing what they do); there isn't a whiff of the supernatural.  He has written a cast of characters that I cared about deeply  -- especially Jerome...I loved Jerome.  And he crafted an ending that was sheer perfection.  I've heard (read?) that this is the first of a trilogy.  If so, bring on the next two.  If not, Mr Mercedes is perfect all on its own.  Five stars out of five and two thumbs up.  

The Sum Of All Things

The moment of truth has arrived.  

With just six weeks to go until I leave for my Camino it's time to find out if all of this... 

...will fit into this...minus the bed, of course.

Ready. Set. Go...

          

                            ...this = this...gotta love compression sacks...

...warm down jacket stuffs into its own pocket...

                        ...cool mesh hat folds into pretty much any shape you want...

                         ...and...TA DA!!!  It all fits with room to spare.

But time for the million dollar question -- how much does it weigh?  First let's put this in perspective.  The weighted pack I've been lugging around for the past couple of months currently weighs 24.8 lbs.  My fully loaded Camino pack?  14.4 pounds.  I put it on and it felt like nothing back there.  Oh what a difference 10 lbs makes.  Maybe I should consider packing the bed after all.

  

Challenge Accepted

I toodled down to my favourite store yesterday -- no, not for another dress. For socks.  After getting a heat rash on my ankles three times in a row, I figured I better do something about it.  I had several days in between each and it clears up in about four days, but I have no idea what would actually happen if I got a heat rash on top of a heat rash on top of a heat rash.

So the Wigwam merino wool midweight hiking socks I've been wearing for the past year had to go.  'Cause I'm pretty sure I'll be running into some smokin' hot temperatures, especially in September.  See the problem with the Wigwams is that they are long in the leg and I have to fold down the top. Basically it's like having two heavy socks on around the ankle.  But I also want that really nice thick cushioning on the bottom and the toes.  Partly for comfort and partly because my books are wide and roomy and I don't want to be moving around inside.  That's just asking for blisters.

So I picked up a couple of pairs of Darn Tough hiking socks made from 100% fine gauge merino wool.  Nice cushy sole but oh so light in the leg part. And they actually come with an "Unconditional Lifetime Guarantee."  Seriously.  Lifetime.

Here it is, right on the package..."If you can wear these socks out, we'll replace them."

Free of charge, they say.

No questions asked, they assure.

For life.

Pretty bold statements if you ask me, because I'm thinking about all the socks in my sock drawer that are down to single threads covering the balls of the feet.  Or all those pairs that have at least one hole where the big toe has busted through.  And basically they're telling me that if I were to own one pair of these socks and wore them every single day of my life, they would give me a new pair if I wore through them.  I'll accept that challenge.  Not that I'm going to wear them every single day for the rest of my life.

But hey, 800 kilometres across Northern Spain should give them a pretty good run for their money.


Book Review:  After having read Herman Koch's The Dinner, I was really looking forward to his latest -- Summer House With Swimming Pool.  Koch has created yet another wonderful morally ambiguous cast of characters and let them lose upon each other.  I love his first person narratives for reasons I can't say without ruining something of the reading experience for you.  I was semi-disappointed in the ending but I'm thinking maybe I missed something. You know how that can happen.  I just need someone else to read it and give me their take so I can go, "Oh right, now I get it!"  And there was definitely one thread that didn't get dealt with that I was thinking was going to have a major impact on the ending, hence my disappointment.  But I would recommend this book for the characters alone.    

Ladies...You Should Totally Get This

Every pilgrim needs to take something with them -- screw the extra weight -- to make themselves feel semi-civilized.  A pair of socks they only put on in the evening, after the day's walking is done...a little pot of face cream...a pair of sandals...whatever.  Something, anything, to feel human again.  So I'm taking a dress.

Yup, a dress.  This is what the ladies will totally get.  Nothing feels cooler, lighter, more free than slipping into a loose dress after a nice cool shower at the end of the day when your only change of clothes is drying on the line. There's nothing to pinch around the middle.  No fabric getting caught in the crack of...anything.

And as I've been planning this trip for going on two years now, there's been plenty of time to select just the right one.  The key word in that last sentence is one.  Because here's the thing -- the longer you have to plan something, the more stuff you buy "for the camino" before finding something better.  I've got two pairs of pants in my closet that are not going on the camino, despite my promising them they could. It's not good having two pairs of pissed off pants...but I digress.

So last summer whilst browsing in my favourite local non-chain store (Walk the Coast, if I haven't mentioned that at least once before) I spotted the perfect dress. Black and white stripes, light, non-wrinkle...perfect.  Until I hit the WTC sidewalk sale in the fall.  And found a pink splotchy thing, lighter than air...perfect.  Until I went in this summer and spotted a little red number on a mannequin that just screamed, "Camino!"  Not only was it categorized as outdoor wear complete with spandex and moisture wicking properties, but who wouldn't want a talking dress?  Perfect.

Then I got to thinking...hmmm...I'm going in September / October...it'll probably be hot at the beginning, maybe cooler or even cold as the end...the pink splotchy dress will probably be too light and too summery looking...ditto for the red one...the black and white one...hmmm...I dunno, I'm having second thoughts...

So I hauled the old Royal Robbins black T-shirt dress out of the back of the cupboard.  It's so comfy, like wearing pyjamas...black suits any season...my orange shirt can go over top when it's cooler...the warm coat I'm taking is black...perfect.  It's settled -- I'm taking the black dress.

Unless I take the red one...




Book Review:  There's probably a few of you thinking that I don't much like most of the books I read.  Yeah, I can be a little critical, a little nit-picky.  But here's one that I won't nit or pick at all and that I give a five star, two thumbs up rating to -- The Three by Sarah Lotz.  It's a book written within a book, very cleverly done as an investigative report complete with interviews, blog entries, and e-mail exchanges.  Four planes crash at the same time on the same day.  Three children survive three of the crashes.  A woman on one of the planes lives long enough to send out a garbled, cryptic message on her phone.  Enter the conspiracy theorists and religious zealots.  For those of you who like their stories tied up with a bow at the end, you're not going to get that here.  But you will get an ending that leaves you thinking long after you put the book aside, and maybe, just maybe a few of the hairs on the back of your neck will stand up and say..."Whoa!"  From me, that's the ultimate compliment.

Stylin' On The Camino

I didn't plan it, really I didn't.  But after I bought my Camino wear, it was pretty obvious that I am going to be one coordinated pilgrim -- and I'm not talking about my ability to put one foot in front of the other.  And given that I bought everything in various places at various times, it would seem the fashion gods had a little hand in it.

Started with my Vasque boots in gun metal grey...






...then came Gregory all decked out in a couple of shades of blue...





...followed by Arc'Teryx pants in "heron" and Marmot shorts in "dark steel" (but let's call a spade a spade -- they're blue"ish" and grey"ish)...

...and finally add a couple of grey Icebreaker T-shirts with orange highlights that just so happen to match perfectly with my ExOfficio shirt...





...hell, even my merino wool Icebreaker bra coordinates, you know, just in case a strap shows.




'Cause if I'm gonna be hot, dirty and exhausted on the Camino, I might as well look damn good doin' it.


Book Review:  Oh, this one started out with so much promise.  The Book of You is the story of a woman being stalked by a co-worker.  It is told in the form of journal entries that she keeps to build up evidence against him to take to police and in her writing she speaks to him...you did this, you did that.  The journal entries are interspersed with a third person telling of her sitting on a jury for a rape case that hits a little too close to home.  As the story started to reach that all important climax I was expecting a twist that would really knock my socks off.  The psychological tension had been building so nicely there just had to be a big payoff.  Then WHAM!  Nothing. The most boring finale with an even more boring and lengthy wrap up.  Wow, talk about disappointed.