That’s going to change. Well, obviously the number will, but
I did the counting thing before scheduling a handful of days off. I have a ton
of leave and after the end of June, I won’t be able to take annual leave until
2019, so I need to burn some.
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| Absolutely no idea. These guys were in our Antalya 10k hotel lobby - some kind of promotion. |
That means I get to do my favorite thing: plan trips. I’m
stepping into the AirBnB waters for a couple of upcoming ones. In the days of
Peace Corps, I did CouchSurfing but haven’t tried this yet. As Leila and I are
looking forward to a week in Switzerland in 2019 and AirBnB seems cheaper than
hotels, so we’re looking to that for options. I figured trying now might work.
There’s a week off I’ve been planning for months. Well, I’ve
done very little planning; I’m doing a package tour of the Baltics. It’s going
to be so very cold, but I was kind of limited. The other week trip I wanted to
plan would have been colder – the Stans. That gets saved until later.
Anyway, the Baltics still isn’t for a bit, but it’s the next
one scheduled and I tried to do some pre-packing today. The weather will necessitate
a lot more clothes. A backpack won’t suffice for that one.
In an effort to check off more countries, a couple more
trips will be the kind where you fly into one place and then figure out
transport to another, where you have your outgoing flight. There are two of
those coming up, and they’re the ones I’m doing with AirBnB. My hope is that my
hosts will be able to point me to a bus schedule or something.
As amazing as Turkey is, I feel like I’ve done the stuff
that I want to outside of Istanbul. Inside Istanbul, that’s another story but I’m
kind of limited here. However, there’s one more trip I would do if I could: the
Seven Churches of Revelation. I have two more weekends blocked off and could do
it but I have to work out some logistics.
Even with the planned time off, I’m down to under 100 days,
I suppose. It’ll speed up (and slow down) down the road, but I have another
thing that might take me out for more: shoulder surgery. Yeah, that tune again.
Different shoulder this time.
A little over a year ago, I dropped my jacket at work and
went to pick it up. It was like you pulled my shoulder out of socket, twisted
it and stuck it back. Now, first, I was stupid to not immediately jump to
legalese and crap and file a workers’ comp claim. I was at work, and I did get
injured in the workplace, not that the injury is in any way related to my job.
But I didn’t do that, so no sense in mourning it.
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| I just have a thing for boats. |
What has aggravated me since is by four months after the
injury, when it wasn’t getting any better, I figured I’d need surgery. However,
the medical rigmarole is just as bad here as in America. It’s now over a year
later and I’ve seen something like six doctors. I’ve had creams, anti-inflammatories,
rice, some kind of shot, steroids, a round of PT, two MRIs, X-rays, two
cortisone shots and another, longer round of PT. It’s not any better. I mean,
it’s better than it was, say, six months ago, but it’s not any better than a
after the injury itself. It’s one of those random ones that it is fine when I do
“this,” “this” or “this.” It’s only when I do “that” that it hurts, and it’s
not like a little tweak – it’s a world of pain.
I’m at the surgery step now, but it’s never that easy. The
hospital doesn’t take my insurance, and even though I can file afterwards, I
have to somehow pay up front. So far, I don’t know how much it will be, but my
problem is that I live and die by AmEx and it’s not called “American” Express
for a reason. Not accepted here. But it’s just an annoying detail and I’m going
to get this done as soon as I can. Unfortunately, it requires an overnight.
It’s the recovery that’s going to be a PITA. More PT, yah.
Groan. I’m told it will be six weeks before I can lift my arm over my head, but
I can start doing the hang-down PT the day after. What I don’t want to mess up
is the preparation for my next goal: a half marathon.
I realize when I ran the 10k in Siem Reap a couple of years
ago that would likely be my only one. Well, I’ve done maybe 3-4 of those (one
last weekend in Antalya – those are the photos), a 14k and a 15k. I want to do
this. I am totally realistic in that it will take me 2:45, but I’m fine with
that. I just want to do it. (Remember, I don’t use the term “run a race.” I say
“participate in a 10k.” I’m not racing anyone.)
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| I'm liking the B&W settings for pictures. Everything looks better in B&W. Well, maybe not the sci-fi couple above. Red's their color. |
The shoulder thing, as well as the week off, is going to
hamper my training, but that’s really sort of an informal thing anyway. I don’t
properly train any more than I warm up or stretch afterwards. (Which might explain
the leg cramps, but whatever.) Some guy at work temporarily was a marathoner
and he suggested that what I should do is over the weekends is to extend my
regular 12k-ish run, so I did that this weekend. I ran 14k on Friday night, 15k
on Saturday morning and 16k this morning.
There’s still so much I want to see in Istanbul, or see
again. It took one of our temporary workers out yesterday and we ate fresh see
bass and some kind of mussel, then took a bus to one of the walking areas.
After the morning run, I walked another 7k. I really think my calves should be
like steel by now. I also bought some little touristy things, but it now occurs
to me that I don’t yet have a magnet that says “Istanbul” on it. I have 2-3
from Turkey, but nothing specifically from Istanbul. Oh well.
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