Peeing on the Bus

I'm riding on the megabus from Boston to NYC, and during my first pit stop of the night, I was quickly reminded of how lucky men are when in need of peeing on a bus. Firstly, and perhaps the most important point, they don't have to sit down or hover. This becomes critically important when riding on a sub-standard bus, such as the Fung Wah, aka the bus that transports dead bodies from Boston to NY, or when riding in any third world country bus. The problem, is that the seat height and further back than normal placement of the bowl make it nearly impossible to hover, especially if you are average height, such as myself. So if there are complications in the bano, such as pee on the seat or worse, defecation, then you are f'ed. Defecation you ask? Yes, I have seen this. In fact, the situation was so grim, that I had to figure it out.

On a 20 hour cross country ride from Merida, Venezuela to Playa Colorada, I had to pee. There would not be a stop for hours, so I check out the bano. I'm not kidding when I say that there was shit splattered on every single wall of the bano. So, I did what anyone would, nearly wretch and return to my seat. Now an hour has gone by, and another hour... I have got to pee. I knew it was just a matter of time before I had to face the shit splattered bano again. So I return to the bano for a second recon mission to see if a pee would be possible. Needless to say, there were no tools to help the situation, and I mean obvious ones like toilet paper, running water with soap... These nice to haves don't exist in Venezuela. I return to the crime scene and It was just as dyer as how I remembered it. Shit everywhere, on the walls, seat, floor, everywhere. So I did what any person would do who had already seen it all and experienced it all (at this point I had been working and living in Venezuela for 3 months). I held my breath, grabbed the oh shit handle, and unable to back up far enough to hover over the bowl (due to shit on seat and further than normal back placement of the bowl) I peed all over myself. Yep, that's right, i peed all over myself. Elated that I had peed and hadn't gotten shit on myself, I returned to my seat with a smile.

Back to the point, it is much easier to be equipped like a man when in need of peeing on a bus.

I dream of Colorado

I had my first dream of Colorado last night.

I dreamed that I was riding up the gondola at Beaver Creek. It was fall and the sun was warm but the grass was still brilliantly green, which is rare in Colorado due to the dryness. There were Christmas trees with wreaths on them and snow high in the mountains. The colors were magnificent. As I rode up the mountain I was crying and laughing at the same time. Crying because it was so beautiful and I was sad that I didn’t live there anymore, and laughing because I am happy that I left.

Things have been turbulent since I have returned to Boston. Being single again after nearly four years in a relationship is a big adjustment. At first I was angry, then sad, then I wanted to “start a fight” – not literally, but more like the way Pink sings about her breakup in the song “So What.” Only in the last couple of weeks do I feel that my heart isn’t being held together with stitches and ready to sink or explode at any negative thought or comment.

I feel stronger, although I don’t know why. I have plenty of things to look forward to, including my half share at Killington where I’ll be spending many weekends with friends. I’ve also been travelling a lot with work lately, which gets me out of the stimulus of Boston. Where I go from here, I really don’t know. Deep down I still want to be in the mountains tromping along in fluffy powder with Zion. I reminisce of spending time at Bent Gate looking at the gear with anticipation of the snowflakes to come. I dream of cold cozy winters, hut trips, sitting by the fireside with coffee and watching the snow fall. And I long for someone who enjoys the same.


Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

2000 Miles

After 2000 miles of driving I have arrived in Winchester, MA! I put in two huge days. I stopped along the way for a midday run on both big days which saved me and Zion from going insane. We stopped at KU and at a state park off the highway in Ohio where we could swim in Lake Erie. Luckily I was able to find a Barnes and Noble off the highway in Columbus and picked up the last Harry Potter book on CD. This sufficiently distracted me for the entire drive on Monday.

Red Rocks to Oakley, KS - 4 hours
Oakley, KS to the East side of Indianapolis - 16 hours
Indianapolis to Saratoga, NY - 16 hours
Saratoga, NY to Boston - 4 hours

As I sit here now my knees are sweating while sitting still - which is totally strange. I can't dry off! I grabbed a graham cracker from an open box and found it to be soggy from the humidity. So, I waited until it cooled off a bit and went for my first Winchester run, which was about 5 miles. Here's the route:



Tonight I'm going to hang out with my old friend Pick. I'm looking forward to a beer!

Wisco, Dunks, and Harry

Chris and I are in Wisco for Steve Cramey's wedding. Today is a lucky day for me because I get to drink my beloved Dunks


and, I get to watch the newest release of Harry Potter. Could life get much better?

A quick recap on last weeks tri - the 5430 Peak. It was a blast. I did it in about 3 hours 19 min. I was secretly competing against a new friend and happily came out of the water 10 seconds faster, but got smoked on the bike. I need to get in more miles on the road and I also need a new bike. I'm interested in the Specialized Ruby Expert and I've learned that it is the hottest bike of the year...so no good discounts. It will be a month or two before I can save up to buy a new ride but I'm super excited to do it! I want to get a new bike, start training properly, and sign up for another event in a couple of months and see how I do.

Those Cheese Sticks Look SO Good!

You have to be kidding me, I looked up on Google Images "Mozzarella Cheese Sticks" and a smörgåsbord of delicious looking fried cheese sticks comes up. The thing that I miss the most is definitely CHEESE.

Cheese.

Cheese.

Cheese.

SCREW SOY!

Not really, I'm still eating vegan, but the non-dairy part sucks!

Going Vegan

A couple of weeks ago, at the height of my conference binge, I decided to wean myself off the beer and fat and go vegetarian. Since then, I've been reading a book called The China Study, by T. Colin Campbell, PhD.

China Study tells us that we can avoid and reverse heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, and many other familiar diseases by eating a whole foods, plant based diet sans dairy, fish or animal products. The book is NOT a diet book. It is scientific and the studies they site are extremely compelling.

Last year around this time I also subscribed to a vegan diet as a means for detoxing my body, inspired by the book Skinny Bitch (kick ass book for anyone). The tone of the book was hard hitting and hilarious, but the reasoning that they used for one to eat vegan wasn't as long lasting as the information in China Study.

A couple of the main points in China Study so far are:
- Animal protein advances the formation of cancer. In contrast, by eating a whole foods, plant based diet sans dairy or animal meat including fish, we can nearly halt the development of cancer.
- Heart disease is caused by high blood cholesterol, which is created by our bodies by ingesting animal food. We can avoid and reverse heart disease through a vegan diet.

I wasn't planning on going vegan a couple of weeks ago. I thought I'd just ease into this with a vegetarian diet. But, the further I get into this book the more motivated I am to eat vegan. This morning I had pancakes without milk or eggs!

I am feeling great and I'm looking forward to getting my blood tested to see what my cholesterol is now vs in a few months from now after eating vegan.

Next book up is Thrive, which talks about eating Vegan as an athlete.

Hotel Critic

I'm going on my third week in a row of being on the road. Drinking, eating, and no exercise has driven me to this point. Now, I'm laying in sheets that don't compare to the Westin's white fluffy heavenly bedding, yet I'm here with a refreshed outlook. I'm committing to new minimum standards, 1. eating vegetarian, and 2. at least 20 minutes of exercise a day.

On my flight to Atlanta tonight I sat next to a self proclaimed Schizophrenic. According to http://counsellingresource.com, symptoms include:

- a Major Depressive Episode,
- a Manic Episode, or
- a Mixed Episode
- delusions
- hallucinations
- disorganized speech (e.g., frequent derailment or incoherence)
- grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior
- negative symptoms, i.e., affective flattening, alogia, or avolition

Only one symptom is required if delusions are bizarre or hallucinations consist of a voice keeping up a running commentary on the person's behavior or thoughts, or two or more voices conversing with each other."

She told me many things about her life including deaths in her family, how she found her birth mother since she was adopted, her marriage, her divorce, her illness, her age, her and her boyfriend's income, her smoking addiction and recovery habits, her religious views, and her plans to move west. At the end of the conversation (which I had to preemptively cut off since I think she would have enjoyed talking with me all night) she reached over and put her hand on my arm and said in an asking way, "at some point in your life, accept God... and make it soon. I like you, I want to see you in Heaven."

Her plea for me to follow God didn't go far but I did relate to her in the sense that she believes in something strongly, and I believe in other things strongly. These values, different for everyone, form the foundation of our lives, our balance, and serenity. For me, I believe in all parts equal. The parts that I believe must be strong for a person to feel whole, in not such an exact way, are love, eating, health, exercise, work, inspiration and stimulation. I believe that everything happens for a reason, and I believe in spirituality in an undefined way.

I'm not upset that she asked me to follow God. I could easily ask someone to eat Vegetarian. I ask people to join me to compete in triathlon events all the time. The point being, people spread news about the things they care about most.

Meanwhile, I'm going to further my following of Vegetarianism tonight by reading China Study, and suggest that you read it too ;-)