Despite all of the things I did growing up that could have injured me, I’ve never broken a bone or received stitches.  I’ve also never ridden in an ambulance, or had to visit a hospital for anything more than some tests.  That all changed (except for the broken bones) on Wednesday night of last week.

The day started out great.  Lately I had been very tired because, I guessed because I’d had a stomach bug since the previous Tuesday.  I hadn’t been feeling well, and I imagined I wasn’t getting the most out of my meals, either.  Not that I was helping the situation by eating anything and everything I came upon.  But that morning, I felt great.  So great that I finally went out and got the hair cut I’d been meaning to get.  I had also mowed the lawn, another chore I had been putting off until I felt better.

But this was also the day that our dog, Greta, was getting spayed, or steralized as they say here.  So I dropped her off around 4 in the afternoon.  They gave her a shot to knock her out, and I stayed with her until she practically melted into my lap and was out cold.  It was after this that I went to get my hair cut.

I should also mention that Jess was out of town on a school trip, as was another friend of ours whose dog I was watching.  So after my haircut I came back to walk and feed Natty, and get some more work done.  Around 6:30 or so I got the call from the vet that Greta was all ready and I could come pick her up. 

When I got there, they brought her out in her green doggy hospital gown, all laced up the back.  She was still very groggy from the anesthetic, but her tail was wagging when she saw me.  The vet handed her to me and asked me to wait.  They were tending to a cat at the moment, and I still had to pay and take care of a few things. 

So I sat with her for about 20 minutes or so.  While I had her I noticed her foot was still bleeding (we had a dew claw with no bone in it removed to avoid possible problems with it in the future).  It wasn’t much, but the combination of the blood, unrine soaked smock, and drugged puppy were a bit sad.

Once they were able to see me, I went in and showed them the foot.  They then wrapped it with gauze, as well as her front foot where the IV was.  They said we had to leave it in until we came back in 2 days when they would remove it and give her a check-up and a few shots (pain medication and another shot to help her immune system).  After the bandaging was done, I reminded them I still needed to pay for some other medication they gave me previously, but they waived it. 

It was around that point, almost an hour after I arrived, that I started to feel a bit dizzy.  This has happened to me in sterile environments like doctor’s offices and hospitals.  I’m not sure, but I think it’s usually a combination of the smells and the overabundance of flourescent lights and white furniture/walls.  While they ran the card, I took a seat and waited for the dizziness to pass.  It was actually getting worse than a normal head rush or fleeting dizzy spell.  When they brought my card back, I stood to put it in my wallet.  I was a bit too shy to just admit I wasn’t feeling well and sit and wait for it to pass, and thought I could just power through.

The next thing I remember was waking up from a dream to look up from the floor at the 2 doctors.  I had apparently passed out, and hit my head on the table on the way down.  Strangely my neck and back of my head didn’t hurt at all, but my temple was throbbing and I was still very disoriented. 

They cleaned me up, and after a few minutes had me move to the couch.  They also called for an ambulance for me.  It took probably 20 minutes or so, maybe more, for them to arrive.  They looked me over, took my information and walked me to the ambulance. They didn’t seem concerned, and I’m guessing that their initial tests told them there was nothing serious wrong, and that I’d just need a few stitches.

Wait?  Stitches!?  Never had those before!  Those were my thoughts as I staggered to the ambulance.  The night air helped clear my head, though the ambulance ride had started to make me nauseous.  Once we got to the hospital it was very simple.  The doctor stitched me up, and I did my best to answer his questions with my limited Polish.  Then they took a head x-ray and sent me on my way! 

My friend, Dale, came and picked me up, and on our way home we swung by to get the dog.  Later, when I was telling Jess about it, I commented on how it was funny the way things always seem to work out for me, and reaffirmed that I must have a friend upstairs looking out for me.  Of course she looked at me cross-eyed, so I had to explain. 

Since I had just gotten my hair cut, it was easy to see that there were no cuts hiding under my hair.  The lawn was mowed, so I didn’t have to worry about that.  Getting a ride with Dale meant that I didn’t have to carry the dog home.  When I hit my head, I only got a small gash in my eyebrow.  So I was lucky enough not to hit my eye, or my temple (at least, not directly…  that part of my head was pretty sore).  Plus the cut is hardly visible, since it blends with my eyebrow.  I had no concussion or anything like that.  It happened in a medical facility, so they were able to clean the cut with antiseptic and gauze, plus take care of me.  Also, their English is pretty good, which was helpful.

I also got a lot of medical firsts out of the way all in one, relatively painless, shot; stitches, ambulance, hospital, foreign hospital.  Plus I got to practice my Polish a bit.

I don’t know… call me optimistic, but the whole thing was actually a pretty positive experience overall.  You know, aside from the pain and all. 

I realize that I haven’t been keeping up very well with this blog lately, so I’m going to play a little catch-up by writing about last week’s Triathlon.  I still probably won’t be writing regularly (I’ve got too many distractions at the moment), but I’ll eventually get around to posting the big stuff.  I’m also trying to work on some more poetry, so hopefully I’ll have something worthwhile to share from that crop.

May 1st is Labor Day here in Poland and the school was closed that day, so a few of the teachers decided to organize a triathlon.  I’m glad they did it!  It was fun and challenging, and the first time I’d ever done anything like that.

We started bright and early at the school pool.  We had enough people for 2 heats, but somehow I ended up with my own lane.  I hadn’t put much training into swimming, so it was by far my weakest event.  Up until then, I was swimming only twice per week, and then only practicing the breast stroke.  The first day I did a full 500 meters without stopping was, of course, the day before the triathlon.  But I managed to putter along at a decent pace, and was out of the water after about 12-13 minutes.  I was told a swim cap and a "snugger" swimsuit would help (I was wearing my big baggy surfer-style swimshorts).  But I didn’t want to change anything that close to the event.

After that, I took the longest in transition to the bike.  I think this is in part because I planned to slough my stuff around with me, so I packaged it very neatly into my bike bag, which I ended up leaving for the voluneers to bring along.  I also got a bit stuck putting on my bike shirt (it was bunched under my armpits – I imagine it would have been very humorous to watch me dancing around the locker room)

Knowing I am a slow swimmer, and that I was behind, I shot off the mark on my bike.  My newly purchased bike computer showed me my speed, and I was quickly up to 20km/h.  But I hit a snag at the back entrance when I realized I wasn’t sure which direction to go from there to get to the trail.  Luckily the security guard there pointed me in the right direction.  After I passed through the sand, I was able to get back in my rythm and was able to get myself up to around 30km/h (according to the computer – may be configured wrong).

Not long after that, I came to the only street crossing on the trail.  Now, a sequence of events was about to domino into sending me down the wrong path…  So I’ll start with the background.  Before leaving the school, I mentally ran through the course.  It was pretty much identical to how I get to and from the school on a regular basis.  I usually cross the road at the crosswalk, and was visualizing myself hitting the button, waiting, and crossing there.  However, when I arrived at the intersection, one of the volunteers was there to monitor traffic and help us cross quickly.  When he waved me across, my brain malfunctioned and figured for some reason that he was waving me along the course, which I had wrong.  So I shot across the street and kept going when I should have turned.  Part of the reason I thought this was part of the course, was that I had ridden it the week before.  At the end of the road, I realized I’d gone the wrong way, but rather than turn around, I knew the trail reconnected to the main trail farther up, and I figured it would save me time to keep going, rather than turn around.  What I didn’t figure on, was that the trail angled away, and that the trail was rough dirt and sand, whereas the trail I was supposed to be on was paved.  So I ended up taking much longer both in time and distance, and when I finally reconnected, I was a bit disheartened.

My speed dropped down around18-20km/h as I watched everyone pass by me.  I was really mad at myself, and bummed.  Not so much because I got slowed down, as that my time didn’t apply to the course, so I won’t really know how good I did.  But shortly after I rounded the halfway point, I firmed up and took control again.  I thought about my taekwondo training and our emphasis on indomitable spirit.  I’d let myself slip, but just knowing that re-lit my fire.

So I pounded out the last stretch and rolled into the last leg – the running.  One of the other triathletes, Larry, was finishing his run as I biked in, so there was a bit of confusion as to where I should go.  But I got in and off the bike no problem.  Then it was time to run.  I was all ready to go, so I just had to hop off and get moving, but my legs had another plan.  They were stiff and I felt like the tin-man before he got oiled!  After a few steps, though, I started to loosen up, and about half-way it actually felt really nice.  The problem came shortly after, when the combination of allergies and cold air made it tough to breathe, so I got a bad stitch in my side.  I didn’t want to walk, but I eventually gave in and walked, stretching and breathing.  I tried to run again after a bit, but it came right back.  I kept walking, but was cringing at each breath.  After a while of deep breathing, I was feeling good again, and finished the course at a good jog.

The feeling at the finish line was awesome.  Getting cheared on and finishing something so challenging was a great feeling.  And the barbecue afterwards was a good feeling too!  The next few days I expected to be really sore, but surprisingly wasn’t.  In fact, I felt like doing it again!  That’s a testament to the training I’d been doing, and next year I plan to be even more prepared and really reduce my time.  Mostly by going the right direction, but also from training, too.

Jess’ school is holding a triathlon this spring, and we’ve decided to enter and give it a shot.

Only this past week have I really started giving thought to the training.  The event is May 1st, and will consist of:

500 m swim in the ASW pool
14 km bike ride from school to Wilanów
3 km run

My training so far is:

Monday & Thursday mornings – swim before teaching TKD
Bike in to school and home whenever I go in (4 days/week currently) (I live in Wilanów, so this is perfect practice)
Running with Greta.  Which is usually just a few small sprints, or a jog around the block, but it’s helping.

The biking is pretty straightforward, and I’ve been getting more used to this since we moved to Poland.

Running I can do, but I need to do a little training, but mostly I need to focus on core and back strengthening, because running causes my back to hurt a lot, and causes some of my back muscles to cramp up really badly.   Diet will help me out here, too.

The swimming is the hardest part.  I’ve never done lane-style swimming.  Just freeform in the pond type swimming.  So I’m learning better form, and breathing…  my God the breathing is the hardest part!  If I’m not sucking in water from the pool, I’m getting it as it streams down my face.  It’s frustrating, and I’ve also been breathing too shallow up in my chest.  So I’m working on this, and I’m also putting more focus on breathing again in my taekwondo training.

I’m hoping to find a taekwondo school, maybe this week.  It will make the training I’m doing even harder, but that’s ok!

With all the training I’ve been doing, I’m starting to notice that I’m getting in better shape again.  Muscles are getting more defined, sleep and apetite have been really good.  And I’ve just been feeling really great.  Though my back is killing me these past few days, I blame my sleep shift, and the fact that I’ve just started riding the bike again – which hurts my back, but not as much as running.

I might try to get the clip pedals and shoes for the bike, because that makes it much better.  I never realized why before, until someone explained that you pull on the up-stroke, as well as pushing down, so the force is doubled, but the energy is more or less the same.  Plus it’s more of a constant pressure, which reduces the resistance and shock.  We’ve got a great (if expensive) bike shop a block away, so I’ll probably go see what he’s got. 

I’ve been watching what I eat, too, though not quite for the training.  I’ve been having a lot of fruits and vegetables, plus a fair bit of carbs and starches.  Probably too much of the latter, but as I start to do more, it will balance out.

If anyone asks my favorite season, I always say Fall (or Autumn, if that’s your thing).  Though I’m not the kind of person to have a "favorite" anything.  In fact, I like all of the seasons pretty much equally.

However, when I really think about it, it’s Winter that I like the best.

Why Winter?  It’s not the grey skies, or the bitter cold, that’s for sure.  And I do love the look of a fresh frosting of snow, and the silence of a winter morning.  Swirling flakes calm the soul, and a sleigh ride, snowball fight, or any other snow-filled romp refreshes the spirit.

However, what gives Winter the edge over other seasons, is that it makes the other seasons better. 

Just before springtime you can feel the tension of life, just below the surface, waiting for the opportunity to burst out.  And when that happens, it’s impossible not to take notice and revel in the joy and beauty of it all.  So much color after a season of only shades of grey.

On the other end, Fall prepares us for the coming Winter like a child’s lullaby.  A second stirring of color, dancing on a crisp breeze.  The colder days and longer nights draw us closer together; for warmth and for comfort.  Harvest time brings a celebration of plenty, in preparation for the coming barren months.

I was reflecting on all of this, since we had such nice weather this weekend, and was out enjoying as much of it as possible.  It made me realize that it wasn’t so much the weather now that I liked as it was the contrast to the weather we’d had previously.  At least, that’s what made it stand out so much.

So it turns out, after a little thought, that it isn’t so much that Spring and Fall that are so great, as it is that the difference between them and the Winter is great.  This holds true to many other things in life, too.  Sure, the things are great on their own, but that’s not what makes us take notice.  Just like you can’t appreciate (or even define) light without darkness, so can you not have joy without suffering.  Luckily Winter isn’t all suffering (actually, for some the roles are reversed!).

I just realized that I had posted my sleep schedule, but never went into the details of the surrounding schedule, to show how I fit it into my life. 

Since I have another 30 minutes until my next nap, I figure this will be a great way to fill that time.

You’ll notice I only have a total of 6 hours "scheduled" for work each day.  This is because those are the hours I’ve set aside for just work.  Otherwise, I will fill in the remaining work hours whenever it works during the day.  Usually this is in the evening, around 6pm.

I’ll start the schedule at 2am, since that is when I "officially" start each day:

It’s only morning, and I feel like I’ve already had a full day.  Mostly because I don’t count sitting on the couch coding websites as much of a day.

Also because of all the stuff I did this morning.  I’ll start from the beginning.

I got up pretty early today: 6am.  I didn’t want to keep snoozing with the alarm, since that tends to make me more reluctant to leave the bed (mostly cause I keep slipping in and out of dreams, and I wake up just enough to realize how comfortable I am).  So I popped up after the first smack of the snooze bar.

That gave me time to have some breakfast (1/2 grapefruit and some O.J.) and kick back with an episode of Friends.  The temperature was overing around 6 or 7 degrees celsius, and I knew the snow had all melted off, so I figured I’d bike in.

I had forgotten that I heard the rain drops pinging off our window boxes.  I mention this because that is the ONLY way to tell if it’s raining outside from our apartment…  I miss being able to hear the raindrops on the roof…  that’s one of my all time favorite things!!  Anyways.  Missing this information, I decided to bike in.

I like biking in because I get to do a language lesson.  And if I bike alone, I do two.  I’ve been doing a Polish lesson on the way in, and Italian on the way back…  although, I’m on my last Polish lesson.  Something that makes me happy and sad at the same time.  But I’m still way behind on Rosetta Stone, so that with some free podcasts should help…  I’m thinking of finding some Polish news report and just listening to it on the way in, seeing how much I can learn.

Anyhow, I’m minding my own business and pedaling my way to the school, talking to myself in Polish about how I bought wine yesterday, when I had my very own movie moment.  Unfortunately it wasn’t the good kind.  You know in the movies when the character who has everything go wrong is waiting at the corner and WOOSH – they get drenched as the big city bus plows through a puddle?  Well, that was me.  The wave was so big, for a second I wanted a surf board! 

Needless to say, I was soaked.  Head to toe.  Luckily it mostly got the front of me, and I had some dry clothes in my backpack – but I was wearing my workout clothes.  But I didn’t break stride.  Said some unpleasant things, sure, but kept going.  I pretty much had to.  I was half way to the school, soaking wet in the cold.  But for some reason, it really didn’t bother me.

Maybe it was all of the reading I’ve been doing – stuff about WWII and the holocaust.  Or maybe it was because of some of the philosophy I’ve read and tried to apply to my life.  It also could be my martial arts training kicking in.  But what I think it really was, was that I just watched Rocky IV the other day. 

It’s not so much the movie itself as it is the music and the training montages that I always liked.  The movie is good, too.  Almost Cold War propaganda, but just enough in the neutral territory to avoid losing respect. 

Anyway, a little background.  When I was younger I listened to that soundtrack over and over and over again.  I listened to it while I worked out, while I did homework, even when I was playing.  It was my inspiration, and drove me to always work harder.  Songs like "No Easy Way Out" were especially motivating.  Luckily, they’re also on my ipod. 

So once I got to school, and draped my wet clothing over the heaters, I had some time to kill.  I was already in my workout clothes, and they were just going to get sweaty anyways.  So I figured why not?  I’m already wet.  Besides… There’s no easy way out; no shortcut home. Oh yeah – another good line from "Eye of the Tiger" is "Though his body says stop, his spirit cries: NEVER". 

So yeah, I had a pretty good workout.  And not only were my wet clothes dry, but they were also TOASTY!  Almost makes it worth getting splashed (almost).

Anyways, the ride home was slightly less wet.  By that point it had started raining.  But compared to the pond I got hit by earlier, it was nothing.

I got back to our place, one Italian lesson smarter, and headed for the garage.  I haven’t stored my bike there yet (been keeping it on our back patio), and thought, since it was soaking wet and covered with mud, that it might be a good time to start.  I tried the button, but it didn’t work.  I was afraid it might have gotten too wet from my morning swim.  Then I realized I was at the wrong door.  So I found our space with our landlord’s Volkswagen van and started chaining my tire to the bike frame (best I can do).

While I was doing this, one of the older security guards came over and said something about my bicycle and the garage…  Those being the ONLY two words I cought.  I told him I only understood a little, and he kept going.  I apologized again, not understanding, and finished chaining my bike up.  He mimed the lock and I smiled with understanding.  Of course I responded with "Si", having just done about 30 minutes of Italian…  I corrected myself with a headshake and a "Tak".  He pointed further in the garage and said something else about the garage and over there.  I felt really bad because I knew he was trying to help.  I also got that he was saying my locking of the tire to the bike was pretty pointless (which is true).  After he gave up and I went to leave, I realized I didn’t know where the door was!  So I tried one – locked…  Another had a sign on it saying it was the exit, and I thought that was it, but I also saw that it was an emergency exit, so like a fool, I walked right past it.  The guard was still there, so he pointed it out using a word I didn’t know…  For all I’ve learned, I know the word for "There" "Here" "That one" "Door" and about a billion other ways he could have pointed it out…  but he picks the one I don’t know (of course).  Which makes me want to learn the language so much faster, but there’s only so much I can do. 

So, sheepishly, I went up, took a warm shower, threw in a load of wash, poured myself a bowl of cereal, then shared this experience with you.  Now I’ve got to put in my 8 hours of sitting (breaking it up – now that I’ve learned my lesson about that).  There’s a play at the school I’m trying to figure out if I should go to or not.  If I work 8 hours straight, I’m done at 6pm.  It gets dark in the apartment at 2:30 (due to the building layout), though sunset is around 3:30/4.  The play is at 5, so I have to leave here at 4 if I want to catch it, and make up the hours afterwords (aka – 8pm on a Friday).  So I’m leaning towards no play, unfortunately.  But we’ll see. 

Things have a way of turning out contrary to your plans.

Today was my first experience tutoring a student.  It’s funny, thinking back to being that age when the word "tutor" was funny (cause it sounded like "tooter").

Anyways, it went really well.  I was nervous at first, because I couldn’t find the kid, but his mom called me and I found him before it was too late.

Once I found him we dove right in to his review sheet.  Despite spending the past few days reviewing the material and shaking the dust off, I was a bit shaky to start with.  But once we started working through everything, it all clicked back into place and I was a math-machine again.  It worked out well, because I made him have to work for the answers, while I guided him on it.  By the end, he seemed to have a good grasp on the current material and I’m pretty sure at least one of the things we covered really clicked for him.  Having him admit that it was easier than he thought made me feel pretty good about it.

He has a quiz tomorrow, so hopefully he does well.  It’s tough not knowing exactly what he’s learned, and sometimes I felt I was talking about stuff he hadn’t learned yet as if it was something he knew.

By the end, I was pretty sure he had the material, and encouraged him to do a few more problems and equated the work to practicing for music or sports.  I also encouraged him to pay more attention in class, after he readily admitted that he should.

But I guess I won’t really know how effective this was until he gets his quiz back to begin with, and then how he continues to perform.  I’ll be meeting with him 2 nights per week, so hopefully I can help him understand it all and get his grade up.

It was nice for me to blow some of the dust off of my education and relive some of the math that I (don’t laugh) enjoyed.  Though it crunched my schedule a bit…

What do these two have to do with each other?

Absolutely nothing.  Except that I am doing both for the first time in Poland today.

I had one student come for the first Tae Kwon Do lesson this morning.  His dad was sick, but plans on coming next week.  It was pretty fun.  I don’t have much experience teaching younger kids, so this is both a challenge and learning experience for me.

All in all, I think it went pretty well.  He was shy at first, but opened right up and was showing me moves he knew by the end of the class.  

I have a feeling that it will be a bit tougher to keep order once there are a few more kids and they get more comfortable.  Its a pretty informal class, but we only have about 30-45 minutes each morning, so I have to make sure we don’t get too far off track.

As for the Dolmathes…  I’ve seen some in the grocery stores here, and last weekend decided to buy some.   I’m TOTALLY eating them for lunch today.  And guess what time it is RIGHT NOW!?  But I have to make sure I keep some for Jess to try, too, so I can’t eat them all.

 
Pow.

I need to make sure I take note of how today went, so I can repeat it in the future. 

Basically, I biked back as usual – doing my Polish lesson.  Then I got back, got cleaned up and started work.  I put in about an hour, doing a few small things, then stopped and cleaned up some stuff in the kitchen.

Then I did a little bit more work, then stopped for lunch, watched a show, and did some more housework.

After that, I went back to work and put in about another 4 hours.  Once I had finished with the section I was working on, I took out the trash, and walked across the street to the local delikatesy and grabbed a few things.  The whole way I had my ipod, and I did an Italian lesson.

So, I’ve got just over 6 of my 8 hours in, and Jess has some work to do when she gets back, so it should be pretty simple for me to get in another couple hours.  Just breaking up the hours a little made me feel so much more like a human being, plus helped to not hurt my neck and back as much either.

I also got to do a little photo editing today, which felt nice.  I haven’t been able to do much graphic design work in a while.

Anyways, just thought I’d share that.  Now I’m off to get some dinner.

Things picked up a bit more last night once Jess got back from her craft night.

She cooked the dinner (Peanut Chicken.  Yum) and cleaned up the dishes while I unloaded the washer.  My plan had been to finish the chores, then take a stroll around the block.  But dinner and a movie sounded good, too.

Anyways, we watched the first hour-long double episode pilot of a show based on a series of books Jess and I had both read.  The show was originally supposed to be named after the first book (Wizard’s First Rule), but we found out it was named The Legend of the Seeker instead. 

This name change was a bit more obvious after we watched the show.  Neither of us were thrilled with the casting, and the plot was very different from the book.  But somehow, after it was over, I found that I enjoyed it and I was anxious for the next episode.

I needed to detach myself from the plot of the books before I could enjoy it.  There were a lot of changes that felt like they were just dumbing the story down, and weren’t really necessary to make it work as a show.

But, either way, it was pretty decent, and I had a pretty decent rest of the night.