Nothing Much

I’m not at all sure that too much very interesting happened in the last few days. I revised pricing for the hub, and continued to try and right that ship. One of these weeks I hope to get back to my real job but in the meantime it’s quite fulfilling to see sh*t that was bothering me for months because it wasn’t being done either properly or at all finally get done.

I (well, actually Yaseera) found a graphic design intern so I’m now finally going to get my logos and layout work that I need to have done.

Heart Capital did get a big coup; I got a call Thursday night to let me know that one of our clients is giving a substantial chunk of change for us to a) hire a fundraiser for their project and b) for us to provide consulting on their project once it has been funded.

The heat wave went, came back, and is now gone again. The heat wave managed to cause my rear registration plate (license plate) to detach. If you recall, they are attached with double-sided tape. So I drove without a rear plate for nearly a week until I got around to going to the auto parts store, which was mainly only because I needed engine oil. What I love about South Africa is that I had police cars drive behind me several times, and even through a road block, with no one batting an eye. Next up, fix the fact that only one headlight is working!

Thursday was a rest day. I had dinner with Charlotte in Kalk Bay, which was lovely, especially because it was cool and cloudy down that side. I swear, I have never in my life been as happy to see grey skies as I was Friday morning.

The plants do seem to like the heat. I have about a million tomato seedlings (but none of the peppers sprouted, sadly), and a lot of flowers are blooming around town. When I was a kid, my mother will recall that I loved hibiscus flowers. I used to insist that we buy them from the local nursery, only to have them die eventually (probably because hibiscuses are not well suited to growing indoors in Vermont). But here there are all sorts of hibiscus trees and bushes, mostly in red or pink with red centres.

Also the frangipanis are doing really well this year. I don’t remember them being so very full of blooms last year. It’s interesting what you note from year to year, especially living in a new part of the world. I saw North American daylilies the other day and it kind of made my day. I really want to smuggle in some peonies once I have a place to grow them.

Friday a fun gymnastics workout then an interval-training style strength conditioning workout with nose-to-wall handstand pushups, strict pullups (band-assisted in my case because we had to do 3 sets of 10 unbroken), and 15 burpees onto a weight-plate (competition-style). These are way more hectic than normal burpees!

Friday night stopped in at the Waterfront for a friend’s birthday. Got roundly made fun of for neither eating nor drinking (hey a diet’s a diet, and a paleo challenge is a paleo challenge). Good news I suppose is that I’ve been dropping weight FAST and it’s not muscle so far as I can tell. I didn’t actually weigh myself on New Years Day but from my weigh-in for the Christmas workout I am now down about 5kgs (11 pounds). And THAT, my friends, is what three weeks without sugar will do for you.

Saturday dropped Mona at the airport, did my shopping at the Biscuit Mill (the only hard part was choosing just what kind of meat to start eating, now that my three weeks of fish and eggs is over!), and went to CCF open gym. Was excited to practice muscle-ups for the first time in about three months due to my side injury. Got over the rings on my first attempt, but it wasn’t pretty. Had two failures then ripped my wrist in the false grip. Note to self: taping for muscle-ups is not like taping for general wrist protection. So I finished off the day with some snatches, where apparently I need to learn to be more patient. Imagine that.

Acupuncture (started off hectic then I relaxed, so it wound up being quite chilled), more shopping, a big lunch, then up to Big Bay for some beach time. That was cool if a bit windy (makes sense I guess, as that’s where all the surfers and kite surfers go).

I really am feeling like quite a hermit still; there were a couple of great parties and performances Saturday night but I just wasn’t in the mood. You almost have to drag me out, although once I’m out I’m fine. I was happy enough to go out Sunday night (all depends on who asks you I suppose, and who you want to see vs who you might be happy enough to avoid).

And on another note, the Patriots are going to the Super Bowl, in a rematch with the New York Giants. This game, unlike the one last week, I firstly watched live because it was early enough local time that I could do that. There is just something different about watching a game live than on tape delay, especially when it’s a close game and you know that the rest of ‘Patriots Nation’ is watching as well. There’s a certain inter-connectedness to sports fans. Strange, isn’t it, that team association? Well, I guess not actually.

This game was not pretty. The team didn’t play well and in all honesty I thought their opponents may have deserved the win more: the shocker of the game was when the Ravens missed a field goal with seconds left that would have sent the game to overtime. A win is a win is a win, but this one doesn’t fill you with confidence.

You know who usually doesn’t win? People who are scared they are going to lose, and people who underestimate their opponents. 

• “The only way you get three times as strong as them is to have a strong head.” – Charlotte
• “She’s really just a big softie.” – Jeremy
• “If you don’t kill yourself first, underneath some massive weight.” – Jeremy (my epitaph is better than his – he was going with ‘Here lies Ellie, she was a nice person.’ I much preferred ‘Here lies Ellie, she severely overestimated her 1 rep max’)
• “No rep!” – Chris (he was having a particularly strict Friday, it was awesome)
• “Just never cheat again. I mean, why must we put that sh*t in our bodies?” “Well, you say that, but I’m not sure I could imagine never having malva pudding again.” *pause* “Yeah, malva pudding is good hey….” – Mona & Ellie
• “In the context of paleo, he asked ‘Is it ok to take dairy if I don’t eat any carbs?’” – Roland (I don’t even know where to begin!)
• “I don’t care if that’s unreasomable. I have what I want and if I don’t get it, fuck it.” – Sam
• “There’s a lot of guys here who all look the same!” – Lauren