We Are Nearing La Fin. La Meta. Das Ende.

Sometimes when I am reading, my book becomes due at the library and I cannot finish it and I have to put it back on hold again, usually for several weeks. Other times I just lose interest, or start to read something else that I know others liked, but I am just not ready to call it a DNF. 

Therefore, my "currently reading" section on Goodreads has a few stragglers. Usually I just leave them there, and in December, I basically poop or get off the pot, if you know what I mean. Here are a few books that are in my currently reading (half read) queue. If you have read any of them, please let me know if you think I should cut them loose or try my hardest to get them read by the end of the year. 

In Memoriam (Alice Winn): Lisa liked this, so I wanted to like it, but after a few pages, I kind of drifted off, mentally. However, it also got a 4.52 on Goodreads. 

Murder in the Family (Cara Hunter): I started this audiobook and there were so many characters that I soon lost track. 

Lessons of a Lakota (Billy Mills): This was a PDF that someone gave to me and the print is weird, so I cannot zoom the letters and have to read it as pretty tiny print. I like learning about Native history, but had a hard time getting into it. 

Leviathan Wakes (James Corey): This is number one of the Expanse series and all my friends have loved it and it got 4.31 on Goodreads. This was also a PDF but I did end up putting the audiobook on hold in hopes that it would be a better fit. 

The Hunter (Tana French): I really like this author and have enjoyed a few of her other books, and this one got 4.1 on Goodreads. I want to like it, but the first few chapters are not drawing me in. 

All The Colors in The Dark (Chris Whitaker): I recently read and enjoyed his other book We Begin and the End, but my loan expired on this before I got more than a few pages in. Also it got 4.35 on GR. 

The Long Walk (Brian Castner): This book is about a man who had to deal with unexploded ordinances in the war and how it affected him mentally. I want to like it but it is not drawing me in! It has a 3.95 on Goodreads. 

By Any Other Name (Jodi Picoult): I was really enjoying this book when I got to Elisabeth's house and due to not really spending time listening to audiobooks, my loan expired. I put it back on hold but it was another couple month wait. Waahhh. 

Wanted: Toddler's Personal Assistant (Stephanie Kiser): This was slightly entertaining me when the loan expired. Same story as above, the new hold is still a couple weeks of waiting. 

The other thing that I did not say is that now that I am not on the bike as much my reading has gone from like five books a week to maybe one book a week! Regardless, whatever is left at the end of the year that I have not yet read will probably be a DNF. 

Have you read any of these books? If so, which four or five should I focus on? Are there any here that you abandoned? 

This is my last NaBloPoMo post. We will now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

Ask Me Anything (2)

I hope that everyone had a wonderful day yesterday and are not working today, but if you are, I hope it goes by quickly! Here are a few more answers to some of the questions people have asked me lately. 

Michelle asked: How do you stay safe? From idiot drivers, creepy people, wildlife? I try to ride on either dirt roads or bike paths that are away from most cars, but when I do have to ride on the highway, I have a red jacket and a blinking red light. I try to stay over as much as possible to the right and after that, I just have to pray that the drivers give me room. As far as creepy people, I just try to walk on the other side of the street, or if I am riding, I can usually ride away. I have not had any issues with creepy people in places I have camped. I obviously try to pick a spot that is either established, or if wild, is slightly hidden and not on a busy road or area. Wildlife and I are copesetic and we coexist happily. 

What will you eat? I answered that here and here. 

What do you do in bad weather? Cry. Just kidding! I just keep peddling. When I was riding the Tour Divide, we would say that in the voice of Dorrie from Finding Nemo. In case you have not seen the movie, “just keep swimming" was the necessary action to accomplish the large feat of crossing the ocean, but more abstractly, it was how they coped with the improbability of the task. This quote also helped them move forward without thinking too much about it.

Do you speak any foreign languages? I can get by with Spanish and French and can say hello, thank you, bathroom, beer, "do you speak English" and "I don't speak ____" in all of the languages of the places I have been to. I try to always learn at least that. 

How will you communicate with people in Europe if you don't speak their language? An app? If I don't speak the language and nobody speaks English (which is fairly rare in most big cities in Europe), I can use Google Translate. If you have not used it, it is great. You can download the language for use offline and then the person can either type into or speak into your phone and the app will translate it, and then you can type or talk and it will translate back. I have also found that hand guestures, body language and facial expressions will work wonders. 

Will your phone work in every country? Yes, I have Google Fi (I talked about that here), which works internationally. In some countries you have to pay per minute for phone calls, but texts are all included in the plan, and if and when I need extra data, I have an e-SIM (through Airalo) where I can load up data onto my phone for whatever country or region I am in. 

Are you worried about people being anti-American? No. There are always people who are anti something, but I am not going to let that ruin my day. Also, for the most part, I have found people to mostly be curious, not negative. I had a great conversation with two Swedish people in Thailand about why we had voted for Bush. Actually, in all of the places I have been, I have never had anyone be rude or mean to me due to my nationality. 

Also, you've said that you have stomach issues when you're not exercising hard - is that correct? I'm wondering if you'd talk more about that? Woof. This could be a whole post. The short answer is that I did have a lot of bloating, like 5 months pregnant, tight, aching belly and since I have been on the bike every day, it has been a lot better, as in only a couple of times have I noticed it. I did a ton of testing before leaving the Bay Area and bottom line is that it is probably SIBO, which can be treated with antibiotics, but also can return over and over. So, I currently try to stay away from beans, cruciferous vegetables, onions, garlic and wheat, but it is definitely not a cure all. 

M asked about my major being Kinesiology and how did I get into finance from there? I got my BS in Kinesiology and then went to travel the world and reflect, and when I came back home, I had spent all of my savings and took the first job I could get, which was as a financial analyst on a contract with the DHS. In the meantime, I also volunteered at a PT clinic, which was what I had thought I wanted to do, and I didn't like it. I ended up doing the analyst job for about eight years before deciding to travel again and when I came back home, I got a job in insurance, which I hated, and then a job in financial services, which I loved, and have been doing ever since! 

I think that is long enough! Now it's your turn! 

Is the job that you are currently working (or worked in the past) related to your major in college? Do you speak any foreign languages? Have you ever encountered rudeness or meanness in a foreign country due to your nationality? 

There is still time! If you haven't already, you can fill out this form with any questions you want answered for my next ask me anything post!!

This post is part of NaBloPoMo. You can find the rest of my posts for this challenge here. You can find the list of participants and their information here. 

An Important Question

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my U.S. friends and happy Thursday to everyone else. Hopefully no matter where you are, you will have a chance to spend some time with loved ones either today or in the following days. 

Isn't he a beauty?

One of the items on the list of 36 questions that Elisabeth and I went over was "for what in your life do you feel most grateful?" and the subsequent question was "if you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be?" I thought today would be a good day to share my answer with you. 

I told Elisabeth (and Belle) that I was very happy that my family has let me be me. They have always been there for me, and even though we did not get all of the newest coolest most expensive things growing up, I never wanted for anything, and I learned the value of money from them. But best of all, when I say that I am going to go to Nepal and climb a mountain, or quit my job and ride my bike around, they barely even blink an eye. Sure, they wanted me to go to college and to make something of myself, but they have never put limits on what that "something" was and have always been supportive of whatever it is that I choose. This is priceless and has given me the confidence to try new things and go to new places, as I always know that they will have my back. 

Snowshoeing with Mom and Dad

As far as changing anything about how I was raised, I am happy with it. When I was younger, I probably thought I worked too much, did not get to see my friends enough, and did not play enough sports, but looking back now, I know that I had a lot of good things in my life. Great job, Mom and Dad; thanks for being there for me! ♥ 

I will keep this short today so that everyone can have enough time to get the food on the table, and even if you are not cooking today, you are probably tired of reading long posts from me anyway! 

What are you grateful for? If you could change anything about how you were raised, what would it be? 

If you haven't already, you can fill out this form with any questions you want answered for my next ask me anything post!!

This post is part of NaBloPoMo. You can find the rest of my posts for this challenge here. You can find the list of participants and their information here. 

What I Learned: An Introspective Journey

Being on a bike for the last several months has taught me a few things both about other people and about myself and has often caused me to feel things that I don't often feel while going about my prior normal life. 

Great Basin, WY.
96 miles of nothing (no water, no people, no trees).

The first thing I learned is that I am small. Sometimes I would be out in the middle of nowhere with no people and sometimes no trees with the sun beating down on me and I would look around and think that I am literally all alone in this great big world. I did not feel lonely, or scared, but I did feel some kind of realization that I am only a small part of the universe. It is a strange feeling and it makes me think of how we can sometimes feel alone while being surrounded by people. In this case I felt alone while being alone, but the feeling of recognition of that was very similar emotionally. 

Just me and a potentially dangerous lightning storm.

In addtion to that, being on a bike makes me realize how vulnerable we humans are physically. It would take only a millisecond for a car to clip me while I was riding for me to be dead in a heartbeat. Again, although I was not frightened of this happening all of the time, and it was not something I would regularly dwell on, sometimes I would get this shock of recognition that you don't really get when you are "protected" in the metal casing of a vehicle. I actually did not really have too many close calls luckily, but still sometimes I would be riding along and would think about how soft and fragile my body really is, even though it is strong and it is taking me so far. 

I have mentioned this before, but being out in the world makes me realize how kind people really are. I was thinking about this the other day, as I was walking down the street, because I would look up at the people walking toward me and smile at them, and most of the time, they would smile back. This is something I would have not really done that much in San Francisco or Oakland. However, while riding, I often wave at cars, smile at people and have had many people do the same back, or do it first, which is so satisfying! We are all in this world together and I think we often forget that, as we go about our busy days. For some reason, being a weird looking overloaded person in a rain jacket on a bike makes people friendly toward (or feel sorry for) me, and I like it. 

Weird looking overloaded person on a bike.

Speaking of being a weird looking overloaded person, in real life, I HATE drawing attention to myself. Hate it. I will wear black, and avoid eye contact, and I don't even like to cut my hair in fear that someone will announce, HEY YOU GOT A HAIRCUT, in a group of people and then everyone's head will swivel toward me. However, I am now getting used to being stared at, or talked to by random people, or grinned at, and its not that bad. I will probably still not cut my hair very often, and I will probably turn red if many people are looking at me at the same time, but I have (kind of) gotten used to being an anomoly on a bike. 

Obviously I have learned a lot of other things, like how to ride a fully loaded bike on a single track trail, how to fix a flat on the side of the road in the dark, in the rain, on a hot day, amidst a storm of mosquitoes, how stopping for a coffee in a rainstorm can really perk up your day, how having partners in crime can be priceless, and many, many more. But these views into my inner self are sometimes so enlightening! 

Just keep following the yellow shirt!

I feel like many of you are in situations where you do hard things and it gives you perspective on yourself or your lives too. I know runners have many similar reflections, or people with demanding jobs, and I am always amazed by parents and how vulnerable they are and how they have to make hard decisions every day and I wonder how they do it. 

So tell me: what situations in your life have made you see things or realize things about yourself that you don't always take time to think about? 

I hope all of my American readers have a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow, and that everyone else has a great Thursday! 

If you haven't already, you can fill out this form with any questions you want answered for my next ask me anything post!!

This post is part of NaBloPoMo. You can find the rest of my posts for this challenge here. You can find the list of participants and their information here. 

The Joke Is On Me: Photocopies

You may remember my prior Joke Is On Me posts, where I recount something dumb I have done in my life. I mean, really, there are endless things, but I have only posted about a couple of them so far, like the time I forgot my ATM card when traveling abroad to a place where I needed cash. Or the time I found some super old travelers checks and the bank did not want to cash them. Well I am back to deliver yet another story of stupidity and how I got out of it in one piece. 

Let me set the backstory. It was 2005. I was working in Gainesville, Florida as a contractor to the federal government. For those of you who don't already know this, I am from California. I have a California Driver License. Okay, so now back to the story. I flew from Orlando to Ireland to meet up with a San Francisco friend and have a wonderful time exploring Ireland. As we often do, we also met up with a local friend, who lived near the Shannon airport where we were flying out of. This was the last night that we were in Ireland, and we had a blast going to bars in his little town, using the men's restroom because the line for the ladies was too long (you've all done this, right?) and visiting with him. 

Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin

At the end of the night, we responsibly took a cab home, I paid for the cab and we went to bed. The next morning, our friend took us to the airport and dropped us off and we went up to the counter to check in. At this point, I realized that I did not have my wallet. This wallet was one of those ones that is about the size of a passport and holds your passport, money and credit cards. I had ALL OF MY THINGS in this wallet, including my passport, money, license, and credit cards. Luckily, this was in the days of cell phones, but they were not smart! However, I did have my Irish friend's number and I called him and he came back and picked us back up and took us back home to search for the wallet. 

We searched everywhere, even behind and under the bed, in the sheets, in the couch cushion, even in the trash. I was frantic. In my mind I was thinking a few things. First, I am pretty religious in putting things back exactly where they belong. I am not a person who loses their keys. I am NOT a person who forgets their credit card at the bar. I am organized. Where could it be!? Second, I was already thinking of plan B. My Irish friend had to leave for work, and he did not live in a town with a consulate, and if I remember correctly, it may even have been a Sunday. I was frantically thinking about how I would get to the consulate and how I would have to rebook my flight and call work and also how at the very least, we needed to get my San Francisco friend back to the airport so she could get on the flight. 

After mulling it over, I decided to go with her and try one last ditch thing. First, she gave me some cash and one of her credit cards so I would be able to get back to the Irish friend's house, and could use the card later if needed. Second, I pulled out my plan B, which was a paper color copy document of all of my important documents. It had a copy of my passport, my driver license and all of the credit cards I had been carrying. I sent my friend off to go through security and I went up to the counter and gave the check in lady my sob story. After some hemming and hawing, she told me that she would give me my ticket, but she did not know if I would get through security or customs with no documents. 

Of course I decided to give it a shot. I went to security, got a lot of push back, but ultimately they let me through, but cautioned that I probably would not get through customs. I got to the customs desk and they also gave me pushback, and even brought in their superior, but I pleaded and finally they said that since I was leaving their country, not entering, that they would let me through and it would be up to the US whether or not they wanted to deny me entry. I was overjoyed. My armpits were sweating nervous sweat as I ran, not walked, through the airport, because, to top it all off, I could hear them announcing the doors were closing on my flight. 

I made it in the nick of time, as the doors were actually already closed, but they opened them again and let me on the flight. I sat down next to my friend and boy was she surprised!! I don't think I have ever been so thirsty in my life though, as I felt like I had run a marathon to get there. 

Cliffs of Moher (I think)

But wait, this story is not yet over! I still had to get back into the US! We got to the US and went our separate ways, and when I got to the customs desk, they said that they could not accept the paper copy. However, luckily I had my federal work ID, which I had not put in my wallet because it has a plastic protective case on it and it wouldn't fit. So I whipped that out and pleaded once again (I did a LOT of groveling over a 24 hour period), and they said yes. I had never been so happy in my life. In my mind I was wondering what would happen if they said no. Would they send me back to Ireland? And if so, would they let me in? The other thing I did while on my layover was to cancel all my credit cards. However, and I don't know how this happened, I had the foresight to keep one open so I could use it for my car rental and hotel payments. Go me! 

I arrived in Orlando and went to Avis to get my rental car. You are probably seeing where this is going. They would not accept neither the copy of my ID nor the copy of my credit card for payment. However, they said there was a smaller rental company around the corner that may take it. I went around the corner to Ma and Pa car rentals, and sure enough, they did use the copy to type in my credit card details. WHEW! I had the same issue when I checked back into my hotel for work, but luckily we had been working out of this hotel for a few months by this point and they knew me by face, so could wait until I got my new card to pay. 

So now I am in Florida with no ID, I do not live there permanently and I cannot get a new CA drivers license without being there in person. So now I am driving a rental car with no license, I cannot get a FL license without a residence, and I cannot get a CA license without going back to CA, but I don't have an ID to get on a plane with. So I thought I would go to the post office and get a new passport, because on the website it says that you can get one with a copy of your birth certificate and a government issued ID. Luckily I have my government badge for work! 

I go to the post office a week later with my items and she denies that my ID is a government issued ID, and I say to her, "lady, this is the EXACT definition of a government issued ID! I work for the government and they issued it to me" Actually I do not say that to her, I just mutter and turn red and try not to cry, but seriously, I had to go through an extensive background check, get fingerprinted and promise to give them my first born child to get this ID, and you are now telling me that it is not as good as a driver license that any monkey can get!!? And she says, "Exactly. NEXT!!" 

I am pretty much stuck at this point and I go back to my hotel to stew. A couple of weeks later, I get a call from my mother saying that she just received a package for me from Ireland. When she opens it, it is MY WALLET, fully intact, with a nice note from the cab driver telling us that he found it in the back seat. She ships it to me in Florida and all is well. Luckily I hadn't yet reported my CA driver license or passport as stolen, or that would have been another whole rigmarole. 

Okay, your turn!! What scrapes have you gotten yourself into, either while traveling or just in life, and how did you get out of them? 

If you haven't already, you can fill out this form with any questions you want answered for my next ask me anything post!!

This post is part of NaBloPoMo. You can find the rest of my posts for this challenge here. You can find the list of participants and their information here.