In the shower

i almost always shower before i go to the gym.  it's part of my ritual that gets me into the trance necessary to push through three or four hours of pain.  i love it all, and i am good at it, probably because of all of the smart ritual i created. I always start with Chaka khans ain't nobody, a bit random but puts me in a calm mind to focus on my number one job: rehab.

 i got my weight down 33kg before this trip with an increase in strength.  it's hard to imagine how that is possible especially since i got two hip replacements and had two knee surgeries during the course of that.  i just do what i am told... by the aussie sports experts who designed my smart super scientific athletic program, and my stern pragmatic dietician (it's just calories in and calories burned, the rest is just fluff).  She reprogrammed me to eat the same thing every day, so by definition, the diet is sustainable for life and stable.  It's also natural for me to eat that way on the road, so i've only gained a bit of flab, maybe two or three kilos, on this five week orgy of food and drink.

while i was in the shower i was thinking how ironic that i am this candid, honest and revealing about every stop on my trip, and that my new hosts each read what i have written about my previous hosts.  funny.  My defence is always: it's true.

i was also thinking that genuinely fabulous Pakaliker, my current host, is not whory Martha Stewart, but more like Betty Crocker. See, he cooks well, too.  It was natural for him to turn his already Westin-lobby-looking home into a b&b.  staying in his guest room was super nice last night because everything was perfect, like a hotel.  It's because it is a hotel!!  

The shampoos and conditioner and bath gel plus a bar of sops for old school guests: how thoughtful.

Just like home now 

Partner eric poses with stuffies having intercontinental zoologically unnatural orgy