Australian Open 2008 - Day 12

Working the day shift is never a bad thing.  It means the day is over earlier and I get a chance to have dinner out instead of at the venue.  Of course, the night-day switch is not an easy one, though the day-night sure is. :)

I set the alarm an hour early so that I could go have a run.  I am getting fairly used to that jog now, which is a good thing in my book.  I definitely have been putting more road miles into my workout than I had to this point.  Not that I am training for a specific race or distance, but I have learned that jogging on the road is far different from even jogging on a treadmill.  I suspect my form is still horrible.  And, of course, that means that bad running form will put extra strain on knees, ankles, etc.

Walked in to work starving for some reason.  There are days when the bowl of cereal just doesn't cut it and this was one of them.  That usually means junk food eating in the venue, which means I am working against myself for the workout I get up early to do. :-(  Oh well, I cannot deny that I really do like the flavored crisps (chips in Commonwealth countries are fries while Potato Chips are crisps) here and I won't be eating many once I get home.

I tried to leave early so I could perform my one Sherpa duty.  Ann, a friend and coworker, asked me if I'd pick up some candy for her from Suga, a local candy maker with a very unique twist on candy making.  Some of the candy has designs or words written into the candy.  All of their shops even have a live demonstration area so you can see how it gets made.  Unfortunately, they must close at 5PM (a lot of shops in the CBD close fairly early) so I was unable to make the purchase.  Guess I'll try again tomorrow.

I was really craving something spicy for dinner tonight.  Ryan, one of the guys from Atlanta, is very agreeable when it comes to eating.  Like me, he can find something to eat at just about any restaurant.  So, the one Thai place I do know here is town is Sawasdee.  I can always count on Thai to be adequately spicy and though he'd already eaten there this trip, he was willing to go back since I hadn't and he had no strong preference.  Spicy I wanted, and spicy I got.  I ordered a Jungle Curry Beef and a Bintang beer.  I normally would get Singha beer, but they were out, so we chose the Indonesian pilsner instead.  The menu lists it as three chilies, their hottest rating and it should not be taken lightly.  Sweat broke out on my forehead and I am sure I'll be paying for it well after the meal.  I really didn't care, it was tasty.

Back to the hotel and stayed in Ryan's room for one more beer, this time a Coopers.  I was tired, so I said my goodbyes and went down to my room.  It was just after 9, so it made it far too early to call Colleen.  I decided I'd watch some tennis on the TV instead.  I woke up a bit startled.  I hadn't even meant to do so, but apparently had fallen dead asleep on the couch in the room for at least an hour.  It still was a bit too early to call home, so I did my nightly routine and then curled up on the couch waiting for 11PM AEDT (that's 7 AM Eastern standard time) so that I could call her.  It was good to hear her voice.  She sounds stressed by me being gone and I am really feeling guilty about it.  We both know there's nothing I could do about it, but it doesn't make it any easier.

Drifted off to sleep planning to hire a bike and go for a ride tomorrow.  Hopefully, I'll be able to make that happen instead of the typical jog.

Cheers!