Today I registered for the marathon in Athens. I will be creating a Trip Report Diary on the whole process from the start of training, the booking of flights, the buying of performance enhancing drugs, until I cross the finish line and find my way home, hopefully as a first class champion.
Who knows what will be in this diary. Perhaps I’ll include a Starbury crying bathtub scene as I lament my decision to sign up and publicize it.
Before I get into all that, I still have to do the following:
Also, I have to make sure that my payment went through. Would you use a credit card or trust the National Bank of Greece with a bank wire? All concerns should be forwarded to merkel@colonizegreece.de
a-live posts via trusted Blackberry are meant for when I’m on the go not when I live in third world places where it takes a week to install what better be dependable wi-fi. I probably could’ve gone to a coffee shop to steal some bandwidth but this town is where points enthusiasts go to die as virtually every mom and pop shop doesn’t take credit cards. In the last few weeks I’ve written more checks than I have in my entire life. Somehow out-of-state checks for $1.50 are more convenient than the 3 percent Amex charge for using a card.
So tomorrow the wi-fi man is coming and TPOL will be back online full-time. Thanks for bearing with us as we experienced this longer than normal hold time. We appreciate your patience. A kind post will be written tomorrow.
Down under you have kangaroos. In the Mountain West, you have deer. And not just in the wild grazing. The deer are everywhere strutting their stuff like the land is theirs and humans are infringing on their domain, much like my post title does on a certain lawn care company.
Similar to the kangaroo who may look cute, deer pose a serious hazard to those that get in their way or vice versa. Take your eyes off the road for a minute in a mountain pass and you may find yourself Thelma and Louised off of a bluff.
It’s not just in the mountainous areas these prancing fools come out to play. As the picture below shows, this deer decided that the streets of downtown was more his style. Nothing runs like a deer or in this case walks like on.
Years ago I was I was shamefully escorted off of the premises at General Motors and went on an epic Euro trip adventure that took me to Ibiza. (The details are in my book.)
Years later my friend still works in Ibiza and runs a successful party boat company called Oceanbeat Ibiza.
Today he posts pictures of wild parties, all night ragers, and the beautiful Ibiza coastline.
On the other hand, my friend to whom I wrote the book is still emailing me about job openings that will land him in the arms of another ungrateful cubicle.
Stuck in the entrepreneurial torture chamber of a holding pattern, I have to ask the rhetorical question, who has it better, the office man or the beach bum (who probably makes more than the office man)?
This post gets filed in the a-live section which is usually reserved for blogging while I’m on the road.
I moved today from the woods to the forest and my Wi-Fi won’t be activated until Monday. Why does it take so long to activate Wi-Fi? Who are these magical technicians that are so busy but do five minutes of work when they finally do arrive? Why is there a disconnect fee, an activation fee, and an installation fee for air? Why am I paying so much for Wi-Fi? Why is there a annual contract? Why are there so many providers? Why won’t my stupid old box work with new provider?
All this reminds me of a scene from Lethal Weapon 4. “They fuck you, they fuck you with the cellphones!”
The only question I can answer is what am I supposed to do until Wi-Fi arrives. The answer is golf.
In my Shakespearean voice, I posit the question, should I run a Marathon in Greece this 8th day of November in the year of our Lord, 2015?
My first marathon was in 2012 on a dare from a friend who said I couldn’t do it. I did that one in Anchorage. For him, I eventually wrote this book. Now, I’ve been inspired to run again based on a number of factors including what should be, given today’s news, an inexpensive trip to Athens.
I’m pretty sure that I will sign up but was looking for some feedback, commentary, or crassness from readers to put me over the edge. From there the fun begins as I try to figure out the routing to Athens, where to stay, and how I can get to Morocco after.
3. Airline Collusion Debate: Lee Abbamonte: My business school friend who neglects to link TPOL gets into it about whether or not airlines are colluding. Both talking heads make valid points but so long as they don’t collude on points I can’t be too bothered.
It’s 4th of July, my favorite holiday next to Halloween. Last year I entered into a hot dog eating contest. This year I tried a burger contest believing my love of hamburgers would carry me to victory.
Let’s set the scene: The contest was if I could eat a 2 pound burger, 1 pound of fries, and a 32 OZ milkshake in 20 minutes. From the outset, I recognized that a 32 OZ milkshake could be a problem because who could finish one of those with unlimited time? I also was wary about the fries because they killed me in the hot dog contest. The size of the burger was of no concern because I love burgers (see 4 Big Macs while in Prague).
Here’s how it went in pictures:
The Venue: Parkers Burgers in Drummond, MontanaOver 100 burgers to choose fromThe classic pageThe challengeA lot of Coke memorabiliaThe decorationsPreparing with a High LifeThe burger arrivesThe bread is goneOnto the meetAdd some ranchWork on the beefFinish the burgerOnto the friesKilling the milkshake
So did I win?
According to the owner, Parker, I did not because I didn’t finish the tomatoes, a single pickle, and the lettuce. I hate tomatoes and couldn’t believe that I could lose like this especially after consuming 5000 calories. Disgraced, I was forced to pay $30 for what should have been a free meal.
The lesson I learned is to attack these contests with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind. This means eating fries by the handful and chugging the milkshake like a madman. That way when the extra pieces of lettuce are all over my shirt, on the table, and the floor, I will be declared victor, not loser.
Anyone agree that I should’ve won? I invite you to look at the first pic and the last.
A certain billionaire who can’t keep a secret loves to disseminate any and all information crassly and carelessly with no regard for those who do the research by finding ‘sweet spots, two browser tricks, and travel hacks.
TPOL is entering unchartered waters with the debut of the Golf Reviews’ first post. It starts with the Fairmont Golf Course which is part of the terrible Fairmont Hot Springs Resort located in Anaconda, Montana.
The Breakdown
Cost: $77 for 2, 9 Holes
Cart: Decent initial acceleration, slows down quite quickly.
Ball Loss: Rampant
Score: Half Smiley Face (TPOL isn’t ready for official scoring quite yet.)
Favorite Hole: Hole #3, Par 3
You need a Land Rover or the right club to get it up the hill onto the green. Otherwise I recommend bringing Sisyphus to caddy.
Worst Hole: Was a rough going all around.
What makes it unique: The Mile High Hole.
Stop and ReadAnd somehow I ended up in the construction zone.Lies!
TPOL Grade: 2.5/5 Tees
This course was like skateboarding in San Francisco. The ball was either going downhill or trying to stay uphill.
