Michael: Small Victories

Moments of silence
Drift the maelstrom of noise
Giving us false hopes.


Friday, July 3, 2015

Since Tuesday wasn’t a great day, to get back on the right track I decided to try and fix a few small annoyances Wednesday morning. 

Small success number one was fixing the bathroom door. When we first moved here it wouldn’t shut. That was in January and I fixed it, but a month ago it wouldn’t close completely again.  I presume with the rainy season in full swing now, the door  must’ve swelled. Temporarily, I’ve removed the plate on the door frame and again we’ve obtained a bit of privacy. I’ll just leave it off until we move.

Small victory number two was finding a solution to my gangsta shorts problem. I like to run in long hiking shorts or knickers here to protect myself from bugs and scrapes, but the size 30s I ordered from the states (from two different companies) are really 32s and are two loose around the waist. They keep sliding down exposing my underwear and settling in just above my crack making me feel very uncomfortable. I’ve worn smalls or 30s for a very long time now and the companies I ordered from are well known brands, so I don’t know if it’s a fluke or a trend, but either way it’s annoying.

I have a light-weight belt but it doesn’t stay tightened. If I use it, I only double my problems; not only am I pulling up my shorts repeatedly but I’m also frequently re-tightening my belt. So instead of becoming the Rodney Dangerfield of trail running, I just ditch the belt and have been letting the pants ride where they’d like.

But aha!, one of those light bulb moments. If I fix the belt in place by pinning it, I could have both a functional belt and shorts that suit someone from my generation.

The momentum from these small solutions must have had a carry over effect. Checking my e-mail at the internet café (not having the net at home being one of Tuesday’s frustrations), I had received a notice from my bank that my card had been frozen. I called them and it turns out they put the freeze on because I didn’t give them a travel notification. Having a U.S mailing address but using the card overseas for an extended period of time triggers an alert. Now I know.

Our bathroom door works, my shorts stayed in place on my run, my debit card works again, and even the net’s been up for half a day now and I was able to watch the Daily Show last night. Once again Panama is a magical place.