Well it's still miserable weather, but not miserable enough to stop us from doing our mammoth training session at midnight tonight. However, from the Odyssey website, it looks like all reference to the Megadose has been removed. We're in the process of trying to find out whether this is a temporary website thing, or a permanent event-removal thing, before we commit to doing the silly training. Clearly if the Megadose has been cancelled we'll do our best to find a substitue, but as it's the end of the season, that may well be easier said than done ... A lot of spanners have been thrown into our training this year ... that's all I can say.

I'm having a vastly frustrating time at work. I don't mind a heavy workload (which is what I've got), but when I also have to deal with ... ur ... other issues (which for reasons of political correctness I'm not going to go into here), I get really frustrated. I just don't see why I should work my arse off if .... (I see now that I shouldn't have started this, since there's no way I can say any more .... suffice it to say that I am *FRUSTRATED* in a large way!)

One good thing that's happened today though is that I read Jon's website (which while in itself is always good, is not what I'm referring to). There I found a reference (not the first, but the first time I've taken a look) to Friends United, which, it turns out, is this huge UK database of people who sign up as members of their school and years-of-leaving, and provide you with little notes and photos about what they're up to nowadays and, more importantly, a way of contacting them. Of course the eternal sceptic in me thought I'd find about 2 recognizable names in my year, but there are actually around 25, including a couple whose details I've been coveting for ages. Course it remains to be seen whether they actually get in touch or not, but it got me very excited at the time. :)

And the other event of note is that Sven and Charlotte are back in town, so to speak. In fact I think they returned straight to school, but I've had a couple of emails from Sven giving me a little insight into what it was like to suffer through 6 weeks on the Continent ... looking forward to hearing more, but here's a snippet, which in its usually modest way illustrates just how insane my brother has become: Really good to have other strong riders to ride with in a paceline for 120 miles before climbing the Ventoux. (The Ventoux - or 'Giant of Provence' - for those of you who don't watch the Tour de France as avidly as my family, is about the toughest mountain that the riders ever do, at around 1600m of climbing over 21km at 7.65%. To do this after 120 miles of riding (which is more than enough for any hard-core athlete) is beyond the realms of normal understanding and achievable only to a select few nutters in this world (namely, TDF riders, aspiring TDF riders, and nutters like Sven!). Mad I say!!!!)

Last year NY summer started on 16 April and lasted right up until the end of October. During that time it was between 70 and 90 degrees and beautiful sunshine all day (interspersed with the odd refreshing thunderstorm). This year summer started ... hmm ... in July sometime and kept blowing hot and cold for weeks. We've just had a couple of weeks of 100+ degree weather (which is too hot in case you were wondering), and now it's back to 60 degrees and pissing it down - feeling very Autumnal. Apparently this summer, as well as being more disappointing, is more 'normal'.

Am now seriously doubting my motivation to do this weekend's silly training if the weather is like it is now. Unfortunately the ground around Blue Marsh, while wonderful dusty track in the dry, turns into a quagmire in the rain and will inevitably double the time it takes to do the route (which is already too long!). Sigh.

Meanwhile I'm still plugging in the overtime at work and not yet seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Managed to recruit a very nice kid on Tuesday to help out the team, and Jen is back today from a foray in Vegas, so hopefully things will start to look up. I'm not holding my breath yet though.

Congratulations, it must be said, to Rich and his team for winning the Four Winds Supreme and, it seems, being the only 4-person team to finish the race. Good stuff (and good Megadose competition for us!!!)

A whole week has passed since I've had time to post to this, so apologies to all who expect better! I've done 27.5 hours of overtime in one week, including one nearly-all-nighter last Monday. The best thing about it is that it's going to be like this for the next six weeks. Sigh.

As you can imagine, I've not been up to much else in the meantime. Made it out on Wednesday evening for a very enjoyable dinner at an ex-colleague's house in Tribeca with probably the best risotto I've ever had ... and other than that all I've been doing is starting, at last, to train properly for the Megadose. Saturday I did a 2-hour run (half marathon length) followed by one set of our apartment stairs (50 storeys). Sunday we did a 4-hour bike ride. Today I ran to work (and will do the return trip as well if my legs allow me). This weekend we're planning something I mentioned a while ago here - going out to Blue Marsh, PA on Friday night to do two 29-mile loops around the lake that was the location for the NYARA Saddle & Paddle adventure race in April. We'll start trail-running/hiking at about midnight; complete the first loop some 8 hours later, and then get on our mountain bikes and do the same loop, which should take no longer than 5 hours. So we should be finished by Saturday lunchtime, which is good, because it's a 3-hour drive back home and I need to work!

Sven & Charlotte are back this weekend, so I'm looking forward to hearing about their escapades in Europe (including the organised ride Sven's on at the moment - to conquer all the mountain stages of the Tour de France). I anticipate about a shed load of jealousy as they tell me all about how 6 weeks in Europe camping out of the back of his landrover is good for the soul. Oh to be a teacher!

Meanwhile I really just have to work work work. For those of you who are disappointed at the severe lack of photos, don't expect any different for the next few weeks. For the first time in ages I haven't even brought my camera in today, since I was trying to keep the weight of my backpack down for running to work (came out at 9lbs). I haven't given up the photography ... but something's got to give ...

Went to see Blue Crush yesterday and it was horrendous! We only went because the XXX reviews made that sound so awful that we needed an alternative - the more fools us! It's the cheesiest, most ridiculous series of clichés I've seen in my life. The whole cinema was groaning at times ... yes - that bad!!

Going to see Signs later today, so hopefully that'll be a little better, although the reviews don't credit it as much as Sixth Sense (which I liked) or Unbreakable (which I didn't). We're spending a lot of time at the cinema recently in an attempt to escape the heat of the city but also the apartment where we're going a little stir-crazy. I know it's not very adventurous, but it's the best thing we can think of!

I made the stupid stupid mistake of going running this morning at around 8. I thought it'd still be cool enough to be bearable, and for the first 20 minutes it was, but it swiftly degerated into the feeling of running inside an oven - my pace went down, my pulse went up and when I got back home I found myself covered in little heat blisters. I think I'll be sticking to the gym until the temperature goes down a little.

Right ... unfortunately I have work to do this weekend so I'd better get down to it ...

I am compelled to say - and please believe that this is in no way false modesty - that I am astonished and flattered to find that people [still] enjoy my little site. I was born with a fantastic ability to believe myself incapable of nearly anything, so it always comes as a wonderful surprise when people think I'm doing well at something. That people take the time to stop and enjoy what I witter on about from time to time is compliment beyond all compliments to me. So thanks to those that do ... you know who you are ...

More mundanely, it's been dull as dull to be back at work these last few days. It's been one of those 'feels like it should be Friday on Monday' weeks, despite the fact that I haven't stopped for a minute, which usually means time flies. I suppose the not-stopping-ness of it should be grounds for gratitude, but in fact I'm finding work a little boring. I'm going through one of those periods of 'surely there's something more for me out there'. I don't mean 'out there' as in 'away' necessarily, but I do feel that I need to make some kind of change in order to combat this rut I'm struggling in, and I don't really think that a move to New Jersey is going to cut it, other than to give me a little more commuter reading time of a morning (yes that really is the only good thing I can think about it!) I shall have to have a bit of a think ...

I'm getting a little sick of 105 degree weather too, I have to admit. I totally love the extremes of the NY climate, but in classic English contrariness, I do wish it would be a little less extreme! Trouble in this heat is that it's almost impossible to stay outside for any length of time, and that's something I *hate*, other than the fact that it encourages more cinema-viewing (and associated popcorn-eating) which is never a bad thing! Tonight we saw Road to Perdition, which was very impressive indeed (for a non-Tom-Hanks-with-the-exception-of-Philadelphia fan), particularly in the sheer beauty of composition and detail in every single frame, and the slow slow pace which builds into this amazing atmosphere of tension. Very highly recommended.

Right. I'd better get back to bed (partly cos the air-con is on in the bedroom) - enough of this insomnia already!! Tomorrow I will put my mind to finding a little nugget of new interest to pull me out of the rut ... and I will also post what photos I have accumulated in the last fortnight.

Day 1 (Saturday, August 3)
We think the holiday starts off brilliantly when our nerve-making stand-by tickets (despite previous assurances from the travel agent) are replaced with the only available seats - in first class! For 3 hours we stretch out our legs and luxuriate in champagne, fresh fruit and French toast. This is the life.

Things take a turn for the worse when we arrive in Cabarete early afternoon to find (eventually - because it takes about 20 minutes for someone to mosey on back to the hotel office from lunch) that the hotel hasn't got a reservation for us. In pidgin-Spanish our kindly German windsurfing rep tells the hotel to stop messing around and give us a room - she'll sort out the paperwork later. We go via a very mucky and swiftly-refused room on the ground floor to a first floor room above. No air-con and very small, but it's got a terrace and it'll do. We go straight to the sea, and watch as a couple of local guys test whether we've locked our door which, fortunately, we have.

We come in from the swim, hang our stuff to dry on the terrace and go to the local supermercado to stock up the fridge, then wander down to the windsurfing centre to sign in and see what the wind's doing. We sit on the paved terrace and as Roj goes to fetch his harness I suddenly feel excruciating pain in one of my right toes. I don't know what's happened for a second (thinking someone's thrown a rock at me), but bend down and see that a large fist-sized coconut has fallen from the tree 60 feet above me and scored a direct hit. It takes me about 15 minutes, and a kind German couple with ice and pain-killers, to be able to breathe properly again. The toe is sore and swollen still, but there's no bruising to show for it!

Later, when we return from dinner, we take in the swimming gear that we hung out earlier. Roj wonders where his shorts are, and it takes us a minute to realise that they were stolen while we were at the supermarket earlier. New shorts – not expensive – but annoying. Thank goodness the harnesses are still there (ill-informed opportunists).

While getting into bed later that night, movement in my peripheral vision makes me jump. A cockroach the size of a small mouse (really!) peers out from behind my bag, about 6 inches away. I jump onto the bed and Roj does the macho thing by hammering it into the floor. Beats even the cockroach I met while dining with Mike last year …

Day One hasn’t been so good!

Day 2
After a leisurely morning we go back to the windsurfing centre to read and wait for the wind. A beach volleyball contest and beer festival means thumping music and a bay covered in people like ants (screaming constantly). Not the peaceful retreat we remembered from last year. We keep away, and so does the wind.

Day 3 – 6
We start to chill out, but not literally, because our top-floor room has a sloping roof that acts like a radiator, meaning that our un-air-conditioned room is like an oven inside. Impossible to sleep. A small dribble tries in vain to mimic a shower, but I suppose it’s all we need – at least the outdoor showers are better. The wind is a little disappointing, but the main problem is the wind shadow caused by the curve of the bay which means a ten-minute swim to get out to a place that’s windy enough to water-start. No rests with feet on the ground at the end of each trip out. This Cabarete windsurfing is exhausting.

We spend the mornings reading after croissants on the terrace. It’s starting to feel like a real holiday. The wind doesn’t pick up until after midday, so we both get through the Lord of the Rings trilogy (Roj skips book 1). Nice to have quiet time to read at last.

The evenings are lovely. We go to little restaurants along the sea front and eat nachos, pizza or tuna steak. It’s not gourmet fare, but it’s good enough to satisfy, and the ambience is lovely.

The shortcomings of the early days are being faded by Caribbean sunshine on palm trees, white sand and the hypnotic sound of waves on shore. Windsurfing, though not plentiful, is mostly enjoyable and frustrating only by giving us a taste of what we’re missing. We pine for the room-full of gear we’ve left in the UK and more frequent opportunity to improve our skills.

Day 7
The afternoon wind drops within a meagre couple of minutes, luckily while we are not too far from shore. We watch as a dramatic thunderstorm moves right on top of us, and luxuriate in the breath of cool air it brings to the terrace. Foolish windsurfers brave the storm-force winds in the bay. We sit and watch.

Day 8
The last full day. The wind doesn’t look strong enough, but we take a crack at it just the same. Roj enjoys a final blast, but at the last minute stubs his toe while jamming a foot into a footstrap and his toe-joint swells up like a balloon. Luckily the windsurfing is over for the week (as the wind suddenly drops again – just as I get out there!) so there’ll be no sulking on the beach. Just painful hobbling … abated somewhat with copious [free] Cuba Libras on the beach.

Day 9
Our flight leaves at 1.30 today so after breakfast we simply bide our time waiting for the taxi. The trip is fine. No first-class this time and the cringe-worthiness of Prelude to a Kiss, but it’s only a short flight. The holiday is nearly over, and our memories are mostly good. When we get back to our apartment we find that our baggage has been rummaged and small items are missing. Roj’s bag has clearly been put in a puddle of fish-guts somewhere in the transition, and the stench is unbearable. We soak it overnight in the bath, and hope that it won’t last. The NY sun should raze it out, even if it doesn’t dry in the 100% humidity.

I sound negative, but the holiday was eventful, not bad. I was saddened to see more of Dominican Republic’s very real impoverished side than we did last year – on the one side I feel angry that we were made to feel insecure by the crime that was so obviously rife; on the other I can’t blame people who are living in desperate poverty from taking advantage of the perceived wealth of visitors to their country. Smacks of obvious irony, though, that the people who most depend on a flourishing tourist industry are the ones destroying it.

Negative points aside, having a break from work and solid time together with Roj has been invaluable. We had a great time together and managed to laugh about the his n hers club-toes! Now I find I haven’t been in NY for longer than 1.5 weeks in the last 7, and am looking forward to being at home for a while.

There’s no rest in the foreseeable future though. The Megadose is only two months away – barely enough time to attain the fitness we’re going to need to attempt a 3-day Adventure Race. It’s got to be done though, and fortunately Thanksgiving is not far behind … where shall we go this time!? …

Well. I'm back in the Big Apple, or, more accurately, the Big Baked Apple (it being around 105 degrees these days). It's good ... I mean, I like it here ... and of course I totally love being back with Roj ... but I haven't completely forgotten about the UK ...

My work permit is being processed as we speak (fingers crossed - yet again - for speedy progression on that one) and we're still not moving to New Jersey for a few weeks, which is all the better for me ...

Meanwhile all I can think about is Cabarete - sun, sand, and windsurf. While it hasn't been that long since we were in Idaho, or even Lake Tahoe for that matter (early March), I really feel that I've been waiting for this holiday for a long time. Stress levels have been pretty high these last few weeks, so it's going to be nice to kick back and relax. Shame we can't go for longer than a week but if it means we can go away again later in the year I can put up with it! (in fact we're throwing around words like Maui and Hawaii, but not with any conviction as yet ... especially when we had a look at flight prices!).

So just two days of work to go til the holiday starts for real with dinner on Friday night. Can't wait.