{"id":21815,"date":"2018-02-20T10:09:15","date_gmt":"2018-02-20T15:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.runkevinrun.com\/?p=21815"},"modified":"2018-02-20T10:09:15","modified_gmt":"2018-02-20T15:09:15","slug":"february-20-2018-how-we-doin-same-as-always-that-bad-huh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/?p=21815","title":{"rendered":"February 20, 2018 – How We Doin’? … (Same As Always) … That Bad, Huh?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A stray thought before I begin:<\/p>\n

Israel is a nation under constant existential threat, every day, every hour, every minute.\u00a0 And so it shouldn\u2019t surprise me that there is heightened security wherever I go.\u00a0 There are security guards outside grocery stores or mall entrances, checking bags and waving a metal detector over each person who enters.\u00a0 There are heavily armed security officers and walk-through metal detectors outside all public transport stations \u2026 and patrolling and guarding pedestrian underpasses.\u00a0 This world of anticipated violence, of begin on guard all the time against threats to the very existence of a people and its land, seems so foreign to me \u2026 and then the realization that there are other religions and peoples who feel the same existential threat not just in the Mid-East but across the globe.\u00a0 This is the world we live in, have lived in, and will sadly probably always live in.\u00a0 Violence begetting aggressive defense and offense in the name of preservation for a way of life.\u00a0 It\u2019s a tragedy of time, energy, and emotion.\u00a0 It weighs on me because I so often live in my bubble of affluence and fortune, typically blissfully ignorant of struggle and threats.\u00a0 And then I feel guilty for being frustrated with me and my life; who am I to complain when these sorts of things exist?\u00a0 And that selfishness just makes me feel worse about everything because I do indeed complain, wallow, and bemoan the world but have little or no hope of changing it.<\/p>\n

For a while now I\u2019ve been hearing the footfalls of mortality around me.\u00a0 And not in a creeping way.\u00a0 It\u2019s been sprinting toward me and I\u2019m just feeling\u2026 adrift and alone.\u00a0 A friend of mine recently said when she suggested a few things to perk up my mood that I seem to be if not delighting in than preferring to\u00a0 wallow in misery.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure I agree with that; I just feel resigned and broken.\u00a0 And as I said, who am I to complain?\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure I\u2019ve evolved or changed much since I was a boy; there were moments of maturity but more often than not I seem to have reverted to an entitled, ego-centric, bratty fool who thinks he knows more than he really does.\u00a0 Who am I to even be writing this stuff here?<\/p>\n

I hesitate to even post this sloppy bit of prose.\u00a0 It represents all too well various things I hate about my writing, but more what I hate about my attitudes, actions, and being.\u00a0 \u00a0Even more so than the usual daily updates, which of late have been wearingly poor, I try during these marathon adventuring tours to reflect upon and ponder about my life, the universe, and everything.\u00a0 But, again, even more so than the daily blog posts, these are typically self-indulgent, banal, and excruciatingly unfocused.\u00a0 If I felt like people were reading this I\u2019d be more inclined to edit\/censor.\u00a0 But seeing as how few to none read this, well, what does it even matter?<\/p>\n

This Tel-Aviv\/Tunisia Two-Fer trip cost a small fortune but I had built it as a means to hopefully shake off this melancholy funk I\u2019ve found myself in.\u00a0 Though I had been looking forward to this trip for months, now that I\u2019m here, I\u2019m dreading each day as surely as I did the dawns at home.<\/p>\n

Today has been a day highlighting my failings and shortcomings and poor planning.\u00a0 It\u2019s been a day of increasingly poor decisions and reverberating consequences for those same poor decisions.<\/p>\n

This morning I clonked my knee on the way be it the Airbnb\u2019s bedtrame.\u00a0 Then on trying to get around to\u00a0the other side of the bed where my phone was charging, I clonked my other knee on the other side of the bed frame.\u00a0 At least it\u2019s a balanced pain then right?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It turns out this AirBNB is also terribly located for anything I\u2019ve got planned here.\u00a0 The two day tour trips I\u2019ve got in the next few days have a 6:30 am pickup at single hotel in Tel Aviv… an hour\u2019s was away.\u00a0 I could GETT a taxi for $17 and a half hour ride based on estimates but given my ride last night that $17 could wind up being 50% more.<\/p>\n

I decided I\u2019d walk to the hotel this morning to figure out the route beforehand.\u00a0 It was also kinda, sorta on the way to the marathon expo being held at Rabin Square.\u00a0 Plus it was down by the beach so, ya know, what the heck.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"\u00a0<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"\u00a0<\/a>\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Aside from cutting through a bus parking lot to hypotenuse the route and save me a few minutes according to google maps, it seems relatively straightforward … and I\u2019d really rather not taxi it if I can avoid it.\u00a0 I\u2019ve got a bad feeling about taxis.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I actually have a bad feeling about this whole trip.\u00a0 I pulled out my Canon camera for a tripod assisted photo only to have it fail on me.\u00a0 There was a lens error and the retracting lens cover was jammed, rendering the camera unusable.\u00a0 This is a new development, albeit a failure that has plagued some of my previous Canon models.\u00a0 I had tested this camera before I left, grabbed an empty memory card, and everything was fine.\u00a0 I had considered bringing a spare camera, even had it in my bag at one point, but removed it due to weight and space considerations.\u00a0 I\u2019m feeling incredibly dumb.\u00a0 I texted my mom and brother about it saying I was near tears.\u00a0 Steve tried to be supportive and suggested just going and buying another camera.\u00a0 Considering how much trouble I had ordering a falafel for lunch, even with the English menu provided, I feel like I might as well be tasked with retrieving the Golden Fleece.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I should point out that another poor decision occurred here at lunch.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t figure out why there were two prices on the falafel but I assumed it was lunch\/dinner prices.\u00a0 Turns out, as I realized as I sat down with my pita at a table on the sidewalk, that since I said I would \u201cdine-in\u201d I paid a higher price than if I had taken the food away\u2026 to an empty park bench three steps from where I was sitting.\u00a0 One could argue this was a learning experience but I should have known from my previous travels that there is often times a price differential between eating in and taking away.\u00a0 I just felt stupid\u2026 and cheated out of a few shekels for being stupid.\u00a0 No wonder the guy behind the counter said, \u201cGood choice\u201d when I said dine in.\u00a0 It was all pure profit then.\u00a0 Sigh.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Tel Aviv Expo is billed as \u201cThe largest sport and active lifestyle exhibition in Israel.\u201d\u00a0 There were the usual-usual suspects in vendors \u2013 Garmin, Cliff Bar, Adidas, etc.\u00a0 Some localization of yogurt and protein bars that had the same logo and color scheme for Danon and PowerBar respectively, albeit the wording was all in Hebrew so I can\u2019t be entirely sure they were one and the same.\u00a0 But the genre of vendor was consistent to what I\u2019m used to.\u00a0 I did stop at a couple of the \u201cSelfie-Filter\u201d booths, although I think I did it wrong each time.\u00a0 I really, really hate my slouching, chunky pose in the confetti but, shrug, I\u2019ve kinda given up anyway so who cares?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019m sad to say I\u2019ve become the clich\u00e9 ugly American.\u00a0 For some reason I expected there to be a lot more English here in Israel.\u00a0 But of course it\u2019s in Hebrew \u2013 why I thought there\u2019d be a higher percentage of the English alphabet and translations I\u2019m not sure.\u00a0 Arrogance, I suppose.\u00a0 I feel bad as I don\u2019t even have the simplest of Hebrew sayings at the ready.\u00a0 Shalom I guess would cover hello but I feel even more self-conscious in attempting to say something in Yiddish or Hebrew or any other dialect in play here.<\/p>\n

To make a long story short, when I got confused as to which line I needed to be in to go for my packet, a woman approached me and spoke in Hebrew trying to tell me.\u00a0 With my dumbstruck look that defines ugly Americanism, I mumbled, \u201cEnglish?\u201d and she said, \u201cYes.\u201d\u00a0 But her English, while infinitely better than my Hebrew, was clearly a chore for her and despite knowing the words she needed to say in Hebrew, she couldn\u2019t find the translation.\u00a0 Eventually she directed me to a line and though it turned out to be the wrong one, the nice volunteer working there took pity on me and helped me out.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I was supposed to sign a waiver but it was all in Hebrew.\u00a0 She summarized, \u201cAre you healthy?\u201d\u00a0 And I said, \u201cYeah.\u201d\u00a0 She clicked through a bunch of pages of, scrolling right to left at Hebrew is written, and tapped various check boxes signifying I had read and agreed to whatever it was.\u00a0 She handed me the tablet and said I just needed to sign it.\u00a0 So I either signed a waiver or we can only hope that somewhere there\u2019s a really good contracts lawyer.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Having wandered back to my AirBNB I thought I should take the walk to the marathon start line to kinda get a feel for how long that will take on Friday morning.\u00a0 It turns out there\u2019s a shorter way via the Tel Aviv University Campus and a longer way circling around Luna Park.\u00a0 The longer way is less turns and easier to navigate I discovered by walking it toward the start.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Start Line To The Finish:<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I don’t know – it doesn’t look like 26.2 miles OR 42.195K to me.<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m settling in for the night, trying to find a restaurant nearby with an English menu option and finding it very, very difficult.\u00a0 A few stray thoughts from the day\u2026 thoughts I couldn\u2019t figure out how to shoehorn in above\u2026 which is baffling as the above is a Cobb-ian<\/a> style mess of a leftover word salad.<\/p>\n