party and walk

David and I cabbed out to Suwon to celebrate my 55th birthday with my boss and his family at his residence. Nothing untoward happened: my Korean coworker wasn't there; my boss hadn't called my relatives behind my back, nothing. Just a quiet steak-and-salad dinner (followed by a "Frankenstein" cake made up of several different cakes) with the boss and his family. His wife had obviously worked hard on meal prep and neatening the place up; she's a really good cook, and unlike me, the steak idiot, she cooked our steaks via a more classic pan-and-oven method—no sous vide. I did, however, sing the praises of the sous-vide function on my Instant Pot, so she may be lusting for one now. Maybe I'll get one for her as a Chuseok or Christmas gift. Least I can do for my boss's family given how much he's done for me.*

I'd mostly fasted for two days in preparation for eating a lot today, so I was a bit weak and faint on the cab ride over to Suwon, but by the time I'd finished dinner and dessert, I was feeling good enough to ask David whether he'd care to take a creekside walk (no stairs going up; just one ramp at the end). We walked from my apartment to the Yangjae Creek close to Daechi, the district where I work; we then went back to the confluence of the Yangjae Creek and the Tan Creek and headed home. That probably wasn't even 5K,** but it's more than I've walked up to now. This coming week, I'm going to try to get up to 9K before my buddy Mike arrives next Saturday the 7th to tag-team and take over for David. He'll be in Korea for a week, but I noticed he'll be leaving almost as Chuseok is starting. A shame.

I took two pics of David on the footbridge that leads to my neighborhood:

Why are David and Sean so much grayer than I am despite my being the eldest brother? One of those imponderable cosmic mysteries, I guess. David's got a bit of a Tulsi Gabbard thing going on with his gray.

Sorry for the lack of steak (and veggie, and cake) pics. My steak, a huge dinosaur slab of meat, was cooked perfectly, which isn't a skill normally acquired through cooking Korean food, where slices of meat are usually thin, small, and cooked through. The Missus is a talented cook with an American husband, though, so she's learned her way around Western cuisine. For veggies, the two verboten items were corn and mashed potatoes, but there were other items like mushrooms, asparagus, tomatoes, and salad, so I was just fine.

My boss was impressed that my brothers would drop everything to come all the way out to see me; he mused that, maybe only one or two of his brothers (he has several) might do the same. I told the boss about how Mom, during her cancer, had taught us the importance of presence (as opposed to an "Oh, gee, that's too bad" email or phone call) when a crisis occurs. I felt bad as I reflected that my buddy Mike is coming out to see me, too, and I didn't make the same gesture for him during his recent health crisis.

One thing I can say about the walk: the Joro spiders are out! It's late August, which seems to be about the time when I start seeing them. They'll be out from now through most of the fall before it gets too cold, and they have to retreat again. I was happy to point out two of them to David as we neared the end of our walk. They always seem to seek out the same perches as the previous year's crew, and these are surely different spiders (lifespan = about one year). Offspring, maybe? I don't know how that works.

David's currently getting ready for his return trip. He might stop by my room tonight, or he might come by tomorrow, and I'm debating whether to accompany him to the airport or see him off here: he's taking a cab in the morning, and I can jump in with him and see him off at the airport easily enough. I'm also planning to hit the States next year; it'll be interesting to see David's new-ish home in New Mexico, and I need to see Sean and Jeff in Chicago as well. I'll also skip over to see Mike and family in Virginia. Should I go exploring Wyoming, too?

I've officially removed the bandages from my stitch scars (inner thighs): there's no more bleeding and no signs of infection. Bruises all over my body are fading. And the last bit of big news: this morning, I tried rolling onto my side... and I did it with no pain! I can now roll onto both my left and my right sides, which means I no longer need my funky pillow setup to preserve my coccyx. I'll keep the pillows, of course, but I think as of tonight, I can sleep comfortably without them. This is a revolutionary step forward. I just hope I don't roll into an awkward and painful position tonight while I'm sleeping. But it'll be nice not to have to prop my fat ass up to protect my butt-bone. And to sleep in a more natural position for once.

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*I wouldn't have minded seeing my Korean coworker. He's a quiet fellow and a good colleague. If anything, I'm surprised he wasn't there.

**About 4.3K, as it turns out.