some Koreana (and an exercise report)

I had changed my Teespring (now Spring) merchandise from "2024" to "2026," but I may have to change it back if I do end up doing the walk this year. This week, the training feels positive. Tonight, I did a slow walk that involved the three biggest staircases along the Yangjae Creek (81 steps, 70 steps, 69-ish steps), so the stairs training had a decent start. If the average distance between floors in my building is 18 steps (2 flights of 9 steps from Floors 5 to 28, with me stopping at 26 in the past because that's the last residential floor), then tonight's stair work was the equivalent of 12.2 floors. Of course, with 100-150 meters between creekside staircases, I was able to take "breaks," if you will, walking along flat ground for a spell (i.e., not stopping) before hitting the next staircase. That's why it's important for me to test myself against my building's big staircase: I need to be able to do B1 to 14 without stopping. Luckily, my heart didn't seize up while I was doing the stairs, so I'm sorry to disappoint anyone who was rooting for my death. No angina, no nothing except some huffing and puffing.

Anyway, I'd ordered myself the original version of the walk tee a while back. Here it is:

Note the dates say "2024."

And here, the grid also says "2024." What's currently on sale says "2026" on both sides.

The Koreana continues. Below is a pic I took while at the dentist (across from my office) on September 10. The left-hand tooth (color image, lower-right panel) is the wisdom tooth that eventually got mostly extracted (except for one root that cracked off and is still in my jaw). The molar next to it also has a side cavity, and that's what I'm going to Gangnam Severance Hospital's dental division for in the morning (I have an 11 a.m. appointment, but I'm going to be there at least an hour early to get my bearings and do some paperwork). Their dental division has a "Preservation Department" whose job is apparently to try to save whatever teeth can be saved. The dentist in my building thinks the above-pictured molar can be saved; he doesn't want to extract it for fear of the bottom tooth's growing out of control (opposite teeth apparently keep each other in check, but since 2005, I've noticed no crazy growth of my lower-left wisdom tooth despite my upper-left wisdom tooth's having been pulled).

Below is a new creek I discovered: the Wangsuk-cheon (왕숙천), which is east of and roughly parallel to the Joongnang-cheon, the creek that runs to Uijeongbu (here's one walk I did). I have no idea whether the Wangsuk-cheon comes with its own biking/walking paths, but it runs long, and researching the creek is as easy as Googling or Navering it in Korean. Ah—I did the research just now. If you read Korean, see here. Tons of pics and info. It's well traveled.

Here's a picture of a young, perfectly healthy asshole sitting in a pink subway chair dedicated to pregnant women, mothers with toddlers, and the handicapped. (The elderly have dedicated seats at extreme ends of every train car. I wonder when my turn will be.) What a stupid, selfish fucker this kid is:

Face covered to protect the guilty. And to protect myself from lawsuits.

The handwritten sign below tells you to park your bike outside:

The walk I did tonight did feature my Joro spiders, but they're not fully grown yet:

And as I approached the footbridge leading to my neighborhood, I saw the following fungus on a tree near the footbridge:

As of this past Tuesday, the Paris Baguette in my building is open again (see below). I still haven't gone in. Maybe this weekend or next week. They're having a 20% discount special on everything in the store right now. I must say, I don't like how the customer seating is now the first thing you encounter instead of the food. You now have to walk past seated diners to shop for anything. This doesn't please my inner introvert. I'm sure I'll get used to it, though, and I'll be back to ragging on Paris Baguette's godawful baguettes soon.

Tonight's walk was less about distance and more about getting back to doing stairs. It wasn't a bad start, but I did do only three staircases along the creek. I'd like to be able to do fourteen staircases (there are around thirty-five, total, on the way southwest out of Seoul to Gwacheon City). The first fourteen along the Yangjae Creek are the big ones, ranging from 80 steps tall to about 55 steps tall (they shrink as you follow the stream uphill, against its current). After the fourteenth staircase, the subsequent staircases all suddenly shrink and go from being wooden to being concrete—about 20-25 steps apiece. By the very end, Staircase 35, the interval between staircases can be measured in kilometers. In healthier times, this would have been a long walk but a good workout for a schmo like me. And I think I did around 12-13K tonight, starting straight from the office, which bodes well for doing the 14K run to the Jamshil Bridge. I'm almost back up to my normal self if I keep improving logarithmically like this. I just have to keep remembering that carbs are deadly. I also have to stay on this harsh schedule of eating and fasting: eat only on MWF; fast every remaining day (maybe some keto snacking), and cheat for a meal, but never for a day, only one or twice a month at most (preferably only once a month). Stay that course, add some strength training, and I might be good for a few more years. We'll see. Or I could croak from lurking heart failure. Anything goes.