prostate pain
I have been 30 for about 6 days. It’s been going good so far I think.
My apple notes between my laptop and phone have been synching slowly. Last I wrote we were heading to Changsha city the following morning. We ended up not doing that, as it was raining.
Yesterday instead I took it very easy.
We went to the gym in the morning. On the training schedule I was supposed to do a 90 minute bike ride. At around the 45min mark I noticed that my prostate or something in that area was cramping up.
That happens sometimes. I think it usually means I’m dehydrated. Although I do think I will go see my doctor about it when I get back home.
I went to the bathroom and tried to poop. That sometimes helps it. And it did a bit but it’s very painful. I kind of just sat in the toilet and let the wave of pain pass.
I was thinking about laying on the ground in the bathroom stall; I’ve done that at home before. The pain subsided before it came to that fortunately.
I took it as a sign my body needed water and rest. I stopped my ride there and went to the stretching room in the gym. I stretched for 45min-1hour; it felt good.
I went to the hotel room and rested. I had a shower and then had a nap. The nap was good. I woke up and chatted with my friend. I then went and had a sauna. After the sauna I chatted with my friend again. I then went to bed around 6:30pm.
I watched some YouTube videos for an hour and a bit and probably fell asleep around 8-8:30ish. I woke up this morning around 4:30am.
I felt rested. My mind was a little racing this morning. In an excited about the possibility of the future way rather than a worry way. If that makes sense.
When my mind gets like that it’s really fun because I can see all the potential and possibilities of things. It makes me really excited.
But if I let it go on too long the excitement turns to exhaustion as I start to dwell on the amount of work it will take to accomplish these possibilities.
I’ve started to take note when my mind starts to get this way. I tell myself something along the lines of, “that’s exciting Raiden but let’s slow down for a second. Come back into the present.”
I’ve found that helpful in not letting me go off the deep end into disappointment as much. It’s been a useful strategy.
We just passed a solar farm and a factory and a concrete batch plant. We are passing some mountains now. Or more like rocky hills covered in green fauna. It’s pretty.
The landscape is pretty here. It’s smoggy for sure. But it is very green. I like it.
I guess today it’s more foggy and cloudy than smoggy. It rained yesterday and a little bit this morning. The train station we departed from in Guangzhou was huge.
Many things are huge here. That’s been my experience so far.
I said to my friend and my mom the other day, “I keep expecting the facade to crack”. For elements of dystopia to shine through. Sure there are small things. CCTV cameras, police presence, classism. But there is also a tranquility, a oneness, a calm, a safety, a peace.
So it’s been kind of jarring. Some things confirmed but other things very much different than I expected. Than I would have thought.
It’s as if the look is dystopia but the feel is tranquil garden. I’m sure that’s different in other parts of the country.
And I am just a white guy in a tier 1 tourist city experiencing it for the first time but damn.
My experience so far reminds me of what Yeltsin said when he went to America. When he saw how stocked the shelves of the grocery stores were and how normal the people treated it. He said that if the people of the USSR knew that it was like this here they would revolt.
I have had that feeling going around Guangzhou this past week and a bit.
The safety. The scale. The low prices. The convenience of the WePay system. The families with their kids in the parks. The lack of homeless people (no shade on homeless people but they don’t make a place feel safe). The old people doing there morning exercises in the parks. The trains. The bridges. The guys smoking cigarettes inside. The Asian squats. The lack of rush. The family orientedness. The orientalness.
If you dropped a typical Canadian here with a translator (cultural and language). They would think back home is kind of fucked up. I am starting to think back home is kind of fucked up.
Coming here I was worried about going from a first world to a third world. Now I think we might be the third world.
Damn. That kind of sucks to say out loud.
Maybe I’m glazing it on a little thick but that’s how I feel. I’m sure I’m missing things. I’m sure there’s bad stuff and pollution and darkness.
But yeah the good stuff is pretty good. And I think a lot of people in Canada would benefit from it.
Signing off for now. Hopefully this piece increases my social credit score.
Stay curious.