July 22, 2024
Day D6A: Secretary Wanted
How's that for a weekend. Basically most people enjoy three day weekends around here which is a major perk. Slowly I was adjusting to the time zone change. The good news is that Armenia and Georgia are on the same time zone so no more adjustments for awhile.
I ended up crashing for over 12 hours straight after the life coach visit. The insights were most valuable. Unfortunately there are a lot of naysayers out there who would say that all I'm doing is talk, talk, talk, talk, talk and no action but believe me there is going to be action. Plus these same buffoons were also criticizing me for doing no planning or research on this trip and just winging it. To that end, all I would tell them is that what I'm doing now is field research.
The main priority today would be to apply for the Armenia visa and the process was mostly online. After that I booked two fitness classes.
It also occured to me I've barely touched a restaurant the entire time in Dubai which is crazy given how many there are and the good prices. This would have to be rectified at some point. I blamed it on the fucking transportation.
But first things first, I had a long discussion with the Airbnb host to deal with complex logistics for extending my stay. It would mean two room switches and leaving the house the entire day from 7am to 10pm on Wednesday the 24th. Basically a guest was flying in that day and using the place as a crash pad between flights from England to Australia. The host and I negotiated a way to make this work, and it was far better than booking some hotel for a night. Of course it would be cash on the table.
She was no doubt making double cash from this deal but I saw it as a win/win by saving on the costs as well as a simple truth: this was an anti-lockdown. During the covid lockdowns you would be forced to stay inside your fucking house from 7am to 10pm, or more like 24 hours. Imagine my delight when she basically said "I order you to stay outside of the house"
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That done it was off to the shopping mall for some more planning. The backlog of emails was piling up and I sure could have used a secretary to help me manage and keep on top of all the appointments.
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Once the Armenia visa application was fired off for a very reasonable fee of $8, I also booked a hotel for the first night and someone to pick me up from the airport. This would make it so much easier to navigate a brand new country.
That done, it was then time to do my first fitness class of the day at Orange Theory. This time it was the head coach again and the music was cranked up. Unexpectedly the entire class was treadmills. No pushups, no burpees, no weight lifting, just running. Ok then. For whatever reason, I felt my spirit soar while doing those insane treadmill runs and they played one of my favorite hit songs.
If all of the kings had their queens on the throne
We would pop champagne and raise a toast
To all of the queens who are fighting alone
Baby, you're not dancin' on your own
At the end of the class we all got into a circle and did squat holds while giving each other high fives. I said this was the best Orange Theory studio in the world and I wasn't kidding. They all asked me, "So how long are you in Dubai until?" I told them Thursday. They said, "Oh that's a few more days, you can do more classes, you can even do one the day of your flight."
The front desk girl from Nigeria said, "Remember Dubai. Get that into your head. Dubai. D-U-B-A-I. I hope we see each other again here and not in the sky."
The other coaches commended my treadmill efforts many times and said I was a mutant. I guess that was true. Then it was off to eat something and start packing to change rooms in the Airbnb.
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