Terry Fox 5/10K, soap, skulls, bruises and abduction

I am signing off to sleep for the Terry Fox 5K and 10K tomorrow. The chair was repaired this week but still grinding so Linda and I went to the bike store and with the help of a worker fixed the problem (uneven axle). The store has warned that the front tire needs to be replaced and will likely only do 5 km. It is a custom tire and if it blows, it means I have no way to brake….or steer while going downhill. I have to thank again the people at BC wheelchair sports demanding that I return the chair after rental in the same or better condition. Since when they gave it to me, pushing the wheels rubbed the metal so bad paint flew off, and I had to replace the foot plates, side plates and under sling. Three wheelchair techs have remodeled it, then the bike store has repaired the brakes, the axle and a few other things. So, no fear, I will let it bounce repeatedly off a cliff right before returning it to them.

Oh here is my badminton bruise. It has been four days so it is beginning to get better but LOOK yellow indicating dried blood, isn’t that great! I got out today to see the soap lady at the Moss Street Market. Her carving skills had been written up in the paper and so she was almost sold out. She had a new product, “Granny Smith” apples with a crisp apple scent mixed with the cocoa butter, you can see them in the photo of her products along with the clams and a half peach. I was looking for the ‘perfect’ apple to serve as both decoration and then luxury soap when I said, “Oh, this one has a bruise!” Because I had noticed the classic indentation of the bruise on the apple, and wanted to point out that maybe she shouldn’t sell a bruised apple. Then after a few seconds I realized she wasn’t selling apples but SOAP. So real it fooled me. So that’s the one I got!

I was wearing a new T-shirt which has a bouquet of roses surrounding a skull. It is very nice for your summer wear.
Ah, Hawaii. Well, I had a bad reaction with food which kept me in the bathroom for many (four) hours, and exhausted, meanwhile every hotel to Hawaii is booked. In a move which convinces me to not leave Linda and Cheryl alone together, they found a hotel in Honolulu, and it has identical rooms BUT with a major difference! One has the ‘Japanese Toilet’ which has more hand controls than the starship Enterprise. So of course guess which room they booked, “Cheryl hasn’t HAD the Japanese toilet experience!” Linda said. My memory was the fear if I pushed the wrong button jets of hot water would be shooting up places best not thought about. I didn’t realize one needed to PAY for that.

Oh, and apparently I am going, or if I am not going they are not going. Or I am being abducted. I still feel like a leech, that every cost that comes up, like the racing wheelchair repair is ‘stealing’ Hawaii money. But I keep putting on books and DVD’s to sell as well. Hope to have pictures tomorrow after the race!