A Series of Unfortunate Events

It has been a very long time since I ran on the road. I encountered a series of unfortunate events about eight months ago that crippled me and kept me from one of my life's passions:  Running.  It all began after coming back from home leave last year when I experienced some very excruciating plantar fasciitis in my left foot. I suspect a new pair of shoes may have brought it on, but in reality it could have been anything.  As the plantar fasciitis gradually got better over the next couple of months, tendinitus in my left ankle set in.  My left ankle was swollen for a week before Diep made me go to the doctor - who I paid a little over a hundred U.S. to tell me what I already knew:  Rest and Ibuprofen.  As the ankle got better, I took a bus ride into town around the Lunar New Year and planted my left foot right in the way of the pneumatic door that opened very quickly and separated my big toenail from the bed of my toe. That toe issue, along wtih an already tender foot and ankle kept me from any running.

So for these long months I haven't been running. It wasn't until about two weeks ago I got back on the treadmill in Hanoi and worked up a little mileage on it.  I got up to five miles at an easy pace, and I finally got down to Danang yesterday and got a run in on the real road this morning. I ran four miles without much problem, and only a little soreness in my knee.  Hopefully, I will be able to keep it up and get some road time in Hanoi when I return.  So far I haven't had any feet problems, and that makes me hopeful I can get back in the habit.

In October last year I got up to 205 pounds because I wasn't running and I had been going on investigations that kept me from doing any exercise. Once I finished my series of investigations, I was able to drop weight with a regular exercise routine that included stationary bike and elyptical trainer in conjunction with weight training.  In the past six months I lost 15 pounds and hopefully, now that I am running again, I can keep dropping weight.  Only time will tell, but I am prone to rapid weight gains if I go just a couple of days without paying attention to what I eat... or rather, paying too much attention to food. 

I have been feeling better now that I have reached a weight that allows me to exercise longer and more vigorously, and hopefully I can keep it up.  I suppose that will depend more on my work schedule than anything else. Every time I take a significant break or go on a long temporary duty assignment I gain back everything I lost.  All I can do is make sure I don't give up.  Keep going no matter what.

The Detachment House is Haunted

The Det House is haunted. That’s the word I got from Matt Wilkes this morning when I stepped into the office.  Interesting! I know the building at 48B Tran Phu is pretty old, probably built in the 1920s or there about, and that our section of Hanoi goes back to the French colonial period. I also know Matt isn't a guy prone to drama. If it had been the other guy on duty, I may have been a little more skeptical.

Matt started the conversation talking about the weird animals we have over in that building. I naturally thought he was talking about the rats over there, something he has talked about on several occasions already.  Rats are ubiquitous in Hanoi, and the subject was a little stale, to be honest. When he mentioned the screeching in the night, I knew he was talking about the owls that reside in certain corners of the city. He didn’t know the noise was coming from owls, but after considering for a moment, he saw the probability in the source of the spooky noise.  He then started talking about the other noises:  The loud lady, the slamming doors, and the whisper in his ear at night.  I immediately dismissed the lady,and initially the slamming door because of the guards on their security rounds.  But the Vietnamese woman whispering in his ear at his bedside in the middle of the night, the one he tried to chalk up as a dream, and the doors slamming in adjacent rooms when he is the only one boarding in the building did pique my interest.  Matt said he has heard some people talk about it, and others who won’t talk about it because they don’t want us at the office thinking they are nuts.

Is the house haunted? Maybe. There is no doubt that the history and events in this area could conjure ghosts, if they exist. I will keep my ears open, maybe some good stories will come from it.