Today's workout is back. Finally! I’ve noticed that under times of stress, the first things I abandon are the things that help me deal with stress. Then I start eating crap food, then wonder why I can't sleep at night and why I feel so crabby
and so overwhelmed. So I decided to not let the downward spiral continue anymore. So today’s workout, after a long hiatus:

50 one-arm swings with 16 kg kettlebell, for warm-up. Switched hands every 5.
Rest 3 min
4-rung ladder, 24 kg kettlebell
Rest 3 min
4-rung ladder, 24 kg kettlebell
Rest 4 min
3-rung ladder, 24 kg kettlebell
Rest 4 min
3-rung ladder, 24 kg kettlebell
Rest 3 min
100 sledgehammer swings, alternating hands every 10 swings. 2:45

I have had this plecostamus since January, 1995. He was only about 3 inches long then. Now he's about 14 inches long. I got him when I was a freshman in college, and he's been with me in three different states and eleven houses. He's been moved twelve times and has outlasted every other fish in my aquarium. I’ve wanted to get rid of him before, but never had the heart to put him in a river or some garden pond. We've seen a lot together. I've gone from being a Mormon missionary to being an atheist, went through one marriage and five years into the second, I've had too many jobs to remember, and too many fish to remember. I've lived in two different countries (US and Canada) and five different states since I've owned him. (He didn't follow me everywhere.) I've been an employee and I've been self-employed, and now I'm an employee again. This fish met my stepdaughters and watched my wife go through labor to bring my daughter into the world. He's heard a lot of Nine Inch Nails and watched me spend a lot of all-nighters in front of the computer, for both work and play. I feel weird for getting all mushy over a fish. It's not like you can pet him or that he does tricks or that I can take him for walks. Nonetheless, he's been a fixture in my life. Something that was always there. And now he's not.

Good-bye, Plecostamus. I'm sorry I never gave you a name, but it never seemed to matter to you. I hope my next 14 years are a little less eventful and a little less tumultuous than the years I shared with you. You will be missed.

I've been in Monte Carlo for the last few days covering the EPT Grand Final. I added a gallery of photos I took here in Monte Carlo at night. I'll write a different blog post explaining the process I used to make them.

Thoughts on Monte Carlo:

• Everything is very expensive, and that's exacerbated by the terrible exchange rate. No big surprise there. A 20-euro hamburger could never taste good enough to justify the cost.
• Two buttons on the toilet, one for number one and one for number two. The number one is just a quick flush. Great idea for saving water.
• Even at the Monte Carlo Bay hotel, where rooms go for 600-850 euros per night (that's approx. $1000-$1600 per night), they don't have hot water in the bathroom sinks.
• High-fructose corn syrup sucks. How do I know? There's no HFCS in European Coca-cola, and it DEFINITELY tastes different. And by different, I mean 237 times better. Americans are getting ripped off in this category.
• Most people speak English very well and are very accommodating and very patient with my non-franophone-ness.
• Motorcycles and cars run around these streets (very quickly, I might add) in equal numbers. Most of the motorcycles are two-stroke engines, which means they get great gas mileage, have a lot of horsepower, but are very loud. But when fuel is 1.55 euros per liter (around $10 per gallon) you take whatever measures necessary to use as little of it as possible.
• Buses (1 euro) are your friend.
• Baguettes here are amazing. They taste similarly to sourdough and have a great texture. Very tasty.
• The ham in Monte Carlo isn't cured using brown sugar. They use a much milder curing process and the ham is very flavorful, but not so damn sweet as ham in America
• French TV = boring. Three(!) fashion channels, at least eight news channels (that are frequently reporting on fashion shows), soap operas, American movies dubbed with French and a music channel. Boring. I had heard all of these rumors about how racy and sex-filled European television is. I've seen none of that. Makes me wonder if some kind of propaganda machine is at work behind that little myth.
• When you're crossing the street, you better be paying attention, because the margins for error are very slim.
• Evian water doesn't taste any better here.
• If I lived here, I would love the two-hour lunches.
• 64 degrees fahrenheit is warm enough for topless sunbathing for people in Monte Carlo.
• Hope you enjoy the photos! Let me know what you think of them in the comments for this post.