Day 213
Wednesday, May 4, 2022:
This morning, I prepared my equipment to go. I fixed my bike brakes, refilled my tires to the correct pressure, and watched some videos on bike chain replacement. Julia came by with printer paper, which I used to print the label for the laptop screen I need to return. Tobias and Julia left for the gym while I removed the old box labels and repackaged the screen. I walked to the nearest DPD Paket station, and found that it didn't exist. I walked back to the apartment, put the box in my panniers, and set off at a quicker pace to reach other Paket shops. Thankfully, the next one I checked existed, was open, and accepted my package. I didn't have to pay for the return mail either, such was nice. I'm hoping the refund I get goes straight to my bank account rather than being credits I can only use on Amazon.de.
Getting back to the apartment, I put a ring of walnut bread into the oven and got on Tobias' computer to continue transferring GoPro files to my external hard drive. For some reason not all the files correctly transferred the other day. About forty minutes later, Tobias got back from the gym, and it was at that point that I realized that I'd managed to leave the bread in the oven for the entire time. I rushed to the oven, opened the door to a waft of smoke, and Tobias put the bread on a cutting board. It didn't look too bad, but the outside was rock solid. I ate some anyway, along with a Franzbrötchen from yesterday.
At around noon, Tobias and I had a chat about our trip departure date. My plan had been to leave Thursday morning, since at that point I'll have done my due diligence to equip Tobias, and there's really no reason to wait. Tobias told me earlier in the week that he had a date set for Thursday evening in Hamburg, and I had told him that was too late for me, and that I would leave earlier in the week than that. He knew of my plans for the last several weeks, so there's really no reason he should have booked a date that late in the week. It's either a misunderstanding, or he just doesn't respect my time. I chose to see it as a misunderstanding, because I give people the benefit of the doubt - at least the first time. Tobias proposed that I leave on Friday morning instead, to accommodate, and that he would get back from Hamburg Friday afternoon. I could go to Julia's place in Neu Darchau, and he'd catch up with me there on Friday evening. Here, I was really conflicted. On the one hand, I've made it clear to him that this is MY trip. We had an extensive conversation the evening he got back that established an understanding that I'm going to do what I want, when I want, in order to preserve the freedom and joy that this trip brings me. I've sacrificed too much to be here not to do that. But on the other hand, Julia's place does lie along my planned route, and his proposition isn't an unreasonable compromise. I wasn't happy about it, but I agreed to that plan. He assured me that he'd make tomorrow worth having stayed the extra day.
Tobias had originally planned to go into the University in the afternoon, but found we was able to do what he needed from home. Today was gear day anyway, so I wanted him at the apartment to go through the equipment.
First, I had Tobias set aside all the clothing he'd use on the trip. Wearing one set, he fit it all inside one pannier. A good start. I think he's bringing too much of the wrong clothing. Why bring more than one set of ‘civilian clothes,’ when you can just wear your cycling t-shirt and shorts? Why bring a towel when every Warmshowers host will have one we can use? Instead, use that space for warm clothing for rainy days and cold nights. I also reminded him that since his tent and sleeping bag take up pretty much all the space in the other pannier, everything else he wants to bring will have to fit in the clothing one. That includes hygiene stuff, bike repair equipment, extra water, food, or games he wants to bring. And he might want to leave some margin in case stuff gets added later. He nodded, but didn't try it out. Come on dude, that's the whole point of this day.
Next, I figured he should know how to repair his bike. “How about changing a tire?” “I know how to change a tire.” “Okay.” I'm not sure that I fully believe him. But that's on him if a tire goes flat and I'm not around to help him. “What about setting up your tent?” “We'll do that tonight with Julia.”
With his panniers on the bike, we decided to go out for a quick practice ride. The route took us south through Lüneburg, and then back down through the woods behind the university that Tiffany had shown me last week. I used the opportunity to record Tobias with my GoPro. We explored the area a lot father than Tiffany and I had gone on our walk.
On the way back, we stopped at the Kurpark for aerobie. We threw long shots across the field back and forth. I made a few strenuous efforts to grab the ring, sprinting to get them in time. Getting hot, we took a detour to the Kreiderbergsee for a swim. The water was much colder than it was yesterday, but I still decided to go for it. I swam across to the chalk mountain and back. When we got out, we played more aerobie, and I had to get back into the water three more times to retrieve it. I'm getting better at that.
After aerobie, we went back to Tobias' apartment. I had to go back for my GoPro which I left behind at the Kreiderbergsee. Later, at the apartment, we met Julia for burgers. Julia did a lot of the chopping while Tobias and I set the fire in the grill. Tobias had a bag of charcoal briquettes, a bottle of lighter fluid, and a lighter. At first, it didn't catch, so Tobias went to put more lighter fluid on. I warned him in the grimmest mood not to do that, relating the grandpa story of people blowing their hands off and receiving third degree burns when doing so. The story didn't convince him and I couldn't stop him (idiot), so I just backed off some thirty feet each time he did it. Each time, the flames grew taller, but just burned off the fluid without catching the briquettes. At last, he just left it, and the wind finished the job.
I helped Julia bring the burger stuff out. While carrying the platters, I felt a twang in my left leg on the stairs. I'd felt the same during aerobie, but I just thought it was a cramp. Maybe it was just sore.
I cooked the burgers and Tobias prepared his special burger sauce. I usually don't like ketchup on my burgers, but whatever he mixed it with made it work. These were gourmet burgers with cheese, arugula, avocado, and the sauce. After the burgers, we set up the tent in the backyard. It's more complex than mine, and we'll have to repair a few of the poles. One of the neighbors threw a tantrum that we were setting it up and also complained about clothing lines that we had nothing to do with. Germans are very direct.
Later in the evening, we played a few games, including Dog, which reminds me a lot of Mensch. It was a good day.
