Under Pressure

I am back blogging! Now that my travels are back at low-tide, I can get back on the Bierkergaard horse.

Had a lovely time in Portland, Oregon. What is not to not like? Great Coffee, Craft Beer, and Ethnic Food Trucks a block from my hotel. The parking lot of the Food Trucks has apparently been sold to a developer so the Food Trucks will have to find a new place to park. Kind of a shame. Portland is cool for many reasons and  Food Truck culture is a part of that. But, it has become too cool and so prices are escalating, condos need to be built, and money moves in. Then, the place isn't as cool as before.

Here is something not to like about Portland. It is overcast and rainy for large chunks of the year. No real surprise there but after a week, it did wear on me. Yet, I surmise, this fuels the Coffee, Beer, and Book culture. All indoorsy. Paid a visit to Powells Books a few blocks from my hotel. It is the largest bookstore in the US. Bought 5 books and spent $75 or so dollars in ten minutes of shopping.

Another aspect of Portland that ain't so enjoyable are the pushy homeless folks begging for money. Sorry. I still donate to charities that give a hand-up (not hand-outs) as well as buy products, like coffee, that empower people in the supply chain, particularly growers. But, we harm people with our charity of hand-outs.

The only other unpleasant aspect of Portland was the tight seating on the flights back and forth (being 6'8") and an unusual experience that I had on the plane flying out as the plane descended to land in Portland. My head and ears felt a lot of internal pressure. I fly a decent amount and I never recall having so much pain for so long.

It reminded me of a Star Trek episode where Captain Picard is being tortured and yells out, "I see three lights" as an act of defiance.  I couldn't hear very well for a couple of days and during the landing I was in severe pain for at least ten minutes. I was coming off of a cold so I think my internal mechanisms were off. 

I may have mentioned this before but I deal with pressure on the right side of my head to one degree or another all of the time and have been dealing with it since I have been 17. It is like a headache but duller. I think it is a combo of my CP and my chronic left knee pain which triggers the pain receptors in my head. Oddly, things have felt a bit better since that flight, after the initial excruciating pain. Maybe something got readjusted. I don't know.

One thing is true though. I know that growing up I felt a lot of harmful and toxic pressure in general, a good deal of it not of my doing. Now, at 55, my life is more peaceful than ever. So, as far as it lasts, I will enjoy the flight, even if I don't always fit in the seat.