Rest, celular, new seat, riding 10 miles

I'll start from where we last left off on the 4rth. We woke up early to make the matinee (5.25, cheapest in town) at Tinseltown for Mel Gibson's Apocalipto. An incredible film that i feel accurately captures the time and environment. It plays out like the historical fiction Azteca, the scenery and backdrop are the biggest characters. The rest of that day was dedicated to writing essays (3) for my Thunderbird application. It took me the whole day to do this. 1 on my cross-cultural experiences, another on my work experience, and a third about an international social topic that interests me. It was draining. I finished the night with 2 movies, the Wilco documentary of their Yankee Foxtrot album (a must for Jeff Tweedy or Wilco fans) and a documentary called "An American Movie". Its a film of a guy whose life dream is to make movies, the doc takes place over 2 years as he finishes his 35 minute short film. The best part of the flick is his life in Wisconsin, a first hand look at the lower white middle class cheeseheads of the region, it's hilarious and accurate, this is national archive material.
Next Day.
I wake to the FedEx dood delivering my cell phone. It took me about 3 hours for the whole activation process, I had a migraine at the end of it, but the cell phone is activated with 15 bones of credit. A miracle happened as well, my eBay bike seat came in yesterday to Alice, and UPS had it here by lunch today. I took the bike out around 4, to test out the seat and the GPS device. I did the same rout as Tuesday but this time I crossed 183 until I hit 10 miles. Then I came right back. First the seat, it saved my ass, literally I rode twice as long as Tuesday and had less pain in the taint region. The middle of the seat is concave and the taint spot is gel padded, the former Bontrager seat is convex, the design superiority is obvious. The GPS tracked my whole ride, when I stopped I told it to lead me back and it gave me bearings and mileage for the rest of the trip. I've needed this GPS thing my whole life, now if it could only locate my wallet and keys my life would be perfect.
An insight on the road. People dump a lot of trash on the Farm Roads. I'm pondering a project to build a car just using spare parts from the side of the road.Insight on bike riding. Changing gears, depending on the incline of the road, will earn you miles. Try to take momentum into a hill and not just cruise into it. Look up more often, enjoy the scenery, and don't be afraid to stop and enjoy it.
Finished this night with a movie as well, called "Proposition". A modern Western in the Australian outback. Another beautiful movie that captivates you with the landscape and sunset shots, it makes you feel more at ease during the scenes of physical torture, is Guy Pierce awesome in all movies?
A unique encounter. As I was returning from my bike ride, I saw an elderly man walking in the parking lot. He had one of those pancake hats, a colorful scarf, turtleneck and overly pressed pants. I was just going to ride by him, then he stopped me. The guy was older than I thought when I saw his face up close, maybe 70. In an Don Corleone accent he asked me where he could get a bike like mine. I did what I could to give him directions to the Bicycle Sports Shop but I've only been here 3 weeks, he has only 2 weeks here. Then he goes into a story that goes something like this, now imagine a small man dressed as described with an accent.
"I'm not from here. I'm from Italy, my name is Leno, what is your name?"
"Kyle""Kil, ummm, that is a hard name."
"Ya the Mexicans just call me 'man'."
"Ha, that is easier, I was raised in Italy, I came to America to work on nuclear research, I put engines in submarines. I worked in Corpus for many years, do you know it?"
"I was born there"
"OK, so my wife she is from Denmark, we love it here, our kids and grandchildren love it here, but I do miss my bike. I had a beautiful French bike, I could pick it up with a finger. I like your bike, I want one like it, but I'm old, I need high handle bars."
"I'm sure they have one with high handle bars there, let me get back you on the directions to that place"
Then he told me where his place is and that I could drop by anytime. I went over at 9, nobody answered so I left the directions wedged in his door. The point of the story boys and girls, is that I would of never known this interesting human being if I hadn't been on my bike, this is my argument over a motorcycle trip, the bike is a more personal connection to the surroundings and you are more approachable by others. I just hope those 'others' aren't wielding machetes.