Pull Up Bar

Fridays are supposed to be fun, right? Well I think this fits the bill...

Wish me luck on actually getting fit/strong enough to do my pull up. Right now I am quite overweight, but "fit" thanks to cycling. In case you're worrying that I'm feeling down on myself, don't, because I'm not.

What follows is a quitting smoking story. If that stuff doesn't appeal to you, please bail now.

I have wrestled with smoking for much of my adult life. When I've smoked, it was typically a pack a day or more. Here's my whacko smoking chronology:

Age 16-30: smoker

Age 30-40 or so: quit and happy about it

Age 40-46: On and off smoking, often quitting for months at a time but always falling back into it.

My Dad died (of lung cancer) when I was about 40. I fell off the wagon at that time; my brothers smoke and, well, shit happens, I guess. I hate smoking, but addiction is a very strange thing, as anyone who's ever been addicted to anything can tell you.

Addiction flies in the face of reason, logic, morality, intelligence, common sense, blah blah blah. The thing is, if you've never experienced addiction personally, addicted people seem more like selfish people rationalizing their own selfishness. To a certain extent, maybe that's true; depends on the person, I would think. Still, I think it is safe to say that all addicted people would happily trade their fucked-up (and often selfish) addiction for freedom from their stupid substance ANY DAY.

In case you hadn't noticed, addiction fascinates me. Drugs, booze, smokes, whatever. Addiction touches all of our lives, like it or not. If you have never experienced addiction, you should be thanking your lucky stars HARD. For myself, I am thanking my lucky stars that I have escaped my addiction to nicotine once more, for 5.5 months so far. When you're addicted to something, your fight is never ever ever over. It gets easier over time, but won't ever go completely away, and that's alright, because every day out from under an addiction is cause for celebration. 

So, I'm overweight and can't yet do a pull up, but I haven't smoked in a long while and enjoy riding my bike every weekday. I also have a family who loves me and a pretty decent job. I am in no way down on myself, nor should you be, I bet. Look hard at what you have; if you're reading this, I'm guessing it comes to a great deal when you think about it.

Holy crap! This post started with "Friday's are supposed to be fun"! What the hell happened there? Damned if I know, but thanks for reading, for sure.

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

Pad Thai from Pho Haven

This Pad Thai is not from Pho Haven. It is just a picture of Pad Thai, origin unknown.

Pad Thai is one of my worst weaknesses. I love it. I crave it pretty much all the time. Good Pad Thai is something to celebrate and eat as often as possible. Pad Thai, by the way, is usually either Chicken or Seafood combined with spicy rice noodles, strips of tofu, bean sprouts and usually a few other vegetables. I have tried several times to make Pad Thai at home. My efforts haven't come close to the quality or deliciousness of good restaurant Pad Thai. I have given up on making it at home because others are just so good at it.

A restaurant called Pho Haven opened up a while ago, specializing in Vietnamese food. Despite being a Vietnamese place, they offer pad thai on their menu. It is way closer to my house than any other good Pad Thai source that I know of. I tried their Pad Thai for the first time last week and it was outstanding, the best I've had in London. The tofu was sliced nice and thin and perfectly prepared, and the veg had a fresh crispness to it that is often lacking.

Ever since I had that Pad Thai from Pho Haven, I have been a little bit obsessed about keeping my supply safe. I have not seen a lot of people eating there in the evenings, despite reading generally good online reviews for the place. Perhaps they do a great lunch or takeout business. I hope so. As we all know, making a go of it in the restaurant business is hard. I am calling on every Londoner who reads this to try Pho Haven. I'm sure most of what they make is great. It is a small, nicely decorated restaurant located near Commissioners and Wellington. It is the kind of place I would happily go on a date; tasteful but not snooty.

Pho Haven

519 686 3838

http://www.phohaven.com/

The good people at Pho Haven have no idea that I am writing this and I have not received any consideration for this review / recommendation. My motivation for asking you to go there is completely selfish. I just don't want the supplier of my personal culinary crack to go away.

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

PS - If anybody is in possession of a good Pad Thai recipe, pass it on. I'll think of it as insurance against a shortage.
PPS (Nov 23 Update) - Hey look, I found a video! This gives an idea of what the restaurant looks like inside. It would seem that they already knew that the Pad Thai was awesome...