Frozen?

Studies have shown that the single treatment that can relieve fatigue, anxiety, depression, arthritis pain and reduce the risk of diabetes and age-related cognitive disorders is exercise.

Sometimes we get emotionally wounded... it's not that we don't care, it's that we get emotionally frozen. And this makes us physically frozen too. Unable to focus. Unable to do.



It is depression.

We need help in moving past this so we can start fighting for life... we need a hand to get out of this big bowl we're in.... so we can move again.

The solution? Besides a good counselor, is regular exercise.

Yes, it is a chicken and the egg thing... which us engineers solved long ago: grab either one and the other follows. In this case, exercise will make your emotions follow.

Focus... with exercise.


-copyright 2014 by Willy

Life is Too Short

I have figured it out: I've noticed that people at work that do solo work (like coders) have a social life outside of work, but those with people-intensive or team work would rather enjoy nature's solitude.

My office is a Grand Central Station. What is yours? Some people drive me crazy. I know that we need a social structure for good mental health but life is too short to put up with fools. I used to tolerate them but it is better to choose properly and avoid them. At work and elsewhere, seek the happy medium. To me, nature's solitude is a great option.

Keep calm and hike on.


-copyright 2014 by Willy

It's the Journey

It's the journey, not the destination... most of the time.

I am getting home from a hike down the Havasu Indian part of the Grand Canyon. There are beautiful waterfalls there in an absolutely gorgeous canyon.



I have seen many beautiful things in nature along my life's journey. This was one of them.

They say it's a 3,000 ft descend in 10 miles but my GPS said 13+ (due to multipath, which is the bouncing of satellite off canyon walls... more on that for another blog).

This is about half the altitude-feet of the park's South Rim's Bright Angel trail... with more miles, thus easier (but that's for another blog too).

The journey?

The way we went was assisted by an outfitter that carries down tents and food via mules. I still carried a twenty-something-pound pack.

Most of the time, I backpack ultralight... self-contained, simple and rough... and I like it that way, but glamor camping (glamping?) is a terrific luxury option. I have experienced it on hut-to-hut circuits at the White Mountains, camp-to-camp at the High Sierras, at LeConte in the Smokeys, Len Foot Hike Inn at Springer Mountain and many others.

But there's a new level of glamping... by helicopter!

The destination?

Now, I do sometimes believe that the end justifies the means... let me get it done my way... but not this time: People helicopter to Havasu and back out. Groups of hobby photogs do that. Even NatGeo did that.

Depending on your purpose, that could be cheating.

I will never again look at a beautiful wild NatGeo picture of Africa without asking: Did they just helicopter there?


- copyright 2014 by Willy

Trust

"Trust is earned in drops but lost in buckets." - Anon.

I knew her for 10 years and dated for a year before we married. An hour afterwards, she tells me: "Now that I've hooked you, let me tell you the way it's really going to be."

Horror!

You think I have trust issues? Yes, and that was 27 years ago, and the marriage immediately crumbled. Of course, I have trouble trusting people... who doesn't?

Horror stories abound on a range of issues, primarily financial... but it's all about trusting people... with getting work done and with growing our retirement fund... or not.

At my building, top management went to the same church. Because they knew and trusted each other, there was preferential treatment, of course. If you need to get something done, you get someone that you know (trust) will do it.

Specific trust.

Life is all about specific trusted relationships... knowing who can be trusted with what. Specialists, if you will. We shop for a doctor who will refer us to other specialists but we don't ask him about career advice. We also trust mother with dinner but not with love advice.

I enjoy my weightlifting workouts with my buddy Dallas but don't trust him about cardio because he gets winded jogging a hundred yards. I enjoy bicycling with buddy Ray but not weightlifting because he can't. I enjoy others because I trust them... in some way.

Putting trust in another can either be risky and awful, or a wonderful trusted relationship.


- text copyright 2014 by Willy

The Don Quixote In All Of Us

For most of us aging athletes, our fear is not physical deterioration but mental. Dementia and Alzheimer's seems all too common in my world. I know of no scientific study correlating this, but anecdotal evidence is overwhelming. Maybe it's because athletes live longer.



As a kid, the story of an old man fighting windmills was amusing. Books were everything then... both my escape and my reality. I learned about chivalry, loyalty and mental disease, and hoped to someday battle such a monster... windmills, not mental illness.

What did stick with me most was to avoid the impossible Quixotic goal to keep something from happening. That's crazy.

We all take away something different, don't we?

Avoid the impossible.


- text copyright 2014 by Willy.

Scary TV

Yes, I am old enough to know better but I accepted a suggestion to view and analyze an old TV Chick Flick series to either learn something or discard it. The one with the four thirty-something girlfriends in NYC looking for love.

The script was well written, and I laughed unceasingly at their antics... specially at the sad and dramatic parts. They went shopping for shoes and men to the extreme.

Summary: They talk of scoring a rich husband and an even richer divorce (in Season 1, Episode 5); they said that intimacy was a bitch (in S1/Ep10); did not like the shape of an engagement ring (S4/Ep12); and continuously showed how neurotic they were.

In the end, the protagonist lands her ultimate contest... an emotionally damaged but rich guy... although she herself was as emotionally damaged as they come.

It's just entertainment.

It was hilarious and scary, both, because it hits home. The war between the sexes has not changed for many of us. In High School we asked: Does she like me? But now, in hindsight, It's been about me being scared that things won't work out and somebody's going to get hurt, and then I'll have to deal with messy emotions.

Does anybody survive the onslaught of constant emotional pain? If they survive, won't the scars last a lifetime? So, why look for trouble? Why look for intimacy in perpetual motion? Why not take a breath and be satisfied with the way it is.

But that wouldn't make a good movie, and would not be good entertainment... and entertaining is what this Chick Flick series is. Lord help us all if we used them as example.

Oh, wait.. we're there! I've met these neurotic critters before.




- copyright 2014 by Willy

Herman And Other Bullies

A half century ago, the bullies were everywhere... in my barrio, in the ghetto, school, and even in church.

The best way to deal with a mean person is to avoid them but school was compulsory attendance. Bullies operated in gangs and the threats, pranks and gang beatings were a daily occasion.

Fatherless youth.

These youth grew up in fatherless homes, devoid of hope, totally centered on themselves and the moment, heedless of the consequences of their actions, terrorizing those around them as they act out the frustrations of their unchanneled and undisciplined lives.

In 8th grade, Herman delighted in getting nose to nose and yelling at me. One day, I gave him a right hook to the stomach while bending sideways. He puked right there at my desk. I still got the gang beating, but from then on Herman just yelled from afar. That right hook put up an effective fence between us.

Fatherless adults.

Bullies are still here and everywhere... abusive cops, manipulative witches, church pastors that are wealthier than the people they serve, and gangs of professional legal thieves called bankers, lawyers and politicians... that sometime run entire countries. These must be the same fatherless youth of a half-century ago... the same nastards.

Know what's going on.

However, we must realize that we give them power, and we don't have to... we could effectively fence them off: We can use dash cameras, credit unions, avoid the stock market, boycott churches and even vote the bums out.

We can think, and we can do. We can enlighten our youth to the bully's tactics, and how to counter them. "Keep calm and adjust your fire," goes the old school ditty. Don't let them intimidate you. Instead, laugh quietly at them.


- copyright 2014 by Willy.

P.S., Collective praying works too. Become part of a bigger effort: Pray. "Lord, put this country back on track." Every night at 9 pm Eastern time.

Hiking or Backpacking Checklist

Here's my checklist... Possible Things to Take Hiking or Backpacking. This is a reminder for me... you do whatever you want.

Separate things into two: a backpack ready to go hike and an overnight bag for motel and flight the day before and after. Yes, you'll have duplicates or you may not need overnight bag. It may rain, so everything in NEW zipper type Ziploc bags or standard weather-sealed ditty bags. The list below is comprehensive and you need to take just whatever part applies to your specific hike (short or long, winter or summer, glamping or wilderness, etc.). Do not over-pack the backpack... keep it to an absolute minimum. I hike with less than 30 pounds, including week's worth of food... ultralight and minimal is key.

If it's a car drive take a cooler with beer for after!
Light and small tent.
Pad, foam (I bust air pads).
Down sleeping bag on very waterproof bag.
One dry set of clothes change only!
Layers of clothes.
Everything poly-prop or wicking (no cotton).
Electrolyte (Gatorade).
Bladder on pack.
Bottle for airport or ride.
Pack, day pack or ultralite backpack, with waist belt and breast strap.
Water purifier pills.
Hiking pole(s), telescoping, with tennis ball on end for airplane.
Duct tape wrapped on hiking pole.
Whistle on lanyard around neck for bear.
Boots, very comfortable, roomy (anti-bluetoe) and broken in.
Arch support in boots.
Sunblock for face/nose and shoulders (if tank top use).
Lunch (Subway frozen turkey sandwich?), trail mix, snacks if glamping.
No-stove backpacking food (chicken, crunch noodles, trail mix, etc).
Cable ties for repairs and for first aid.
Camera, waterproof.
GPS.
Cell phone, charged full, with solar recharger?.
Take 110-volt house and 12-volt car recharger for before and after.
Batteries, extra, for camera, GPS, etc.
Maps, paper, on very waterproof bag, and compass.
Visor or hat to keep the rain off glasses and the sun off face.
Anti-fog cloth for glasses (important for rain).
Neck pillow if a long airplane trip there and back.
Deet for mosquitoes.
Alcohol as bug bite antiseptic and as part of ear unclogger.
Small flashlights, LED light or Petzl headlight.
Very small and light umbrella.
Rain poncho with built-in hood, for rain, wind or warmth.
Do not take an outer layer without hood!
Small disposable ponchos for rain or emergency tent.
Socks, thick wool socks and thin sock liners.
Underwear/briefs.
Shorts-pants/convertibles if nights are cool.
Shorts, light, for sleeping in heat.
Maybe gym pants for sleeping in cold.
T-shirts, one for the way up and another for dry or for the way down.
Tank top for heat.
Thick down vests for nights or idle.
Light camp shoes or water shoes.
Knive if driving or checking luggage, otherwise buy one there.
String and Velcro for bear/mouse/raccoon overnight bag and repairs.
Food bag for hanging.
Long-sleeve shirt for black flies or mosquitoes!
Don't take stupid beekeeper hat for black flies or mosquitoes, use hood!
Lightweight gloves for flies and mosquitoes, and cold.
Ear bands for cold.
Bandanas or sweatband or visor for sweat.
Maybe pack cover for incessant rain.
Sunglasses if sun (or high altitude).
Single-vision glasses.
Nose spray decongestant for sleeping and reduce snoring.
Benadryll, sleeping pills, etc. for sleeping.
Aspirin for hip pain.
Vaseline for chafe and massage.
Band-aids and moleskin for blisters.
Maybe Brandy for hot chocolate and as a gastro/hip pain killer before bed.
Tampons for the ladies as necessary.
Kleenex, small travel packs, or a roll of TP for #2's.
Toothbrush, toothpaste, small soap, maybe a washrag or bandana.
Matches, for just in case.
Pillow for motel before and after (use pack on-trail).
Stamps and addresses for postcard mailings to kids on-trail.


-copyright 2014 by Willy