Life

[Apelsin]

because: religion and greed

 

Well, that certainly accounts for some of it.

 

I was thinking more along the lines of "Why does bad stuff happen to people" though.

[Erkki]

Yeah that's probably a problem! But that's why I am going to ride a bit every night, just to figure out how I'm going to do it.

 

What I do is have a pulse watch (that also functions as speedometer) and try to keep my pulse lowish (130-140) for a more relaxed ride or 150+ for a speedier ride.

[Nachimir]

I do the same to keep my heart rate down if I'm trying to lose weight rather than build strength. After a few rides, I develop quite a good conscious sense of my heart rate, but without the watch my estimates tend to drift lower than the actual rate.

[Twig]

Last night when I want to bed: "I'm going to ride my bike tomorrow!"

 

This morning when I woke up: "Why is it raining? Why don't I check these things before I go to sleep? (Also, I guess I should get some RAINWEAR."

 

Ten minutes ago: "Well, I missed the train I normally walk to and now have to wait an hour."

 

Now: "Blehhhhhhhhhhhh."

 

D:

 

I'll look into getting a pulse watch! Sounds like a good way to pace myself!

[Nachimir]

Rainwear is useful if you're commuting and need to be presentable at the other end. If you usually ride to the point where you get a bit hot though, you'll boil alive in cheap waterproofs.

If I'm just out for exercise and it's raining, as long as it's not freezing cold I wear a single lightweight synthetic layer: Thin clothes hold much less water and synthetic fibres don't absorb it, so they dry fairly fast just by body heat. The psychological discomfort of being rained on is quite deeply conditioned into us. I got over it, but am a bit of a freak when it comes to that sort of thing. I've tried a lot of rainwear for cycling: softshells can be great for long distances in cold weather, but only vented ones, preferably with armpit zips. The most comfortable I've ever been riding in a torrential summer downpour was in a sleeveless base layer, a pair of mountain biking shorts, and a BMX-type skid lid that kept most of the water off my head.

All the stuff about rain and cold making you more susceptible to illness is bollocks; we're more susceptible to germs in winter because sharing confined spaces increases our exposure. As long as you aren't risking hypothermia (or complications with other medical conditions) and you can eat something at the end of it, you'll be fine. This article completely changed the way I approached exercise. Understanding that overheating limits endurance and that sweating is a shitty way to cool down (but the best our bodies can do) means certain types of bad weather are good for getting fitter in.

[Twig]

Actually to be honest I LOVE rain. Walking around in the rain without an umbrella is one of my favorite things to do. It's just that, yeah, I can't be soaking dripping wet by the time I get to work, heh.

[Erkki]

All the stuff about rain and cold making you more susceptible to illness is bollocks; we're more susceptible to germs in winter because sharing confined spaces increases our exposure. As long as you aren't risking hypothermia (or complications with other medical conditions) and you can eat something at the end of it, you'll be fine.

 

I agree up to a point, but I usually seem to catch some form of common cold right after I've been too careless in Winter, or having too much air conditioning blow in my face for a long time.

[toblix]

Wasn't there some recent research indicating cold weather made us more susceptible to contagion?

[Apelsin]

Well, I've heard that rapid temperature change can make us more susceptible to certain illnesses (like colds) but I don't know if cold weather in particular has that effect.

[tegan]

Happy Dishonoured Canada Day!

[Ucantalas]

So. Some might notice I haven't been on here for a little while.

Long story short: One of my roommates had to buy a new computer because his got fried. He had to download a bunch of software and stuff to get back to a relatively normal computing experience. In 9 days we had used up all available bandwidth for the month. I am restricting myself from using internet except when I need it. Damn Internet caps! Damn them I say!

 

I also found out this morning that, back in 4th Grade, I was in anger management therapy. That's a weird thing to mostly forget about and then have your mom tell you that's what it was. I'm not sure what I think about that.

[miffy495]

Speaking of fourth grade, I got a call this afternoon for an interview tomorrow morning at a middle school (grades 4 to 8). I'm nervous enough to cry right now, but who knows? This may work out. I thought that I had to apply specific places once I'd been accepted by the school board, but it appears that any school that's looking has access to my resume, and these guys were interested. Now I need to get my interview face on in less than 12 hours, and my hot water tank is busted so I may have to go in without a shower. I guess we'll see what happens. I'm freaked out as hell, but I don't know if there's any other way to approach your first year of teaching, so I guess I just need to jump in and see how I like it. Holy crap though, that was out of nowhere and is now terrifying.

[Justin Leego]

Find a swimming pool

[dibs]

Just don't picture everyone naked to calm down. It's a school after all.

Good luck! You will be grand. Get someone to ask you difficult questions. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

[brkl]

Speaking of fourth grade, I got a call this afternoon for an interview tomorrow morning at a middle school (grades 4 to 8). I'm nervous enough to cry right now, but who knows? This may work out. I thought that I had to apply specific places once I'd been accepted by the school board, but it appears that any school that's looking has access to my resume, and these guys were interested. Now I need to get my interview face on in less than 12 hours, and my hot water tank is busted so I may have to go in without a shower. I guess we'll see what happens. I'm freaked out as hell, but I don't know if there's any other way to approach your first year of teaching, so I guess I just need to jump in and see how I like it. Holy crap though, that was out of nowhere and is now terrifying.

 

Man, I don't know why you worry about these things so much. You're an accredited teacher and from what I've read you've been well received during training. Although I know nothing about the situation in Canada, some school is bound to hire you soonish. Take a cold shower, go to the interview, take the job, teach the class, you'll do fine.

[miffy495]

Well, the interview went really well. They're interviewing a lot of people for one fifth grade position though, so who knows? On the plus side, they say that no matter what their answer is they'll call me to let me know on Thursday, if only so that I'm not in a bunch of suspense for forever.

 

As for the worry, I just kind of always feel like I'm faking competence rather than actually competent. It tends to piss people around me off because they just see me getting shit done, but I always feel like I'm in over my head any time I take on something like this. I handle it, but always feel like I'm just scraping by. I'm just kind of neurotic about that shit, and it's hard for me to find sympathy as it always turns into the other person saying "What the fuck? You always kick the crap out of these situations..." but that is the opposite of how I always expect to do. I do not learn from history. In my mind, I'm always just lucky enough to postpone the fuck up to the next try.

[Zeusthecat]

I also found out this morning that, back in 4th Grade, I was in anger management therapy. That's a weird thing to mostly forget about and then have your mom tell you that's what it was. I'm not sure what I think about that.

 

It is weird looking back on that stuff from an adult perspective. My mom used to always think I was depressed and made me go to some bullshit therapy as a kid where they tried to make me put a collage together out of magazine clippings that would supposedly represent my feelings or something. I just thought it was stupid and a waste of time. To this day she stills tries to push anti-depressants on me even though I am one happy bastard.

 

Not saying that our situations are the same but kids go through a lot growing up and act out in different ways. It's got to be hard as a parent to always make the best judgment call.

 

Another weird side story about my mom. I came home from school with a headache once in 8th grade. My mom freaked out and took me to the hospital where she convinced the doctor to give me a spinal tap. She was a nurse and thought I might have meningitis. She was/is also a major hypochondriac. I didn't have meningitis but I did have less spinal fluid after that whole ordeal.

[Gormongous]

Another weird side story about my mom. I came home from school with a headache once in 8th grade. My mom freaked out and took me to the hospital where she convinced the doctor to give me a spinal tap. She was a nurse and thought I might have meningitis. She was/is also a major hypochondriac. I didn't have meningitis but I did have less spinal fluid after that whole ordeal.

 

God, I would have terrified your mother. I had constant headaches as a kid, for no discernible reason, and still get a bad one every week or two. At least I have only had one migraine in the past four years!

[Zeusthecat]

God, I would have terrified your mother. I had constant headaches as a kid, for no discernible reason, and still get a bad one every week or two. At least I have only had one migraine in the past four years!

 

I did go through a period where I would get bad migraines regularly when I was a teenager. About a half hour before a migraine hit I would start to have blotchy vision and would have a really hard time focusing on what I was seeing.

 

Headaches fucking suck. I'm sorry you have to go through a bad one every week. 

[syntheticgerbil]

As for the worry, I just kind of always feel like I'm faking competence rather than actually competent. It tends to piss people around me off because they just see me getting shit done, but I always feel like I'm in over my head any time I take on something like this. I handle it, but always feel like I'm just scraping by. I'm just kind of neurotic about that shit, and it's hard for me to find sympathy as it always turns into the other person saying "What the fuck? You always kick the crap out of these situations..." but that is the opposite of how I always expect to do. I do not learn from history. In my mind, I'm always just lucky enough to postpone the fuck up to the next try.

I know the feeling Miffy, but from your internet typings over the years, you should know that you are most definitely more competent than any average Joe (or teacher).

[SecretAsianMan]

As for the worry, I just kind of always feel like I'm faking competence rather than actually competent. It tends to piss people around me off because they just see me getting shit done, but I always feel like I'm in over my head any time I take on something like this. I handle it, but always feel like I'm just scraping by. I'm just kind of neurotic about that shit, and it's hard for me to find sympathy as it always turns into the other person saying "What the fuck? You always kick the crap out of these situations..." but that is the opposite of how I always expect to do. I do not learn from history. In my mind, I'm always just lucky enough to postpone the fuck up to the next try.

 

This describes every day of my life.  I'm constantly worried that someone will discover that I'm not qualified to do my job or find someone better to do it and replace me.  Then I talk to people about something and it turns out that I do actually know what I'm doing (for the most part) and not as incompetent as I thought.  But it is hard to shake that feeling.

[I Saw Dasein]

Everyone is faking everything, always.

[Gormongous]

My grandmother is dying from a brain tumor, she's got about a month maybe. It makes me sad of course, even though we weren't terribly close, but what makes it really hard is my aunt, who was also not close to her but is using Facebook to broadcast her grief in really unpleasant, self-indulgent ways. For example, here's probably her least personal status update, of which I get about ten per day:

 

Watching Wimbledon with Mom, she always loved her sports! So bittersweet & so priceless. I love her so much....... Still no pain which is a blessing....... Love you all xxxxx

 

This is how my little sister found out about it, by the way. My aunt broadcast it on Facebook before my father could even find the time to call. I'm all for letting people cope with loss in their own way, but the intensely public nature of the internet means that I am being embarrassed by my aunt's histrionics daily and am not able to express my own feelings on the matter.

 

Ugh.

[Ucantalas]

I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother Gormongous.

My grandmother passed away due to a brain tumor when I was in 8th Grade. She survived 2 years longer than doctors originally estimated. She was getting old and they didn't think she would survive any attempts to remove the tumor.

[tegan]

I've been considering making an LGBT thread. I guess that DOMA and Prop 8 were both killed once and for all today plus Exodus International shut down and issued a public apology for its entire existence last Wednesday. I haven't been keeping up with things.