“I’m living so far beyond my income that we may almost be said to be living apart.” – H.H. Munro
This is the start of a little series I’m going to do over the Christmas season on money quotes. Fortunately this quote doesn’t apply to me at the moment but apparently it does apply to a lot of my neighbours. We were recently informed by the Bank of Canada that on average Canadians owe about $1.50 for every dollar of disposable income or about which is apparently about $91,000 each on average. I tihnk that we should then pile on each person’s share of government debt - $16,000 for living in Canada, another $19,000 for living in Ontario.
The obvious (to me) conclusion is that the whole money thing is just a game. No one actually expects everyone to pay off this level of debt. If we tried we wouldn’t be able to buy anything new. and then all those people who make their living selling new stuff wouldn’t have a way to pay their part of the debt.
It is a good example of how money, or more specifically credit, has created a disconnect between the consumer and reality. For now everyone is happy to keep this system propped up so no one call in the debts and they will let you spend your 2013 earnings in 2011 because the other option is change.
My question is that while imaginary money can be unlimited we live on a finite world. So how far off is the day that real physical resources are too precious to trade for vague promises of payment in the distant future?
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
The Moneyless Man
I finished the moneyless man. It was a quick easy read. The most
striking thing about the book was that he had nothing to write about. A
lot of it felt like padding as he talked about the other people around
the world living without money, excessive dwelling on how meeting the
publicity demands was the most trying aspect of the year and on his free
feast to start and end. I got the impression that if he wasn’t
disappointed in how easy it was to live without money his publisher sure
was so he was trying to simulate some struggle.
The conclusion was essentially for a few people to live off the waste
of our current system it is no problem. It would have been more
challenging if he had had competition but he didn’t so it was easy.
The fact that the bitterest part of winter was about minus three degrees
Celsius didn’t hurt either.
In honour of his experiment I’m going to do a series of posts about
ideas about money for this the most consumerist of seasons.
striking thing about the book was that he had nothing to write about. A
lot of it felt like padding as he talked about the other people around
the world living without money, excessive dwelling on how meeting the
publicity demands was the most trying aspect of the year and on his free
feast to start and end. I got the impression that if he wasn’t
disappointed in how easy it was to live without money his publisher sure
was so he was trying to simulate some struggle.
The conclusion was essentially for a few people to live off the waste
of our current system it is no problem. It would have been more
challenging if he had had competition but he didn’t so it was easy.
The fact that the bitterest part of winter was about minus three degrees
Celsius didn’t hurt either.
In honour of his experiment I’m going to do a series of posts about
ideas about money for this the most consumerist of seasons.
Friday, December 10, 2010
The Divide
I went up to the land yesterday and every time I go I see something along the 37 that reminds me why I don’t want to live in a city anymore. Right on the side of the highway there is a house with a sign offering “New Honey”. The honey sits on a bench under the sign in mason jars with a tupperware container to hold your payment. I don’t know how many times this unattended set-up has been robbed of either honey or cash but apparently not so much as to deter the proprietor. In ten years of living in cities I’ve never seen such a set-up - roadside selling on the honour system.
The city is not nearly as bad as the nightly news would have you believe. Why just the other week I went to Hogtown in the wee hours of the morning and didn’t get shot. Never even got shot at actually. Listening to the evening news I’m not sure if I should be relived or insulted?
Seriously though, the roadside honey stand to me speaks to a different relationship to your environment in rural areas. I’m not talking about smurf villages or anything but just a less adversarial environment than the metropolis.
The city is not nearly as bad as the nightly news would have you believe. Why just the other week I went to Hogtown in the wee hours of the morning and didn’t get shot. Never even got shot at actually. Listening to the evening news I’m not sure if I should be relived or insulted?
Seriously though, the roadside honey stand to me speaks to a different relationship to your environment in rural areas. I’m not talking about smurf villages or anything but just a less adversarial environment than the metropolis.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Asset or Liability?
I watched the Doczone on CBC last week, well the first part. The superior attitude made me turn it off. It got my thinking about why does the mainstream media (MSM) always seem to ridicule the survivalist community? I should mention the episode was all about laughing at the nut-jobs preparing for the latest end of the world date - 2012. Or at least that is what it seemed like to me.
So why is that? Is it meant to comfort the mob? An attempt to reassure people that the government has everything under control despite all the Cassandra's in science and economics chirping about looming disasters? In the MSM there appears to be overwhelming support for the three day emergency kit but scorn for a three week or three year preparedness plan. In the event of a massive breakdown or even a localized Katrina-like disaster would you be an asset or a liability to your community?
In my real life I’m not losing a lot of sleep over the world coming to and end in 2012 but I do accept that our society (Western Christendom or global village, take your pick) is no more invincible than societies of the past. Some of which have collapsed in spectacular fashion so if some people need an imminent date like December 21st, 2012 as motivation to become more prepared or self sufficient I’m all for it and a responsible MSM would be too.
So why is that? Is it meant to comfort the mob? An attempt to reassure people that the government has everything under control despite all the Cassandra's in science and economics chirping about looming disasters? In the MSM there appears to be overwhelming support for the three day emergency kit but scorn for a three week or three year preparedness plan. In the event of a massive breakdown or even a localized Katrina-like disaster would you be an asset or a liability to your community?
In my real life I’m not losing a lot of sleep over the world coming to and end in 2012 but I do accept that our society (Western Christendom or global village, take your pick) is no more invincible than societies of the past. Some of which have collapsed in spectacular fashion so if some people need an imminent date like December 21st, 2012 as motivation to become more prepared or self sufficient I’m all for it and a responsible MSM would be too.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Like Money
Some time ago I picked up and read the Lapham's Quarterly about money. It is a collection of writings about money from different places and times and sources. Everything from scholarly articles to excerpts from plays. It caught my attention because money has always been one of those things I just took for granted - not really thought about (just the getting of it).
There were tow articles in the book that stood out in my mind. One extolled the virtues of money as the greatest of all things. Money, it said, was pure good because it represented work done and condensed. Portable work that could be exchanged for anything and therefore it was anything, endless possibility. Money was more efficient than barter and it was more efficient because it enabled the worker to focus on what they were good at and enjoyed and this too would be more efficient.
The second article expressed the view that money was a bad thing. Money is useless until you convert it into something useful and you could only do that if you could find someone willing to trade something useful for something useless. This leads to imbalances and waste. I think this one might have been written by a communist and it wasn't very convincing.
Anyway I've just started reading a new book called The Moneyless Man and in this book the author is going to recount his year of living with out money - the freeconomy he calls it. In the beginning he postulates on the imaginary money being spent in the world today and concludes for two new reasons why money is evil.
First he says money has separated the consumer from the resources being consumed. The idea is that if you made your own clothes you'd be a lot less quick to throw it out for a minor stain or rip or change of fashion. This would apply to everything - americans wouldn't throw out 40% of their food like they do today if each person produced their own food because you'd appreciate the work that went into it. In a way this possibly refers to the imbalances the communists were talking about.
The second evil of money is that it can be stored so easily. This too, he says, leads to over consumption. His line of reasoning seems to be that cutting down and selling off the whole forest converts it into the security of a full bank account. Without money the security would be in having a forest and using parts of it as it becomes needed. This is where the imaginary money becomes such a problem - because on a global scale how much longer is it before there is more money (spent credit) than resources to buy with it? If a loaf of bread costs $10 and you show up to the store with your $20 bill but the store doesn't have even one loaf to sell you...
So I'll let you know how it turns out.
There were tow articles in the book that stood out in my mind. One extolled the virtues of money as the greatest of all things. Money, it said, was pure good because it represented work done and condensed. Portable work that could be exchanged for anything and therefore it was anything, endless possibility. Money was more efficient than barter and it was more efficient because it enabled the worker to focus on what they were good at and enjoyed and this too would be more efficient.
The second article expressed the view that money was a bad thing. Money is useless until you convert it into something useful and you could only do that if you could find someone willing to trade something useful for something useless. This leads to imbalances and waste. I think this one might have been written by a communist and it wasn't very convincing.
Anyway I've just started reading a new book called The Moneyless Man and in this book the author is going to recount his year of living with out money - the freeconomy he calls it. In the beginning he postulates on the imaginary money being spent in the world today and concludes for two new reasons why money is evil.
First he says money has separated the consumer from the resources being consumed. The idea is that if you made your own clothes you'd be a lot less quick to throw it out for a minor stain or rip or change of fashion. This would apply to everything - americans wouldn't throw out 40% of their food like they do today if each person produced their own food because you'd appreciate the work that went into it. In a way this possibly refers to the imbalances the communists were talking about.
The second evil of money is that it can be stored so easily. This too, he says, leads to over consumption. His line of reasoning seems to be that cutting down and selling off the whole forest converts it into the security of a full bank account. Without money the security would be in having a forest and using parts of it as it becomes needed. This is where the imaginary money becomes such a problem - because on a global scale how much longer is it before there is more money (spent credit) than resources to buy with it? If a loaf of bread costs $10 and you show up to the store with your $20 bill but the store doesn't have even one loaf to sell you...
So I'll let you know how it turns out.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Control Freaks
Everyone knows that the car you drive is considered to be a personal statement. That’s why there are like 600 different models of cars on the road available in a rainbow of colours. And then there is the constellation of overpriced aftermarket parts with which to rice up your ride.
I’ve being doing a lot of sitting in my car in traffic lately and it has come to my attention that how you drive your car is also a bold statement of who you are - perhaps more telling than how you actually behave in actual interpersonal interactions.
Perhaps the biggest challenge of public transit has always been to convince people to leave their cars at home and they admit that it’s not easy. People love their expensive planet killing cars in large part because it’s the one place where they can feel that they are in control - of the music, the temperature, the speed and ultimately, where they are going. You don’t get this in a shared home, in the office, at the mall, outdoors and for the most part in life. This is probably also why savings aside the HOV lanes are pretty empty – the daily commute is the one place you don’t have to make compromises.
To come back on topic in the safe feeling and empowering environment of their automobile people should be expected to act more like how they really feel rather than how they think they are supposed to behave. In most places you might expect this to mean a lot of aggressive drivers and as a former bicycle courier I can tell you that you do get a lot of them and they tend to drive the same types of cars and minivans - lots of psychopaths out there in minivans.
In the GTA this has helped me to feel some sympathy for my fellow residents. Probably 80% of the drivers in the GTA drive like madmen and madwomen when they are on the highway but then when they get off the highway on the streets they drive like the absolute last thing in the world they would ever want to do is get where they are going and out of the car back into a world totally out of their control.
I’ve being doing a lot of sitting in my car in traffic lately and it has come to my attention that how you drive your car is also a bold statement of who you are - perhaps more telling than how you actually behave in actual interpersonal interactions.
Perhaps the biggest challenge of public transit has always been to convince people to leave their cars at home and they admit that it’s not easy. People love their expensive planet killing cars in large part because it’s the one place where they can feel that they are in control - of the music, the temperature, the speed and ultimately, where they are going. You don’t get this in a shared home, in the office, at the mall, outdoors and for the most part in life. This is probably also why savings aside the HOV lanes are pretty empty – the daily commute is the one place you don’t have to make compromises.
To come back on topic in the safe feeling and empowering environment of their automobile people should be expected to act more like how they really feel rather than how they think they are supposed to behave. In most places you might expect this to mean a lot of aggressive drivers and as a former bicycle courier I can tell you that you do get a lot of them and they tend to drive the same types of cars and minivans - lots of psychopaths out there in minivans.
In the GTA this has helped me to feel some sympathy for my fellow residents. Probably 80% of the drivers in the GTA drive like madmen and madwomen when they are on the highway but then when they get off the highway on the streets they drive like the absolute last thing in the world they would ever want to do is get where they are going and out of the car back into a world totally out of their control.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Winter's coming
Once upon a time I thought my shed was a rough looking piece of work but now I have my winter shelter built and the shed is looking pretty good. In our defense the winter shelter is made of scrap and intended to be a temporary shelter.
It’s pretty chilly out now so I’m getting to that point of the year when I’m looking forward to the snow and the snowshoeing. And this year I’ll have a place to go snowshoeing and boiling up without the need for elaborate planning to evade the authorities.
We hung around in Trenton visiting friends on Halloween. It’s the first time since moving to TV land that I’ve actually witnessed a TVesque Halloween. There were hundreds of kids swarming the neighbourhood in all manner of costumes. Even a house down the street providing scary noises (quite a creepy soundtrack of screams actually). In the previous decade, everywhere I’ve lived I’ve seen between ten and zero trick or treaters.
It’s pretty chilly out now so I’m getting to that point of the year when I’m looking forward to the snow and the snowshoeing. And this year I’ll have a place to go snowshoeing and boiling up without the need for elaborate planning to evade the authorities.
We hung around in Trenton visiting friends on Halloween. It’s the first time since moving to TV land that I’ve actually witnessed a TVesque Halloween. There were hundreds of kids swarming the neighbourhood in all manner of costumes. Even a house down the street providing scary noises (quite a creepy soundtrack of screams actually). In the previous decade, everywhere I’ve lived I’ve seen between ten and zero trick or treaters.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Bread and circuses
We’re all familiar with the old roman quote about the bread and circuses. My recent gluten experiences say this may be truer than even they realized. Basically I have come to the conclusion that foods containing gluten should be reserved for periods when they are needed to avoid starvation. Having been largely gluten free for several months now and while I am pretty certain I’m not celiac I can definitely feel the difference when I eat something with gluten in it (most recently a too tempting piece of birthday cake). A difference that lasts for a couple of days. And it’s not a good kind of difference.
My point is that while grains are wonderful for their ability to be stored between the gluten and the acidification they should not really be a first second or third choice on the menu. Their chief benefits are for the elites in a centralized reciprocity social system and for populations that periodically risk starvation. So for those who consider the Paleo-diet to be too XXXetremeXXX I recommend taking a month off from gluten. Some of you may be surprised.
Of course you’ll benefit at least from the near elimination of processed foods that is caused by gluten. Of course, you could buy the needlessly overpriced gluten free processed food if you really hate cooking.
My point is that while grains are wonderful for their ability to be stored between the gluten and the acidification they should not really be a first second or third choice on the menu. Their chief benefits are for the elites in a centralized reciprocity social system and for populations that periodically risk starvation. So for those who consider the Paleo-diet to be too XXXetremeXXX I recommend taking a month off from gluten. Some of you may be surprised.
Of course you’ll benefit at least from the near elimination of processed foods that is caused by gluten. Of course, you could buy the needlessly overpriced gluten free processed food if you really hate cooking.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Setbacks are the norm
We won't be building the bunkie on Halloween morning. It was too wet so I didn't get the concrete slab poured. In truth it's really too cold to be doing mortar work now anyway - we don't have the budget to set up those plastic heated walls like the pros do.
The Boss and I talked it over and since the bunkie is still going to be an investment of hundreds to thousands of dollars we felt it would be better to wait until spring so we can do it right. For this winter I'm thinking to throw up a temporary log a-frame structure. Just not real sure how :)
My bro has generously given us permission to use his little wood stove to heat it.
The Boss and I talked it over and since the bunkie is still going to be an investment of hundreds to thousands of dollars we felt it would be better to wait until spring so we can do it right. For this winter I'm thinking to throw up a temporary log a-frame structure. Just not real sure how :)
My bro has generously given us permission to use his little wood stove to heat it.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Many hands make light work
We were up to the farm again this weekend this time to pick up and plant some trees. We were fortunate to have some friends come down to help so we managed to plant the 27 trees in just a few hours.
In one area We planted 3 Walnut trees, 8 American Hybrid Chestnut trees and 3 high bush cranberries. In another area we started on the fruit tree orchard with 3 each of plums, cherries, peaches and grapes.
Next up is the bunkie if the weather holds. We hope to work on it over the Halloween weekend so if anyone is interested in lending a hand let me know. It's a small cordwood structure so it shouldn't be exactly hard labour but lots of it.
In one area We planted 3 Walnut trees, 8 American Hybrid Chestnut trees and 3 high bush cranberries. In another area we started on the fruit tree orchard with 3 each of plums, cherries, peaches and grapes.
Next up is the bunkie if the weather holds. We hope to work on it over the Halloween weekend so if anyone is interested in lending a hand let me know. It's a small cordwood structure so it shouldn't be exactly hard labour but lots of it.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Beatrice
I picked up my tractor this week and naturally I started using it right away. First I put my implements away - snowblower and and plow then I started doing some bush hogging. Fortunately the tractor moves pretty slow so I haven't had an serious accidents yet but a couple of times I did get thinking man, what am I doing. I mean you can feel the power of the thing when you start it up and it's not a really big tractor. But I still would suggest you don't park in front of it. Or behind it for that matter.
Looking back on a hour of work and it's not exactly easy but it's a lot easier than the three days it would have taken me to clear that brush with my hedge trimmer.
Looking back on a hour of work and it's not exactly easy but it's a lot easier than the three days it would have taken me to clear that brush with my hedge trimmer.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Photographic update
This is the tractor we're buying. All I need to do it get it delivered. And pay for it. And learn how to use it :)
This is the shed all painted. I've since done some improvements like a tiny window for light, a rain barrel out back and improved the doors to the loft.
This is the Boss working away at the log ends for the cordwood bunkie we hope to build this fall. We have to brush every log clean of moss and dirt. It's going to take some time. The bunkie may end up getting a lot of natural light :)
And Bro, as soon as we're at a stage to begin real construction - i.e. laying the concrete slab I'll let you know.
This is the shed all painted. I've since done some improvements like a tiny window for light, a rain barrel out back and improved the doors to the loft.
This is the Boss working away at the log ends for the cordwood bunkie we hope to build this fall. We have to brush every log clean of moss and dirt. It's going to take some time. The bunkie may end up getting a lot of natural light :)
And Bro, as soon as we're at a stage to begin real construction - i.e. laying the concrete slab I'll let you know.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Farm update
I just spent a couple of days at the land. I have the shed painted, it still looks pretty rough. I'm happy to say that my makeshift water collection system seems to be working well and the 55 gallon rain barrel is about half full! I guess if you do enough something is bound to work half well.
Other than that I've started cutting up the cedar rails for the bunkie. We probably have half the rails we need already. now we just need to get the truck fixed so we can get the rest and pick up our trees. I'm not optimistic that the bunkie will get done this fall though. I'm thinking it will be November before we can seriously get to work on it and we can't do the mortar if there is going to be frost so it will take some luck. That would be too bad too since I was really hoping to have somewhere solid to stay for working over the winter.
Other than that I've started cutting up the cedar rails for the bunkie. We probably have half the rails we need already. now we just need to get the truck fixed so we can get the rest and pick up our trees. I'm not optimistic that the bunkie will get done this fall though. I'm thinking it will be November before we can seriously get to work on it and we can't do the mortar if there is going to be frost so it will take some luck. That would be too bad too since I was really hoping to have somewhere solid to stay for working over the winter.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Sad story
We were doing some kijiji farm shopping this weekend and found ourselves
in a beautiful place with a sad story. We were buying some cedar rails
for the cordwood Bunkie we hope to build this fall and the man said he
had a long driveway and his house was on top of the hill.
His driveway was about a kilometre long alternating between tree-lined
and open to his fenced in fields. The house sat on a clear hilltop with
magnificent views of rolling hills farmland all around. An older
gentleman he said he owned the land for 38 years. Three years ago he had
his house built there on the hill but now was in the process
of getting the place ready to sell. A life’s retirement plan wiped out
in it’s infancy by the stock market “adjustment” in 2009. Yet he
still gave us a deal on the rails.
Despite the fact that the gas station we intended to use in Tweed was
closed for the police investigation into the armed robbery that had just
taken place, the people we met cedar rail shopping make me more anxious
than ever to get out of the city and into the rural life. It was funny actually to overhear all the rumors about who did it while we were at the gas station and the hardware store and then to get the official police story from the internet on Tuesday.
in a beautiful place with a sad story. We were buying some cedar rails
for the cordwood Bunkie we hope to build this fall and the man said he
had a long driveway and his house was on top of the hill.
His driveway was about a kilometre long alternating between tree-lined
and open to his fenced in fields. The house sat on a clear hilltop with
magnificent views of rolling hills farmland all around. An older
gentleman he said he owned the land for 38 years. Three years ago he had
his house built there on the hill but now was in the process
of getting the place ready to sell. A life’s retirement plan wiped out
in it’s infancy by the stock market “adjustment” in 2009. Yet he
still gave us a deal on the rails.
Despite the fact that the gas station we intended to use in Tweed was
closed for the police investigation into the armed robbery that had just
taken place, the people we met cedar rail shopping make me more anxious
than ever to get out of the city and into the rural life. It was funny actually to overhear all the rumors about who did it while we were at the gas station and the hardware store and then to get the official police story from the internet on Tuesday.
Monday, August 30, 2010
The Tao of Steve
Just watched Steve McQueen as “Bullitt”. I don’t know if that is actually the title but that’s how it is written on the DVD cover. Excellent cop movie if you haven’t seen it you should. Steve McQueen is quickly climbing in my personal best actor’s ever ranking.
The Boss really enjoyed the Cordwood workshop. She's more stoked than ever about building a practice bunkie this fall. they didn't get around to putting the roof on so the workshop people will be convening another day for her to come back and help with that. Hopefully my work schedule will allow me to go too.
The Boss really enjoyed the Cordwood workshop. She's more stoked than ever about building a practice bunkie this fall. they didn't get around to putting the roof on so the workshop people will be convening another day for her to come back and help with that. Hopefully my work schedule will allow me to go too.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Night shift
I'm finishing my first series of night shifts tonight and it hasn’t been too bad. I’m still not fast at checking the forms so there is enough work to keep me busy so the time passes quickly. I do get tired about 10 PM though really that’s just an excuse to brew up some Spitfire Longbottom!
The unfortunate part is that I seem to waste the day before I go to work. Of corse that may have something to do with the Boss being away at Cordwood camp...
The unfortunate part is that I seem to waste the day before I go to work. Of corse that may have something to do with the Boss being away at Cordwood camp...
Monday, August 23, 2010
Shed building
The shed is mostly done with my bro’s help. It’s a rough piece of work. I definitely shouldn’t have skimped on the foundation. Ground that feels solid under my weight isn’t quite so under a thousand pounds of shed. We jacked that corner up an worked until our drills were out of power now all that remains is to tack up the doors. Assuming the shed is still standing when I get back up there :)
pictures:
Yeah the roof is plastic. But it's a good kind of plastic - a silo/hay bale cover and so presumably will withstand some sun and rain degradation.
pictures:
Yeah the roof is plastic. But it's a good kind of plastic - a silo/hay bale cover and so presumably will withstand some sun and rain degradation.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
The Grapes of Wrath
Watched the Grapes of Wrath the other night. Too lazy to read the book but it’s my understanding that Steinbeck is considered to have captured the essence of the Great Depression. If that is true and the movie captures the essence of the book I’m really not looking forward to the Great Depression II.
Of course I’m not really sure if we’ll have a Great Depression II. The people in charge appear to have learned from the first one and decided to borrow from the grandkids before the collapse to avoid a great depression rather than waiting to borrow from the grandkids after it has begun to “stimulate a recovery”. But let’s face it - ever since we’ve been spending tomorrow’s money knowing we can borrow again tomorrow.
But lets pretend for a minute that some disgruntled individual decides to stop extending vast amounts of unrealistic credit (luckily the Board of Directors system appears to prevent any individual from having that kind of power) and the house of cards comes down. In the movie the only thing the people have to hang on to is their family. Even their fellow Okies let them know it’s every man (family?) for themselves when push comes to shove.
Given the stats we see today about people who feel they are alone in the world and the general dismantling of the close knit family group I’m thinking that if the system starts to collapse the glue that held off the chaos demons in the thirties (according to the Grapes of Wrath) might not be there. And if there is a lesson from western christendom’s recent foreign adventures it’s that we do not have nearly enough men and women in uniform to enforce a kind of peace if the population was to get rowdy.
The farmer we recently visited who views his co-op members as invested partners to help work and protect his farm if things turn sour seems less crazy now.
Of course I’m not really sure if we’ll have a Great Depression II. The people in charge appear to have learned from the first one and decided to borrow from the grandkids before the collapse to avoid a great depression rather than waiting to borrow from the grandkids after it has begun to “stimulate a recovery”. But let’s face it - ever since we’ve been spending tomorrow’s money knowing we can borrow again tomorrow.
But lets pretend for a minute that some disgruntled individual decides to stop extending vast amounts of unrealistic credit (luckily the Board of Directors system appears to prevent any individual from having that kind of power) and the house of cards comes down. In the movie the only thing the people have to hang on to is their family. Even their fellow Okies let them know it’s every man (family?) for themselves when push comes to shove.
Given the stats we see today about people who feel they are alone in the world and the general dismantling of the close knit family group I’m thinking that if the system starts to collapse the glue that held off the chaos demons in the thirties (according to the Grapes of Wrath) might not be there. And if there is a lesson from western christendom’s recent foreign adventures it’s that we do not have nearly enough men and women in uniform to enforce a kind of peace if the population was to get rowdy.
The farmer we recently visited who views his co-op members as invested partners to help work and protect his farm if things turn sour seems less crazy now.
Friday, July 23, 2010
July miscellany
Went to the Urgent care clinic last night. It seems I have a likely torn Posterior Cruciate Ligament. The Doctor says wear the brace every day and watch cowboy movies while drinking beer and eating potato chips for three weeks to get back in zombie fightin’ shape.And I have no idea how I did this.
Or I'll continue my current reading binge. Another decent book about canadian farms and farming is Apples to Oysters by Margaret Webb, a lesbian from Toronto who visits one farm in each province. I only mention that the author is a lesbian because she seems to think this is important with constant references to her sexual orientation throughout the narrative. I guess she wants you to know that when she loves a farmer it's platonic?
Just started endgame by Derrick Jensen. So far it's a pretty crazy Manson-esque manifesto. The guy is outlining a similar (if slightly more extreme) world view than my own. I am intrigued to see how far he is going to take it.
Started the new job. So far it's going well. I think.
Appalachian Trail to Africa = madness.
Or I'll continue my current reading binge. Another decent book about canadian farms and farming is Apples to Oysters by Margaret Webb, a lesbian from Toronto who visits one farm in each province. I only mention that the author is a lesbian because she seems to think this is important with constant references to her sexual orientation throughout the narrative. I guess she wants you to know that when she loves a farmer it's platonic?
Just started endgame by Derrick Jensen. So far it's a pretty crazy Manson-esque manifesto. The guy is outlining a similar (if slightly more extreme) world view than my own. I am intrigued to see how far he is going to take it.
Started the new job. So far it's going well. I think.
Appalachian Trail to Africa = madness.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
The quest comes to and end
I have two more entries but Cider quest 2010 has all but come to an end. I’ll start with the two new entries.
Mystique is a craft cider from Quebec. Although I appreciate the efforts to ensure I got to sample it I wasn’t that impressed. It is best when cold not very good when warm and I don’t get the point of the wee little bottle (250ml).
The last entry is the Growers Granny Smith Apple Cider. I had high hopes for this as it is not only Canada’s number one cider I happen to be a fan of granny smith apples. But apparently the granny smith is not really a cider apple. I preferred the Growers Peach. I may yet sample the Growers Blueberry but I’d like to find it in individual bottles rather than have to invest in a whole six pack.
You might be wondering why Cider Quest 2010 is all but dead in the water at such a tender age? Well it was hit with a broadside that has all but blown cider out of the water. Adnam’s Broadside Strong Ale to be precise. Now I don’t normally like strong beers but the Broadside is a great beer despite it's 6.3%. Yes, great.
You'll have to move quickly if you want to experience this masterwork of the brewing craft though because as appears to be a trend with quality products at the LCBO it is being discontinued.
Mystique is a craft cider from Quebec. Although I appreciate the efforts to ensure I got to sample it I wasn’t that impressed. It is best when cold not very good when warm and I don’t get the point of the wee little bottle (250ml).
The last entry is the Growers Granny Smith Apple Cider. I had high hopes for this as it is not only Canada’s number one cider I happen to be a fan of granny smith apples. But apparently the granny smith is not really a cider apple. I preferred the Growers Peach. I may yet sample the Growers Blueberry but I’d like to find it in individual bottles rather than have to invest in a whole six pack.
You might be wondering why Cider Quest 2010 is all but dead in the water at such a tender age? Well it was hit with a broadside that has all but blown cider out of the water. Adnam’s Broadside Strong Ale to be precise. Now I don’t normally like strong beers but the Broadside is a great beer despite it's 6.3%. Yes, great.
You'll have to move quickly if you want to experience this masterwork of the brewing craft though because as appears to be a trend with quality products at the LCBO it is being discontinued.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Travel times - 100th post!
Yesterday we bought two travel trunks at the Sally Ann on Dundas. We got an excellent deal and it’s another couple of restoration projects to keep me out of trouble. The trunks got me thinking about globalization.
Not even a hundred years ago trunks like these would have been the shiznit for going on a long voyage but today, I probably couldn't travel with them. If I insisted on trying it would likely cost me more to send the trunks than to send myself.
This is a good example of what I consider questionable progress. International travel is now fast, efficient and everyday. Add in the cattle car mentality the airlines have applied to those of us who travel as economy passengers and I guess this is why I don’t see international travel as adventurous.
In the day of these trunks going on an international voyage was an adventure. You had to be rich, save up your money or get a job overseas but it was still a possibility for people willing to take the risk and make the sacrifices. A lot of people might say that’s not so and that travel was exclusively for the wealthy, but I can look into my own ancestry at the son of a bankrupted carpenter who decided to travel from Quebec to Scotland to look for a wife is an example that travel couldn’t have been restricted to the wealthy - just the adventurous.
International travel today has become a really environmentally costly form of recreation. Don’t forget that an economy seat on a transatlantic flight has the same GHG effect as seven years of that guy driving his hummer around town - In large part because of releasing the emissions at such a high altitude has a magnifying effect.
So in my eyes when I look at this beat up old steamer trunk I see adventure. When you packed this baby up you knew that something serious was going down. When I see those drag behind rolling suitcases used by international travelers and commuters alike I don’t see anything special going on. More like something dreary going on.
When we have turned the adventurous into the everyday at great cost to the planetary environmental health, sure it’s progress, but is it really a good thing?
These are the trunks :
Not even a hundred years ago trunks like these would have been the shiznit for going on a long voyage but today, I probably couldn't travel with them. If I insisted on trying it would likely cost me more to send the trunks than to send myself.
This is a good example of what I consider questionable progress. International travel is now fast, efficient and everyday. Add in the cattle car mentality the airlines have applied to those of us who travel as economy passengers and I guess this is why I don’t see international travel as adventurous.
In the day of these trunks going on an international voyage was an adventure. You had to be rich, save up your money or get a job overseas but it was still a possibility for people willing to take the risk and make the sacrifices. A lot of people might say that’s not so and that travel was exclusively for the wealthy, but I can look into my own ancestry at the son of a bankrupted carpenter who decided to travel from Quebec to Scotland to look for a wife is an example that travel couldn’t have been restricted to the wealthy - just the adventurous.
International travel today has become a really environmentally costly form of recreation. Don’t forget that an economy seat on a transatlantic flight has the same GHG effect as seven years of that guy driving his hummer around town - In large part because of releasing the emissions at such a high altitude has a magnifying effect.
So in my eyes when I look at this beat up old steamer trunk I see adventure. When you packed this baby up you knew that something serious was going down. When I see those drag behind rolling suitcases used by international travelers and commuters alike I don’t see anything special going on. More like something dreary going on.
When we have turned the adventurous into the everyday at great cost to the planetary environmental health, sure it’s progress, but is it really a good thing?
These are the trunks :
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Heat Waves
Complaints about the heat abound. But I suspect that’s the price of air-conditioning – we don’t practice our own adaptability enough to get good at it. Then when the power goes out people panic. I can’t figure out how to get the AC on in our rental house but I don’t care. I like the heat as long as I can get clean water right from the tap.
I walked into this store called Planet Organic yesterday. It’s got all this stuff on the walls and in the brochures about good for the planet sustainability etc.. As I walk in off the hot, humid street I‘m hit with this wall of freeze. Uncomfortably cold I’m thinking “can this abuse of the AC really be good for the planet? How many of these overpriced foods are in reality green washed planet killers?” By the time I’ve formulated that question, boom, the power goes out.
Fitting I says.
So I went to Home Depot and bought a hedge trimmer. Gonna do some plant killing of my own on the weekend. Unless mother-nature fights back and strikes me down with the lightning in the forecast…
I walked into this store called Planet Organic yesterday. It’s got all this stuff on the walls and in the brochures about good for the planet sustainability etc.. As I walk in off the hot, humid street I‘m hit with this wall of freeze. Uncomfortably cold I’m thinking “can this abuse of the AC really be good for the planet? How many of these overpriced foods are in reality green washed planet killers?” By the time I’ve formulated that question, boom, the power goes out.
Fitting I says.
So I went to Home Depot and bought a hedge trimmer. Gonna do some plant killing of my own on the weekend. Unless mother-nature fights back and strikes me down with the lightning in the forecast…
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
More twists in the river
The La Cloche trip is officially on hold again and I suspect the Adirondack trail is as well. This is basically the result of two recent developments. Firstly I have a new job starting in July so scheduling is all up in the air. Secondly I just blew 2.438 years of my disposable income on a new Mac book Pro. A third factor is that I’ve decided it’s really time to focus on getting ready to move to the farm so what time off I do take from work will be dedicated to farm prep work.
This year we want to get a shed or two built, work on clearing some brush, put in a mass of fruit and nut trees and get started on some fencing. In the fall I am hoping to go to the Earthwood Building School ( http://www.cordwoodmasonry.com/ ) and take the three day cordwood workshop. Given the location if I could get a few extra days off I might try to sneak in a trip to the High Peaks Region of Adirondack Park and do the MacIntyre Range ( adirondackjourney.com/MacIntyre_Range.htm ) since I’d be in the neighbourhood anyway.
I can't figure out why the cordwood thing won't make a link.
This year we want to get a shed or two built, work on clearing some brush, put in a mass of fruit and nut trees and get started on some fencing. In the fall I am hoping to go to the Earthwood Building School ( http://www.cordwoodmasonry.com/ ) and take the three day cordwood workshop. Given the location if I could get a few extra days off I might try to sneak in a trip to the High Peaks Region of Adirondack Park and do the MacIntyre Range ( adirondackjourney.com/MacIntyre_Range.htm ) since I’d be in the neighbourhood anyway.
I can't figure out why the cordwood thing won't make a link.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Cider Quest 2010: Progress Report 2
I’ve got five more ciders to add to the sampled list: Cracked Apple, Grower’s Peach, Magner’s, Peeler Premium Light, and Williams. Nine ciders in I’ve come to the conclusion that cider’s come in two basic forms - ones that try to be as beer-like as possible and ciders that try to be crisp. I prefer the crisp ones because from what I’ve seen the beer imitator’s would do better to just be beer.
My current rankings are:
1. Cracked Apple
2. Grower’s Peach
3. Peeler Premium Light
4. Wapoos
5. Williams
6. Bulmer’s
7. Blackthorn
8. Magner’s
Sadly, the Cracked Apple has been discontinued. Only seven bottles remain I the province. 3 in Bala, 3 in Petawawa and one in Portland. None of which I will be anywhere near anytime soon.
Happily, Grower’s has a variety of flavours of cider so I will have to see if the LCBO carries a variety pack. And I’ll want to check the other county cider brewing company offerings. And I’ve heard a rumour about some offering from La belle provence…
Some of you may have noticed the absence of that most ubiquitous of ciders, Stongbow, from my list. I drank Strongbow once a long time ago. I see no need to go back. Unless I’m really feeling depressed and it’s free.
9. Strongbow
My current rankings are:
1. Cracked Apple
2. Grower’s Peach
3. Peeler Premium Light
4. Wapoos
5. Williams
6. Bulmer’s
7. Blackthorn
8. Magner’s
Sadly, the Cracked Apple has been discontinued. Only seven bottles remain I the province. 3 in Bala, 3 in Petawawa and one in Portland. None of which I will be anywhere near anytime soon.
Happily, Grower’s has a variety of flavours of cider so I will have to see if the LCBO carries a variety pack. And I’ll want to check the other county cider brewing company offerings. And I’ve heard a rumour about some offering from La belle provence…
Some of you may have noticed the absence of that most ubiquitous of ciders, Stongbow, from my list. I drank Strongbow once a long time ago. I see no need to go back. Unless I’m really feeling depressed and it’s free.
9. Strongbow
Monday, June 21, 2010
The War in the Country
By Thomas F. Pawlick
If you are the kind of person who prefers to make informed decisions and presently do, or plan to do either of the following :
1. vote
2. eat
you need to read this book. For the rest of you I give you this:
The Rules of Bureaucracy
1. Preserve thyself.
2. It is easier to fix the blame than to fix the problem.
3. A penny saved is an oversight.
4. Information deteriorates upward.
5. The first 90% of the task takes 90% of the time; the last 10% takes the other 90%.
6. Experience is what you get just after you need it.
7. For any given large, complex, hard-to-understand, expensive problem, there exists at least one short, simple, easy, cheap wrong answer.
8. Anything that can be changed will be, until time runs out.
9. To err is human; to shrug is civil service.
10. There's never enough time to do it right, but there's always enough time to do it over.
If you are the kind of person who prefers to make informed decisions and presently do, or plan to do either of the following :
1. vote
2. eat
you need to read this book. For the rest of you I give you this:
The Rules of Bureaucracy
1. Preserve thyself.
2. It is easier to fix the blame than to fix the problem.
3. A penny saved is an oversight.
4. Information deteriorates upward.
5. The first 90% of the task takes 90% of the time; the last 10% takes the other 90%.
6. Experience is what you get just after you need it.
7. For any given large, complex, hard-to-understand, expensive problem, there exists at least one short, simple, easy, cheap wrong answer.
8. Anything that can be changed will be, until time runs out.
9. To err is human; to shrug is civil service.
10. There's never enough time to do it right, but there's always enough time to do it over.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Cider Quest 2010 progress report
I've tried a couple of more ciders recently. The Boss and I shared a 4 pack of Wapoos cider which is a local Ontario product made in the County of Prince Edward. I liked it when chilled but the Boss found it to be beery for her taste.
On the weekend we went to a local Pub to scope t out as a potential place to catch a World Cup game or six, Cuchulain's by name. I tried the Blackthorn cider they had on draft but I was glad it was the Boss who had ordered the pint. I didn't care for it at all. Too sharp with no reward. But the real find was that not only do I have a Mary Brown's franchise 400 yards down the road but if I go in the other direction for $2 extra I can get savoury dressing and gravy on my fries! Now if they would just put some Black Horse on tap I could break out my Doyle jersey and get fugly. Just kidding. I don't have any Doyle house clothes anymore.
Given the delicious combination of Fuller's, perogies and NFL at the Franklin Pourhouse I'm going to have to check out the Cock and Pheasant to see what surprises they might have in store for me. It's kind of shocking anyway that I have a British style pub a three minute walk from the house that I've not shown my patronage but to be honest the place scares me a bit because the parking lot is regularly full of empty beer bottles. Which I presume are dropped by the patrons getting primed on the drive over to the pub. But then I didn't think Cider Quest 2010 would be all sunshine and roses.
Results so far :
1. Wapoos
2. Bulmer's
3. Blackthorn (draft)
On the weekend we went to a local Pub to scope t out as a potential place to catch a World Cup game or six, Cuchulain's by name. I tried the Blackthorn cider they had on draft but I was glad it was the Boss who had ordered the pint. I didn't care for it at all. Too sharp with no reward. But the real find was that not only do I have a Mary Brown's franchise 400 yards down the road but if I go in the other direction for $2 extra I can get savoury dressing and gravy on my fries! Now if they would just put some Black Horse on tap I could break out my Doyle jersey and get fugly. Just kidding. I don't have any Doyle house clothes anymore.
Given the delicious combination of Fuller's, perogies and NFL at the Franklin Pourhouse I'm going to have to check out the Cock and Pheasant to see what surprises they might have in store for me. It's kind of shocking anyway that I have a British style pub a three minute walk from the house that I've not shown my patronage but to be honest the place scares me a bit because the parking lot is regularly full of empty beer bottles. Which I presume are dropped by the patrons getting primed on the drive over to the pub. But then I didn't think Cider Quest 2010 would be all sunshine and roses.
Results so far :
1. Wapoos
2. Bulmer's
3. Blackthorn (draft)
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Feeble attempts to not waste my entire life
The silver lining to my hellishly long commute is that I am reading a lot of books on he bus.Some are better than others but there have been a few I would recommend. Meeting the Invisible Man, The Art of Racing in the Rain and Long Way Gone. None of them are heavy reading but for me at least all were thought provoking. Long Way Gone in particular I would recommend to to the socially or politically minded, Meeting the Invisible Man to adventure travellers and The Art of Racing in the Rain to dog owners.
I'm currently reading the Friends of Killarney Park trail guide to the La Cloche Silhouette Trail. It's also easy reading and has helped me decide that if I go it will be later in the summer. I had been thinking about early July but there arose a conflict with a potential Dave Brubeck concert at the Ottawa Jazz fest. Reading in the trail guide that bugs remain a problem until mid July I've decided that if I go on the hike at all I'll go late July or August. Travelling in the high heat opens up the possibility of trying to ultralight the trail - do the whole thing fast and light in trail runners and sleeping under my rain poncho which also seems suited to hiking solo. This is also the busiest time of year on the trail and according to the guide it can be difficult to book sites so even if I solo the trail it sounds like I would have lots of company.
Although it looks like if I want to get the time off work I'll have to quit my job. But that also applies to trying to get time off to do some preliminary work on the farmland.And of course the whole lifestyle question of work to live or live to work? Right now I am living to work. But then there are bills to pay. I'm going to have to sleep on it one more time.
I'm currently reading the Friends of Killarney Park trail guide to the La Cloche Silhouette Trail. It's also easy reading and has helped me decide that if I go it will be later in the summer. I had been thinking about early July but there arose a conflict with a potential Dave Brubeck concert at the Ottawa Jazz fest. Reading in the trail guide that bugs remain a problem until mid July I've decided that if I go on the hike at all I'll go late July or August. Travelling in the high heat opens up the possibility of trying to ultralight the trail - do the whole thing fast and light in trail runners and sleeping under my rain poncho which also seems suited to hiking solo. This is also the busiest time of year on the trail and according to the guide it can be difficult to book sites so even if I solo the trail it sounds like I would have lots of company.
Although it looks like if I want to get the time off work I'll have to quit my job. But that also applies to trying to get time off to do some preliminary work on the farmland.And of course the whole lifestyle question of work to live or live to work? Right now I am living to work. But then there are bills to pay. I'm going to have to sleep on it one more time.
Monday, May 31, 2010
The dirt on soil
On Saturday I went to the McVean farm in Brampton to do a course called The Dirt on Soil offered by the Farm Start program. It was my first course as I figure from the ground up is a good place to start. I learned a lot and I'm looking forward to getting out to the land this summer and implementing what I've learned. It will be neat to know what kind of soil we have and what we can do with it.
The fields haven't been farmed in years so I'm counting that as cover cropping and hope to get all that mulched in later this summer or in the fall. Not sure if I want to hire a farmer to do it for me this year or to buy a tractor and implements so I can do it myself. Of course I'd rather do it myself but then I would have to store the tractor all winter.
It seems that getting healthy soil is going to be a lot of work but that it will pay off in the long run. So it's just like everything else.
I've started my cider quest. My first sampling was Bulmer's Cider and an uninspired selection it was. It tastes like a fizzy drink you might give to kids who can't handle actual soft drinks. Although due to the alcohol content I do not officially recommend this course of action.
The fields haven't been farmed in years so I'm counting that as cover cropping and hope to get all that mulched in later this summer or in the fall. Not sure if I want to hire a farmer to do it for me this year or to buy a tractor and implements so I can do it myself. Of course I'd rather do it myself but then I would have to store the tractor all winter.
It seems that getting healthy soil is going to be a lot of work but that it will pay off in the long run. So it's just like everything else.
I've started my cider quest. My first sampling was Bulmer's Cider and an uninspired selection it was. It tastes like a fizzy drink you might give to kids who can't handle actual soft drinks. Although due to the alcohol content I do not officially recommend this course of action.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
I hab a cold
At this point I definitely consider Physh camp 2010 a rousing success. I am in day 4 of the late May cold I usually suffer through in the woods. I wonder if tis seeming annual cold is in part the result of an immune system weakened by my allergies?
In any case It has me thinking I will want to keep Physh camp on the early side.
In any case It has me thinking I will want to keep Physh camp on the early side.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Back in the saddle
For those of you who have not guessed I've been off the Paleo diet for about a month now.Pizza, beer, potato chips, chocolate bars and sugary snacks galore and I've dicovered something. I've decided to go back to the Paleo diet b ut in all honesty I donot recommend you try it.
The Paleo diet is ike an expensive bike or fine whiskey - it makes what you once thought was good intollerably bad. There is no joyously riding aound on your Raleigh bike with a bottle of JD in your pocket after you've cruised down to the liquor store on your Cervelo to pick up a bottle of JW Blue. And essentially thats what has happened to me - the S.A.D. diet is the Supercycle of the dietary world - cheap and convient aand better than walking but the ride is shit if you know any better.
The conclusion I've reached is that I still like my sweets but they are not worth the general feeling of malaise that I didn't even realize I was feeling before. I used to blame city life and a lack of caribou meat and apparently I was half right. Grain fed beef and farm salmon is nutritionally no substitute for wild caribou and salmon.
So I'm going back to the Paleo diet but with some adjustments. Mainly I'm tossing out the no indegenous American plants and just eliminating the foods that have a scientific reason why they cause problems. Basically potatoes are back on my plate. I'm also keeping coffee and will allow an occaisional cheat for beer on social occaisions. I'll try to stick to wine and mead and running to wash away the occaisional waves of depression that are the legacy of urban life. The Big Smoke is NOT a bike friendly place so the urge to ride is not very strong here - tinged as it is with a feeling of the suicidal.
The Paleo diet is ike an expensive bike or fine whiskey - it makes what you once thought was good intollerably bad. There is no joyously riding aound on your Raleigh bike with a bottle of JD in your pocket after you've cruised down to the liquor store on your Cervelo to pick up a bottle of JW Blue. And essentially thats what has happened to me - the S.A.D. diet is the Supercycle of the dietary world - cheap and convient aand better than walking but the ride is shit if you know any better.
The conclusion I've reached is that I still like my sweets but they are not worth the general feeling of malaise that I didn't even realize I was feeling before. I used to blame city life and a lack of caribou meat and apparently I was half right. Grain fed beef and farm salmon is nutritionally no substitute for wild caribou and salmon.
So I'm going back to the Paleo diet but with some adjustments. Mainly I'm tossing out the no indegenous American plants and just eliminating the foods that have a scientific reason why they cause problems. Basically potatoes are back on my plate. I'm also keeping coffee and will allow an occaisional cheat for beer on social occaisions. I'll try to stick to wine and mead and running to wash away the occaisional waves of depression that are the legacy of urban life. The Big Smoke is NOT a bike friendly place so the urge to ride is not very strong here - tinged as it is with a feeling of the suicidal.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Morning Rain
I’ve often said that camping in the rain is more like work than fun. Now that I’m back to work I think I might have to eat those words.
On Physh camp I woke up to the bladder alarm in the hours before the dawn, the sound of steady rain drumming on the tent, visions of my breath and knowing full well that my tauntaun would likely freeze before I reached the first marker. Right now I’d have to say I’d take that start any day over this morning – waking to the radio alarm (purposely set to an annoying morning show) to get ready and head out for another day at the office.
Sure, there is something to be said for being warm, dry and well fed but apparently it’s not everything. I appear to be living in the progress paradox (see: The Progress Paradox: How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse by Gregg Easterbrook). The crux of the idea is that all the comforts money can buy will not provide satisfaction.
It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of the sprawl that is the Big Smoke and since I’m here for the foreseeable future so I think I need to pilfer an idea from Tenacious V. I need to try to shrink the sprawl by only every using a tiny corner of it. At least limit myself to Mississauga. A suburban warping of her metropolitan idea that I’m sure would have Tenacious V cringing. But really, thanks to the vision and longevity of the mayor Mississauga is on a path to become a city of its own someday (hire me!).
So the conclusion I have reached is that I need to stop pussyfooting around find a new job, something closer to home and something where I can learn new skills. It will mean drop in income that the Boss won’t like. For my part it probably means no long hikes again this year :(
On Physh camp I woke up to the bladder alarm in the hours before the dawn, the sound of steady rain drumming on the tent, visions of my breath and knowing full well that my tauntaun would likely freeze before I reached the first marker. Right now I’d have to say I’d take that start any day over this morning – waking to the radio alarm (purposely set to an annoying morning show) to get ready and head out for another day at the office.
Sure, there is something to be said for being warm, dry and well fed but apparently it’s not everything. I appear to be living in the progress paradox (see: The Progress Paradox: How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse by Gregg Easterbrook). The crux of the idea is that all the comforts money can buy will not provide satisfaction.
It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of the sprawl that is the Big Smoke and since I’m here for the foreseeable future so I think I need to pilfer an idea from Tenacious V. I need to try to shrink the sprawl by only every using a tiny corner of it. At least limit myself to Mississauga. A suburban warping of her metropolitan idea that I’m sure would have Tenacious V cringing. But really, thanks to the vision and longevity of the mayor Mississauga is on a path to become a city of its own someday (hire me!).
So the conclusion I have reached is that I need to stop pussyfooting around find a new job, something closer to home and something where I can learn new skills. It will mean drop in income that the Boss won’t like. For my part it probably means no long hikes again this year :(
Friday, May 7, 2010
Physh Camp 2010 report
We all got out alive so I'm calling Physh Camp 2010 another success. Not much luck with the fishing though but that;s not unusual. Our fly fishermen did manage to provide a meal of trout but there was no action at all on the spinners.
We had some rain and according to the park ranger I talked to it was a good thing as the lakes are already at August water levels.
In my opinion the corridor is probably a better area for travelling than fishing. The portages are very well maintained and there appeared to be lots of campers. Even in early May we saw over 20 interior canoeists.
My fitness level was not too bad. I'm just hoping I can hold out as long as my Dad who portaged our canoe over the Devil's Staircase and went back for more at the tender age of 72!
A few photos:
The main man of fishing with our only Bass of the trip (released):
The Physh Camp 2010 crew:
We had some rain and according to the park ranger I talked to it was a good thing as the lakes are already at August water levels.
In my opinion the corridor is probably a better area for travelling than fishing. The portages are very well maintained and there appeared to be lots of campers. Even in early May we saw over 20 interior canoeists.
My fitness level was not too bad. I'm just hoping I can hold out as long as my Dad who portaged our canoe over the Devil's Staircase and went back for more at the tender age of 72!
A few photos:
The main man of fishing with our only Bass of the trip (released):
The Physh Camp 2010 crew:
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Physh Camp 2010 Weather Prognostication
I just checked the forecast for Physh camp 2010. a day of light rain and a day to dry the stuff out in time for another day of light rain. I guess I'll pack a book. Or two.
Temperatures look pretty good. Actually really good considering it's early May. But I'm still going to pack my thermals and a tuk.
Temperatures look pretty good. Actually really good considering it's early May. But I'm still going to pack my thermals and a tuk.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
The truth
It's hard to do better than jelly beans but gourment jelly beans should stand as a reminder that there is always room for improvement.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Less than three more weeks
I am currently a dry animated husk. I am dead. But I consume and therefore I must feed. I am a zombie. Almost.
Every week I snatch a few hours in which to almost live. Get close enouhg that I can see life from there. It mostly consists of hiding out with my netbook and trying to conquer the galaxy in pixels or vegging in front of a movie. But most of the time I am little more than a hamster on a wheel - running because I don’t know what else to do. I am pursuing money like a Romero zombie pursues brains. It is an all consuming obsession without rhyme or reason.
In theory, some day, I will use this money to set myself free. Free of the urban rat race. I will live on a farm with trees and animals and grow my own food and not be just another sacrifice on the altar of Greed. Or will I? Will my current obsession, my all consuming pursuit, my dark master greed, follow me into the countryside? They do say old habits die hard. In the end will I simply toil a different toil for Mammon? The lash of the tax man ever present across my back?
This is why I’m so looking forward to Physh Camp this year. A few days off the wheel. A few days of living to remind me what it’s like to not be an animated husk.
Every week I snatch a few hours in which to almost live. Get close enouhg that I can see life from there. It mostly consists of hiding out with my netbook and trying to conquer the galaxy in pixels or vegging in front of a movie. But most of the time I am little more than a hamster on a wheel - running because I don’t know what else to do. I am pursuing money like a Romero zombie pursues brains. It is an all consuming obsession without rhyme or reason.
In theory, some day, I will use this money to set myself free. Free of the urban rat race. I will live on a farm with trees and animals and grow my own food and not be just another sacrifice on the altar of Greed. Or will I? Will my current obsession, my all consuming pursuit, my dark master greed, follow me into the countryside? They do say old habits die hard. In the end will I simply toil a different toil for Mammon? The lash of the tax man ever present across my back?
This is why I’m so looking forward to Physh Camp this year. A few days off the wheel. A few days of living to remind me what it’s like to not be an animated husk.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
"He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing."
I got all stressed out at werk the other day so I bought stemus. The boss got pretty upset which helped to magnify my stress levels and therefore desire to smoke. Though it did give me a chance to evaluate the notion of self administered toxins.
Smoking, as before going paleo, has had no noticeable ill effects. So I'm guessing my lungs are still OK when compared to my liver which really lets me know it now when I eat even mild toxins. I've never been a heavy smoker but I've enjoyed the flavour of a good smoke for some time and, for me at least, there is an undeniable calmness that comes from performing such a blatantly self destructive act. I think on some level its an assertion of control over the self.
We've been having some crazy nice weather already so the Boss and I have been putting her fire box thingy to good use. Not only is it an excuse to eat wieners but who doesn't like to sit by a nice wood fire? We got the wood from this tree that was cut down across the street and you know what? It smells kind of funny. I don't know what kind of wood it is but I'm wondering if the smell isn't a result of the tree growing up not far from North America's worst pollution producer (by political jurisdiction). They say urban trees are the best air filters there are.
Smoking, as before going paleo, has had no noticeable ill effects. So I'm guessing my lungs are still OK when compared to my liver which really lets me know it now when I eat even mild toxins. I've never been a heavy smoker but I've enjoyed the flavour of a good smoke for some time and, for me at least, there is an undeniable calmness that comes from performing such a blatantly self destructive act. I think on some level its an assertion of control over the self.
We've been having some crazy nice weather already so the Boss and I have been putting her fire box thingy to good use. Not only is it an excuse to eat wieners but who doesn't like to sit by a nice wood fire? We got the wood from this tree that was cut down across the street and you know what? It smells kind of funny. I don't know what kind of wood it is but I'm wondering if the smell isn't a result of the tree growing up not far from North America's worst pollution producer (by political jurisdiction). They say urban trees are the best air filters there are.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Something's gotta give
I've been counting cars while I stand at the bus stopfor two weeks now and it's works out to a fairly steady average of about four percent of automobiles have more than one adult in them. The worst day I've counted is one percent but there have been a couple of days that have gotten as high as six percent. One day I even saw a vehicle with four adults in it! But it look slike 90% of "carpoolers" are husband and wife.
Given last ummer, presumably again this summer huge amounts of stimulus spending will be spent on road construction I think it might be time that we as Canada stop talking about climate change. It's time to put on the black hat and tell the hippies to find a new country if they want to preserve the environoment because 96 percent of Canadians are not willing to make even minor sacrifices. They want their luxury. And more. Right now. (And if Canada gets warmer in the bargain how can that be bad?)
Well I've been reading this brutally technical book of researcvh papers called "Farming in a Changeing Climate" that does a lot of climate modeling and looks at how agriculture has adapted to climate changes in the past. According to this book the climate models suggest Canada will get steadily warmer and dryer in the coming decades. First crop yeilds will go down and prices will go up. Then we'll switch crops until eventually areas like southern and eastern Ontario, the Maritimes, Quebec, and B.C. will have to move to marijuana feilds and Meth labs for the foundation of their economies. OK so it's not much of a change for B.C and it is 50 years away.
My problem is that like all climate change models for public consumption the book ignores one of the big observations of past climate changes and that has become the second elephant in the room (is it just me or is the room getting crowded). The first elephant is the well known idea that there are way too many humans on earth to be accomadated by our current economic system. The second elephant was once disscussed openly but is now considered too scary for public consumption - it is that observation of past climates indicates that climates do not change gradually over a period of 1000 or even 100 years. Climate factors reach a tipping point and the change happens in a couple of decades. Maybe less.
All this too say maybe I can get a job on a road crew this summer? Get me some of that stimulus money before we reach the tipping point and it all comes undone at the seams. I'll wait for it to become legal before I become a Pot farmer so I'll be so far behind the 8-ball and it'll probably be pointless. And I just don't feel good about getting in on the Meth market before I really have to.
Given last ummer, presumably again this summer huge amounts of stimulus spending will be spent on road construction I think it might be time that we as Canada stop talking about climate change. It's time to put on the black hat and tell the hippies to find a new country if they want to preserve the environoment because 96 percent of Canadians are not willing to make even minor sacrifices. They want their luxury. And more. Right now. (And if Canada gets warmer in the bargain how can that be bad?)
Well I've been reading this brutally technical book of researcvh papers called "Farming in a Changeing Climate" that does a lot of climate modeling and looks at how agriculture has adapted to climate changes in the past. According to this book the climate models suggest Canada will get steadily warmer and dryer in the coming decades. First crop yeilds will go down and prices will go up. Then we'll switch crops until eventually areas like southern and eastern Ontario, the Maritimes, Quebec, and B.C. will have to move to marijuana feilds and Meth labs for the foundation of their economies. OK so it's not much of a change for B.C and it is 50 years away.
My problem is that like all climate change models for public consumption the book ignores one of the big observations of past climate changes and that has become the second elephant in the room (is it just me or is the room getting crowded). The first elephant is the well known idea that there are way too many humans on earth to be accomadated by our current economic system. The second elephant was once disscussed openly but is now considered too scary for public consumption - it is that observation of past climates indicates that climates do not change gradually over a period of 1000 or even 100 years. Climate factors reach a tipping point and the change happens in a couple of decades. Maybe less.
All this too say maybe I can get a job on a road crew this summer? Get me some of that stimulus money before we reach the tipping point and it all comes undone at the seams. I'll wait for it to become legal before I become a Pot farmer so I'll be so far behind the 8-ball and it'll probably be pointless. And I just don't feel good about getting in on the Meth market before I really have to.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Plateau
I’ve plateaued at approximately 190 pounds on the diet. Luckily the weather is improving so I can try to work on that last 15 pounds with exercise. To that end I’ve started running at lunchtime. I ran twice last week and will run twice this week and then I need to decide before April 1st if I want to try the Mississauga 10k and start training for real in April. That will only leave me 6 weeks to train so I probably won’t win but hey, I was just ranting about our new national obsession with being the master race so if I register I’ll approach it with a classic participaction pin attitude.
Do you remember the participaction pin? Back from the days when we were still a semi-autonomous nation-state trying to forge our own identity. The idea is still sort of around but now instead of being a free pin it’s a video game console that you have to buy from the Japanese.
Do you remember the participaction pin? Back from the days when we were still a semi-autonomous nation-state trying to forge our own identity. The idea is still sort of around but now instead of being a free pin it’s a video game console that you have to buy from the Japanese.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
An open letter to the NFL competition comitee
Gentlemen,
Football is about shut up and do your job. Team work. This ridiculous proposal for new overtime rules is pathetic. Sad. Disgusting. I realise that your lust for money means you want to emphasise offence and that there is a chorus of professional whiners who complain that both offenses should have an opportunity to score in overtime but I have to ask how can you pretend that this would be for the good of the game? Some silly warping of the the idea of fairness? What's next -does every player have to touch the ball before you can score? Maybe the original coin toss should be replaced with that comical XFL scramble?
I've read the cries, oh the Colts lost in overtime because the almighty Peyton Manning didn't get to touch the ball in Overtime. The greatest player yadda yadda yadda. All this says is that we need to stop judging quarterbacks on the number of Superbowl rings they have. I guess Peyton should have scored more in regulation.
The current overtime system can't be that bad or we wouldn't see so many gutless coaches playing for overtime at the end of close games. When coaches start playing to win rather than go to overtime then you can start talking about the system being broken.
And please don't follow the dark path of the NHL in making overtime a sad caricature of a once great game.
In the modern game of platoon football each platoon has to do it's job for the team to be great.
Why not spend your time fixing something that's a problem - like mandating the anti-concussion helmets for starters.
Football is about shut up and do your job. Team work. This ridiculous proposal for new overtime rules is pathetic. Sad. Disgusting. I realise that your lust for money means you want to emphasise offence and that there is a chorus of professional whiners who complain that both offenses should have an opportunity to score in overtime but I have to ask how can you pretend that this would be for the good of the game? Some silly warping of the the idea of fairness? What's next -does every player have to touch the ball before you can score? Maybe the original coin toss should be replaced with that comical XFL scramble?
I've read the cries, oh the Colts lost in overtime because the almighty Peyton Manning didn't get to touch the ball in Overtime. The greatest player yadda yadda yadda. All this says is that we need to stop judging quarterbacks on the number of Superbowl rings they have. I guess Peyton should have scored more in regulation.
The current overtime system can't be that bad or we wouldn't see so many gutless coaches playing for overtime at the end of close games. When coaches start playing to win rather than go to overtime then you can start talking about the system being broken.
And please don't follow the dark path of the NHL in making overtime a sad caricature of a once great game.
In the modern game of platoon football each platoon has to do it's job for the team to be great.
Why not spend your time fixing something that's a problem - like mandating the anti-concussion helmets for starters.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Tax time
For the last few years at this time I am reminded of the old adage that money does not buy happiness and recall a very good book on the subject. The book was written by the TMQ and is called "The Progress Paradox" if anyone is interested in looking it up.
What brings this issue to mind is of course tax season. But it's probably not in the way that you think. I now pay more in taxes each year than my total income my first year in Ontario. Not that I am now rich, or even middle class for that matter but that I was apparently really poor in 1998. I can honestly say that life is differnet now but not nessesarily happier. For example back when I was poor my job wasn't soul killing, it was just hard, dangerous and severely underpaid because it required no edumakation.
Now I have a different set of concerns and material lusts to make me fret. I have bought the unaffordable toys of my courrier days and replaced those desires with new unafordable toys. This is the crux of the progress paradox - in material terms what we want is more. What you have is irrelevant because what you really want is not something specific it's just more. Basically our brains don't understand the concept of enough. It was probably some sort of evolutionary benefit up until about 200 years ago.
The interesting part of the book is that it goes on to offer a solution - kindness of all things. The odd thing is that it's not only kindness received but kindness given and returned that matters the most to an individual's happiness. I can't attest to that you'll have to read the book but what I can attest to is quintupling your income doesn't make you happier.
The author also goes on to mention that believing in something greater than yourself makes people happier regardless of what that greater thing is. I'm still working out the details on that one but when I've got it sorted out you and all your savings will be welcome to join my cult.
Oh and one last thing - back when I hardly paid any taxes my blood didn't boil at how badly misused/wasted they are. Yes we do see benefits from our taxes but most of us are not getting good value for our money in my opinion.
What brings this issue to mind is of course tax season. But it's probably not in the way that you think. I now pay more in taxes each year than my total income my first year in Ontario. Not that I am now rich, or even middle class for that matter but that I was apparently really poor in 1998. I can honestly say that life is differnet now but not nessesarily happier. For example back when I was poor my job wasn't soul killing, it was just hard, dangerous and severely underpaid because it required no edumakation.
Now I have a different set of concerns and material lusts to make me fret. I have bought the unaffordable toys of my courrier days and replaced those desires with new unafordable toys. This is the crux of the progress paradox - in material terms what we want is more. What you have is irrelevant because what you really want is not something specific it's just more. Basically our brains don't understand the concept of enough. It was probably some sort of evolutionary benefit up until about 200 years ago.
The interesting part of the book is that it goes on to offer a solution - kindness of all things. The odd thing is that it's not only kindness received but kindness given and returned that matters the most to an individual's happiness. I can't attest to that you'll have to read the book but what I can attest to is quintupling your income doesn't make you happier.
The author also goes on to mention that believing in something greater than yourself makes people happier regardless of what that greater thing is. I'm still working out the details on that one but when I've got it sorted out you and all your savings will be welcome to join my cult.
Oh and one last thing - back when I hardly paid any taxes my blood didn't boil at how badly misused/wasted they are. Yes we do see benefits from our taxes but most of us are not getting good value for our money in my opinion.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Sounding British
Is it just me or are the olympics getting worse every time? And I'm not refering to the chainlink fences or the potentially toxic snow preserving chemicals or the failed grandstands. I'm referring to how we react to the olympics as a nation. Since when did Canada become such a nasty country? Or is putting our nastiness on display a good thing for it's honesty?
I try to avoid Olympic coverage when I can but like Christmas it's not possible to avoid it completely. What is bothering me is the obsession with medals, medals, medals. The early coverage was all about how we aren't winning enough medals. Failure, waste of money and all that. Now it's all about the golds. Even Rex is not immune - on cross country check up this week the question is "if the men fail to win olympic hockey gold make this olympics a failure?"
At least when I was a kid Canada was proud of you just for being an Olympic athlete and the guys in the orange blazers would rave about a 12th place finish if it was a personal best or Canadian record. Do they still do that? Or is the depressed/angry highlight coverage about our inability to emulate Australia in 2000 representative of the regular programming?
Personally, our record gold medal haul is not making me proud to be a Canadian. I'm just saddened about how we seem to be adopting all the worst traits of our chest thumping southern neighbours.
I try to avoid Olympic coverage when I can but like Christmas it's not possible to avoid it completely. What is bothering me is the obsession with medals, medals, medals. The early coverage was all about how we aren't winning enough medals. Failure, waste of money and all that. Now it's all about the golds. Even Rex is not immune - on cross country check up this week the question is "if the men fail to win olympic hockey gold make this olympics a failure?"
At least when I was a kid Canada was proud of you just for being an Olympic athlete and the guys in the orange blazers would rave about a 12th place finish if it was a personal best or Canadian record. Do they still do that? Or is the depressed/angry highlight coverage about our inability to emulate Australia in 2000 representative of the regular programming?
Personally, our record gold medal haul is not making me proud to be a Canadian. I'm just saddened about how we seem to be adopting all the worst traits of our chest thumping southern neighbours.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Physh Camp 2010 update
As if there wasn't already enough excitement surrounding Physh Camp 2010 what with travelling to a new area of the park and earlier than ever in the season the 2010 edition will feature a special guest star!
The organizing committee has received word that in a reverse George Elson the expedition will be bringing a Labrador native guide on our Algonquin trip. This modern day Labradorian will regale us all with tales of derring do from a real wilderness and provide displays of woodcraft. So bring your notebooks lads!
(Lets hope the trip results are also a reverse)
The organizing committee has received word that in a reverse George Elson the expedition will be bringing a Labrador native guide on our Algonquin trip. This modern day Labradorian will regale us all with tales of derring do from a real wilderness and provide displays of woodcraft. So bring your notebooks lads!
(Lets hope the trip results are also a reverse)
Monday, February 22, 2010
Right next door to hell
It's a good thing Toronto doesn't get any snow. I got on the bus 20 minutes ago and we have almost covered the 1.2 kms down Yongue Street to the 401. If it stays like this I'm looking at a 13 hour bus ride. Nah, if it's like that I'll get off at Yorkdale and catch a movie - presuming the theater is still open.
In reality though from what I've seen Hogtown doesn't get much snow. But don't get to thinking the weather here is good or anything. It's better than Sin City but that's like saying being stabbed is less painful than being shot. In fact I think the garbage weather is one reason no one here owns any decent winter clothing - they never go outside except to run from one door to the next.
Being a good Canadian (don't tell anyone) every morning I listen to the radio for the weather to know how to dress for the day. It's always some variation on minus two with a windchll of minus ten, or minus five in downtown with a windchill of minus 29. While the Big Smoke may not be hell on earth it's close enough that every day we feel the icy blasts. (Editor's note: In Inuit tradition hell is a frozen wasteland) So the reason there is no snow is that it all blowsaway.
Actually the highway is heavily salted and we are making good time. With any luck my connecting bus will be late and I won't have missed it. My connection is at the massive Square One Mall that is the epicentre of downtown Mississauga and a monument to why consumerism is wrong. 500 stores, ninety percent of them dedicated to telling the ladies that they are ugly if they don't buy this. And this. And that other thing. Not that Yorkdale is any better (it might actually be worse).
Anyway it all makes me think of this aboriginal comedian I saw on TV once. He had this little bit about how the only land in all of Ontario that is not currently subject to a land claim is downtown Toronto. He figured that when the first Europeans showed up and asked the natives where was a good place to settle the natives said, "Well the neighbourhood's pretty crowded alraeaqdy but nobody's living in that stinking swamp over there."
Not so any more...
In reality though from what I've seen Hogtown doesn't get much snow. But don't get to thinking the weather here is good or anything. It's better than Sin City but that's like saying being stabbed is less painful than being shot. In fact I think the garbage weather is one reason no one here owns any decent winter clothing - they never go outside except to run from one door to the next.
Being a good Canadian (don't tell anyone) every morning I listen to the radio for the weather to know how to dress for the day. It's always some variation on minus two with a windchll of minus ten, or minus five in downtown with a windchill of minus 29. While the Big Smoke may not be hell on earth it's close enough that every day we feel the icy blasts. (Editor's note: In Inuit tradition hell is a frozen wasteland) So the reason there is no snow is that it all blowsaway.
Actually the highway is heavily salted and we are making good time. With any luck my connecting bus will be late and I won't have missed it. My connection is at the massive Square One Mall that is the epicentre of downtown Mississauga and a monument to why consumerism is wrong. 500 stores, ninety percent of them dedicated to telling the ladies that they are ugly if they don't buy this. And this. And that other thing. Not that Yorkdale is any better (it might actually be worse).
Anyway it all makes me think of this aboriginal comedian I saw on TV once. He had this little bit about how the only land in all of Ontario that is not currently subject to a land claim is downtown Toronto. He figured that when the first Europeans showed up and asked the natives where was a good place to settle the natives said, "Well the neighbourhood's pretty crowded alraeaqdy but nobody's living in that stinking swamp over there."
Not so any more...
Friday, February 19, 2010
Seven week itch
Here are the week seven numbers
……………………………………shmuck……….…..athlete
Weight………………………….190.8………..………190.6
Body Fat %........................20.0………………..12.1
Water %...........................54.3………………….58.6
Muscle Mass………………….145.2…………………159.4
Basal Metabolic Rate………2022………………..2203
Metabolic age…………………34……………………..13
Bone Mass……………………….7.6………………….8.2
So as you can see I have recovered from the Suberbowl by losing two pounds but that's about it.
I'm getting tired of posting the numbers so while I plan to stay on diet I will ramble on about other topics in the coming weeks. Unless of course there is an outpouring of reader outrage over the lack of diet data. I figure I will still try to post a monthly chart of my progress until I reach my ideal weight. For now I am still trying to get the chart to look like I want it to.
One final note on why this diet is so easy to follow:
Because this is health food. (and yes it's organically raised beef) OK one more look:
……………………………………shmuck……….…..athlete
Weight………………………….190.8………..………190.6
Body Fat %........................20.0………………..12.1
Water %...........................54.3………………….58.6
Muscle Mass………………….145.2…………………159.4
Basal Metabolic Rate………2022………………..2203
Metabolic age…………………34……………………..13
Bone Mass……………………….7.6………………….8.2
So as you can see I have recovered from the Suberbowl by losing two pounds but that's about it.
I'm getting tired of posting the numbers so while I plan to stay on diet I will ramble on about other topics in the coming weeks. Unless of course there is an outpouring of reader outrage over the lack of diet data. I figure I will still try to post a monthly chart of my progress until I reach my ideal weight. For now I am still trying to get the chart to look like I want it to.
One final note on why this diet is so easy to follow:
Because this is health food. (and yes it's organically raised beef) OK one more look:
Friday, February 12, 2010
Cheating at the Superbowl
Here are the results of my little Superbowl “cheat day” :
……………………………………shmuck……….…..athlete
Weight………………………….192.6………..………192.4
Body Fat %........................19.9………………..12.3
Water %...........................54.5………………….58.5
Muscle Mass………………….146.8…………………160.6
Basal Metabolic Rate………2045………………..2220
Metabolic age…………………34……………………..13
Bone Mass……………………….7.6………………….8.2
So I gained almost two pounds – but all of it muscle. And no, I didn’t do any exercise this week either. Given that my digestive system still feels congested I’m going to have to say the scale is confused. It knows I’m packing more mass but it’s not conductive like fat so it must be muscle? I think it’s undigested food trying to work it’s way through my system.
Others reported some intestinal discomfort as well and have questioned the validity of my all out cheat day. My thinking is/was that as a reasonably healthy adult a small cheat might be dealt with easily and not very noticeable which is why I wanted to go all out this time. Bear in mind the idea behind the diet is that constantly eating this hamster food and baby cow food never gives your natural systems a rest and hence the idea of an occasional cheat day being acceptable.
Really though from what I’ve seen so far I expect cheat days to get rarer as time goes on. This assumes of course that the enjoyment of the cheat foods continues to decline. I’ve also finally placed that “off” taste I mentioned earlier – staleness. Everything from the cheat foods categories tastes like it’s already stale and not like day old bread stale but like bread at that not quite mouldy stage stale.
……………………………………shmuck……….…..athlete
Weight………………………….192.6………..………192.4
Body Fat %........................19.9………………..12.3
Water %...........................54.5………………….58.5
Muscle Mass………………….146.8…………………160.6
Basal Metabolic Rate………2045………………..2220
Metabolic age…………………34……………………..13
Bone Mass……………………….7.6………………….8.2
So I gained almost two pounds – but all of it muscle. And no, I didn’t do any exercise this week either. Given that my digestive system still feels congested I’m going to have to say the scale is confused. It knows I’m packing more mass but it’s not conductive like fat so it must be muscle? I think it’s undigested food trying to work it’s way through my system.
Others reported some intestinal discomfort as well and have questioned the validity of my all out cheat day. My thinking is/was that as a reasonably healthy adult a small cheat might be dealt with easily and not very noticeable which is why I wanted to go all out this time. Bear in mind the idea behind the diet is that constantly eating this hamster food and baby cow food never gives your natural systems a rest and hence the idea of an occasional cheat day being acceptable.
Really though from what I’ve seen so far I expect cheat days to get rarer as time goes on. This assumes of course that the enjoyment of the cheat foods continues to decline. I’ve also finally placed that “off” taste I mentioned earlier – staleness. Everything from the cheat foods categories tastes like it’s already stale and not like day old bread stale but like bread at that not quite mouldy stage stale.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Superbowl Results
The Saints won. I ate potato chips, drank beer (four) and ate pizza. And I suffered for it.
I found the game to be not particularily exciting and with neither team having any strong hold on me I was a casual observer so I can't say an upset stomach or stress had anything do do with my digestive troubles.
Short and sweet: after five weeks on the Paleodiet it was very obvious how comparatively hard the body works when trying to process the Standard American Diet. I didn't get any headaches or anything and not even much nausea but I did get a lot of bloating and gas and it took a day and half for the swelling in my abdomen to find any relief. Curiously, even though I felt overstuffed I felt better after comsuming a small amount of Paleo complaint food (TFTS TCLG!).
What I took away from the experiment was that although the Neaderthin guy hyperbolizes the effects he is telling the truth when he says that eating grains and dairy becomes noticeably uncomfortable when you are on the Paleo-diet. The junk still tasted pretty good though.
I'm curious to see how it will affect the numbers this week.
I found the game to be not particularily exciting and with neither team having any strong hold on me I was a casual observer so I can't say an upset stomach or stress had anything do do with my digestive troubles.
Short and sweet: after five weeks on the Paleodiet it was very obvious how comparatively hard the body works when trying to process the Standard American Diet. I didn't get any headaches or anything and not even much nausea but I did get a lot of bloating and gas and it took a day and half for the swelling in my abdomen to find any relief. Curiously, even though I felt overstuffed I felt better after comsuming a small amount of Paleo complaint food (TFTS TCLG!).
What I took away from the experiment was that although the Neaderthin guy hyperbolizes the effects he is telling the truth when he says that eating grains and dairy becomes noticeably uncomfortable when you are on the Paleo-diet. The junk still tasted pretty good though.
I'm curious to see how it will affect the numbers this week.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Week 5
I totaled up the January receipts the other day. The Paleo-diet cost about 25% more than the SAD diet. The grocery bill is higher but not being able to eat out, order in or make impulse snack purchases goes a long way to equalizing the expenses. All in all for the way I feel I'm pretty convinced that Canada’s food guide to healthy eating is a page torn from the Necronomicon. Summoned from the very bowels of hell to inflict suffering on mankind. Maybe that explains all the zombies?...
I suppose the science worshipers would try to say we have learned so much since then but the reality is the nutrition people already knew better when the food guide was created. Our food pyramid is more a reflection of the fact that the prairies are no good for growing vegetables than any interest in keeping the population healthy. Now that the prairies are awash in black gold maybe it's time to spread the love and give up on the fallacy of grains as people food?
The week 5 numbers:
………………….......……Shmuck……….Athlete
Weight……………….........191.8……….191.6
Body fat %.....................20.4…………12.5
Water %.........................54.1…………58.2
Muscle Mass…….....……..145.0………159.2
Basal Metabolic Rate..…2023……….2203
Metabolic Age………......…36……………14
Bone Mass…………….........7.6………..…8.2
In five weeks I have lost 12.5 pounds, about half fat and half muscle. I’m a bit surprised at the muscle loss since it’s not like I am starving myself nor have a low protein intake. I’m never hungry and I’m probably eating more protein now than I have in a long time what with all the nuts and steaks and eggs and pork chops and jerky and chicken and turkey and roasts and bacon. I guess if I was doing some regular exercise it would be better. I also notice no loss in bone density despite not touching the dairy products that are supposed to ensure healthy bones.
BTW - had coffee this week. It did cause some mild discomfort but it was worth it. The big test is coming in 2 days.
I suppose the science worshipers would try to say we have learned so much since then but the reality is the nutrition people already knew better when the food guide was created. Our food pyramid is more a reflection of the fact that the prairies are no good for growing vegetables than any interest in keeping the population healthy. Now that the prairies are awash in black gold maybe it's time to spread the love and give up on the fallacy of grains as people food?
The week 5 numbers:
………………….......……Shmuck……….Athlete
Weight……………….........191.8……….191.6
Body fat %.....................20.4…………12.5
Water %.........................54.1…………58.2
Muscle Mass…….....……..145.0………159.2
Basal Metabolic Rate..…2023……….2203
Metabolic Age………......…36……………14
Bone Mass…………….........7.6………..…8.2
In five weeks I have lost 12.5 pounds, about half fat and half muscle. I’m a bit surprised at the muscle loss since it’s not like I am starving myself nor have a low protein intake. I’m never hungry and I’m probably eating more protein now than I have in a long time what with all the nuts and steaks and eggs and pork chops and jerky and chicken and turkey and roasts and bacon. I guess if I was doing some regular exercise it would be better. I also notice no loss in bone density despite not touching the dairy products that are supposed to ensure healthy bones.
BTW - had coffee this week. It did cause some mild discomfort but it was worth it. The big test is coming in 2 days.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Scouting report
Reservations are made, one night on Ragged Lake, May 1st and then 3 nights on Pig Pork. Here is the scouting report:
The area south of Highway 60 offers superb scenery and several good possibilities for canoe trips with relatively little portaging. While even the backcountry sections in this zone can be crowded in mid-summer we will be going in early spring so this should not be a problem.
Beautiful Smoke Lake is not considered hospitable to wilderness travelers as dozens of cottages line its shores, and motorboats of unlimited horsepower are permitted. However, the lake makes a good starting point for canoe travel south and so, is often also crowded with canoeists. The only strategy for dealing with this extreme case of cottage sprawl is to cross Smoke Lake as quickly as possible. Hopefully we can avoid the infamous Smoke Lake winds.
A steep but otherwise easy 240 m portage leads from Smoke Lake south to Ragged Lake. Although it has no cottages and powerboats are banned, the campsites on this lake are heavily used by canoeists, and in peak season it will probably be necessary to push further south to find a place to camp. Reporting indicates a nice island campsite on Archer Bay. Ragged Lake is a nice lake full of islands and bays and smallmouth bass.
The 590 m portage leading from Ragged Lake to Big Porcupine Lake has been called the "Devil's Staircase", and although it is steep, it poses no particular difficulty as the park has made it easier by constructing steps. The steps also aid in controlling the erosion of the trail. Big Porcupine is an attractive lake with many good campsites. A portage has been cut between the north and south arms of the lake, but it is easier to follow the shallow connecting channel.
The area south of Highway 60 offers superb scenery and several good possibilities for canoe trips with relatively little portaging. While even the backcountry sections in this zone can be crowded in mid-summer we will be going in early spring so this should not be a problem.
Beautiful Smoke Lake is not considered hospitable to wilderness travelers as dozens of cottages line its shores, and motorboats of unlimited horsepower are permitted. However, the lake makes a good starting point for canoe travel south and so, is often also crowded with canoeists. The only strategy for dealing with this extreme case of cottage sprawl is to cross Smoke Lake as quickly as possible. Hopefully we can avoid the infamous Smoke Lake winds.
A steep but otherwise easy 240 m portage leads from Smoke Lake south to Ragged Lake. Although it has no cottages and powerboats are banned, the campsites on this lake are heavily used by canoeists, and in peak season it will probably be necessary to push further south to find a place to camp. Reporting indicates a nice island campsite on Archer Bay. Ragged Lake is a nice lake full of islands and bays and smallmouth bass.
The 590 m portage leading from Ragged Lake to Big Porcupine Lake has been called the "Devil's Staircase", and although it is steep, it poses no particular difficulty as the park has made it easier by constructing steps. The steps also aid in controlling the erosion of the trail. Big Porcupine is an attractive lake with many good campsites. A portage has been cut between the north and south arms of the lake, but it is easier to follow the shallow connecting channel.
Friday, January 29, 2010
28 days
28 days
I’ve now been eating Paleo for 28 days. If I was a crackhead or an alcoholic they’d send me out to face the world. No wonder those programs have such dismal success rates. 28 days might be enough time to clean the toxins out of your system but mentally it seems like nothing. I can see the positive results again this week but the idea of eating the strict diet even for a year still seems daunting. I’m glad I’ll be into my experiments next month. I’m also curious to see what kind of impact they will have on the numbers.
I know you’ve all been waiting for this moment anxiously so here they are :
………………………………….Shmuck…………………..Athlete
Weight……………………………194.8………………………..195.0
Fat %.................................20.3…………………………..12.5
Water %.............................54.3…………………………..58.3
Muscle Mass……………………147.6…………………………162.2
Basal Metabolic Rate………..2061…………………………2246
Metabolic Age…………………..35……………………………..14
Bone Mass………………………..7.6……………………………8.4
Yeah I find it funny too that every week in the 30 seconds between weigh in’s my weight changes. But the numbers are encouraging. In four weeks I’ve lost 10 pounds and it is pretty much all fat and with minimal exercise.
In even better news I saw a website (http://www.lasting-weight-loss.com/Paleo-diet.html) that lists beer and coffee as acceptable carbs in moderation (up to 2 a day each!) that pretty much clears the two biggest hurdles for me to stay on a moderate form of the diet. If you figure that any attempt at a healthy diet will tell you to avoid or at best limit coffee and alcohol I’d say that’s pretty good.
I’ve now been eating Paleo for 28 days. If I was a crackhead or an alcoholic they’d send me out to face the world. No wonder those programs have such dismal success rates. 28 days might be enough time to clean the toxins out of your system but mentally it seems like nothing. I can see the positive results again this week but the idea of eating the strict diet even for a year still seems daunting. I’m glad I’ll be into my experiments next month. I’m also curious to see what kind of impact they will have on the numbers.
I know you’ve all been waiting for this moment anxiously so here they are :
………………………………….Shmuck…………………..Athlete
Weight……………………………194.8………………………..195.0
Fat %.................................20.3…………………………..12.5
Water %.............................54.3…………………………..58.3
Muscle Mass……………………147.6…………………………162.2
Basal Metabolic Rate………..2061…………………………2246
Metabolic Age…………………..35……………………………..14
Bone Mass………………………..7.6……………………………8.4
Yeah I find it funny too that every week in the 30 seconds between weigh in’s my weight changes. But the numbers are encouraging. In four weeks I’ve lost 10 pounds and it is pretty much all fat and with minimal exercise.
In even better news I saw a website (http://www.lasting-weight-loss.com/Paleo-diet.html) that lists beer and coffee as acceptable carbs in moderation (up to 2 a day each!) that pretty much clears the two biggest hurdles for me to stay on a moderate form of the diet. If you figure that any attempt at a healthy diet will tell you to avoid or at best limit coffee and alcohol I’d say that’s pretty good.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
chEATing
On Monday we had pie in the office to celebrate someone’s birthday. Because I’m a considerate guy I didn’t want to overshadow the person’s birthday with my crazy diet. So I decided to suffer through a tiny wedge of apple pie. I’m such a nice guy. Feel free to send me money. I’ll be nice to it.
As some of my readers may already be aware I'm big on moderation so I do not view the extreme version of the Paleo-diet as a realistic life change. Especially considering that half of what I am eating on this diet travels thousands of kilometers to get to my table so the diet is not sustainable in it’s current format. To this end I've decided to see what foods cause me problems and test to see if the Neanderthin guy is telling the truth when he says I will lose my taste for these “modern" foods.
Surprisingly the apple pie was not tasty. Normally I like apple pie and pre Christmas I liked the apple pies we had in the office. Same for the apple pie at the Christmas pot luck. All provided by the same person presumably from the same place. At least I didn’t suffer any ill effects.
So this morning in the interest of science I bought a cinnamon roll from the cafeteria at work. Before starting the Paelo-diet I would occasionally buy one of these delicious monstrosities when I would step off the bus hungry. So from October to December I probably ate between one and two dozen of these cinnamon rolls. Every single one of them was delicious. Delicious. This one, not so much. It tasted off rather than delicious. Reminiscent of the pie. Then I got a bloated feeling. And then a headache.
I figure to make myself sick on junk on Superbowl Sunday. Then I'll cleanse with a strict week and in February I will begin experimenting with the bad for me foods like potato chips, corn chips, milk products, and bean products. Not necessarily in that order and not at the same time. I will also see if the negative effects of some more generally accepted mild poisons that we eat every day such as the myriad -oses and alcohol are more noticeable.
Unlike after the hypoallergenic diet rather than gradually reincorporating these foods back into my regular diet what I'm thinking of is establishing a list of paleo-diet forbidden food categories that will be OK for me as occasional treats. Based on the pie and the cinnamon roll, wheat doesn’t look like it’s going to make the cut. Mild discomfort plus a not so good anymore taste hardly makes for a treat. So the basic criteria will be does is still taste good? Good enough to put up with any discomfort that results?
As some of my readers may already be aware I'm big on moderation so I do not view the extreme version of the Paleo-diet as a realistic life change. Especially considering that half of what I am eating on this diet travels thousands of kilometers to get to my table so the diet is not sustainable in it’s current format. To this end I've decided to see what foods cause me problems and test to see if the Neanderthin guy is telling the truth when he says I will lose my taste for these “modern" foods.
Surprisingly the apple pie was not tasty. Normally I like apple pie and pre Christmas I liked the apple pies we had in the office. Same for the apple pie at the Christmas pot luck. All provided by the same person presumably from the same place. At least I didn’t suffer any ill effects.
So this morning in the interest of science I bought a cinnamon roll from the cafeteria at work. Before starting the Paelo-diet I would occasionally buy one of these delicious monstrosities when I would step off the bus hungry. So from October to December I probably ate between one and two dozen of these cinnamon rolls. Every single one of them was delicious. Delicious. This one, not so much. It tasted off rather than delicious. Reminiscent of the pie. Then I got a bloated feeling. And then a headache.
I figure to make myself sick on junk on Superbowl Sunday. Then I'll cleanse with a strict week and in February I will begin experimenting with the bad for me foods like potato chips, corn chips, milk products, and bean products. Not necessarily in that order and not at the same time. I will also see if the negative effects of some more generally accepted mild poisons that we eat every day such as the myriad -oses and alcohol are more noticeable.
Unlike after the hypoallergenic diet rather than gradually reincorporating these foods back into my regular diet what I'm thinking of is establishing a list of paleo-diet forbidden food categories that will be OK for me as occasional treats. Based on the pie and the cinnamon roll, wheat doesn’t look like it’s going to make the cut. Mild discomfort plus a not so good anymore taste hardly makes for a treat. So the basic criteria will be does is still taste good? Good enough to put up with any discomfort that results?
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Why it works
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about why this diet would work. The way I see it, ancient peoples most likely started eating what are essentially grass seeds out of desperation, and then added them to the regular diet as a security blanket.
When we look at it the foods eliminated from this diet they are mainly filling starchy bulk and lots of caloric energy but relatively low in the nutrient and mineral factors. Pre-mechanized agriculture was pretty labour intensive stuff from what I understand so during that period all that extra caloric energy was probably useful. Having a desk job I don’t need those empty calories.
For comparison, a five inch spear of broccoli has 11 yummy calories. Just to get my basal metabolic rate in calories I’d need to eat 186 five inch spears of broccoli a day. Not gonna happen. And that much broccoli would give me 85 times my daily vitamin C requirement. And seven times my vitamin A, and five times my potassium. So naturally you mix it up. Almonds for example are seven calories each so 293 almonds would meet my caloric needs. You can see why this diet allows you to eat all you want.
9.5 cups of long grain brown rice would give me my entire daily caloric need but I’d get next to nothing in terms of my vitamin and mineral needs. The best would be not quite half of my required iron. 5.5 cups of pasta would meet my daily caloric and carbohydrate needs but nothing else.
A pound of chicken is calorie wise pretty similar to that cup of pasta but provides a lot more essential nutrients. 5.5 pounds of chicken would be way too much of many of your nutrient needs. Caribou is better still. More importantly still, meat gives you your essential fats.
Essentially you should eat vegetables to get most of your minerals and nutrients and then you need to find a source of caloric energy. Bear in mind that the starchies cannot be digested raw because they are not a natural primate food and that you need to either eat meat or take supplements to get your essential fats and oils anyway. So unless you are training for the Ironman and you need the extra calories the diet makes sense.
If you are trying to lose weight you would eat an even higher proportion of vegetables. I think in the book the guy says 80% of your plate vegetables 20% meat. This is supposed to change your metabolism from relying on carbohydrates and sugars for energy to converting fat (from the meat you eat) into energy. Then if you eat not enough meat it naturally turns to your current fat reserves. In Paleo terms this would be the "between kills" period. Don't forget that everywhere early humans went macrofauna extinctions followed them. Which means they were likely feast and famine style big game hunters.
The Boss is reading a book now called the Paleodiet for Athletes. When summer comes and I can hopefully find some time to get out and really exercise (maybe biking to work) I will want to read that book. It should also be useful for the longer hiking trips I am planning to do if I decide to stay on diet.
When we look at it the foods eliminated from this diet they are mainly filling starchy bulk and lots of caloric energy but relatively low in the nutrient and mineral factors. Pre-mechanized agriculture was pretty labour intensive stuff from what I understand so during that period all that extra caloric energy was probably useful. Having a desk job I don’t need those empty calories.
For comparison, a five inch spear of broccoli has 11 yummy calories. Just to get my basal metabolic rate in calories I’d need to eat 186 five inch spears of broccoli a day. Not gonna happen. And that much broccoli would give me 85 times my daily vitamin C requirement. And seven times my vitamin A, and five times my potassium. So naturally you mix it up. Almonds for example are seven calories each so 293 almonds would meet my caloric needs. You can see why this diet allows you to eat all you want.
9.5 cups of long grain brown rice would give me my entire daily caloric need but I’d get next to nothing in terms of my vitamin and mineral needs. The best would be not quite half of my required iron. 5.5 cups of pasta would meet my daily caloric and carbohydrate needs but nothing else.
A pound of chicken is calorie wise pretty similar to that cup of pasta but provides a lot more essential nutrients. 5.5 pounds of chicken would be way too much of many of your nutrient needs. Caribou is better still. More importantly still, meat gives you your essential fats.
Essentially you should eat vegetables to get most of your minerals and nutrients and then you need to find a source of caloric energy. Bear in mind that the starchies cannot be digested raw because they are not a natural primate food and that you need to either eat meat or take supplements to get your essential fats and oils anyway. So unless you are training for the Ironman and you need the extra calories the diet makes sense.
If you are trying to lose weight you would eat an even higher proportion of vegetables. I think in the book the guy says 80% of your plate vegetables 20% meat. This is supposed to change your metabolism from relying on carbohydrates and sugars for energy to converting fat (from the meat you eat) into energy. Then if you eat not enough meat it naturally turns to your current fat reserves. In Paleo terms this would be the "between kills" period. Don't forget that everywhere early humans went macrofauna extinctions followed them. Which means they were likely feast and famine style big game hunters.
The Boss is reading a book now called the Paleodiet for Athletes. When summer comes and I can hopefully find some time to get out and really exercise (maybe biking to work) I will want to read that book. It should also be useful for the longer hiking trips I am planning to do if I decide to stay on diet.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Week Three Numbers
……………………………….shmuck……………......athlete
Weight………………………196.8……………….…..197.8
Body Fat %....................21.8………….………….14.4
Body Water %................53.2………………………57.1
Muscle Mass…………..…146.2……………………..160.4
Basal Metabolic Rate……2046…………………….2226
Metabolic Age………………40………………………...18
Bone Mass…………………..7.6…………………………8.2
My first comment is how did I gain a pound in one minute without eating anything? And I was doing so good having lost another three pounds this week. Three pounds of muscle apparently.
I think I am eating too much meat for my activity level. But looking at the menu less meat will make this a tougher diet to follow. A lot of what I am eating now comes from far, far away and that will only increase if I reduce the locally produced meat which will make the Paleodiet rather un-green.
The Neanderthin guy did say this diet is now possible largely because of the variety available in our supermarkets. I’m curious as to how viable this diet would be if the poor countries start keeping their food for their own starving people rather than selling it to us? If I was only eating foods that could be produced in southern Ontario minus the evil corn, potato, rice, beans and wheat, I know I’d be staring down the barrel of a very boring plate but how healthy would it be? Especially if I got all immoral and stopped eating animals? Not that that’s gonna happen.
I do have that dry skin issue like I had when doing the hypo allergenic diet last year. The eliminated foods in common are wheat, corn, potatoes and dairy. So it’s got to be something there. I’m guessing dairy. Why? Because I like cheese :)
Weight………………………196.8……………….…..197.8
Body Fat %....................21.8………….………….14.4
Body Water %................53.2………………………57.1
Muscle Mass…………..…146.2……………………..160.4
Basal Metabolic Rate……2046…………………….2226
Metabolic Age………………40………………………...18
Bone Mass…………………..7.6…………………………8.2
My first comment is how did I gain a pound in one minute without eating anything? And I was doing so good having lost another three pounds this week. Three pounds of muscle apparently.
I think I am eating too much meat for my activity level. But looking at the menu less meat will make this a tougher diet to follow. A lot of what I am eating now comes from far, far away and that will only increase if I reduce the locally produced meat which will make the Paleodiet rather un-green.
The Neanderthin guy did say this diet is now possible largely because of the variety available in our supermarkets. I’m curious as to how viable this diet would be if the poor countries start keeping their food for their own starving people rather than selling it to us? If I was only eating foods that could be produced in southern Ontario minus the evil corn, potato, rice, beans and wheat, I know I’d be staring down the barrel of a very boring plate but how healthy would it be? Especially if I got all immoral and stopped eating animals? Not that that’s gonna happen.
I do have that dry skin issue like I had when doing the hypo allergenic diet last year. The eliminated foods in common are wheat, corn, potatoes and dairy. So it’s got to be something there. I’m guessing dairy. Why? Because I like cheese :)
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Week Two Numbers
How insane is this diet? I’m going to watch the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs this weekend with no beer. I’m not even going to have a beer when the Vikings send the red hot Cowboys down in flames! That’s how insane it is.
Actually, after a few early cravings it hasn’t been difficult at all to stay on diet. Of course we are technically eating too high a percentage of meat if this was a serious push at weight loss. Including a serious assault on the world’s strategic bacon reserve (it was on sale!).They say it’s better to shave the weight off slowly in a sustainable manner anyway.
So here they are:
------------------------------------shmuck---------athlete
Weight------------------------------199.0----------199.2
Body fat %--------------------------21.6-----------13.9
Hydration %----------------------53.4-----------57.5
Muscle mass----------------------148.2----------163.2
Base Metabolic Rate ------------2075---------2266
Metabolic Age---------------------39-------------16
Bone Mass-------------------------7.6-----------8.4
So at the week two mark I’d have to say I’m seeing a positive trend and given the limited increase in my physical activity I am ready to attribute it to the diet. I’ve exercised six times since starting the diet - if you count 11 push-ups as a workout. So while the athlete numbers say I’m in decent shape somehow I don’t think 11 push-ups qualify me as an athlete. Maybe a curler? Hey, it’s an Olympic sport…
Actually, after a few early cravings it hasn’t been difficult at all to stay on diet. Of course we are technically eating too high a percentage of meat if this was a serious push at weight loss. Including a serious assault on the world’s strategic bacon reserve (it was on sale!).They say it’s better to shave the weight off slowly in a sustainable manner anyway.
So here they are:
------------------------------------shmuck---------athlete
Weight------------------------------199.0----------199.2
Body fat %--------------------------21.6-----------13.9
Hydration %----------------------53.4-----------57.5
Muscle mass----------------------148.2----------163.2
Base Metabolic Rate ------------2075---------2266
Metabolic Age---------------------39-------------16
Bone Mass-------------------------7.6-----------8.4
So at the week two mark I’d have to say I’m seeing a positive trend and given the limited increase in my physical activity I am ready to attribute it to the diet. I’ve exercised six times since starting the diet - if you count 11 push-ups as a workout. So while the athlete numbers say I’m in decent shape somehow I don’t think 11 push-ups qualify me as an athlete. Maybe a curler? Hey, it’s an Olympic sport…
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Not anytime soon
I went for a run tonight. Ran home actually. Not the whole way just from Erin Mills Town Centre. Man that's a badly layed out mall. Anyway it's about 5km and I ran the whole thing with a backpack! So now I'm beat and it was all on concrete so my knees hurt. I crushed my goal of 30 minutes and did it in about 25. I might do some shorter runs but I would also like to find somewhere safe to run on something softer than concrte. For free. I know, good luck.
Oh, and 4 spots on Physh camp 2010 are already spoken for!
Oh, and 4 spots on Physh camp 2010 are already spoken for!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Physh Camp 2010
I had been thinking I would go back to our best ever fishing spot for Physh Camp 2010 but I have reconsidered. From here I'd be looking at a 6+ hour drive to the entry point so I've decided to once again break new ground. Besides, physh camp isn't really about the fish its about getting away from the lights and the noise and cleansing the soul.
So when and where. May 1st to 5th at Big Porcupine Lake. A bit early I know but the rest of May is not so good - Mother's day, Mississauga Race Weekend, Big Game NY and by then the bugs are out. I'll take the chill over the bugs.
The itinerary will be to arrive at entry point 6 (the aptly named Smoke Lake) around lunch time Saturday and get into Ragged Lake that night. That should be a couple of hours paddling and one 240 metre portage. Then on the Sunday a 590 metre portage into Big Porcupine lake. Big Porcupine has some well situated triangles for sites and a couple of good day trip possibilites. Stay three nights on Big Porcupine and then all the way home Wednesday.
If you are interested in joining me get in touch. Physh Camp veterans get priority and I'll book for a max of 6 including me.
So when and where. May 1st to 5th at Big Porcupine Lake. A bit early I know but the rest of May is not so good - Mother's day, Mississauga Race Weekend, Big Game NY and by then the bugs are out. I'll take the chill over the bugs.
The itinerary will be to arrive at entry point 6 (the aptly named Smoke Lake) around lunch time Saturday and get into Ragged Lake that night. That should be a couple of hours paddling and one 240 metre portage. Then on the Sunday a 590 metre portage into Big Porcupine lake. Big Porcupine has some well situated triangles for sites and a couple of good day trip possibilites. Stay three nights on Big Porcupine and then all the way home Wednesday.
If you are interested in joining me get in touch. Physh Camp veterans get priority and I'll book for a max of 6 including me.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Lies, damned lies and statistics
Here are the week 2 numbers:
________________________Shmuck______Athlete
Weight________________:____199.2_______199.4
Body Fat %_____________:_____23.1________15.6
Water %_______________:_____52.4________56.4
Muscle Mass_____________:____145.8_______160.0
Base Metabolic Rate______:_____2044________2226
Metabolic Age__________:______44__________21
Bone Mass_____________:______7.6_________8.2
So what do they say? At first glance it looks like I lost 5 pounds in one week (woo hoo) but 2 pounds of that was water and the rest was muscle and bone and my fat content has gone up :(. Oh and I’m still dehydrated.
Not exactly an early round ringing endorsement for the Paleodiet. In one week I’ve aged 3 metabolic years or 5 years if I considered myself to be an athlete which brings me to my next problem with these numbers.
If I declare myself to be an athlete the scale gives me relatively healthy numbers so I went to the website to see when you can call yourself an athlete. In a total cop out the company says nothing. Apparently you are an athlete if you say you are. But seriously, does anyone out there have an opinion how much activity it takes for me to go from sloth to active to athlete? And maybe the scale needs an active person formula as well.
What I see so far though says to me that the makers of this magic scale assume that if you are using this scale it’s for one of two things:
1. Your doctor suggested it to help avoid heart attack number 6 or
2. You want to improve your triathlon times
In either case I’m thinking the magic scale is of limited use to “normal” people just trying to stay healthy. That said, it is neat to see some other numbers.
Totally contrary to the numbers I do feel better reminiscent of the hypoallergenic diet of last year. It makes me wonder if I don’t have some mild food allergy.
________________________Shmuck______Athlete
Weight________________:____199.2_______199.4
Body Fat %_____________:_____23.1________15.6
Water %_______________:_____52.4________56.4
Muscle Mass_____________:____145.8_______160.0
Base Metabolic Rate______:_____2044________2226
Metabolic Age__________:______44__________21
Bone Mass_____________:______7.6_________8.2
So what do they say? At first glance it looks like I lost 5 pounds in one week (woo hoo) but 2 pounds of that was water and the rest was muscle and bone and my fat content has gone up :(. Oh and I’m still dehydrated.
Not exactly an early round ringing endorsement for the Paleodiet. In one week I’ve aged 3 metabolic years or 5 years if I considered myself to be an athlete which brings me to my next problem with these numbers.
If I declare myself to be an athlete the scale gives me relatively healthy numbers so I went to the website to see when you can call yourself an athlete. In a total cop out the company says nothing. Apparently you are an athlete if you say you are. But seriously, does anyone out there have an opinion how much activity it takes for me to go from sloth to active to athlete? And maybe the scale needs an active person formula as well.
What I see so far though says to me that the makers of this magic scale assume that if you are using this scale it’s for one of two things:
1. Your doctor suggested it to help avoid heart attack number 6 or
2. You want to improve your triathlon times
In either case I’m thinking the magic scale is of limited use to “normal” people just trying to stay healthy. That said, it is neat to see some other numbers.
Totally contrary to the numbers I do feel better reminiscent of the hypoallergenic diet of last year. It makes me wonder if I don’t have some mild food allergy.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
And so it begins
I took my new measurements yesterday. The holidays season was not kind. I am going to take two sets of measurements for the duration of the Paleodiet experiment. Me as a regular schmuck and me pretending to be an athlete. Why you ask? Because I'm going to start exercising again. Seriously. I'm going to sign up for a 10k again for motivation.
Catergory______________Shmuck /Athlete
Weight________________: 204.4 / 204.6
Body Fat %_____________: _22.1 / 14.1
Water % _______________: _53.1 / 57.5
Muscle Mass____________: 151.4 / 167.2
Basal Metabolic Rate______: _2124 / 2329
Metabolic Age__________: ___40 / 16
Bone Mass_____________: __7.8 / 8.6
So as you can see your self image really affects how the bio electric resistance is interpreted.
I'm really hoping this diet is as effective as the hypoallergenic diet I did last year but less gastronomically painfull.
The Boss will be doing a much more intensive blog about our diet experience as well. It can be found here: http://paleodiet-study.blogspot.com/
Catergory______________Shmuck /Athlete
Weight________________: 204.4 / 204.6
Body Fat %_____________: _22.1 / 14.1
Water % _______________: _53.1 / 57.5
Muscle Mass____________: 151.4 / 167.2
Basal Metabolic Rate______: _2124 / 2329
Metabolic Age__________: ___40 / 16
Bone Mass_____________: __7.8 / 8.6
So as you can see your self image really affects how the bio electric resistance is interpreted.
I'm really hoping this diet is as effective as the hypoallergenic diet I did last year but less gastronomically painfull.
The Boss will be doing a much more intensive blog about our diet experience as well. It can be found here: http://paleodiet-study.blogspot.com/
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