Unutterably Silly So what are you doing RIGHT NOW?

[cromag]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Cleaning up my camping equipment. I went for a walk in the jungle the other day, around a lake we'd found the week before. I was planning to spend one night, but the Gods had other plans for me. There are no paper maps of that area, so I was relying on satellite imagery to pick my route. Unfortunately, the next day after I had walked for several hours, I lost signal, and found myself on the wrong side of a mountain and no idea which direction I needed to take to get back to the road, and the sun going down. The next morning I went up the mountain, got signal again, and could figure out a good route through the jungle to get back. Not much visible terrain when there is so much jungle cover... But now the messy part... cleaning all my equipment for the next time the road gets lost!

Stitchawl

Originally Posted by Mims

Beautiful night here (74F). Felt the rumble from the Delta IV launch and rushed outside to watch. Clear skies, great view. It is carrying an Air Force GPS satellite. Now just sitting on the porch reading.

Sorry about everybody's winter woes. Tomorrow our woe will be strong thunderstorms, winds, and lightning.

Wow! That's fast!

Just went out to the store and shoveled out a parking spot for the van when I got home.

Right now, I'm resting my sore lower back! Snow shoveling should be in the Winter Olympics.

[Stitchawl]

Wouldn't it be great if we could tap into military GPS imagery! I'd only get lost 50% of the time instead of most of the time!

Stitchawl

[orlok]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Cleaning up my camping equipment. I went for a walk in the jungle the other day, around a lake we'd found the week before. I was planning to spend one night, but the Gods had other plans for me. There are no paper maps of that area, so I was relying on satellite imagery to pick my route. Unfortunately, the next day after I had walked for several hours, I lost signal, and found myself on the wrong side of a mountain and no idea which direction I needed to take to get back to the road, and the sun going down. The next morning I went up the mountain, got signal again, and could figure out a good route through the jungle to get back. Not much visible terrain when there is so much jungle cover... But now the messy part... cleaning all my equipment for the next time the road gets lost!

Stitchawl

You seem remarkably calm about it. Wasn't your wife worried when you didn't turn up after the first night?

[Bilbo1967]

Sat at home feeling sorry for myself.

I went to the doctor a few weeks ago and, while there, was told that my blood pressure was a bit elevated. I was told to take my pressure a couple of times a week and let the doctor know if it was particularly high (they have a machine in the doctor's waiting room that gives you a print out). I thought it was high this morning (180/120) so I called them from work. On the list of things that you don't want to hear from the triage nurse, "Woah, you'd better get in here to see the doctor right now" is pretty high on the list. To cut a long story short, I've been booked in for an ECG and blood tests, signed off work until the pressure drops and prescribed some medication (and, of course, been told to lose weight, drink less and exercise more).

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by orlok

You seem remarkably calm about it.

What's not to be calm about. Starting at age 9, I've spent thousands of nights in the woods or jungles. I'm as comfortable in them as I am in a cheap motel, except I don't have pay-per-view TV. Well, actually these days I guess I could, as I bring a tablet with me for reading and navigating. To spend an extra unplanned night or two is no big deal. I know that if I walk in a straight line, or follow a stream long enough I'm going to cut a road eventually. If I were lost in Alaska after a plane crash, and knew I had possibly a few hundred miles to travel before I found any signs of civilization, believe me, I wouldn't be quite so calm. Having looked at a road map of the area before I left, I knew that at the most I might have to walk 20-30 miles in the worst case scenario. As it turned out, once I could get a signal, I discovered that if I followed a contour line around the mountain I was on, for about 10 kilometers, it would put me due east of where I left my bike, and about 10 kilometers away from it. I walk 10k almost every day during the week. It turned out that I was actually close enough (IF I knew where I was) to have walked out the day before. It's not as if I was marooned in space.

Wasn't your wife worried when you didn't turn up after the first night?

We've been married for 19 years. During that time the road has gotten lost at least 4-5 times, once with her with me. She was 'concerned' about me, but not worried (nor particularly surprised...) With my lifestyle, it really doesn't pay to 'worry' about me. It would become a full time neurosis and drive a person nuts.

I had planned to be out over night for one night. She knew I had at least an extra day's worth of food beyond what I actually would need with me or more (to say nothing about what can be found in the jungle,) as that's part of my normal planning when I go into the woods, and emergency signaling devices (red smoke and aerial flares, whistle and mirror) if needed. She's attended Survival classes that I've taught, and knows that if I'm going off the beaten path that I've everything I need to keep me happy and healthy for an extra few days if required.

In a study done by one of the major US hunting magazines some years ago, they discovered that about 97% of hunters NEVER get further into the woods than 500m from their cars. They are afraid of getting lost. That was just never something that bothered me. Besides, I always knew where "I" was. I just didn't know where the road was!


Stitchawl

[orlok]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

What's not to be calm about. Starting at age 9, I've spent thousands of nights in the woods or jungles. I'm as comfortable in them as I am in a cheap motel, except I don't have pay-per-view TV. Well, actually these days I guess I could, as I bring a tablet with me for reading and navigating. To spend an extra unplanned night or two is no big deal. I know that if I walk in a straight line, or follow a stream long enough I'm going to cut a road eventually. If I were lost in Alaska after a plane crash, and knew I had possibly a few hundred miles to travel before I found any signs of civilization, believe me, I wouldn't be quite so calm. Having looked at a road map of the area before I left, I knew that at the most I might have to walk 20-30 miles in the worst case scenario. As it turned out, once I could get a signal, I discovered that if I followed a contour line around the mountain I was on, for about 10 kilometers, it would put me due east of where I left my bike, and about 10 kilometers away from it. I walk 10k almost every day during the week. It turned out that I was actually close enough (IF I knew where I was) to have walked out the day before. It's not as if I was marooned in space.



We've been married for 19 years. During that time the road has gotten lost at least 4-5 times, once with her with me. She was 'concerned' about me, but not worried (nor particularly surprised...) With my lifestyle, it really doesn't pay to 'worry' about me. It would become a full time neurosis and drive a person nuts.

I had planned to be out over night for one night. She knew I had at least an extra day's worth of food beyond what I actually would need with me or more (to say nothing about what can be found in the jungle,) as that's part of my normal planning when I go into the woods, and emergency signaling devices (red smoke and aerial flares, whistle and mirror) if needed. She's attended Survival classes that I've taught, and knows that if I'm going off the beaten path that I've everything I need to keep me happy and healthy for an extra few days if required.

In a study done by one of the major US hunting magazines some years ago, they discovered that about 97% of hunters NEVER get further into the woods than 500m from their cars. They are afraid of getting lost. That was just never something that bothered me. Besides, I always knew where "I" was. I just didn't know where the road was!


Stitchawl

Good on you for your preparation. I used to do a lot of hill walking in the wilds of Wales, and once in a while lost the road too (once walked non-stop from 10pm on the Friday evening to 10am the following Sunday morning due to a little navigational cock-up). Always had everything on hand to cover emergencies though. This was before the luxury of satnav, so I just had to rely on my compass and map .

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by Bilbo1967

Sat at home feeling sorry for myself.

I went to the doctor a few weeks ago and, while there, was told that my blood pressure was a bit elevated. I was told to take my pressure a couple of times a week and let the doctor know if it was particularly high (they have a machine in the doctor's waiting room that gives you a print out). I thought it was high this morning (180/120) so I called them from work. On the list of things that you don't want to hear from the triage nurse, "Woah, you'd better get in here to see the doctor right now" is pretty high on the list. To cut a long story short, I've been booked in for an ECG and blood tests, signed off work until the pressure drops and prescribed some medication (and, of course, been told to lose weight, drink less and exercise more).

I had a similar experience last year - accompanied with left side chest pains. Had ECG, blood tests, X-Ray, etc. - all were fine (fortunately) - and all signs pointed to work induced stress -- years of dealing with entitled ignorant idiots had taken their toll -- apparently my system is sick of it -- and making me sick -- so I got similar medical advice plus a suggestion it might be time to find another job.... like that's not stressful in itself ...

Be very careful - that level of BP can be very dangerous. If there is no physical cause, it may be a warning to re-evaluate your stress level(s).

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by orlok

Good on you for your preparation. I used to do a lot of hill walking in the wilds of Wales, and once in a while lost the road too (once walked non-stop from 10pm on the Friday evening to 10am the following Sunday morning due to a little navigational cock-up). Always had everything on hand to cover emergencies though. This was before the luxury of satnav, so I just had to rely on my compass and map .

For the longest time, good quality topographic maps have been unavailable in Thailand, due to border conflicts with Burma and Laos. They are just beginning to put them out for the more populated areas now. There are fairly good road maps, but they don't do much good in the middle of the jungle. But Google Earth usually shows enough detail to realize 'hey, there's a mountain here or a stream there,' and that's pretty much what I was relying on... right up until I ran out of signal... Surprisingly, there is more signal coverage in Thailand jungles than I was getting in Japan in the mountains. And I had just about everything I needed with me; I had Tiger Balm in case I was getting chased by a tiger, peanuts in case of rogue elephants, Tabasco sauce in case I ran into large water bugs (without Tabasco they taste like sh!t!) It was just another adventure in a long line of adventures. And I made it home without so much as a blister. At least it wasn't rainy and cold. Lovely night with a big moon just a few days past full!


Stitchawl

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

I had a similar experience last year - accompanied with left side chest pains. Had ECG, blood tests, X-Ray, etc. - all were fine (fortunately) - and all signs pointed to work induced stress -- years of dealing with entitled ignorant idiots had taken their toll -- apparently my system is sick of it -- and making me sick -- so I got similar medical advice plus a suggestion it might be time to find another job.... like that's not stressful in itself ...

Be very careful - that level of BP can be very dangerous. If there is no physical cause, it may be a warning to re-evaluate your stress level(s).

Thanks pooh. I'm pretty sure mine is work stress related. Not dealing with idiots in my case. I seem to have got caught in the crossfire of some board level disagreements unfortunately.

[WT Sharpe]

Ditto what poohbear said, Bilbo. A diastolic reading of 120 is quite serious.

[Namekuseijin]

nurturing my pet peeves

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

She's attended Survival classes that I've taught


Stitchawl

Ok, yes. The above would reassure me immensely!

[cromag]

Right now I'm not shoveling snow, at the insistence of my knee and lower back.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by cromag

Right now I'm not shoveling snow, at the insistence of my knee and lower back.

Understood. Well understood.

[dreams]

Originally Posted by cromag

Right now I'm not shoveling snow, at the insistence of my knee and lower back.

Poor thing.

Right now, I am enjoying a cup of coffee and some Hershey's Kisses.