Author Archives: David Truss

Finishing touches

I would make an awful interior decorator or event planner. The reason I’d suck, and I would truly suck, is that I hate putting the finishing touches on things. I love coming up with ideas. I’d spend hours planning. But when it comes to the last few arrangements, the small details, the nitty-gritty, I take a small task and make it into a mountain.

I even do this with writing. I’ll write in a stream of consciousness and 90-95% of it will be good-to-go. Then the last 5%, the minor edits for flow and word choice, can take me almost as long to edit.

I know people who truly excel at putting on the finishing details. I also know I’m not one of them.

Got my gym back

Last night was the first time that I was able to use my home gym since the middle of November. Our main floor home renovation is almost completely done, and we are no longer using the basement as our kitchen, and living room, as well as for storage. The room is reconfigured, and since my wife wants the treadmill outside the room, so she can easily watch tv while on it, the room is even roomier!

I’m excited about this change. I’ve had a tiny spot with my exercise bike and weights for the past few months, but now I have treadmill and row machine access again, and a nice place to stretch and use my incline bench.

Despite not having my full functioning home gym the past few months, it has been a very good few months for me with respect to exercise. I have an extremely knowledgeable teacher that is running weight club with me for our students 3 days a week – once before school, once after, and once at lunch. And under this teachers supervision, and inspiration, I’ve been adding new exercises and longer sessions than I do at home. As a result, I’m the heaviest I’ve ever been when fit.

I was heavier than this in 2018, but that was unhealthy weight. Now, I’m a solid 5-7 pounds heavier than I’ve ever been due to working out. And it feels great!

I’m not overdoing it. I’m not hurting myself trying to lift too heavy. I’m focusing on muscle groups, working then well, and giving them time to recover while I work different areas. I’ve added protein shakes and creatine (which helps with recovery), and I’m still not eating snacks after dinner, although I’m not as strict as I used to be about time restricted eating (or intermittent fasting), I still pay attention to this.

So I’m already on a good path, and now I’ve got my gym space back. I am confident that I’ll be able to stick to my routines even as the end of the school year gets crazy, and continue to make gains in 2022.

This isn’t a race. I have a few long term goals, but the longest one is to stay healthy for another 30+ years. Now I just have to focus on my diet and my too high bad cholesterol… but I’ll save talking about that for another day.

The free world

The free world isn’t free. It’s not. When a privileged few get to decide what people can and can’t do based on their out-dated beliefs, that’s not free.

More Than 1,500 Books Have Been Banned in Public Schools, and a U.S. House Panel Asks Why

“Most books being targeted for censorship are books that introduce ideas about diversity or our common humanity, books that teach children to recognize and respect humanity in one another,” said the chair of the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Rep. Jamie Raskin.

When believers of religious dogma limit the choices of non-believers, that’s not free.

We don’t live in a free world, we live in a world of privileged and unprivileged. A world of bias. A world of inequity.

If I took headlines of today, like the article above, or headlines on abortion laws, or on free speech on college campuses, or on lack of social programs, and I stripped away today’s date, in 25 years you wouldn’t know when the article was written dating back as far as 75 years ago. It’s 2022 but if I told you that the article above was written in the 50’s, 60’s, or 70’s, you’d believe me.

Think about that. How much freer have we become? How much more civilized?

Too much

I’ve been on my phone too much lately. Ironic to say as I peck away on my phone’s keyboard typing this. But it’s true.

I’m already an introvert, and so sinking too much time into my phone, beyond writing this, and meditation, makes me a bit antisocial. Cooking dinner? I’m listening to a book. Entertainment, a game or time on TikTok. Comnections on Twitter. Checking investments. Listening to music. Checking email. Checking email some more. Chatting with my siblings. Doing the Wordle when my sisters share their results with me. Googling, watching videos, reading articles and news.

Not all of these are wasting time, but all of these add up to my phone taking too much of my attention. I need to tome it down. I need to be more present. I need to recognize how much this little device pulls me away from the world… and I need to find more balance.

Just imagine

Julian Lennon has done a cover of his father’s song to raise money for Ukrainians who have been devastated by war.

These lyrics have always spoken to me:

Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today… Aha-ah…Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace… You…You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

~ John Lennon

Man’s inhumanity to man is shocking. The violence that happens in the name of country and/or God has been continuous for all of recorded history.

One people, no counties, no God to worship. I can’t help but think the world would be a better place. It would probably be more spiritual rather than less, with humans understanding that we are all connected… all one race, the human race… and all part of a greater ecosystem that we must work together to nurture.

Just imagine.

Holiday on Mars… not in my lifetime

It’s fun to think of space tourism, now that the first civilian visit to the space station has happened. I’d love to spend a few days in space someday. Knowing my vertigo issues on spinning rides, I’d probably spend most of the trip with motion sickness and it will be far less fun than I imagine… but I want to try! I want to experience weightlessness for a few days, and to be an astronaut.

But that’s just for a few days. There are some serious issues that astronauts face when going to space for long periods of time.

“Astronauts on space missions suffer from balance problems, visual disturbances, ‎damage to the heart muscle and bone loss.” – The Dangers of Zero Gravity

These get more and more serious the longer you spend in space. Especially effects to our vision.

“…if we want to think about colonisation or extended stays on Mars, we’re going to have to consider blindness as a potential complication.

Right now, there are no solutions for how to treat or prevent fluid build-up in space, and with the brain damage that’s also expected to come from long-term spaceflight.” – Space Could Leave You Blind, And Scientists Say They’ve Finally Figured Out Why

Basically, a several year journey to Mars will be extremely detrimental to the health of anyone who makes the journey.

The next steps in getting there?

1. We need to find out if we need to replicate a full 1G environment or if long term travel at a less gravitational force will be required to rid ourselves of these health issues for long term space travel.

2. We need massive rotating space stations that are designed to provide us with some gravitational force.

3. We need to build these and experiment with them as we just start thinking about colonizing the moon.

4. We need a working moon colonization before even thinking about colonizing Mars.

This will take decades and decades.

I will be 100 if I can make it to 2067… it doesn’t matter how close they are to moon visits by then, and how advanced longevity Science is, I’ll be in no shape to make the moon journey, much less a several year trip to Mars.

It’s fun to think about space holidays like we see in the movies, and who knows, maybe in 100 years that will be possible. But without some significant scientific leaps in technology, space tourism in my lifetime will only go as far as the international space station or maybe a very short moon landing… I’ll just need to save up a few million dollars for the trip before I get too old. Because in my lifetime a trip beyond the space station (which might be affordable in my foreseeable future) will still only be the holiday destination of millionaires and billionaires. My feet will never touch the moon, much less Mars.

That said, if I had the chance to go to the Moon, I’d go!

Mars on the other hand? Not a chance of this happening. This will likely be an adventure opportunity for my grandkids or maybe great-grandkids. By then there might be a technology that allows faster space travel. Maybe they will take a picnic lunch on a trip to Saturn’s rings. It’s fun to imagine space travel that simply isn’t possible today.

The Jetsons, created in 1962 was supposed to depict our world a hundred years in the future. I don’t think we’ll be living and traveling like them in 2062. Technology does not advance as fast as our imaginations.

Door to door religion

When it comes to organized religion, I struggle with the concepts of an afterlife. I have yet to hear a description that makes me think, “That’s how I want to spend an eternity.”

I have a great way to quickly end the conversation when a Jehovah Witness knocks at my door. My usual response to them is, “I’m comfortable with my relationship to God.” If they say anything else to me I repeat that statement. Only once did the conversation continue and in that case I simply asked, “Are you comfortable with your relationship with God?” And with a ‘Yes’ response, I said “Me too.”

Works every time. Conversation over. They leave happy, I’m happy they left.

The summer before the pandemic I had a Jehovah Witness couple come to my door. I did something dangerous, I played along. This is dangerous because once you engage in a conversation, you are likely to get callbacks. More visits because you show promise. But when I was done, I was very doubtful of another visit.

I talked about millions of years of dinosaurs, and how insignificant human life has been in geological time… and how much less significance the earth has in the universe. I spoke of the injustice of a God who didn’t share his views equitably around the world, allowing false Gods to reign in different parts of the world, condemning people who never heard of Him to hell.

And then they brought up the afterlife. At this point I clarified, “Is it correct that you believe heaven will be here on earth?” And after their response was ‘Yes’ I said, “And you’ll all be naked.”

They looked at each other puzzled, and I continued with this line of thinking: When the rapture happens, and heaven happens on earth, you’ll have the clothing you own and nothing else. There will not be anyone in sweatshops making T-shirts and running shoes. Unless God is in the manufacturing business, clothes will wear out, unless you think heaven is some sort of magical cartoon land, and so eventually you’ll all be naked. Don’t worry, there won’t be any jealousy or vanity, it is heaven after all, but you will be naked for eternity.

The conversation ended soon after. They were pleasant and ended with “God bless you.” My response to this was “By all means, may God bless you, I’m fairly certain after our conversation, your God won’t be blessing me.” A meek smile was the only response.

I don’t know what got over me that day, but I’ll go back to my usual response from now on. Still it was fun to mess with their minds a little. Some might think it mean, but I didn’t go knocking on their door trying to indoctrinate them with my views, they came to my door to do so to me.

I guess I can’t be saved.

—-

Related: Coffee after class

All the world is an improv stage

Think of the roles you play in life: A child, son or daughter to parents… Sibling. Student. Friend. Employee/Boss. Boyfriend/Girlfriend. Husband/Wife. Parent. Caregiver….

We take on so many roles in our lives. And when we take them on, we do so without an instruction manual. We play the role, not knowing how to really do it. You can be trained for a job, but not for every scenario you face. You can model yourself as a parent based on what you’ve seen other parents do, but your child will challenge your skills in unexpected ways.

Every role you take on will put you into situations where you are going off script, you are improvising to the best of your abilities. Sometimes nailing the role and making great choices. Sometimes bombing and making decisions that make the role harder.

All the world is a stage, and we are all actors, playing parts we learn as we play them. Some people play certain parts really well, while they flop in different roles. Not too many people, if any, are able to play each of their roles without struggling somewhere. We admire those that put on a show and do things really well. We complain about those that can’t or don’t play their role well. We often lack confidence that we can do our role well enough.

We are far more critical of how we play our roles compared to others. We often feel like we are the only ones acting… everyone else has a script. But there is no script. There is no one path, improv doesn’t work if everything is set up. It has rules to keep going well. It’s better to support the actors around you than it is to cut them off. It’s better to understand that you share the stage than trying to go solo.

It’s not about getting everything right. It’s about helping others when they are lost for their lines, their roles. It’s about sharing and laughing. It’s about enjoying the performance, even when it’s challenging. It’s about taking on new roles, and trying new things.

The world is your stage. The play is your playground. Improvise your roles as best as you can. And remember that others are improvising theirs roles too. Work with your fellow actors to create the best performance you can. But remember it’s all an act, and if you aren’t playing a role that works, change the role or change the way you act in it. All the world is an improv stage, and so you get to write the script as you go. Enjoy the performance, you only get one.

Everything Everywhere All at Once

I saw this film last night. Funny, dark, and thoroughly enjoyable. It’s hard to describe the humour. I think if Quentin Tarantino, Mell Brooks, and the Monty Python crew all got together and got high, this is the movie they would write and film.

I was driving home and laughed out loud at the origins backstory of hotdog fingers. Yes, you read that correctly.

This movie is an epic journey, and it will gain a cult-like following of fans. It definitely won’t be for everyone, but if you love an action film, filled with dark humour, you won’t want to miss this movie… And don’t wait for it to start streaming, go see it in a theatre to truly appreciate other people laughing at the absurdity of some of the scenes.

I don’t usually enjoy watching movies a second time. It takes a special movie for me to re-watch. This will be one of those movies.

Everything Everywhere All at Once gets a 10/10 from me.

Fun with Math

Take ANY number, subtract the digits in that number, and the answer is divisible by 9.

14… 14 – 1 – 4 = 9

25… 25 – 2 – 5 = 18

36… 36 – 3 – 6 = 27

49… 49 – 4 – 9 = 36

1,234… 1,234 – 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 = 1,224

And you don’t need your calculator to figure out if 1224 is divisible by 9, it is. How do I know? Add 1 + 2 + 2 + 4 together and if it’s 9 or divisible by 9, then the number is also divisible by 9.

7,692… 7,692 – 7 – 6 – 9 – 2 = 7,668

And then 7 + 6 + 6 + 8 = 27 which is divisible by 9 so 7,668 is divisible by 9 (= 852).

I love Math.