Category Archives: Daily-Ink

A new groove

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It wasn’t that hard getting up on Monday morning at 5am to get to the gym. Coming back from a two week break didn’t hurt that much. But getting back into the routine of writing before I got to the gym at 6am has been a struggle.

It’s almost 11pm now and I’m laying down on my couch rattling this off to keep a commitment to myself to write every day.

The thing I am most looking forward to with retirement is time to write. The idea that I can schedule writing time that isn’t rushed excites me. Not having to think up ideas on the toilet first thing in the morning, or while washing my face and brushing my teeth. Not having to edit my work while on a treadmill. Actually sitting at a laptop with a coffee in my hand rather than hunting and pecking away on my phone… these are things I can’t wait to do as part of a daily routine upon retirement.

Before the March break people would ask me if I’m excited about my pending retirement and I’d answer honestly that I haven’t thought much about it. Now, after the break, I can’t say that anymore. I am thinking about it. I’m wondering how to design my days? I’m looking forward to finding a new groove that doesn’t involve a 5am wake up time and rushing to get my whole routine done before starting a long day at work.

The real test will be next September, when everyone is back at work and I’m home. I’m confident that I’ll build a routine that works. I’ll find my groove.

Turn your BS Detector fully on

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I remember when I used to look to the news for objective truth. I believed the role of a reporter was capital ‘T’ Truth, and their job was to remove as much bias as possible. I’m not sure if that ever existed, but we are now at a point where that idea is dead and buried. It seems like every news outlet is intentionally choosing a biased starting point before reporting what they share.

Maybe this isn’t new, but the level to which this seems obvious right now is alarming. One of the problems is the willingness of politicians and even executives to blatantly lie. Because then even the choice to be objective and just share the news becomes a choice to share misinformation. If a newscast willingly shares a quote that is an obvious lie or exaggeration, and does not share commentary on the lie, then ultimately they are promoting the lie.

We know from research that hearing wrong information repeatedly will make us more likely to believe it. So even a ‘non-biased’ reporting of misinformation is a kind of dose of that misinformation seeping into our brains as a potential truth. And so we are being hit with misinformation in two different ways. The first is intentional: overly biased news that fully intends to sway our opinion. The second is an attempt at being non-biased but ultimately sharing lies.

What we are left with is a need to have our bullshit detectors fully on at all times. I’m frequently left wondering if something is true or not? If the repotting is based or not? I often get my news from social media, and I end up having to spend time verifying the source or confirming the information shared. Just yesterday I saw some outlandish quotes that I thought were satire, and when I went to the actual source, I found out they were true. In this case it was the message and not the reporting that was outlandish. In other cases it’s not necessarily a misquote, but a real quote taken out of context. And then there are outright intentional lies being created and shared.

To me, this loss of trust in news media is scary. I am left wondering how many people actually take the time to check sources, rather than just believe the news that fits their narrative and beliefs, and discredit things that don’t fit with their beliefs? We seem to be in a sort of post Truth era where we either question and verify everything we hear, or we just accept that news is just a fiction dancing around the truth.

It leaves me feeling like I’ve got to keep my BS detectors fully on at all times.

Persistent and annoying

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Three Sundays ago, at the start of the March break, I felt a cough coming on. The timing was awful since I was hopping on a plane to visit my mom & sister the next day. I spent 10 days away and had the cough the entire time. I’ve been home for 5 nights now and the cough still persists. The good news is that I did see my doctor and it’s not in my lungs. The bad news is that I coughed a lot last night and this isn’t going away.

There are a couple things that I find extremely frustrating. First, I’ve really been taking care of myself, and yet I still catch this annoying cough. My stress at work has been low, I exercise and eat well, and I supplement with vitamins and minerals. I understand that you can be healthy and still get a cough or cold, but I don’t usually have them hold on for so long.

The other frustrating thing is that I’ve been dealing with sciatic pain in my leg since December. It was finally receding a couple days before this cough hit me, and is completely gone now. Don’t get me wrong, this is great news after months of annoying pain that altered my everyday living. The annoying part is that I’m finally pain free, and I’ve coughed every day since.

I feel like I haven’t had a healthy day yet this year… and it’s already April tomorrow! I’m trying to stay positive, but I’m tired of this. Tired of sleeping poorly, tired of coughing fits, tired of throat lozenges kept stuck in my cheek, tired of people looking at me like I’m going to get them sick. Feeling unhealthy has been both persistent and annoying, and I’m really looking forward to feeling healthy again.

Rewatching live performances

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I rarely watch movies more than once. There are a few, like Shawshank Redemption, Princess Bride, and The Matrix that I can’t help but rewatch if they are playing on TV, but there are also many, many shows that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, yet I’ve seen them only once. For the most part, I really don’t like reruns, and seldom choose to watch something more than once.

However, live performances are different, and I could watch them many more times. Last night I watched the play Les Miserables for the third time. It was fabulous. The story is great, but with live performances it’s not just about the story, it’s about the actors and how they play the roles; It’s about their voices, and the music, and the production.

The first time I saw it, the innkeeper and his wife stole the show. They were so funny. The second time I saw it Éponime brought me to tears with her death song, it was hauntingly beautiful. Last night it was Jean Valjean’s voice and performance that made the experience noteworthy.

With every live performance there is the opportunity for a performer to shine, or for the choreography or chemistry between characters to be better than the last time. Each performance can have a nuance to it that alters the experience for the audience, and give the show a unique distinction that makes it feel like a one-of-a-kind experience.

Last night I watched a show both for the third time and also the first. It’s a totally different experience than watching a movie a repeated number of times… and while I won’t race to see it again soon, I’d also choose to attend another live performance of it in a few years, while I’d probably not choose to watch a movie or tv rerun anytime soon. Live performances offer so much more variety to something I’ve already seen.

The best paper (n)ever written

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Anyone who writes regularly understands writer’s block. It is a scary thing to face and when you are in it, it feels like there is no escape. So when I heard of this paper, I had to look it up:

JOURNAL OF APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS 1974, 7, 497 Number 3 (FALL 1974)

THE UNSUCCESSFUL SELF-TREATMENT OF A CASE OF “WRITER’S BLOCK’‘
Dennis Upper

No abstract, and completely blank other than the word ‘REFERENCES’, of which there are none. A foot note mentioning that portions of this paper were NOT presented at a conference, and one more thing that makes this priceless:

COMMENTS BY REVIEWER A

“I have studied this manuscript very carefully with lemon juice and X-rays and have not detected a single flaw in either design or writing style. I suggest it be published without revision. Clearly it is the most concise manuscript I have ever seen—yet it contains sufficient detail to allow other investigators to replicate Dr. Upper’s failure. In comparison with the other manuscripts I get from you containing all that complicated detail, this one was a pleasure to examine. Surely we can find a place for this paper in the Journal—perhaps on the edge of a blank page.”

I can’t decide what I like best about this, the originality of the paper itself, the brilliance of the reviewer, or the fact that it was published.

I wish that I was clever enough to have written this when I was stuck with writer’s block! 😆

Feeling the financial crunch

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I just spent $155 on groceries that probably would have cost about $100 between 2-3 years ago. I know that prices go up, and I understand there are global factors like the price of oil that will elevate prices significantly. I get it. What I don’t understand is how lower middle class families and poor families are making ends meet?

The thing about the price of necessities going up that is often missed is that as a percentage of income, it significantly affects poorer people more. Furthermore, wage increases are negatively affected too. A person working a full time minimum wage job in BC Canada will make less than $40,000 in a year. When wages go up 3% in a year, that minimum wage employee’s salary goes up to $41,200, whereas the same 3% increase for someone that was making $100,000 sees their salary increase to 103,000… that means the higher salary person is making $150 a month more than the lower salary person for that year.

Of course, both of those workers are in a deficit when inflation has sent prices skyrocketing above 3%, but it’s clear to see how this is disproportionately affecting the poorer working class. And so again I wonder, how are these families making ends meet? What sacrifices are they making? What support are they needing that they didn’t need 3 years ago? When the financial crunch is felt, it is felt most by those who have already been struggling.

Decompression time

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First day back from my holiday started great. Woke up, met my buddy and went to the gym for the first time in 12 days. Had a great workout then he treated me to breakfast at his place. Then I had a couple appointments. I met my new doctor for the first time (my previous one is retiring), and I had a physio appointment.

And that made for a full day. Besides that I had a very long nap, and listened to my book. I then watched a bit of tv with my wife. All-in-all a great day. What really made it feel good was just having the time to flake out after a busy morning. No agenda, nothing pressing, no hurry, no worries. Just a good dose of decompression time.

Tomorrow I’ll do the Coquitlam Crunch walk after taking a month off. I hadn’t missed a month since my buddy and I started doing this in January 2021. But my lower back/discs has settled down and I’m not getting any nerve pain down my leg anymore. I’ve done a few completely painless walks, including one that had a bit of a climb during my holiday and so I think I’m ready, and my physio thinks so too.

It wasn’t just today that was about decompression time, it had been almost two weeks of it, and I’m feeling really good. It’s taken me 58 years to figure it out, but a little down time isn’t just good for the mind, it’s good for the body too.

Coming home

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I spent the day travelling today and now I’m home. What a fabulous holiday my wife and I had. It was wonderful to visit with my mom and sister. Unfortunately I spent the entire 10 days with a cough that I still haven’t shaken, but that helped me see the importance of rest.

Normally when a holiday is filled with a lot of down time, I end up feeling guilty, like I wasted the holiday. Not this time. I truly relaxed. I even took time away from my regular routines like meditation and working out… and I did this without the need to beat myself up about it. I just took the time to recover. And as a byproduct, my sciatica has completely gone. I’m not sure if it will return with more activity, but I am thrilled to not feel pain just from standing for a few minutes.

And now I’m home, and the routines return. I’ll be back in the gym early tomorrow. I’ll get back to daily meditation. I’ll start back at work on Monday, ready to enjoy my last 3 months before retirement.

Coming home after a break can often feel like a bit of a slog, but I’m excited to be back, and I’m looking forward to returning to my usual routine… Especially since it’s coming from a desire to get back to my good habits, without beating myself up because I took a bit of time off.

Egoless learning

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I got to participate in a small Jujitsu class today with a buddy who is a black belt. The great thing about going to your first class with an expert is that there is no ego present. I knew before going in that I knew nothing, and that athletic ability and strength were not going to give me the slightest edge against someone who isn’t only a master in his art but also very athletic and stronger than me. So I went it with the mindsets of an apprentice.

With just 4 of us in the class the instructor catered the class to me, and made the lessons very introductory. Then my buddy gave me some one-on-one time. With every escape that either I was practicing on him, or that he was practicing on me, it quickly ended with me in a compromised position. “The last place you want your opponent to be is on your back,” he wisely shared with me. Then we’d be on the floor, him in a headlock, he’d show me an escape, I’d try to counter… and then he was on my back. Every. Time.

It would have been easy to be frustrated, but I expected it. I took it in stride. I would try again, take his advice, and then ultimately lose position a few seconds later. And I’m not being humble, it was always a few seconds later. I marvelled at how easy he made it seem. But that’s what years of practice does. It takes being put into compromising situations hundreds of times to understand how to escape those situations.

If I was a couple decades younger, I’d probably take the sport up, but these days I’d struggle too much with back and neck issues to do more than train for an hour with a black belt, who is fully aware of my challenges, and who is going light on me. I deal with enough injury recovery in my everyday life to add a contact sport to my life routines. Still, I had an absolute blast today. I forgot just how much fun it is to be completely new at something, and to have that ‘beginner mind’ where your ego is parked and real learning happens.

Game night

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When I’m visiting my mom, every night is game night. The game of choice these days is Rummikub. This has been played by our family in the early 1970’s when it first came to North America. It was my Papa Truss who introduced it to us.

However, after moving to BC, I forgot about the game. Then a few years back my mom played it with me, my wife, and my girls when we visited her in Toronto. Now we all have our own copies of the game and sometimes my daughters play online.

What’s fun about this game is that the tiles played can be reused to create alternate sets using additional tiles from your hand. So the game evolves and changes with each play. Sometimes you’ll have great plans only to have them completely disrupted by the player before you. Other terms you think you aren’t close to winning and one round later you’re able to get rid of most of your tiles.

But the best part of the game is playing it with family. I’ve had a lot of fun this holiday and a big part of that has been playing Rummikub with my wife, sister, and mom. For now, it’s our game of choice.