Staying the Course -- 03/04/19

[Superbob]

Hey gang, I'm around. It's getting late -- I will write more tomorrow. Just wanted to start a new line here in case any Coursers want to stop by and say hello and what's happening.

More later from me.

Stay the Course!

Cheers,

Superbob

(Will check back after exercise class tomorrow. Need to get some sleep... : )

 

[Superbob]

Had a great exercise class today. We did a new and extra-difficult form of planking -- the squat plank, sort of a cross between a push-up and burpees. And the teacher singled me out for having "perfect form," called me a rockstar. (Wow, blush, blush --music to an old man's ears. But a lot of the credit has to go to an Army drill instructor of almost 60 years ago who commanded me to give hm 75 pushups whenever I screwed up -- which was often. I honestly think muscle memory from that experience still helps me.

On the home front, my wife got re-certified for another four weeks of home PT to help her with balance and avoiding any more serious falls. These home visits are really helping her. Praying that there is no repetition of the terrible fall she had in mid-December.

On the heart front, I have an echocardiogram next week and then a follow-up with the cardio the following week. Hoping for good results. Always a little nervous about these. 14 years on my replacement valve and root, so it's good to be keep track of how the ticker is tickin'. Will report in when I know results.

Kinda cold this week -- in the 30s early morning -- but great for dawgwalking!

Hope all's going well with our Coursers.

Stay the course!

Cheers,

Superbob

 

[user 16827]

Hope the Echo goes well SB it's always a nervous time

Speaking of Dawg walks, that's where i'm off now , 39 here this morning in the UK and wet and windy : (

 

[Superbob]

Thanks, Leadville. Hope the dawgwalk was a good one. My dawg had her annual "wellness" exam yesterday and her vet was thrilled -- she'd lost 3 pounds. When we rescued Ellie after she'd been in a high-kill shelter, she was skinny, and once in her fur-ever home, she was happily packing on the pounds. Glad she's settled back in a good healthy balance. Walking no doubt helps both of us.

Since this week has been slow here after an active one (mama said there'd be weeks like this), I have some philosophical questions to pose to our Coursers. Ruminate on these and give me a 1000-word essay by next week. : ) (I cribbed these from the Internet...will give the site in another post -- dare not edit 'cause you know instant vaporization)

Here they are:

What harsh truths do you prefer to ignore?

Is free will real or just an illusion?

Is there a meaning to life? If so, what is it?

Is the meaning of life the same for animals and humans?

Where is the line between art and not art?

Does fate exist? If so, do we have free will?

What does it mean to live a good life?

Why do we dream?

Is it possible to live a normal life and not ever tell a lie?

Does a person’s name influence the person they become?

What should be the goal of humanity?

If you could become immortal on the condition you would NEVER be able to die or kill yourself, would you choose immortality?

How will humans as a species go extinct?

What actions in your life will have the longest reaching consequences? How long will those effects be felt?

If a child somehow survived and grew up in the wilderness without any human contact, how “human” would they be without the influence of society and culture?

Where does your self-worth come from?

How would humanity change if all humans’ life expectancy was significantly increased (let’s say to around 500 years)?

Where do you find meaning in your life?

What do you think would be humanity’s reaction to the discovery of extraterrestrial life?

Will religion ever become obsolete?

If you could teach everyone in the world one concept, what concept would have the biggest positive impact on humanity?

Is suffering a necessary part of the human condition? What would people who never suffered be like?

Does hardship make a person stronger? If so, under what conditions and at what point is it too much hardship? If not, what makes a person stronger?

Would things get better or worse if humans focused on what was going well rather than what’s going wrong?

Bonus points:

Mac or PC?

Coke or Pepsi?

Baseball bonus:

Best rivalry:

Cubs versus Cardinals?

Yankees versus Red Sox?

Soccer or "football" across the pond: Would it be more exciting were the goal wider and scores like 10-9 more common than 1-0?

Carry on, Coursers....cheerio....

 

[Superbob]

The link, just to be sure I give credit (your essays need not be footnoted) https://conversationstartersworld.com/philosophical-questions/

 

[jwinter]

<-------trying to find the right smiley face. I have been "off course" for so long I almost dare not post except for a little ha ha ha on the questions post!

My plan is to get back to my course soon and not sure I want to move over to small talk so will just add: WAY TO GO YOU COURSERS!

I have been feeling really good about not having to doctor very much the last months but this autoimmune stuff kicks my butt. Just cannot get my energy back, it seems. I truly hope that I am not going to be stuck in this state of limbo the rest of my life! Maybe I just need a good swift kick of that butt to get me going.

Have a good weekend everyone! Snow is starting to melt .

 

[MartinF]

Nothing new to report here in So Cal. Still lots of rain and more forecast next week. I haven't done any walking since Sunday. Tomorrow is a walk from San Juan Capistrano down toward the beach.
SB, those are some tough questions to answer. Only doing a couple.
Will religion ever become obsolete? No, I feel a connection and that something higher than me has watched over me. Too many others also feel this connection
How will humans as a species go extinct? We're survivors and I think the only way to make us extinct is to blow up earth before we colonize other locations.
Does hardship make a person stronger? If so, under what conditions and at what point is it too much hardship? If not, what makes a person stronger? Yes, hardship builds character. That's essential for self worth. Too much hardship is where you lose your ability to chase your life goals and give up to become a couch potato waiting for the end.
What do you think would be humanity’s reaction to the discovery of extraterrestrial life? Depends on their entrance. I think humans will always be cautiously optimistic while having a loaded 45 tucked behind their back.
PC
Coke (the old Coke)
MartinF

 

[Paleowoman]

I adjusted a spelling mistake in a post I wrote and the automated moderator took my post away. Thankfully I had copied my post in case that happen, but I find that when I tried to post it all again the automated moderator doesn't allow me to post it ! Crazy !
I'll try and post it below:
I’ve just had my six monthly review with my endocrinologist who is a wondrful doctor. We discussed my heart valve as he has always taken interest in all aspects of my health and was the doctor who I saw nearly every day in hospital when I had AVR as he is so caring. It made me realise though that I am thoroughly fed up with this heart valve. I've been seeing cardiologists and having echos more frequently since AVR (six monthly) than before AVR. I realise I ought to have them at least annually, especially as my prosthetic valve is too small. Reading Kevin’s post (Mentu) that his valve is failing at 9 years made me realise that I’m more than half way to that, and the cardiac surgeon I saw just over a year ago said these valves have an average lifespan of 10 years. Am I the only person who never celebrates their valve anniversary ?

 

[pellicle]

I adjusted a spelling mistake in a post I wrote and the automated moderator took my post away. Thankfully I had copied my post in case that happen, but I find that when I tried to post it all again the automated moderator doesn't allow me to post it ! Crazy !

I've experienced that too, I suspect that the system somehow flags your IP (perhaps temporarily) as a spammer, but does not store it (how can I be sure?). Myself I think that its one of the many technical issues which have plagued this site for so long now (as well as how slow it is often times) and (based on them telling me) is the reason why many good posters of the past have just stopped. I think there is a bit of a death spiral happening here and perhaps now is actually the time to consider selling the joint to someone who will manage it better, maybe invest in it and inject a little life into the pages here before it becomes just another old room haunted by a few old regulars and lurkers (who maybe would join if only people processed their join requests in a timely fashion).

And like youself, I never have celebrated my anniversary of valve operations (I don't even know or really care to know the date of the 1974 one, although I do know the dates of the 1992 one and 2011 one..).

 

[MartinF]

Pellicle, I agree with you, the lack of communication on the future of this site is not good for the health of the site. It seams like there are fewer posts lately. Unfortunately the site future doesn't look good to me.

 

[tom in MO]

Y'all are "Looking a gift horse in the mouth." I can live with slow and I check my posts before hitting the button. You can have the software flag spelling errors, but despite what we learned in kindergarten, there is no shame in misspelled words

 

[pellicle]

Y'all are "Looking a gift horse in the mouth."

you may observe that I (and Paleo) have learned to live with it, my reference is for those who couldn't and the newer members who won't and perhaps can't (or have you not seen the guest posts where someone reposts as guest because they want to join but can't.

This place isn't about "us" (you and I) its about "them" ... the new users who won't be coming in any significant numbers.

Such things will stem the flow of new users and thus (as I said) this site will become a ghost town. for old regulars to haunt.

 

[honeybunny]

MartinF , I feel the same. I peak in here but don't have the heart to post because I have nothing new to say. My enthusiasm for the site ha dwindled steadily since Hank posted about shutting it down. I don't even stop in on the Throwdown thread, and I always did before (nothing personal SB). I don't see posts from newbies anymore, and that was my biggest reason for hanging around...to help those with questions as I was helped 3 years ago.

Still, I am glad it is here.