Useless Conversation

[justdave]

Tsk. This explains those KOA stools!

[Cyrrex]

An open letter to my fellow human beings

Dear fellow human beings,

Climbing Mt. Everest is pretty stupid.  There's a good chance you are going to die.  And if you are both dead and white, I have to see your stupid ass face plastered all over the news for a few days.  But here's the thing:  I don't really care.  Your dumb, probably rich ass deserved what it got.  There's no fucking air up there, and long lines of other stupid rich people all waiting to see who will reach the summit first and/or die trying.  Nobody's really impressed, millions have already done it before you.  What, you died of exhaustion due to oxygen deprivation?  NO WAY.  You say a storm came along suddenly and froze your ass solid like a flesh popsicle?  UNPOSSIBLE!

By all means, keep doing what you're doing, dead rich white guy.  Gives those Sherpa dudes a pretty decent occupation, I suppose, assuming you don't take them down with you.  Now those guys are impressive, but being poor and dark-skinned, likely lacking social media accounts as well, we rarely hear anything about them.

Sincerely,

Fuck you

[HaemishM]

Bravissimo.

[Hawkbit]

millions have already done it before you. 

Well that's an exaggeration. :) Totally agree though.

We just got back from the coast, celebrating our 20th anniversary. We stayed in Manzanita this time, as Engels recommended. Gorgeous place, not too busy yet with folks. Unfortunately, an enormous owl flew out of the forest and right into my windshield on the way back. It flew back off into the other side of the forest, but I can't imagine it will survive. Nothing I could have done to change the outcome, but still a bit of a bummer to the end of the trip.

[Paelos]

Haven’t actually had a drink since last Monday.  Calapine convinced me to ease off on the drinking, and when I did I got a case of the shakes.

That’s a bad sign of alcohol habituation/withdrawal.  It’s definitely a good idea to dry out for a while. 

I quit for 9 years because I wasn't an alcoholic yet but I saw the road and where it was leading. When I finally got my shit together and got married, I started to feel comfortable drinking again.

It's doable, and it's not the worst thing in the world. You'll find that most of the time if you don't have a serious problem that after about 3 weeks you stop caring unless somebody is drinking in front of you. You'll also find that your body tends to compensate for the lack of alcohol by absolutely craving the shit out of sugar. Seriously. That was the weirdest thing I noticed is that my sugar craving went through the roof when I quit.

That being said, if you do find yourself in that situation where you can't stop, there's no shame in seeking help at all. I certainly thought about it early on, but I think you'll realize after a month of not drinking if you're in that zone.

[HaemishM]

Craving for sugar isn't strange - alcohol is basically the fermented sugars of various ingredients.

[Polysorbate80]

I've had no sugar cravings, actually.  But I've been strictly controlling my sugar intake for the last couple years as it is, to help keep my weight under control.  Things tend to taste too sweet now.

It took about two days for the shakes to stop, and I felt generally kinda shitty for a couple more, but I'm pretty good at the moment.

The current plan is to keep dry until I'm back from China in mid-June and then play it by ear.

[Cyrrex]

My relationship with alcohol is a strange one.  Many years in the past, I was certainly someone who could be considered on the edge, if not outright addicted.  I could recognize I had something looking like a problem whenever a day would come where I couldn't simply have a beer or two (or six), and boy was that a bummer.  Not the shakes or anything, but clear cravings.  Bit of a slap in the face, and ultimately made me understand that I have a weakness in this particular area, which I then addressed.

Lately, I drink super casually.  I like having a drink or two in the evenings, rarely getting outright drunk.  But frequent enough that - if I go a day or two without it - I miss it.  That alone brings back those old warning signs.  As such, I force myself to skip a day or several days.  I limit it so that I don't go overboard.  I stop very early in the evening.  Etcetera.  I don't know if I have a problem, I just know that I like it in moderation.

[Cyrrex]

Oh, and to continue my rant on annoying headlines.

Two "suspected tornados" hit Ohio.  Because that distinction fucking matters?  In Ohio, it got really windy.  Caused some distruction.  Knocked over some outhouses.  Killed a few people, maybe displaced some cows and stuff.  But let's just all cross our fingers that they aren't actual tornados, because then we have a real problem.  We would become retroactively more frightened.

[01101010]

It is only serious if they start naming shit. Tornado Billy is not to be fucked with. 

[Chimpy]

Suspected means that they have not confirmed it yet. They go back and look at radar tapes and damage on the ground a day or two afterwards and confirm if it was one. This is especially true if it happens in the middle of the night.

A small tornado went through a neighborhood about a mile and a half from my house a couple days ago but it was not confirmed as one until yesterday.

[Mandella]

Back to fukin Everest for a minute, I've pissed off some "global adventurer" folks I know from time to time by insisting we refer to it as "hiking" Everest, not climbing. It's an incredibly dangerous and steep hike to be sure, but it's a hike nonetheless. Anything you can take absolute amateurs on, give them a few weeks of "acclimation" and set them off is not a mountain climb.

That said, if you get into hiking it must be an incredible view and experience. Just not for me, and I agree that the death of one of these adventurers should not be international news any more than somebody killed while bungee jumping or rafting.

On the drinkin' topic, apparently I dodged some genetic bullet there. If I drink to the point of really feeling it, I'm actually repelled by the smell of alcohol for weeks. And since I've put in a home bar I think I drink less anyway -- maybe a after dinner mixed beverage no more than twice a week, and if we miss that no big deal.

[Polysorbate80]

I think the very fact that the housekeeper felt it necessary to organize my flasks pretty much puts me at Tyrion Lannister levels of boozing.

[Mandella]

I do like that they put them right next to your knives and lighter...

 

[Polysorbate80]

Because booze mixes well with fire and sharp implements, amirite?

It's actually not my lighter, one of my friends must have left it.  I don't smoke (asthma) but I think she just assumed it must have been mine... 

[Cyrrex]

It's actually not my lighter, one of my friends must have left it.  I don't smoke (asthma) but I think she just assumed it must have been mine... 

Dude, this is place of judgement.  If you want to light things of fire, you light things on fire, man.

[Polysorbate80]

I light stuff on fire, sure.

I think her thought process was just along the lines of “Well, clearly this is the irresponsible adult portion of the home.  Must belong here.”

[Samwise]

I think the very fact that the housekeeper felt it necessary to organize my flasks pretty much puts me at Tyrion Lannister levels of boozing.

Heh, I have a similar-looking array of flasks on my desk right now, except I have five of them.     I filled them all with different whiskeys in order to turn myself into a portable whiskey tasting at a recent party, and I've spent the last month slowly emptying the remainders out before I forget what they all are.

If I remember when I get home I'll take a picture of my liquor collection, which should pretty much make anyone feel better about their own drinking hobby problem.

[Cyrrex]

I light stuff on fire, sure.

I think her thought process was just along the lines of “Well, clearly this is the irresponsible adult portion of the home.  Must belong here.”

Lol, I meant ISN’T a place of judgement.  Meaning changed slightly I guess, but I will let it stand.

[Polysorbate80]

I've spent the last month slowly emptying the remainders out before I forget what they all are.

Pretty sure none of mine would have had anything left to empty after such an event 

[rattran]

Storing things in flasks is bad for the taste, the solder leaks tinny taste into the booze. 3 days, then empty it, rinse and let dry.

[lamaros]

That said, if you get into hiking it must be an incredible view and experience. Just not for me, and I agree that the death of one of these adventurers should not be international news any more than somebody killed while bungee jumping or rafting.

Incredible view if you have clear weather, no line of people, and don't have altitude sickness, maybe. So, never.

It's the bucket list and experience. There are much better things to do for a good view.

[Cyrrex]

Yeah, I kinda doubt many people are actually "enjoying the view" while they are standing up there in that moment.  Most of their energy is probably aimed towards, you know, not falling over dead.

And hold on to your seats, because now headlines are reporting that an American has also died.  Now it's serious.  According to friends/family, he was on his way down after having just accomplished the vaunted 7 peaks hat trick.  Also, they said he "died doing what he loves".  What, gasping for oxygen while freezing to death?  We can accomplish that same feat with some Saran Wrap and a meat locker.

[Sky]

I'm happy any time someone who is not a Sherpa dies on Everest.

[HaemishM]

When the line to the top of Everest begins to look like the line to ride the Matterhorn at Disney World, I'm thinking the "personal accomplishment of climbing Everest" part just makes you look like a dumb fucking tourist instead of a world-class daredevil and explorer on a journey of self-discovery. Surely you can spend that $11k on something useful like ensuring the elephants in Africa are killed of or something?

[RhyssaFireheart]

Yeah, I kinda doubt many people are actually "enjoying the view" while they are standing up there in that moment.  Most of their energy is probably aimed towards, you know, not falling over dead.

And hold on to your seats, because now headlines are reporting that an American has also died.  Now it's serious.  According to friends/family, he was on his way down after having just accomplished the vaunted 7 peaks hat trick.  Also, they said he "died doing what he loves".  What, gasping for oxygen while freezing to death?  We can accomplish that same feat with some Saran Wrap and a meat locker.

Not to mention that bodies aren't brought back down the mountain, IIRC.  So yeah, your loved one "died doing what he loved" and now he's going to stay right where he died, a corpsecicle being used as a trail marker for all the other idiots lining up to say they summited Everest.

[01101010]

And in a few thousand years when the next wave of human evolution archaeologists are digging around and finding these preserved corpses, they will be in pure wonderment of how an ancient human tribe could have lived up there - given all the bodies piling up.

[Cyrrex]

I read an article today (just to make myself more angry or something) about how these poor, poor people were forced to step over a recently dead corpse to make the last parts of the climb.

As opposed to the dozens or hundreds of other corpses littering the landscape under the snow and ice.  I guess the ice is melting permanently (global warning doing some good for once), so imagine the horror in coming years!  Fucking suckers.  Hey, maybe in 10 or 20 years they will have new bragging rights.....all the piles of corpses will make the peak even higher than what it is now.  If I took a buddy along and he were to die on the peak, I’d stand on his corpse and proclaim how I am the highest motherfucker that ever was.

[Mandella]

Maybe they'll all start sliding at once and the lower camps will be buried in a corpsalanche?

And for what it's worth, I guess I've got my news bubble well trained because the only time I hear about these deaths is checking f13...

[Cyrrex]

But an Irishman, a Brit and an American have all died!  White people are succumbing!  How can you not know!

Corspalanche.  You have won this page of the thread.

[Cyrrex]

If I ever make a zombie movie, it will start with icy corpses coming to life near the summit of Everest and eating the oxygen starved brains of rich white folk.  New meaning to Death Zone, haha.  That’s what I will call it.

[Samwise]

If I remember when I get home I'll take a picture of my liquor collection, which should pretty much make anyone feel better about their own drinking hobby problem.

This has been somewhat top-of-mind for me lately because (a) I've been buying a lot of whiskey and (b) I've been trying to reorganize my kitchen and dining room to optimize storage space, and it's become pretty apparent what the primary consumer of that space is...


Definitely need to throw a party to try to get rid of some of this.

[Cyrrex]

LOL.  I think you need to throw about 40 parties.

I am always embarrassed to tell people that I prefer rum over whiskey.

[Samwise]

Poly probably has me beat in the rum category.     I have a few different bottles on hand so as to be able to make the occasional tiki cocktail, but since those ideally need fresh juice and hence forethought I mostly stick with whiskey and gin drinks.

[Rendakor]

And for what it's worth, I guess I've got my news bubble well trained because the only time I hear about these deaths is checking f13...

You're not alone; outside of this thread, I haven't heard anything about Everest.