Post Race!

[wes4dbt]

Groceries have gone nuts. I've seen a 25-50% rise in several of my normal purchases. Don't see why. Seems like price gouging in the disguise of "COVID has caused this".

Noticed a few things not around but not much.

[dilettante]

There have been some unusual patterns post-pandemic. There was an odd rash of chicken processing plant fires for example. Perhaps mere coincidence, but similar patterns have popped up for other foods, paper products, etc.

Letting that slide, future supply problems seem likely due to unusual weather patterns and fertilizer sourcing hampered by geopolitical events and trends. Not to mention interruptions and changes in our degrading freight carrying infrastructure.

[dilettante]

We had some interesting weather yesterday.

It has been pretty dry for several weeks now, but we got some light rain while I was driving to the cardiologist yesterday. Not a lot of it, but what we got was very clean compared to earlier in the year. It almost had the character of car wash softened water. The dust slid right away, and after drying there was no spotting. Earlier we were getting everything from dirt spots to mineral/salts spots.

This came in from eastward this time, so it probably didn't have the tilled-up dust we get from the west. Or even the smoke from Canada, since that system had come in from below that activity.

New pattern coming in from the west, as more typical rains do. We expect more sludge.

[Shaggy Hiker]

My trip might be derailed. I'm getting an MRI on Monday (hopefully) to see whether I've done something serious to my right Achilles tendon. Kind of a bummer.

[wes4dbt]

My trip might be derailed. I'm getting an MRI on Monday (hopefully) to see whether I've done something serious to my right Achilles tendon. Kind of a bummer.

Sorry to hear that. Did you wreck or just over stress it?

[Shaggy Hiker]

I think it was the 11 hour day that ended with a roughly 4000 foot vertical climb in hot weather. I was so tired by the time I got to sleep the exhaustion seeped into my dreams. A dream would start, then there would be some message about "this dream is still under construction" and I'd go on to some other dream. It was really weird.

[dilettante]

Soon AI will have our dreams for us.

[Shaggy Hiker]

They might already. I was playing around with an AI concept a couple decades ago that was based on using dreams to train the AI. That was an evolutionary engine approach, so the dreams would allow for a diversity of AI brains to all work on the same artificial problem. The nice thing about the dreams was that it was possible to create automated 'problems' for the brains to solve, and each would be able to do as it would. The key was being able to automate the evaluation of success/failure in the dream.

Our dreams seem to serve the purpose of reinforcing learning, as well, so perhaps there's something there.

[dilettante]

Rains came though, we got a good soak. Looks like we won't be dry for a while now with scattered rain here and there over the next 10 days. Not that really clean rain this time though.

For now we're back in the haze from Quebec fires again, probably the worst we've seen so far. Not just a hazy sky, but smoke in the air you can clearly see looking across the road. Much of the time you can smell it too.

We don't have a lot of big fires over broad areas. I'm not sure we ever had smoke like this since maybe the days when people all burned leaves in the fall.

[wes4dbt]

I remember a couple of years ago when the fires were everywhere here in CA. The sky was just brown for days. Could see long distances.

This June has been great, mild 75-85 just about all month. Usually we have some 95 days, maybe even a 100. But that's changing, suppose to be 107 Saturday.

[Shaggy Hiker]

Well, my ride is done, but I didn't tear my Achilles. I was told I probably would if I kept going, but considering how swollen my ankle currently is, I was already on to plan B...or C, or whatever I'm down to. Bummer, but at least I won't need surgery and as long as I rest it for a month, or so, I should be good to go.

[wes4dbt]

Well, my ride is done, but I didn't tear my Achilles. I was told I probably would if I kept going, but considering how swollen my ankle currently is, I was already on to plan B...or C, or whatever I'm down to. Bummer, but at least I won't need surgery and as long as I rest it for a month, or so, I should be good to go.

Glad it's not torn. These adventures of yours seem to be pretty hard on your body. If I remember right, last year you ended up with bad sores on your feet. Later in life these things seem to come back to haunt you. I've damaged my shoulder so many times that now I can't get it to heal. Been getting cortisone shots the last few years, now they don't even help. Things definitely take longer to heal the older you get.

Maybe you could finish your vacation working on your tan on a nice beach. lol

[dilettante]

Skin damage is also cumulative. Sometimes everything seems to go well until some seemingly unrelated condition arises. That can trigger fragile skin that appears just fine... into anything from "crepe skin" to itchy rashes that are hard to control to skin cancer.

A guy I used to work with was fine until around age 48 to 50 an itchy rash arose. His doctor put him on a course of steroids that masked it somewhat, but then it came back with a vengeance. He ended up getting lots of tests with a dermatologist and they finally figured out that it was many years of wind and sun exposure from sailing, the rash triggered when he changed the multivitamin he was taking to one with less intense doses of vitamin A. From the time it cropped up to finally correcting it took around 6 months altogether. I remember he always seemed to be slathering a prescription Retinol cream on in the men's room to keep it in abeyance. He had a sort of "sponge on a stick" he used to get his back.

I think a bunch of us got hired in around the same time in our 20s. By the time we'd all reached 55 or so it seemed like everyone had something to deal with, even if it was just a second pair of glasses for using screens and reading. Rumor was that for the women it tended to be things like bladder control or emotion and mood management meds. Before I retired it seemed like the new Employee Service Program counselors were always buzzing around or holding seminars.

[Shaggy Hiker]

The damage is already accumulating. Both knees have some issues, though they are far from needing any work done. My right shoulder is a bit of a mess. Both feet are a mix of hypersensitive and numb. It's like I can feel some things too acutely, and other things not at all.

[wes4dbt]

The damage is already accumulating. Both knees have some issues, though they are far from needing any work done. My right shoulder is a bit of a mess. Both feet are a mix of hypersensitive and numb. It's like I can feel some things too acutely, and other things not at all.

And yet you can't wait to go on another trek. lol

Don't get me wrong, I completely understand. My life is full of such choices. Humans are funny creatures.

But honestly, I can't decide if I regret doing the things that caused the damage I'm dealing with now. Strange.

[jdc2000]

Shaggy,

For the feet, if your are riding the bike but not using cycling shoes, you definitely need some. They have a stiffener in the forefoot that distributes the force on the foot. I assume that you already have decent hiking footgear.

[dilettante]

Canadian forest fires are still raging, and we've been getting quite a dose of smoke. So bad it gets swept as far as the Carolinas, and now I hear it has reached Spain.

This must be why I'm seeing people walking the neighborhood in masks again. I hear they are cheap now though, even the one-time-use N95 masks can be a cheap option. They got overproduced and are now warehoused in massive numbers.

[dilettante]

I made the mistake of hanging a knit shirt in the sun yesterday, not taking my advice about the smoke that I gave my neighbors.

When I brought it in at dusk ahead of the rain (that we got little of here) it smelled a little funky. Today it smells rank, like the weird smells in a department store shoes aisle or something.

Doesn't appear we'll be clearing until 7PM to 7AM tomorrow. Might be leaving that shirt out overnight!

https://firesmoke.ca/forecasts/current/

[wes4dbt]

I made the mistake of hanging a knit shirt in the sun yesterday, not taking my advice about the smoke that I gave my neighbors.

lol

Sounds like something I'd do. I'm great at giving advice, not so good at following my advice.

[Shaggy Hiker]

You should hang some gouda out in the shirt.

[dilettante]

Or maybe I should leave a cake out in the rain.

[Shaggy Hiker]

The cake is a lie.

[Shaggy Hiker]

Smoked gouda is not. It's excellent with grapes. The smokiness of the gouda contrasts nicely with the sweet/tartness of the grapes.

[dilettante]

You don't see as many fondue parties anymore. I'd think "keto" dippers could revive the fad. Low carb vegetables, chicken breast cubes, etc.

[Shaggy Hiker]

How strong is the inverse correlation between fondue parties and beards?

[dilettante]

In the '70s fondue parties were usually part of a double-date. Often a follow up to some cross-country skiing or ice skating. It was seen as more mature than sipping cocoa and playing Euchre, leaving minds more free for listening to music and conversation. It was also a pretty simple thing to set up in a dorm room.

I hesitate to imagine what goes on in college these days.

[dilettante]

When I was in the store a few days ago there was a huge display of those foam "pool noodle" toys. What the heck are those for? I've seen a few kids bashing each other over the head with them, but not much else. Who buys these?

I guess I have seen some of them used as raw material in different craft and DIY projects. So a cheap source of shaped foam as long as you buy the "smooth" ones instead of those shaped with ribbed or spiraled or "ringed shank" surfaces that don't seem as potentially useful.

[Shaggy Hiker]

You find those in any commercial hot spring pool in Idaho. I've found them to be quite useful. I took a few of them and wove a simple chair that allowed me to float, mostly submerged, in a nearly fully reclined position. It was amazing after a long day of hiking. I was floating around in warm water, so thoroughly relaxed that I could fall asleep, while looking up at snow-capped peaks towering above me.

[Shaggy Hiker]

I also use one for a physical therapy exercise for my shoulder. Basically, I lay the noodle flat on a hardwood floor, then lie on it such that it runs the length of my spine. This elevates my shoulders off the floor, at which point I can do a series of core exercises.

[dilettante]

I see that now. Good to know.

I'd like to imagine they are made by recycling plastic. I wouldn't place a bet on that though.

[Shaggy Hiker]

I'd be surprised if they were.

[dilettante]

So "Grimace's Shake" is a thing now? I hear it's become a meme for killer corporate crap that induces delayed vomiting and seizures. Oh, those kids and their TikToks and their VR goggle phones.

[wes4dbt]

So "Grimace's Shake" is a thing now? I hear it's become a meme for killer corporate crap that induces delayed vomiting and seizures. Oh, those kids and their TikToks and their VR goggle phones.

I guess "kids" is a relative term. I know people in their 40's that are fans of Tik Tok.

[FunkyDexter]

What the heck are those for?

They're buoyancy aids. They're quite fun to use as extra obstacle at a climbing wall though.

[dilettante]

Whew. Several exotic variants of candida entering the food supply. It's a yeast, or fungus, or bacterium depending on who is talking. These "new" ones seem only to be new to people who grew up in Europe and N. America. They don't have as much resistance to it.

It's most often seen in "baby carrots" that were peeled and bagged in South America. They look fine when purchased, but a few days in the fridge white colonies may be seen developing. The carrots may feel slimy to the touch long before the white bloom can be seen.

Bleh.

Of course that isn't a new thing in itself. Slimy peeled carrots have been with us now for three decades. The difference now is the rise of new variants on store shelves.

I guess you're supposed to scrub them in plenty of cold water, rinse, dry, and then bag tightly in a bit of hydrogen peroxide solution. Refrigerate and use them up as quickly as possible.

Of course restaurants just dump them onto their salad bars right out of the oozing sacks.

[NeedSomeAnswers]

Of course that isn't a new thing in itself. Slimy peeled carrots have been with us now for three decades. The difference now is the rise of new variants on store shelves.

I guess you're supposed to scrub them in plenty of cold water, rinse, dry, and then bag tightly in a bit of hydrogen peroxide solution. Refrigerate and use them up as quickly as possible.

slimy carrots are a thing? urgghhhh sounds awful.

I dont know what Is happening with your food in the US but you will never catch me rinsing my veggies in bleach !!!!!

[wes4dbt]

They seem to last a loooong time for me. A month, no problem. They don't turn slimy, usually they get rubbery. I don't wash, dry, bag.

But I don't hardly ever eat them raw, mainly for stews, pot roasts.

[dilettante]

Natural unpeeled carrots that were washed and dried before bagging normally last a long time if kept cool. At least until they begin to sprout and grow hair roots. But you can even trim and scrape those or peel them at time of use.

Rubbery? Yeah, those are probably done for.

[Shaggy Hiker]

You should marinate your carrots in VERY salty water. Do this for a couple days. Then you won't have to worry about bacteria...since after you tie your carrot in a knot, no sane person would eat it....but I expect that college kids would.

[FunkyDexter]

True fact, carrots used to be purple (though also red, black, and white varieties). They're only orange because the Dutch House of Orange thought that would look cool. We've been messing with food for a loooong time.

I would definitely turn away from a slimy carrot though. Not to be trusted.