Travel is fun, but how do you handle emergencies?
I have to confess that, as I get older, I react less quickly and efficiently when facing an emergency. It takes the old brain and body longer to recognize the emergency and respond to it than it did a few years ago. One result of this is that I tend to worry about “what ifs” more than I used to in my younger days.
Got a not-quite-good-as-it-should-be tire on the old car? I fret about driving any distance at any speed at all in case the tire gives out. Spot a loose shingle or two on the roof following a storm? I fret about it maybe developing a leak in our next heavy rainstorm.
Okay, I don’t really OBSESS over such things, but I realize I worry now more than I should about many things that never bothered me in the past.
Some years ago (15? 20?), the company I worked for flew me to Phoenix, Arizona, to report on a 3-day convention and to do some interviews and profiles of a couple of interesting people while I was there. I woke up in the hotel the first morning in town and had plugged, incredibly aching ears, a raw throat, and a fever. I was by myself and knew no one in town. It didn’t bother me at all. The convention was a church-related convention, and I simply contacted the church staff where I was to be working. They quickly referred me to a doctor (who happened to be a member of their congregation) who made a special effort to see me, gave me some sample medications and treatment instructions. Problem solved by the time I was ready to return home.
But nowadays, I probably would be blithering around the hotel for hours wondering how serious the illness might really be — and wishing I had some sort of “medical travel guide” or something to help me handle the crisis. Well, maybe it wouldn’t have been too big of a deal, but I am aware that I simply not as calm and collected anymore when it comes to facing the unexpected.
Maybe I just simply need to get out more!
If you take my Halloween candy plea too seriously, try this …
If you take my babbling about Halloween candy too seriously and pig out yourself, how about a quick 26.2 mile run around New York City the day after Halloween to help burn off the calories?
I just jest, of course — unless you happen to be one of those hardy souls who really IS signed up, trained up, rested and ready for the New York City Marathon on November 1. In that case, enjoy the holiday candy and consider it as “carb loading” to prepare you for the big run. (Talk about an ideal “weight loss product” geared for overachievers!)
I was writing about the NYC Marathon awhile ago on another blog, which started me recounting my long-gone “running” career, and the terrific weight loss success it produced. I lost about 90 pounds in 6-8 months WAAAY back in the mid-1980s when I let daily walking turn into jogging, turn into actually running some local 10K races (that’s 6.2 miles, if you’re wondering).
Unfortunately, I’ve since let my slothful too-many-hours-in-front-of-this-computer lifestyle, along with too much holiday candy and goodies, overcome the running habit.
But for those of you who walk, jog, or run regularly — be that a mile a day or an occasional marathon — I applaud your hard work. Keep it up!
Candy makes perfect sense for Halloween — we need MORE!
I can’t help myself — Halloween always has been one of my favorite holidays, even if it is something supposedly just for kids. (If I had a quarter for every piece of candy I’ve collected and consumed throughout my lifetime since childhood, I could probably afford to buy some really good dental discounts plan to repair the impact of all that sugar!)
Anyway, back to the tale at hand. We have no grandchildren, so I can’t use them as an excuse to make candy raids on the neighbors this Saturday evening, so I’m reduced to blatantly buying more candy that we’ll possibly need in order to have lots to pig out on when all the trick-or-treaters have (finally) given up and gone home. Only problem with that: My wife’s a real spoilsport about it. “No, dear,” she says each time we go to the store, “we really DON’T need another bag of candy bars for Halloween. We’ve already got (insert a ridiculously embarrassing number here) bags in the cupboard. You know we’ll never have enough kids by for that!”
She’s right, of course. Still, a dedicated, lifelong glutton such as myself just has to try …
‘Real Subliminal’ products
