Random Notes 20150607

Sunday, June 7, 2015

Random Notes 20150607

A Real Man Finds the Way

It amazes me that many men do not understand that the core quality of a Man is he who finds a way.  This means, we are responsible for winning, no matter what.  You cannot argue your way away from responsibility and say it is not your problem.  You must creatively pursue ends toward the goal with absolutely no excuses.  We are paid to win.  When we lose, we gain nothing; thereafter, we must regroup to fight the next obstacle with greater magnanimity and creativity, and pure force of will.  There is no option for inaction - absolutely none.  Inaction is losing, and that is intolerable to Men.  We must find a way to Win or Die.  

Southern Heat on a 30-40 mile Bike Ride

Living up North for 8 years in Indianapolis, I needed a way to acclimate to the Houston heat for the summer.  I grew up in the swamplands of South Louisiana about 2 hours from New Orleans, so I have some genetic history with this type of climate, but still - It has been about 15 years since I have had to live in the heat and humidity of the Gulf Coast climate.  

So, what is a dude like me to do to solve this problem?  If you read this blog, you know I am the most analytical guy on the planet, so I devised a plan that is fail safe.  Well, fail safe if I do not die of heat stroke!  I take the hottest point of the day, and I ride my bike for at least 30 miles within the space of two days.  Today, I will actually make 40 miles in the heat, counting yesterday.  Does this work?  Well, I was at a family event a few weeks back outside with boiling crawfish.  A few people there who never left the Gulf Coast climate in their lives were complaining about the heat, and I was feeling just fine, and had not even noticed the heat.  So, that is one solid data point.

When I was riding yesterday, I think the temperature was between 91*F (32.8*C) and 93*F (33.9*C).  

Houston People and IQ

The population is skewed toward a lower IQ over here.  When shopping for commodities, Wal-Mart is just an unpleasant place to be.  We all have been to the websites making fun of Wal-Mart people, and over here, the humor is reality.  You will see obese people riding battery powered buggies all the time, and you will see obese people wearing very short shorts.  I prefer to shop at higher value places like Costco and Sam’s Club where the people serving you tend to have higher IQ’s and do not just stare at you with a blank face when you speak to them in complete sentences with correct English grammar and pronunciation, and speak clearly with authority.  

I find that even among technical people over here, who tend to be on the higher end of the local IQ spectrum, they are not accustomed to higher level abstract and creative thinking as I was accustomed to when I lived in Indianapolis or in California.  I have to push them.  I have to give them responsibility, and not just hand them the answers without creative effort.  It is as if they are still in school, expecting to only deliver the “right answer” to the professor, when in fact, a man is responsible for creating new worlds with absolutely no excuses.  If there is an obstacle we must overcome, there are no excuses, we must overcome them.  This requires creatively coming up with one alternative after another until the best idea pops out and you move forward with the best idea of many.  Standing still and waiting is never an option when working with high achievers, unless you are meditating and focusing upon the solution.

Cold Showers

I have been reading Tim Ferriss and specifically his book, “The Four Hour Body.”  I decided to try out a cold shower.  Now, I am 41 years old and live in Houston, so this will be a shock to my system.  So, I showered as normal with warm water and slowly turned down the temperature.  As it got colder, it got to a point of shock where I would normally shout something like “Yaaaa!”  Trust me, your senses are wide awake after this moment.  You feel alive.  You feel energetic.  The Eustress brings out all sorts of consciousness in the moment you would not have otherwise.  Perhaps it can be a form of meditation “on steroids.”  I will continue to experiment with this in the next few weeks and see where this goes. 

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Freddy Martini