Stay healthy....get dirty

A big "BREAKING NEWS" sign flashed across my morning news  TV screen just now so I sat up straight and paid attention:  It seems the US Postal Service will be ceasing Saturday mail delivery beginning in August due to their continuing financial problems.

OMG....you mean they're still delivering mail?  I thought they went broke months ago.  I guess I should go clean all the accumulated junk mail from my mailbox.  (Shows you how relevant they are to my life.)

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At the risk of jinxing myself I'll share this recent observation:  K came home yesterday and said everyone in her office was sick.  Many called in sick, and the ones still there were coughing, sneezing, and hocking stuff up.  Someone asked her why she never got sick?  For that matter, she and I are both rarely sick.

Here's my theory....we're acclimated to many of the germs and bacteria floating around the environment, just as doctors who see sick people all day long rarely get sick.  We pet our dog who walks around on sidewalks and in the yard and sniffs other dogs.  We hold on to the handrail on escalators.  I'm outdoors a lot exposed to pollen and dust and pollutants.  

Yes, we wash our hands, but we don't use those antibacterial gels 20 times a day like some do.  Those are the types who run to the doctor at every sniffle and demand prescriptions for antibiotics, then find their systems are so sterile they can't take exposure to anything.

So here's my medical tip of the day:  get dirty.

(Doesn't he look healthy?  :)

S

Pretense

In the mail yesterday I received my yearly REI Co-op dividend, so I went and bought a new pair of super-light casual summer shoes.

I bought the ones I did for two reasons:  They're comfortable, and they're Patagonia brand.


Patagonia is a cool company, the kind of company I want to reward with my business. As a young man Yvon Chouinard lived to surf and rock climb.  He would work just long enough to make a few bucks, then he and some friends would take off on some pretty grand poor-man's expeditions, such as a month-long drive in a clapped-put old van to climb in the Patagonia region of Argentina and Chile.  He eventually realized he could make better climbing pitons than he could buy, so he bought some blacksmith's equipment and did just that.  Other climbers saw how good his stuff was and wanted some too.  Later he realized his pitons were damaging the rock faces he so loved, so he stopped making them (giving up 3/4 of his business) and instead perfected hexagonal chocks that would do no harm to the environment.  From there his business grew and grew to become the worldwide company it is today.


Here's the cool part:  I've seen Yvon on several TV outdoor documentaries and he seems to be totally without pretense.  He looks like the kind of guy who would sit next to you on a lunch counter stool and you'd have no idea he was anyone "special".  He could have sold his company years ago and made (even more) mega-millions of $$$, but decided he wanted to keep his company private and on the high ground, doing good for his employees (they say it's a GREAT place to work) and the environment by giving back for all he's been given.  I'm not saying this because I'm a big tree-hugger (I'm not really), but because I respect a man for doing what he believes in and not prostituting himself for a buck.  He's now in his 70's and still doing outdoor things many people half his age can't.


Like most everybody I've often daydreamed about winning the lottery.  Even with all that money I don't think I'd change too much.  I'd still wear my jeans or shorts and t-shirts, live in a modest apartment/home, etc. I would probably travel more, but that's all I can think of I'd like to do that I can't do now.  Heck, I even like my 5-year old car.


I don't like pretense.  If you have to tell me how cool you are, you're not that cool.  I doubt Yvon gives a shit what anyone thinks of him.  My kinda guy!


S