Experiences
Camping at Rennselearville State Forest on my 40th Birthday, January 29, 2023
NPR
Inflation ticked up a little in December on the back of higher costs for housing and car insurance.
The overall cost of living in December was up 3.4% from a year ago, a slightly larger increase than the 3.1% rate in November, according to data from the Labor Department on Thursday.
The cost of motor vehicle insurance rose 1.5% in December from the previous month, marking a 20.3% increase compared to the previous year.
The cost of housing accounted for more than half the monthly increase in consumer prices. Food and energy prices were also up in December. The so-called "core" inflation rate, which excludes food and energy prices, was 3.9% last month.
NPR
Microscopic pieces of plastic are everywhere. Now, they've been found in bottled water in concentrations 10 to 100 times more than previously estimated.
Researchers from Columbia University and Rutgers University found roughly 240,000 detectable plastic fragments in a typical liter of bottled water. The study was published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Winter Camping is Not That Cold
A common reaction about my winter camping trip in December was people asking if it was cold. I didn’t think it was that cold, although I made sure to dress in layers, had a good working tent heater, warm campfire, and good nutritionally-dense, warm food to eat. Probably the coldest time during the whole trip was when I was out hunting, the rest of the time I was out burning calories, or sitting next to the fire or heater. When I was at camp, when I’d get cold, I’d chop wood and be warmed up quickly.
Winter is only cold if your not properly dressed for it and do stupid things like get wet and don’t have a plan for getting warm quickly. With the Big Buddy Heater, especially in the tent, I had no problems staying warm, indeed I found myself quickly turning it down because it got too hot in the tent. Sometimes there would be some cold drafts but for the most part it was delightful. At night, after the tent was warm and toasty, I’d shut the heater off and burrow under the covers. If I got cold at night, I’d reach over and turn the heat back home.
I think it’s a mistake to think winter camping is cold, although I do note the air was dry and my hands did crack easily. Hunting is cold in the winter, but not camping. Maybe if your ill prepared you might disagree – and certainly if I had better hunting gear, I’d probably been warmer. But it’s tough when your not burning calories and to keep warm, sitting still in the woods.
Sadle River New Jersey
With the INFAMOUS and always congested NY 17 super street running through it.
Diabetes 🍬
Smoking cigarettes these days is pretty much considered to be an socially unacceptable behavior. Cigarette smokers are considered to be addicts, people with a bad habit, that at best need a medical intervention to quit their nasty habit. Strangely enough, such beliefs do not extend to those who eat a lot of processed foods that are high in sugars, salts and unhealthy fats.
Diabetes, especially the most common form of the disease, Type 2 Diabetes is largely caused by the over-consumption of sugars and unhealthy fats that destroys the pancreas due to the constant overproduction of insulin. Much like a light bulb or a motor driven with too much voltage, the pancreas cranking out all that insulin to burn off all that excess sugar in blood ultimately starts to burn out and body stops producing sufficient insulin which causes blood sugar to rise, which causes various organs and parts of the human body to break down, much like an automobile lacking engine oil or coolant.
It’s something one should want to avoid if all possible. Yet it’s hard, when so much of our culture is about promoting unhealthy, often processed foods. Processed foods aren’t inherently bad, but they are often bland and unpalatable without the addition of saturated fats, salt and sugars. Even when food is lightly processed, there is a trend to cook with saturated fats, salts and sugars for taste, even when there might be healthier options to cook with spices, fruits and vegetables.
Any popular dessert promoted widely in the culture is likely loaded with saturated fats, salt and sugars. But you don’t have to listen to the advice, you can go for natural flavors of fruit and vegetables, enhanced with spices. Cookies aren’t just bad for you because they have loads of sugar, and therefor calories, but also are bad for you because they use butter or palm oil shortenings to give them that soft texture. But there are other ways to get enjoyment in eating from natural foods.
For a while I was a bit obsessed with sugar and salt substitutes. I liked the idea of minimizing my sugar and therefore calorie intake by using things like Splenda or in case of salt, Accent MSG. But I am coming to realize such things are really false options. Many of the artificial sugars may have just as bad of impact as the real thing on one’s pancreas, and aren’t really about making the behavioral choice of eating food that isn’t so sweet or salty.
It’s not as hard for me as I live alone and have full control of the food I purchase at the store. If something is not in my pantry, then I can’t eat it. Yet, there are constant temptations — lunches out with the team, cookies and candy brought in the office, mom’s home cooking. To be rejecting it all seems to being a picky eater. Sometimes I don’t — I’ve learned to make peace with mom’s home cooking, as she’s not going to be around all that much longer and a meal I don’t have of hers, there is a good chance it won’t be available in the future. And it’s about averages, not the exceptional meal. But I do walk past those free cookies and cakes in the office.