OCB and Pedal Power

  Over the past couple of days, I have been doing some volunteering at Pedal Power and Our Community Bikes, in Vancouver. It's amazing, after so many years of riding a bike and feeling familiar with a bike, I am learning so much.
  I have only learned basic maintenance so far; I have learned how to over-haul (OVH) and true a wheel. Over-hauling a tire means cleaning and inspecting the tire's axel and ball bearings, then replacing and regreasing them. It is a tedious task and I was surprised by how much attention I had to administer when doing the procedure. I spent an hour and a half doing an over-haul one day and then another two hours the next day!
  Truing the tire is making sure there is equal tension within the spokes to ensure the wheel spins without curving to one side. It's a lot easier to do, believe me! When you tighten a spoke it pulls the wheel in the direction that the spoke is facing. If you tighten one spoke a half-turn on one side of the wheel, you have to give the spokes beside it a quarter-turn each (keeping a balance of tension). I don't recall what the device is that holds the wheel, but it pretty much looks like a combination of arms that work like vices. One set of arms holds the wheel, acting like the part that holds the wheel on a bike, and the other set of arms comes together towards the rim of the tire (so you can easily identify which direction the wheel is curving and make the appropriate changes).
  After I had volunteered myself for a couple of hours, the shop let me use their equipment to fix my bike at a lower cost! I took advantage and fixed my brakes. A couple days earlier, I was biking to the gym and was just about hit by a Porsche 911 Carrera (probably my favorite car type, definitely my favorite car manufacturer). I knew I was taking a risk because I virtually had no experience stopping without brakes and I almost paid for it. Schieza! At least it wasn't soccer mom driving a Volvo, that wouldn't sound as good saying it to somebody in Purgatory or Limbo. Here's to another day!

Speed: The Fast Lane To Pain

I was at the gym today working out and another member of the gym watched me do a set of one of my exercises and decided to help me out. He was an older man, slowly balding, but he was actually in good shape. He was a personal trainer.
  "I'm sorry," he said, "when I see some one doing something wrong I just have to tell them. Do you mind?"
  "No, not at all," I reply, stepping back from the bench to let him show me.
  He shows me the proper way to do the workout, which was some kind of tricep-pull-up with a dumb bell. There were a couple of subtle mistakes in my form and my speed was too fast. He told me that using to much speed potentially increases the risk of injury and "cheating," during your exercise (cheating, as in you're not isolating and working the specific muscle group correctly). I tell him that I do it as though I'd be doing it in real life situations, to which he said, "yes, well this will help you out during your real life situations, and it will make it a lot easier. It will also help you gain muscle faster too."
  I nodded. I finished my last set of the exercise and he watched me as I did it. Afterward, I looked up and said thanks. He was happy to see the change and continued his own work out routine.
During the rest of my workout and the bike ride home, I was thinking about his advice. After all, he was a personal trainer. I had been doing the same kind of work out for years and it has worked for me. Changing how I exercise is not too big of a deal, however, taking on new advice and discarding the old doesn't sit well with me.
  I had read a workout still that was made by a criminal serving time in the U.S.A. and it actually made a lot of sense, not just in the gym but outside as well. I also read about another trainer's regimen that he makes his clients use. The criminal said, "Do all your exercises quick and with little break time." (Maybe a minute break.) The trainer had almost the same idea, do all your exercises with little break time with a get-in, get-out mentality. The idea behind these workout mentalities is that with little break time, you give your muscles less time to cool down and result in injury. It also is the idea that strong muscles are made through continues use and work; you don't work hard for a little bit and take a 5 minute or 10 minute break in between.
  Control is a major concern when working out. Control your speed, form and safety of your exercises and you'll have a steady progression and improvement. Ultimately, I believe that is what the personal trainer was trying to say and I agree, although, I wasn't consciously practicing the element of control. After having done the same type of exercises or tasks sometimes you don't recognize that your form or technique get's sloppy. I'm glad that personal trainer pointed it out so I will know for next time!

Dreams 1 of Many

  Last night I had a couple of dreams. The one that was the most interesting was where I was in a room of people. Among them there were band members. What band in specific? I have no clue, but in the dream I did. At first we were talking, and then in what felt like seconds I was at a venue watching them perform. It was amazing! They played some kind of punk/rock/indie music that sounded really awesome, I recall watching their fingers move to the various chord positions as they strummed.
  When I awoke I wished I could've remembered what it sounded like, I tried but couldn't. I was stuck in that feeling of it being just out-of-arms-reach in my mind. Too bad! It's frustrating to know I can't repeat the dream-made music to others. It was great! You'll just have to take my word for it.

On another note, I was looking up some Peru travel blogs/websites and came accross this photo of a cub:

La Tigra!

Cheers!

Don't be so dramatic!

  I can't speak for everybody but I think I put to much thought into this. Before writing what I was thinking I was asked what to call what I was about to write. Silly isn't it? A person never says, "breaking the ice," when talking to somebody else for the first time, and maybe they don't call it that either. Likewise, you don't name your child before you make it, do you? I don't. Haven't yet and probably won't when the time comes. I'll make it first. So I suppose before I get the ball rolling, I'll just get that thought out of the way. I now have a mental note, "write now, name later."
 
 Okay, so, I still have that blank stare filled with confusion as to what to write next. It's actually the same stare I have sometimes when people say, "what have you been up to?" It's not that I haven't done anything; it's just that I routinely draw a blank and then draw on the environment around me, searching for conversation topics. Maybe that's I was taking Ritalin all those years...I'm kidding. I don't take Ritalin, but I do draw a blank from time to time.
  Memory is a funny thing. It's also a fascinating phenomenon. I read quite a bit about the mind and its ability to store information or what the best technique to use to remember that information is. The root of the problem is not using that knowledge wisely or even putting it into practice. Remembering somebody else's name is actually quite easy if, say, you're paying attention, you have a special need or connection, or you try to remember. Weird, hey?
  The key word in the last two sentences was connection. The reason being is that if you have a special connection to something you'll remember it better. For example, you need to know where you parked your car in a place you've never been. Hopefully, you look for some landmarks (street signs, a business close by, a post office, liquor store, etc). When your brain creates a memory, it takes all the data from your senses and includes it into a cell, and then a connection will be fastened to it. The more important the memory is, the greater the connection is in your mind, enabling you to recall it quickly.
  When you go to sleep, your brain sorts all the experiences and information. If you have a poor sleep that night, the harder it will be to remember what you have done earlier that day. While the brain is sorting your memories, you are dreaming. I hear people say all the time, "I don't dream," but they are actually dreaming even though they don't recall. Reasons for being unable to remember your dreams are: the conscience desire to recall dreams, lack of sleep, and poor sleep caused by the bed, intoxicants or the environment. By improving any one of these reasons, a person will be able to remember their dreams. Dreams and memories, I believe, are closely linked.
  I believe there are multiple reasons as to the link between memories and dreams. I also believe that there is so much useful information to be learned about an individual from their dreams. In many cases, dreams seem to be random or pure fantasy, but in others, they are so realistic and powerful. If you are paying attention in your dream, which is pretty hard to begin, you can notice the feeling of objects, the texture and other aspects inside your dream.
  People are also able to remember a feeling of objects, emotions, sounds and any other way we interpret the world. True enough, we all visually recall things easier, which is why feeling objects in dreams is harder to do than it is to see them. Have you ever had a dream where you felt like you couldn't run? Some force was compelling you to do the exact opposite of what you intended. Your limbs move clumsily as you thrust yourself in a vain attempt to run. Maybe it's because you haven't run in a while? You can run, you know the feeling and you can remember other times when you have ran but in your dream you can't. Maybe it is just your body stopping you from actually running while you're asleep? I can't tell you because I'm not a scientist and I don't have proof, but if I was to take a stab at it, I would say it is your body stopping you from moving in your sleep and acting out what you're dreaming about.


Okay, I'll shut up now. Tomorrow will be a more chill topic.