Washington, D.C.

Sorry folks, I've been here for the past week. I will post soon.

PS - It was hot!

Still walking..

Yesterday, I took one of my neighbors and one of the building dogs, Grekko, out for a six-mile walk. The poor boy was rather tired towards the end. In the mean time, I have been building my TEOTWAWKI closet. I have a storage closet out in the hall that I think will hold the rations I purchased at Walton Feed. It is going to take some carpentry but that’s okay, since I’m the building manager and I am giving myself permission.

Keeping the numbers low

I paid my doctor a visit this past week. She is apprised of my experimentation, and is supportive so long as my blood pressure and cholesterol do not go too far out of wack. I was once a victim of high cholesterol and high blood pressure but am no longer. It is probably more accurate to say I was a victim of myself and my dietary habits which naturally gravitate to average American fare.

As recently as last year, I had a total cholesterol level of 280! (200 is considered to be borderline). I was obviously shocked, so before I let my doctor write me a prescription for something like Lipitor, I tried some natural remedies. Oat bran, flax seed oil and soy products like tofu all have LDL (bad cholesterol) lowering effects while at the same time promoting HDL cholesterol, which has a protective effect. I also reduced my consumption of red meat and tried Red Yeast Rice, which I was reading about on the net as an herbal remedy for reducing cholesterol. I got another blood test in two months and the results were nothing short of astounding: total cholesterol 180! My LDL had come down 100 points and HDL had gone up – exactly what you would want to happen.

So, to what single item do I attribute this? I do not know. It would be a good bet that it was the combination of all those dietary changes. My exercise level is generally moderate to non-existant when I am busy at school, unlike now in which it is more elevated.

That was all back last August. The results from the most recent visit show that I am holding steady at the good levels, in spite of slipping on the discipline and eating red meat as per this Paleolithic plan. One more experiment then. In order to determine how much of an effect the Red Yeast Rice is having, for the next four to five weeks or so, before school starts and the Paleolithic experiment ends, I am going to drop the red yeast rice. I will follow up with one more blood test and we shall see.

The walking is going well. Due to 21^st century life stuff, and staying abreast of the White House shenanigans, I skipped a few days. I made one trip to the archery range with my new archery equipment. Yes, Paleolithic man must keep hunting skills sharp. Ung!

Today I took a crazy little route from Glen Canyon Park up over Twin Peaks and Sutro hill and then wound my way down the hill into the sunset. Here is map of the route courtesy of Google Earth, not to be confused with Google maps. I could write a blog just about this new Google venture but I will not, and simply say that if you download it and begin playing with it, you will be calling in sick the next day just to play with it some more.

Here's some thumbnails of the walk today; click for the large version.

Sausalito (and day 25)

The Golden Gate Bridge today...


(© Paramount Pictures)
...and 370 years from now, after being destroyed by the Breen.
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That wasn’t so bad - 18.2 miles today. As usual, I went over the Golden Gate Bridge, but I wanted to climb down to Fort Baker, where I took the above shot; that added two miles to the trip. Just as I arrived on the edge of Sausalito, a parade was starting, which slowed my pace measurably (how annoying). I made my way around the parade by way of the Marina and arrived at the goal for today, Café Trieste, home of the world’s most expensive double espresso ($2.50!), and we are talkin’ a very short double. I had to buy it anyway as I used to frequent the San Francisco Café Trieste every day when I lived in North Beach. It’s tradition.

I am noticing that the things I thought of as milestones to be proud of, like making it to the north end of the bridge, or walking to the beach and back, now seem a bit ho-hum. People ask me how far I have been walking and when I tell them, they are a little surprised or think I have lost my mind. However, walking tens of miles is less about physical exertion and more about how much time you have on your hands.

Climbing through the holiday crowds on the bridge was a little annoying. I try to remember what it was like the first time I stood under those huge spans. The bridge really is a marvel, especially when you consider that it was built during the Great Depression. Instead of endure the crowds at the gift center, I climbed down to Fort Point and walked over to the beach at Crissy field where I stretched out on the sand for a while –very nice.

The diet portion of this Paleolithic experiment is going well. It is simple and I never feel deprived. What’s more, my body is changing. Today, for instance, my pants were tending to slide down a bit. When I went to cinch up the belt, I realized that I was on the last hole.

Here’s a funny picture my old college roommate found of me, circa 1985. Nice glasses.

Our aching backs!

A few days ago, during a gym workout I pulled a neck muscle, so I have been laying low at least as far as physical exercise goes. (Don’t worry mom, this was minor).

More updates:

I spent some time with Travis and his mom yesterday. The day before that, I had my semi annual doctor visit and everything seems to be functioning fine; she was very pleased to see how low my blood pressure was.

I received an e-mail from my good friend and ex-wife who is presently in China writing a book. The Chinese government has commissioned her to put together a manual to be used as the standard for esthetology in China – pretty impressive - and she takes it very seriously.

She is also hard at work helping her twin sister run her esthetology school in Chongqing, China. In her e-mail she told me that she had injured her back recently from working all the time and it was forcing her to take it easy, something she never does.

I wrote her back and told her about what one of my naturopathic teachers had said to me. She told me that whenever she became ill or injured herself, she would really get into the sickness; she would call in sick, wrap up in blankets, break out a bunch of good books, lay around in a hot bubble bath all day, and never do anything on the to-do list. It was her philosophy that illness is your body’s way of telling you to slow down.

Speaking of slowing down, tomorrow, July 4, I will make my first expedition into that strange land called Sausalito. I think I will walk all the way there (9.2 miles per Google maps) and walk back five miles to the gift center on the south side of the Golden Gate Bridge. From there I can take a variety of buses back home. Later I can add more and more distance to the return leg, until I am all the way up to the 18.5 miles round trip.