Category: Opinion

No “Thank You…”

I encountered a strange situation last week that I can honestly say I’ve never experienced before. I was making my way to work early in the morning and as I like doing on the odd occasion, I decided to go through a local eatery for a take-out coffee. For the most part, I’m partial to chugging a quick energy drink in the morning and no, don’t feel the need to fill my comments section on that! Who am I kidding? No one EVER fills my comment section. But I digress…

Since I start my morning with a can and actually have my own coffee machine at the office, I usually don’t indulge in take out coffee. Since I don’t like getting sued and I don’t need it reaching the wrong ears, I won’t name the location I attended but will simply point out that it’s a place whose primary focus is coffee. ‘Nuff said. As I mentioned, I only do this once a month or so when I’m feeling that my morning could use an added pick-me-up to get me started.

I pulled up to the drive-thru lane and was extremely pleased to see that there was only one other vehicle at the speaker. I didn’t see a line-up at the window, inciting me to believe I would have a quick, seamless experience and be able to make my way to the office without incident. Although very little that happens in the world surprises me anymore, I have to admit that the interaction with the speaker employee that ensued left me a bit taken aback.

I placed my order, which is about as simple as it gets. I ordered a medium coffee with two sweeteners. The employee’s response was to provide the total and to ask me to “Please drive up!” I loudly and clearly said thank you, as is my habit and custom. Politeness and respect cost nothing, and thanking someone who is serving you your beverage can usually go a long way towards potentially adding a bit of positivity in their day. Except in this case. In this case, it had the opposite effect.

The employee came back on the speaker and asked if I needed to order something else. I had started rolling by that point and jammed the brakes and explained that no, I was simply saying thank you. This person went on to say that it wasn’t necessary to say thank you and that speaking AFTER they say “please drive up” triggers them to assume the next order is at the speaker. I’m not sure I understood that logic, either when it happened or even now. Since I had him on the speaker, I explained that I was simply trying to be polite and showing respect to someone working towards providing me with my beverage.

I got no response to that, so I drove up to the window. I was perplexed. Confused beyond reason. I started looking around for television cameras because I assumed I was on some sort of prank show… I have occasionally been called out for neglecting to say thank you when I likely should have. Never in my LIFE have I had someone take me to take on actually SAYING thank you. Not wanting to create unnecessary conflicts and simply wanting my coffee, I didn’t plan on addressing this issue at the window. After all, I don‘t know this person. Perhaps they’re having a bad morning, themselves. Maybe it’s simply their personality. Maybe, just maybe, they subscribe to an abstract belief that having someone thank them is offensive. Who knows? It’s 2022, people!

I had someone different at the window and as I mentioned, I had no plans on addressing the matter. I simply paid for my coffee and went on my way. It left me with a strange feeling. I try to start my mornings off on a positive note so that it sets the tone for the remainder. This doesn’t always work, but politeness and respect plays a role in that. But if someone had told me that this type of response COULD happen, I likely would have laughed at the absurdity of it. telling someone NOT to say thank you? Strange, indeed. But in a world where people eat laundry detergent pods and snort condoms on a dare, I suppose I really should stop being surprised at the things I see. ☯️

I’m Green With Calm…

So I was sitting at my desk recently, surfing the web and seeking inspiration on potential topics I could write about, when I came across an article on something called “green noise.” Way back in 2019, I published a post on white, pink and brown noise and their potential benefits. You can read that post here. The tall and short of it, is that any of these “noises” are artificially constructed sounds that exist on at a particular frequency and can provide certain key benefits, depending on how you’re using them.

For example, plenty of people use white noise machines to help them sleep better and get some rest. For those who find that white noise doesn’t help, they can try pink or red noise (also known as Brownian or brown noise) as they have deeper depth and different effect. Pink noise for example, can potentially aid sleep by reducing one’s brain waves to increase one’s sleep stability and provide for a deeper sleep. I’ve used all three at a variety of times in my life, including during sleep, meditation and even when performing work tasks where I need to focus and block out the outside world.

Recently, I discovered green noise, which made me give my head a shake and think I was getting punked. After all, how many “noises” can there really be? Turns out, it isn’t all bullshit. In fact, I’ve recently save a YouTube video to my list that’s 10 straight hours of green noise. Although not necessarily effective as a sleep aid, green noise provides a soothing, calming effect that can be effective at calming oneself, meditating or even just to centre oneself before GOING to bed. I’ve been trying it and listening while I sit outside and enjoy a cigar. I’m not sure if it’s the cigar or the green noise, but the effects were calming.

When I started to look further into it, I came to realize that if white noise is artificially constructed, it would make sense that multiple different levels of noise could potentially be created as well. And when I looked into it to see if I could find others and lo and behold, there are more noise colours than infinity stones (little Marvel comics joke, if you didn’t catch it). While I would encourage anyone interested to do their own research, here are a few of the more interesting ones that I found.

Blue noise is something that works opposite to brown noise as it exists at the higher end of the sound spectrum. This means it likely wouldn’t be good for helping with sleep or relaxation but from what I’ve found, it’s used as some sort of distortion eliminator during sound editing and engineering. I also found violet noise, which can apparently be used to treat certain hearing issues, such as tinnitus, since it apparently blocks the ringing someone with tinnitus tends to hear.

There’s apparently also a grey noise and a black noise, which is basically silence. Wikipedia has a great page defining all of these (although without their benefits) and you can access it here. I still use pink and brown noise a great deal, for those rare occasions when I find a moment to meditate. Green noise is certainly interesting and can provide benefit if you’re just sitting outside, enjoying the weather and want to add a bit of relaxation to your day.

There are several YouTube videos that play lengthy clips of any noise, should you decide to try any of them. I’m partial to my Noisli app, which contains white, pink and brown but there are also some other apps out there that likely feature green noise. At the end of the day, adding a bit of noise to your silence can be helpful and provide some benefits. But you’ll need to try it yourself to find out. ☯️

Facebook Live!

A short while back, I treated myself to some moderately-priced media equipment, which allows me to more effectively make videos for my YouTube page. And by the way, if you aren’t a follower on my YouTube page, please take a few moments to jump over there and click the follow button. thirty seconds for you, great deal of help for me. You can find my page by searching “The Blogging Buddhist” in the search bar. But I’m getting off track here…

I had thrown a post up on my Facebook page (yes, I also have a Facebook page, which you guys can follow as well. Find it by searching, you guessed it, “The Blogging Buddhist”) asking if anyone would have any interest in having me do a live event where I could answer questions and chat about various topics I write about, such as health & fitness, Diabetes and martial arts. I said I’d base whether I tried it or not on how many like I got and I also posted something similar on here.

To my unfortunate surprise, the response had no pulse. I got a couple of likes through facebook, which was nice but I otherwise had no show of interest, whatsoever on either platform. While this is disappointing, to say the least, I’m still interested in trying it out and have friends who have made it work and look interesting (Thanks, Ricky!) so I’m tempted to try it, despite the lukewarm response. In all reality, many if not most people may not necessarily respond to some thing that requires their interaction with a posting, so I kind of get it. Maybe if they come across the Live event, they’ll be tempted to jump in.

With all of that in mind, I’ve decided that I will go live on Facebook this evening at 6:30 p.m. Central Standard Time (Saskatchewan time). The event will last somewhere between 30 to 60 minutes, depending on attendance and interest, and will cover various topics including what’s mentioned above: martial arts, Diabetes management, health & fitness (from the Diabetic perspective, especially). Come join me and throw out any questions you may have been wondering about. Hopefully, it’ll be entertaining for all. See you there! ☯️

You Get What You Give…

The world is a pretty complex place to navigate and anyone who’s tried to accomplish anything real within their own lives can attest to that. one of the big problems is that the world has developed into a place where society as a whole seems to believe that they’re entitled, rather than have to work for things. It can be frustrating on both fronts; frustrating for the poor bastards who think they’re entitled and frustrating for the ones who have to deal with them. But life has a way of squashing those who don’t at least TRY when pushing towards a desired outcome.

As one of the best examples I can think of, let’s take employment. Now for the most part, most people don’t envision themselves working a minimum wage job for their entire lives. Many people do, and there’s nothing wrong with that. The whole point of a job is to earn enough income to get by and if minimum wage does that and the work satisfies you, I know a lot of people who do that very thing. But I mean the solid majority; who have goals, ambitions, wants needs and expectations from their lives outside of just making ends meet.

The thing is, the world doesn’t owe you a damn thing. If you sit back and complain about not getting ahead or reaching your goals but you do nothing to contribute to making them happen, the only person to blame is you. Accomplishment doesn’t happen on it’s own and the efforts required to make it happen can often seem (to the modern person) as though it should be a given. The unfortunate reality is that employers care about your previous work experience only to a certain degree. It’s your work ethic, your efforts and how hard you’re willing to push and work towards something greater that will ultimately make a difference.

I use the example of work because it’s the example that almost most people can genuinely relate to. But this concept applies to almost every sector of life, whether it’s diet, health & fitness, your martial arts or sports training… It’s all the same. Life doesn’t care about your plan. If you sit back and do nothing, nothing is what you’ll get. Only a fool holds a piece of steel hoping it will become a sword. It needs to be worked and forged, strength and effort need to be put into the steel in order to reach one’s goals. The same can be said of life.

There will always be people there to help you and guide you along the way but the genuine effort and steps will ALWAYS need to be taken by you. You, and no one else. I often think about where I’d be right now, if I’d listened to family and doctors way back in the day when they told me I had to take it easy, not get involved in sports and try not to tax my body too much. I’ll tell you where I’d LIKELY be is in a grave. Good things in life don’t happen on their own. No one is entitled. No one words you a thing. You’ll only get what you give. Food for thought… ☯️

E-gads! What’s With The E-bikes?

I’ve often joked around with my buddies who have motorcycles about how “A real man’s bike runs on muscle, not gas…” If I said that to Sensei he’d probably break both my legs but as an avid cyclists who covers a thousand kilometres or more per summer season, I’m partial to an actual bike instead of motorcycles. Although I can understand the speed and feeling of freedom one no doubt feels from using such a vehicle, the dangers and overall accident rate just aren’t worth it to me, just to relive the opening scene of the original Top Gun movie (if you know, you know!).

But a growing trend seems to be these fuckin’ e-bikes. For those who may not be aware or haven’t been exposed to these abominations, an e-bike is what in Canada, is known as an “assisted bicycle” and usually equipped with some sort of battery pack that powers a small electric motor that provides propulsion to the bicycle. unlike a motorcycle, moped or scooter, it doesn’t have a combustion engine and doesn’t run on gas. In Canada, an e-bike is required to have peddles on it, otherwise it’s classified as a motorcycle and subject to all the same rules and regulations. They also can only be powered to a certain extent before becoming illegal to use on public streets and roadways. They’re also utterly and ridiculously useless…

E-bikes were “invented sometime in the early 1990’s with the first ones sold in store towards the latter part of that decade. It isn’t until recent years that that there seems to have been an uptake and increase in interest in these bikes and people everywhere are jumping on (see what I did there?). I have to confess that I don’t really see the use behind these suckers. Although I understand that so long as they’re compliant with local laws, you don’t need a driver’s license to operate one, they don’t hold anywhere near the speed of a motorcycle, with most legally-permitted ones going no much faster than a seasoned cyclist would go on a traditional bike. If it’s because you NEED the assistance because you don’t want to keep peddling, that raises the question as to WHY you’re using a bike in the first place.

I recently had a friend from back home, who shall remain nameless but if they take the time to read my blog, they’ll know themselves, who excitedly contacted me to tell me they had purchased a mountain bike version of one of these bad boys. His claim was that it would allow him to bike through some of the more difficult areas that he couldn’t make it through on his own. When I challenged that claim on the basis that the bike was doing the work instead of him, he didn’t particularly like that. But that’s the reality; if you can’t make it through an are on your bike, that’s likely because YOU SHOULDN’T BE BIKING THERE!

I don’t know, maybe I’m being too harsh against these things. y’all can let me know in the comments section. Maybe it’s just Monday morning and I need to get more coffee into my system. I just don’t see the POINT. It feels more like an added step towards the inevitable slip towards a passive, lazy society that’s already stepping off the edge of the slope. this will just get them there faster. I guess I can kind of see SOME appeal to having one of these as an alternative means of getting to your work in the morning, providing that you don’t live a significant distance away.

It looks like e-bikes as well as their counterparts (e-scooters, etc) are here to stay, with most major retail locations in Canada carrying some version or model of them. For myself, I had toyed with the idea of getting an electric scooter to get myself to the office in the mornings so I could leave the car for my wife. I don’t know, a scooter seems less stupid to me, since the intention isn’t to peddle on one of those. Again, maybe it’s simply because I’m partial to my bike. Or maybe I juts need to stop being so whiny. It’s just the start of the week, after all. ☯️

An Inconvenient Tooth…

I have a pretty heated love/hate relationship with dentistry and dentists’ offices. It all stems from a very young age, when my parents started to bring me to the dentist office against my will. Imagine that, even as a young child I didn’t like being told what to do. Funny. But in all seriousness, when looking at it from a child’s perspective, we drag our kids in to a dentist office with their best interests in mind. After all, oral health is extremely important. But then, we subject the kids to random strangers basically grappling their way around their mouths and expect them to sit still and be happy about it. It can be difficult, at best.

For me, it came down to the speeches. I’m not one for being lectured. In fact, I was once sent home from elementary school after telling my principal that my parents weren’t paying him to lecture me. I don’t remember what I did to get sent there in the first place but as you can imagine, it didn’t go well. As you can no doubt imagine, I wasn’t a huge fan of brushing my teeth regularly and my parents would usually give me grief over it. It got to the point where I would almost try to sneak into bed and pretend to be asleep so they’d leave me the hell alone about it. It became a point of contention throughout my childhood and especially when I’d get scheduled for an appointment at the dentist’s office.

Picture this: you’re constantly getting grief from your parents over how well you brush your teeth, despite how much effort you put into it. Then, they bring you to this medical office where random strangers basically finger-blasts your fuckin’ mouth for an hour before a “doctor” comes in to look at you and tell you how bad you’re doing and how you need to brush more, floss more… basically tell you what you should be doing in the comfort of your own home where he has no dominion. I make it sound like I’m petty and bitter, but bear in mind that I’m recalling these things from a child’s memory.

The point is, is got frustrating enough for me that I began developing a deep, sincere hatred of dentistry from a young age and that frustration carried on into adulthood. The biggest piss-off was when I would be telling the staff that I was just there for a cleaning and didn’t want an examination to be given or a speech on oral health, only to be told my parents had requested the exam and I had no choice. I’d give my parents crap for it afterwards, but obviously that had little effect. So much for consent.

This dislike of having strangers in my mouth (insert oral jokes here) carried on into adulthood, to the point where I occasionally neglected my oral health for months on end, going well beyond a year. There was always an excuse; either I was transferring between postings or moving houses or tied up on shift work… When I’d finally go in, I had done myself more damage than good since my cleanings would take longer due to the prolonged absence from the chair. I eventually came to accept my fate of having to visit the dentist’s office every four months at their recommendation.

It still isn’t easy; I usually schedule a cleaning only to have the hygienist say, “I see you haven’t been examined by the dentist in quite a long time. Can we fit him in with you, today?” In the interest of my oral health, I’ve often said yes but for the most part, I usually make it clear that I’m only there for the cleaning and want nothing to do with the dentist. It makes for some tense visits but it’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks and as an adult, I’m paying for the cleaning so do the cleaning! (Takes deep breath and exhales slowly).

In recent years, dentists have begun addressing a recessed gum I have at the gum line of my bottom teeth. Although I understand the logistics behind what’s happening and the risks, I have no interest in having the roof of my mouth painfully grafted to attach to a single tooth. I’ve been through enough pain in my life. Last Wednesday, I had a cleaning appointment where they addressed this concern yet again, which I promptly responded to leave it alone and just do the cleaning. like parrots, these guys…

All jesting and complaining aside, good oral health is important and quite integral to one’s overall health. In recent decades, studies have shown that poor oral health can contribute to heart disease, cancer and can even have an effect of Diabetes. HealthLine.com has a good article on the topic that you can read here. And that’s on top of the obvious stuff, such as cavities, gum disease and tooth loss. So despite all my pissing and moaning about it, oral health is pretty important, especially to people with Diabetes who are basically affect by EVERYTHING.

All in all, it doesn’t have to be a complicated thing. Good oral health starts with you, at home. Brush your teeth regularly. Although the mantra was a MINIMUM three times a day when I was a kid, the prevailing number is at least two. Brushing first thing in the morning gets rid of all that bacteria that accumulated and is conveniently sitting in your mouth, not to mention getting rid of that nasty morning breath. Pair that up with a decent mouthwash and you’re good to go. Brushing right before bed ensures that you remove all the food particles from your mouth rather than let them sit against your teeth and gums all night while you sleep and decay your teeth.

Flossing or using a water pick, which was recommended for me this time around, is also important. Oral health starts at home with you. We get so busy in our daily lives that we often neglect little aspects that are important to pay attention to. Good oral hygiene and health is an easy way to prevent issues that would otherwise burden and endanger one’s health unnecessarily. Will I get over my dislike of dentists? I have faith but I doubt it. When something is rooted in your psyche since childhood, it can be difficult to drop. But that won’t stop me from taking my own steps to ensure good oral hygiene. With everything Diabetes throws at me, it’s one less health problem I need to be worrying about… ☯️

Mixing The Old And The Modern…

Martial arts is pretty old… In fact, setting aside my personal preference towards karate, there are styles that are thousands of years old. In fact, I found an interesting webpage that has a list of the oldest recorded martial arts. You can check it out here. Please bear in mind that I don’t know how complete this list is and I didn’t research any of these styles, so take it with grain of salt. My point is, martial arts is not a modern thing. And it can be very difficult for someone from the modern world, even an avid practitioner, to consolidate ancient methods with modern mindset.

The key point is that you can’t “modernize” martial arts. You can bring martial arts INTO the modern world and it’s certainly good and important to be open to new learning methods. The issue and point of today’s post, is that unlike most things in this modern world, martial arts is not technologically driven. Nothing will be done for you. No steps will be taken on your behalf. There are no participation trophies in karate and if you’re part of a dojo that awards them, run in the other direction as they obviously don’t have your best interests at heart.

Karate and the martial arts in general, come from the heart. It requires a person to dedicate themselves, sacrifice themselves and their lives. Not in a deadly way, obviously but in in the form of their time, their leisure and their energy. I lost count of the number of times I was nixed by my peers in my younger years for choosing to go to karate instead of staying at a swimming hole during a hot summer day or leaving a get-together in favour of training. Non-practitioners would have no way of knowing and understanding this importance. But it exists regardless.

You have to commit your heart and spirit to the art, work hard and be willing to understand and accept that this ain’t a knitting circle; there’ll be injuries, fatigue, pain, slip-ups and misunderstandings and disappointments at seeing others progress where you may feel that you should have, as well. reasonably speaking and with no malice intended, if you’re unable to put your heart and spirit into your training and sacrifice what’s required, martial arts may not be for you and you shouldn’t even be iIN the dojo. Martial is particular thing that is set apart from traditional sports. Thos who complain and whine abut the process are not deserving of the result. ☯️

It’s Great To Be On Track But Hard To Get Off The Rails…

I got creative with my title, this morning. Basically, it’s nice if you can have yourself travelling on track… plans, goals, ideas and motivation are all important aspects of life and one can often feel as though they’re “on track” when they’re focused on working on those aspects. The problem with a vehicle that rolls on tracks is that it’s also limited and trapped by them. When was the last time you saw a train travelling down a paved road? The same can be said of one’s goals and plans. As I often say, life rarely cares about one’s plans, and it’ll kick you in the ‘nads if you try to oppose it.

Tracks can also be representative of something far worse, which is when someone has a narrow, isolated view of something and refuses to broaden their perspective in a constructive way. This can often lead to that person feeling isolated, alienating others and causing more issues within their own life than they rightfully would if they’d just take the time to open up and recognize the difference between their perception and what is. This is what’s often referred to as having a “one-track mind.”

Let’s take an example of “Person X” who converses with a random person who may make a comment that X may takes offensively. As the old saying goes, we can only control our words, not how others interpret them. X may feel as though that other person has offended or disrespected them, even if the person in question meant nothing of the sort. It’s a difficult line to draw, because no one should be telling someone how to feel. But by the same token, one can’t allow themselves to get offended and hurt every time they hear something they don’t like. To do so isn’t conducive to good relationships, efficient networking and even a balanced career.

At the end of the day, all one can do is try to be aware of other people’s perspectives and be willing to broaden one’s own. We live in a modern world where people get easily offended by just about everything. It can be murky waters to navigate and one could easily argue that it isn’t their job to adjust themselves to someone else’s sensitivities. Although this is true to a certain extent, there limits to both sides of that equation. If you are the “offender,” just bear those things in mind. If you are the “offendee,” and you find yourself getting hurt or offended by almost everything everyone says, it may be time to stop and take a good look at your life, your perspective and your views. A little change never hurt anyone. Food for thought… ☯️

Memories & Memorabilia…

Despite how I may have been giving off a negative connotation about my trip out East, there were some good aspects to it. The best was getting a briefcase from my father. Although getting a briefcase doesn’t sound like a big deal, it’s what was contained inside that caught me by surprise. Watch the following YouTube video to see some of what was passed on to me by my father on this last visit. Enjoy! ☯️

Who Says You Can’t Go Home…🎵

I haven’t posted to my YouTube page in what feels like forever and I treated myself to some new media equipment, so I thought I’d cover off some of the insights I gained from travelling to New Brunswick. You know, the insights I was supposed to cover on that long-ass post I wrote the day before yesterday? Yeah, that one. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the video and I’d be forever grateful if all my followers reading this post would take the time to follow my YouTube channel, as well. ☯️