I Spent Quite Awhile Just Getting A Bunch Of Walking-Related/"Raincoat-Related" Points Down

There's a bunch of points I just want down in writing (for possible future reference)..  The post here nowhere near covers everything, but it's a start.  These days I'm indulging in just getting some things down in writing, without worrying about if/when I can use them in some way.

http://walkingnotesmewhelan.blogspot.com/

Just some flowers as I do some real work....

Finally Got A Few Starter Posts On The "Walking Notes" Blog

This morning I thought I'd spend a couple of hours getting a couple of posts copied/written on the "walking notes" blog.  I continue to kind of regret not having kept some kind of "diary type of thing" over the last several years; because now, trying to get some tedious "foundation facts" down so that future posts on "Notes" blogs will make sense just feels like inflicting excruciating detail to the point that I feel like I've given up on aiming for good writing completely.

One reason I've not really kept any "diary type" blogs is that I know, at least with the stuff I would have included in such a blog, none of it was/is interesting.  The moral to the story and lesson learned, however, has been that one shouldn't/can't always worry about what's interesting (or even what's good writing).

For now, my blog settings are such that I don't worry about inflicting tedious stuff on anyone who hasn't come looking specifically for it (as if anyone would be likely to do that at all).

The one thing about the "Notes-blogs thing" is, however, that once I get a few main points/ideas down as starting points things will pick up speed with regard to my plans for them (individually and/or combined).

A Post I Wrote I Wrote On HubPages Forums

These days I don't do a whole lot on HubPages (at least until/unless I think I have something to write that deserves an audience and/or search engine attention), but I do go there to see if anything new shows up in their community "sections".

Today someone did a post in the forums about something written about supporters of Sanders boycotting something someone wrote about Sanders' campaign/supporters and where things were at the time of the writing.  Whoever wrote the forum post asked if boycotting was a sign of "mass delusion".  Someone else went on and said maybe it was "denial".  I wrote my two-cents' worth on the forum because I couldn't be bothered turning opinion into something more "legitimate".  I'm only posting a copy of the forum post on here as my way of "recording" that the words in the post are mine.  (It's the Internet.  Stealing writing for one reason or another is a problem.  I don't care how worthless my own words/opinion may sometimes be.  If I wrote them I want them attached to my name.)

Anyway, here's the post (since I'm short of ideas for material for this page).  It's a reply to someone who compared the Sanders campaign to a sports situation (game) in which it's clear a team is going to lose the game).    So my forum "contribution" is a reply.  I'm not going to post the question word for word because I only own my own words (and posting a link to a forum post isn't worth it in this case.)


I don't necessarily think the sports/single-game analogy is the best one to make in this case because in sports a single game is just that - a single game that will end.  Fans are spectators and have no affect on the outcome.  With the article/"Sanders Thing" you mention (although people are individuals and one can't assume anything about their individual motivations), those people know that they aren't just spectators and that for as long as they "exist" as group their non-spectator role serves one or a number of different purposes, including sending a message.  From what I've heard, there many of those people who would either not-vote or else vote for Donald Trump (because they want some big shake-up to go on with the way things are/have been being done).  An election isn't just entertainment for the them, or some game (the way it may be for some people who see it as "just entertainment"  or as "just a game").

Although I certainly can't read minds about why some people would do that boycott, one guess is that they were offended by the use of the word, "delusion" in the title.  Just because someone doesn't agree with someone else's reasons for doing something it doesn't mean those other people are delusional.  There are other ways to raise points about this one individual's apparent strategy.  There is also, however, recognizing that besides Sanders, himself;  those supporters may well have their own plans/strategies (which may include, say, voting for the other party or not voting at all and/or which may include, say, not dumping someone who remains in the race).

Throwing around belittling names that suggest people don't know what they're doing and/or somehow out of touch with reality just because they won't buckle under to thinking that hasn't gotten anyone all that far says more about the mindset of anyone who would use belittling terms than it does anyone who sees some sense/strategy in their own choices.

Many people who haven't happened to do a lot of reading on subjects like psychology or social issues "just because they're writers and/or just because those are subjects that interest them" may not even be aware that someone uses what amounts to name-calling/labeling to define someone else, that's "mental/emotional" abuse.   I'd guess there's a good chance that people who decided to boycott found it offensive that with the click of some keys someone chose to create a title/article that was demeaning to Sanders and/or his supporters.  Then, too, there are plenty of people who have done all kinds of reading about social issues and who, because of that, know exactly and immediately the signs of someone who doesn't respect someone else.

Sometimes people don't always have a name for what comes across as demeaning/insulting, but most (regardless of what they've read or not read) know it when they see it and/or feel it.  I don't happen to count myself among those Sanders supporters, but for anyone to suggest that they're deluded and/or in denial is just another example of how clueless people so often name-call when they don't/won't see someone who thinks/does differently from them (for their own reasons and with their perfectly fine reasoning ability) as capable, reasonable, individuals.  I'd guess that a whole lot of Sanders supporters have already had enough of that belittling cr*p coming from all directions; so, if nothing else, they can boycott something that allows/engages in behavior that people who know/use words for a living should know/choose better than to engage in.

Maybe boycotting someone/something that a whole lot of people haven't even heard of seems like a little thing to some; but, no, I don't think it's a matter of "mass delusion" or "denial".  More likely it's a matter of the very human, healthy and normal reaction of people who aren't big fans of insulting words that essentially amount to "mass insulting"..



(This post is so long it occurred to me to, maybe, turn it into a Hub; but I don't write about politics and can't be bothered looking up extra stuff/capsule material, references, etc. in order to make what is nothing more than my opinion into something more "legitimate" and informative.).

Just A Comment For A Post I'll Write Later

It's 11;07 (oops, 11:08) as I begin this post. I had breakfast around 5:00 and haven't eaten since.  It was was in the area of 7:00/7:30 or so when I decided to make the mile or so walk to the store.  More about the point I plan to make later.  As I end this post it's 11:10.

Continuing To Work On Burying Stuff I've Written Online

As I continue to work on burying (or kind of burying) and/or figuring out what to do with stuff I've written from the "write-anything" days of "writing sites" with few, or no, clear-cut guidelines of what contributors were "supposed to be" writing; I continue kind of regretting that I didn't keep a nice, tedious, uninteresting, diary-type-of-thing related to the subjects for which I've now set up my "notebook blogs".

One problem I now face with those is that I don't know where to begin because those "notes" amount to years of minor experiences that add up, but it's only since a) they've added up enough, and b) I decided to take a certain approach with writing, that I realized it would have been good to have gotten things down as they were in that process of adding up, little by little.

I still have reasons for not just deleting all the old stuff that I have no real plans for.

As things are now (at least with regard to the stuff that I've written "just for myself" ) I don't particularly care if anyone reads any of it one way or another (which is one reason I'm in no particular hurry to just delete all kinds of stuff)

There are people online who warn others not to use their own name in things like blog titles "because no one is likely to be searching for your name".  That's precisely why I've used my own name on things like this blog.  If someone knows me and for some reason wants to look up my name, fine.  Whatever there is to read is there.  I don't care if anyone reads it, so it's not as if I'm trying to hide stuff.  (If it was something I wanted to hide it wouldn't have online in the first place.)

In any case, there's no point writing yet more about not writing yet more.

Just A Post While The Aspirin Is Doing Its Job For The Wrist/Arm

Last night I took off the wrist support because I'd been out walking in the heat and sun.  It turns out the wrap can get sweaty when one isn't even really all that sweaty anywhere but under the wrap.  Anyway, I took it off and cleaned it.  It's bad enough that has a rubbery smell that doesn't seem to go away.  I don't want to live with sweat germs in the mix.  So, because I didn't really want to type much I figured I'd try to be funny (ish) and create a "motivational poster" (more "motivational" for me than for anyone else, although I don't lack this particular type of motivation anyway; so let's just say I was fooling around and thought I'd post some "attitude" on Facebook (mainly because Memorial Day is past, and I wanted something to replace my Memorial Day picture).

Being both tired and kind of lazy (not to mention in the mood to settle for half-baked), I whipped up the quickest words I could think of.  I don't put much effort in any Facebook posts I do.

The words I came up with are (in case they don't show up well above; as I said, "...half-baked"), "The Older I Get, The 'Me-er' I stay".  It occurred to me that someone who didn't know where I was coming from might take that to mean that I'm not willing to grow.  That's not what I meant with those words.  The fact is, no matter how old I get, I'm always interested in, and willing to, grow as a person (and also, since I'm a mother of grown children, as a mother too.

There are people who think there's no more growing to do when one reaches twenty-one, or even forty.  I've never been one of them.  Then there are people who kind of know there's growing that will happen; so they wait for it to happen.   I suppose because I knew I'd eventually (and most likely) have children, I've always aimed to make it a point to seek out growth.  Besides my own person interests, I knew that being a mother is so much more than just making sure children are clean, fed, and sheltered.

So, what really "inspired" my "attitude" post was my thinking about how (now that my "two-leg-injury" challenge has come to a successful end) , the wrist/arm thing happened.

I was in my late fifties when the first leg injury happened and got its start with what seemed like a fairly minor thing I did as a result of climbing and landing awkwardly on the leg.   It was an injury, and a minor thing in the beginning.  But, as it got worse I wasn't too thrilled with the number of people who suggested it would never heal and/or that "when you get to be a certain age stuff just happens".  Then there were times someone hinted at, or out-and-out said, that maybe I had "weak bones".  Either it didn't matter to them, or else they didn't know, that in years of walking miles each week, there had been a few times when I'd tripped on ice or slipped off a wet curb, landed smack on my knees, hopped up, and never had a hint of a problem again (no matter how many years had passed).

The second (and less extreme) leg injury happened when I expected the "good" leg to do more than its share of the work while the injured one was "being an issue".  That "good" leg had had its own history, and wasn't entirely what it should have been, but it was only after three years of expecting too much of it that I sensed it was becoming yet another "issue".  Even with that, though, the awkward move I did that caused a big problem in the "good" leg was sudden and awkward and probably could have dislocated the youngest or healthiest of knees.

Of course, the age remarks and some of the expressions I was seeing in some people's faces kept coming (not to mention someone's comment about "assisted living").  Here I was, living my life around the "leg thing", and a couple of days after I did the second one I was hearing "assisted living".

After the "Winter of nine-feet of snow" and another Winter and limited opportunity to get non-injury-related muscles used to walking several miles again,  I can finally say I'm very comfortable to walking miles (provided I'm not carrying a ridiculous load of, say, groceries).

The thing is, in all that time of having one or another (or two) leg issues, I've been asking my han ds and arms to do the job that legs and knees are supposed to do.  I've often joked that when there are big steps down or up involved (even since all the other knee/leg issues were ironed out and the only real issue was with big steps like getting into high vehicles or dealing with really extreme steps up or do9wn), I've "swung like a monkey"  by grabbing onto something like a vehicle door frame.  Or, I've used inexpensive folding canes the way the directions tell people not to use them ("Do not put all your weight on the cane.") by, say, putting the cane on the ground that I needed to get down to and essentially using it as a risky railing as I either swing or work my way down to the ground below.

So, when I talk about about "carpal tunnel thing", while it's certainly true that there are all kinds of computer-use-related, chair-choice, and angle-related issues that have, in fact, been letting me know I should be careful; now that I have this wrist/arm thing I just wanted to put it in writing (whether anyone ever reads this or not - I have my reasons) that this isn't about my age and isn't about any "condition" I may have.

When you're active you get injured, and when you keep being active you may get injured again.  The alternative, however, is not to be active and suffer the damage of THAT.

I'm going to be very careful with the wrist/arm thing.  It's my strong hand and arm, so having a problem with it is very inconvenience.  Of course, if it weren't my strong hand and arm I wouldn't have been able to use it "instead of a leg" for over six years now.  Between that and all the typing and general mouse-use I do almost non-stop when I'm home, I don't want to hear any suggestions that I have some "weakness" or "condition" or "age-related issue"  (with the wrist/arm thing "just being more proof of that").  Yes, you get defensive when you're over fifty and have had occasion to hear some of the remarks that I have I have.

It's clear to me, with the improvement I've seen with the wrist wrap, that if I play my wrist-support cards not just right, but long enough; the wrist and arm will be find.

I do have to find some supports other than this smelly one, which I got because it's black and looks "less orthopedic or medical" than some of the other ones.  Think I'll find some pink or purple ones that can be washed once this initial "crisis" is over.

And that is  PARTLY where the "...the 'Me-er' I Stay" got its start.  It's only partly because there's a whole bunch of other stuff that has gone on and that makes me want to make sure one or another person knows that one or another thing has not resulted in my being any less of who/what I've been just because of that one or another thing.  (It's a big, complicated, story that I'm not about to get into here).

The one thing I do want to mention, however, is that I wasn't going to post this because after I wrote it I realized that I might look as if I'm not aware of all the big issues/problems so many other people in the world have; and as if I'm making some big thing out of what - in the scheme of all of life and all of, say, injuries people can have - are minor things. 

"Either/Or" thinking is common.  "Either one doesn't say anything about some problem because one knows what a minor problem it is, or if one tries to discuss/explain something about that problem that must mean that one can't possibly have such a minor thing in perspective".  "Either/Or" thinking is something I'd love to write a big, long, post about one day (just not today).  For today,  I just want it "on record" here that I'm more than well aware of how minor something like the wrist injury is.

As I mentioned in the post right before this one, I'm these days kind of regretting that I didn't get some minor things down in the past because now I don't know where to begin as I try to put together some ideas for future (and "legitimate", as opposed to "fooling around") writing.

've learned from past experience that if one doesn't explain why one does some things there are people who will then fill in the blanks about why one does something.

Anyway, I'm about to hit "publish" on this post that I'd decided I wasn't going to post after all, mainly because it's about the wrist injury (to which I may eventually refer in other, more "legitimate", postings/notes).

Just One More Thing On The Wrist

Before I rest the wrist and arm from typing I can't help but commenting on how many different, seemingly "stupid", little moves aggravate this thing.    There's almost an insidious thing about it.  I could list each of the many, tiny, and "stupid little" things; and it would seem hard to believe that such "stupid little" things could add up the way they have.

One of the reasons I've ignored the wrist thing for so long is that it has only been in fairly recent times that it seems to escalated as it has.  Not that I think anyone is going to be reading this blog/post, but in case, at some point in the future someone does; let me just say that if you can't, or don't, put an immediate end to aggravating even the most minor of injuries; you can find that over time, or under some circumstances, you'll end up feeling like the thing is being "assaulted" with almost every move you make.

Moral of the story:  Just FYI, if you already have a "wrist thing" it's not a good idea to move your 8-lb hand weights in order to get to your 2-lb ones.

Other Moral of the story:  If  you've made your "wrist thing" worse, and you're trying to figure out a new, good, place to rest  your arm while you're at the computer; it's not a good idea to put your foot on a foot-stool and then rest your forearm across your leg and then lean on it.  (Just sayin' )

And yet OTHER moral to the story:  If you've already done the above don't carry a giant bag of heavy laundry based on the idea that if you do a giant load today you won't have to worry about doing laundry again tomorrow once the wrist and arm have had a day to get worse.

I Apparently Have A "Carpal Tunnel Type Of Thing"

Ever since I've been using the particular computer set-up I've noticed that I should be careful about using a child-sized mouse where this one happens to be located.  It hasn't really been just that, though.  My coffee mug has a screw-on cover that was making me notice the minor wrist issue.  Then there was the frequent dumping (and wrist twisting) of my coffee carafe and/or things like big vases.  Anyway, I knew I should be careful, and I would be for awhile.  Then the thing would feel better, and I'd forget to be as careful as I should be. 

It wasn't like I didn't know that if you do some little thing you have to be careful for quite a long time if you're not to aggravate it.  Sometimes we tend to ignore what we really do know.  So this has gone on for - like - a year or more.  Every time the thing acts up it reminds me to be careful (again) for awhile (again).

Over the last few weeks I've moved some heavy things or carried some heavy things, which kind of got the thing going worse than it has been.  I kept kind of ignoring it until it got bad enough that I made some changes in things like where I keep my coffee, etc.  Somewhere along the way I got the whole thing REALLY going.  After a couple of days of being REALLY careful that died down some (at least so I could think straight and do some things).  Now, I'm getting it back to better again.  This time I won't forget to be careful for a good, long, time.

The thing with a wrist thing is how, with such seemingly "nothing" movement (and in such a short period of time) there can be so many aggravating movements that make the thing worse.  I mean...  in about a matter of two or three hours it can turn out that I move it wrong (and aggravate it) in a new and different way.

I've already been through the whole "knee issues" thing and gotten past that.  I'm not in the mood now for a "wrist issue" thing.   The biggest knee injury was a whopper of a thing.  This wrist thing is such a small thing.  Fortunately, yet again, it's getting better again.  It's just aggravating that such a small thing is a matter of so many little, tiny, moves of "stuff" in the wrist that they add up in such a short period of time.

When something seems so minor, and it isn't the first time it happened (and you've ignored/gotten over it) in the past without problems), it can be so natural to just ignore it a few more times.  I suppose it hasn't helped that I use the computer so much.  The odds aren't all that great when it comes to re-doing a minor thing over a period of time.    (And all this "wisdom" is from a person who was paid to write an article on repetitive stress injury.   :/  )  It's just so easy to overlook what is, in fact, small stuff (at least in the beginning) when you've had all kinds of big stuff and been able to manage it fairly effectively.

In any case, after that "bit" that went on over the last week or so I'll be more careful with the wrist.

None of this makes for interesting reading, I know.  As I mentioned in the previous post I'm in an "on hold" mode for now.  Besides everything else, typing too much does seem to be being felt in my arm; so that's yet more reason to be "on hold" for awhile.

An Observation About The Whole Online-Writing Picture

Ten or so years ago, when I first started doing one or another kind of writing online, the Internet was very much an "anything goes" thing as far as writing went.  Any time anything goes it can be hard to imagine how bad things will get - until more and more people do more and more "anything".  Writing platforms/sites were inundated with stuff that was way beyond just "low quality", and little by little most of the sites started to impose more and more standards on contributors.

When Google eventually rolled out its first "Panda" (algorithms aimed at screening for quality) it was the beginning of a major Internet-publishers shake-up that led many "writing sites" to adjust their own standards even further.

When standards that people took seriously were introduced much questionable behavior was screened out, but it didn't take long (as far as I could tell) for much other question behavior to essentially be driven underground in any number of ways that I won't go into here.  Over a period of a few years many writing sites started dropping (as they say) like flies.  I won't get into the whole thing about what "questionable behavior" in online writing is.  People involved with online writing for awhile already know what it is, and people who aren't involved in it wouldn't be interested.

My observation about the bad online-writing behavior is that I've noticed that this long after that first Panda roll-out, much of what was once blatant "questionable (at best) behavior" seems to have been substantially eliminated, or at least reduced; while less blatant attempts to get away with at least a little bit of questionable behavior sometimes seem to have increased in numbers.

This far down the line it's still so often as if many people who were out to engage in at least a little questionable (or out-and-out bad) practices have been less interested in improving the quality of their own online writing than they are figuring out how best to keep their questionable practices just under the latest line, in the hopes that their material will get traffic.

Of course, as the line that marks what's acceptable on, say, a site like HubPages, is lowered that means that anyone aiming to stay under that "latest line" must come up with ways to keep their questionable approaches less and less obvious while (at least in some cases) trying to accomplish aims  with more and more questionable (but harder-to-detect) techniques.

HubPages happens to be the last of that type of site on which I have open accounts, and I'm still not sure what/whether I plan to do with regards to new writing on there. It's not my site and therefore not particularly my business as far as how they want to do things with their site.  I'm happy enough to either adjust to whatever kind of stuff they want on their site, or else write what I want to write on my own.

People involved in online-writing often say that Google is getting more and more advanced at detecting questionable stuff; and I don't underestimate the technical expertise of anyone trying to assure better quality (and less "funny stuff"/questionable stuff) on a site like HubPages.

At this stage in the game (and considering that it's the Internet), maybe "all kinds" of subtle and minor-enough techniques at being a little questionable/"funny" wouldn't be considered worth mentioning or picking apart.

As a human being, as opposed to being an algorithm, I can't help but wonder if so many of these attempts at "questionable-light", just by virtue of their apparent increasing numbers, may be far more toxic to a site like HubPages than many people realize (or else than some people might even recognize).

Who does what on the Internet (or HubPages) isn't my business.  Looking at the state-of-affairs of my own sites/blogs/online writing, I have my own quality concerns.  If someone can manage to make money by doing some of that "under-the-line-but-questionable" stuff; as far as I'm concerned, good luck to them.

The thing I do wonder about, though (and just because I can't help but wonder about some things), is whether the people who must now find even more clever ways to disguise "funny" practices believe those practices are not obvious to human eyes and/or believe that making a regular thing of such practices are going to escape increasingly sophisticated "algorithmic eyes".

I don't happen to understand why some people seem so dedicated to avoiding legitimate efforts/expectations aimed at higher quality.   As I said, I don't really care who does what, and good luck to someone who has no problem having his name attached to questionable stuff.  It's just that, particularly with the whole evolution that has gone on with online writing (and the Internet in general); after ten or so years of so much "baloney",  it's both tiring and kind of amazing that people are still trying to figure out ways to beat the system and get away with something.

None of this matters much in the scheme of life, of course.  The concept of increased standards/scrutiny driving bad behavior underground isn't a new one.  Neither , when it comes down to it, is the question of whether people think they're being so clever that nobody notices.  After all, if they manage to accomplish what they hope to (or think they're going to accomplish it) these people don't (I don't think) really care if anyone realizes they're engaging in "iffy" and "borderline iffy" practices.

The length of this post shouldn't create the impression that I care all that much about any of this.  It's just that in my times of wanting to spin my wheels over stuff that I don't really care about, I do find it interesting (if my observation is even correct) that increased standards/scrutiny seems to mean (at least these days and at this point) a higher number (say, per x number of words) of questionable but disguised practices; while once there seemed to be far fewer (but more blatant) questionable practices per "x number of words" in one piece of writing.

It's all fine.  I've got everything kind of on hold until some of this stuff irons out.  I just don't think now is a very wise time to do more online other than, say, get some notes collected and/or down for future, more serious, efforts.    As things are now, and until some of the Internet-writing "quality standards upheaval" settles down,  it's just not in my own interest to do too much beyond just kind of putting things on "hold" (at least with regard to what/whether I post "real" writing online).

The World Is Full Of Blockheads...

I'm glad I'm not one of them.   Just sayin'......