This morning I’m drinking the only coffee left in my inventory that I haven’t already reviewed here:  Thanksgiving Coffee’s Ethiopia Halo Bariti.  It’s not as powerful as the Byron’s Natural (see SMLR from 09 Sept), but it’s more mellow and smooth .  Still get that nice  complex “fruity” (sorry, but there’s no other good word for it) taste, but in a more subtle way.   It’s from the Yirgacheffe region of Ethiopia, and you really can’t go wrong with beans from this region.   Because it’s more mellow, one cup doesn’t feel like enough.

//

It’s been a little over a week since the Bear.  Soreness was gone after about 4 days, but there’s still a lingering general fatigue.  I’ve needed more sleep this past week than I generally do, and I haven’t really been doing anything physical, except walking dogs.   This was expected.   But it would be easier if the soreness stuck around, at least then my inactivity would feel completely justified.

I’m thinking this coming week I’ll start to return to “normal,” and plan to get into the weight room a little bit to start a bit of a resistance training regimen.  The hip is still affected from the race.  No static pain, but it spikes here and there throughout the day.   I’m off of celebrex, which I’ve been on pretty much since early June.  So it will be interesting to see how it responds to a) rest, b) rehab and strength routine, and c) coming off the anti-inflammatory.

//

I watched the main event and co-main event from the UFC 229 fights on Saturday night.  I used to watch MMA fights quite a bit, but have gotten away from it, mostly because I don’t have cable and because they’re generally on late at night.   But we were in a hotel and the fights were on in the hotel bar, so I watched.

I think MMA is exciting and fun to watch.  I have a little bit of wrestling and jiu-jitzu background, so I can appreciate how difficult it is.  But, I have an armchair quarterback observation:  the UFC is screwing up by over-sensationalizing something that doesn’t need sensationalizing. It is exciting in itself, you don’t need to artificially pump it up, and it will sell itself if you let it.  Figure out a way to make money that doesn’t require hyping fights with WWF-style pre-fight antics, and you won’t get post-fight scenes like the one Saturday night (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, see here).   I’m not absolving Khabib of responsibility for his actions, but at a higher level, the UFC created and promoted the atmosphere that leads to these things happening.  I think they need to evolve how they manage the sport.  MMA has grown up, but it’s not yet fully mature.  It needs to be professionalized.

//

I don’t think there are many global warming “deniers” left, although I know there are some.  But if there’s any doubt in anyone’s mind, the graphic in this article is probably the most compelling one I’ve ever seen:

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-45775309

I’m talking specifically about the one halfway down that’s titled: “How years compare with the 20th century average”…the one with a bunch of red, grey, and blue horizontal lines.   Hit the replay button under the graph.

The article is a pretty strong “call to arms” at both the policy and individual level.  Unfortunately, the pessimist in me thinks it will get drowned out by the white noise in media, and get buried like junk mail under a stack of more immediate, but less important, issues.

//

Why I like walking my dogs on the trails:

1. They are always excited to go.
2. They don’t ask, or care, where we are going, or how long we’re going. Negotiation or compromise completely unnecessary.
3. They don’t hold grudges about missed walks or short walks.  They’re just happy to be out there.  There are no bad walks.
4. To them, every bush, stick, and tree is a very intriguing item of interest.
5. When we’re done, they accept that the walk is over, and they don’t fight it.  At least for the short car ride home, they seem satisfied.

Pig & Bear