Had a long walk last night as part of my plan to get HDL Cholesterol up and my LDLs down.

Part of my walk involved going through a park near my place.

And in that park is a small bay with a pedestrian bridge.

And last night as I was going on the bridge, I saw a young guy standing on the railing and looking down... and that set off alarm bells in my head

I looked at him as I was walking... and as I walked past, turned around and said "You okay?"

He didn't say anything.... and I repeated it 2 more times before he responded with a 'no'.

So I walked to him and asked him what was going on... and we started to talk. He came down from the railing and we talked more.

Essentially he was thinking of killing himself. The whole Covid thing, losing his job, not being able to see friends has gotten him seriously down and feeling like he has no purpose.

We had a long talk and I essentially shared some of my own experiences and what I learned over the years in terms of how to get through difficult times and stay sane.

I also told him that if he hurts himself, he's also hurting everyone who cares about him and that as bad as things seem, it will pass and it will get better... and then cited how vaccines for everyone are on the horizon and other things.

And I also pointed out that as a young, able-bodied guy, before he departs this world, he should do a list of things first... including asking a girl he likes out... me saying "what do you have to lose? If you try and fail, you're no worse off than you were before. But if you try and succeed, then you are better off... unless she turns out to be psycho. If she's psycho, then dump her and move on".

Incidentally he actually did ask the girl out while I was there and he now has a date for this Friday.

Though I warned him not to build up this girl and the date too much in his mind... and then we had a discussion about dating and how dating is tougher for guys when they're young, but it usually gets easier for guys as they get into their 30s and 40s (as long as you're of sound mind and body).

I also talked to him extensively about the worst time in my life I had in the past and how I got through it and what I learned.

We exchanged info, let him know he could call/text me any time and I walked with him for part of his way home (he lives in my area).

After we parted and I was heading home, there was another guy I crossed paths with. He seemed to be in good spirits.
We said hello... and he asked me if I was okay and whether I was homeless (I supposed this was due to me walking at 11:30pm at night)... I told him I was fine. I would have chatted with him, but it was getting late and I had plans to watch SNL with my daughter (which I was already late for).

I have to say... it was one of the more unusual walks I've had.

And I got in a total of 18,223 steps yesterday.

And now I shall give you two songs that helped me through the most difficult time I had:

@aestheticsinmotion

Sounds like her motion damaged the building's aesthetics...

I got a phone call and when I answered, it was a fax machine.

That is all.

BMW E38 with a fax machine, VHS, car phone and TV for your time:

So I’ve been helping my nephew buy his first car ever. He was looking for something basic, reliable, with low operating/repair costs for under CAD$4000 (before tax)... with automatic.

So I had him looking at various smaller Toyotas, Hondas and some other cars... and he didn’t want anything bigger than a 4 cyl Accord or Camry.

And of course some cars like the Focii and Fiestas with the PowerShit transmission were off limits.

Yesterday he settled on the Civic above. It’s a 2001 Civic with only 149,000km, no rust, is safetied/e-tested for CAS$3900 plus tax and registration.

Ryan is tired...

@cb said in Had an unusual walk last night...:

@manwich Good on you for helping out so
Some in need. You’re a good man.

Thanks. Years ago in my early 20s, I had a friend who was the same age as me commit suicide. I felt I hadn't done enough or paid attention enough and should have done more as his friend.

So I promised myself that if I ever saw someone in distress, I would at least try to help.

Death is a fact of life. People die every day for a variety of reasons. And though I can't fix everyone's problems, I can at least try to help. Not everyone wants help though.

Last night, my instinct told me that unless I spoke to him, I may very well read/hear in the news a report of a young man who had gone 'missing' in my area soon... and if that happened knowing I walked by without saying anything, I would feel absolutely terrible.

... it fit perfectly!

How do I look?

@dtg11
So now you have one Xtrra Xterra...

@aremmes

I recently had my first problem with Rock Auto... a shipment was 'shipped', but it never seemed to leave the USA. Reported it and they just reshipped everything. Though it took some time to figure out how to do that on their website as it wasn't the most intuitive setup. And it seems they have no phone support anymore.

@roadkilled said in Interface Upgrade:

@mm54 For some strange reason, I now miss having a car with a dash-spanning spedometer.

With a tach off to the side like an afterthought...

@exage03040

My vote goes to the Focus RS and it's more likely to become a future classic and is technically more interesting.

@wbizarre

Interesting morph. Now morph it with THIS:

Or morph it into this pillarless HOUSE!!!!!

@just-jeepin

I might be wrong about this... but I think what you're saying is that a Jeep Compass or Patriot would be a far more appropriate vehicle, right? RIGHT???

@arch-duke-maxyenko said in Bleh:

@manwich >1 second slower than I should be.

But being slower means you can enjoy the scenery more, right? RIGHT?

@punkgoose17 said in Duck, it's what's for dinner:

I am not aloud to cook duck anymore.

Well maybe if you did it quietly, you would be allowed to do it!

@cash-rewards said in You know what really helps you run fast?:

Edit: and that's not a brag, but a terrible indictment of the housing market in my area

It can go either way. Either it's a brag about how great your home is. OR it's an indication that you drive a cheap/POS car.

In my case, it's an indication that I drive cheap/POS cars.

@dr-zoidberg said in You know what really helps you run fast?:

@aestheticsinmotion I bet if we did a poll of people's car purchase price as a percentage of one's home value, we would see some interesting distribution.

That would be tricky as it's sometimes hard to establish home value. Also do you go by the purchase price of the car or the present value of the car.

If we too the purchase price of my Fit and did it percentage of the current approximate value of my home, it would be about 0.4% for me.

@aestheticsinmotion said in You know what really helps you run fast?:

ow I've come in close contact with bears, cougers, bobcats, and a fox in my suburban delivery area. Neat!

Now for things to be perfect, you just need to come in close contact with a Mustang, Falcon, Pinto, Thunderbird, Lynx... and an Escort!