Journeys With Dave

Charleston

June 18, 2015December 19, 2019davidpwahr

I’m going depart from my usual type of blog post to comment on a recent tragic event. The murder of nine good people in Charleston. It really is not my intent to anger or upset anyone with this post, thought I may, but to provide some food for thought. I’m sure someone will point out any faults in my logic, and that’s fine so long as it’s pointed out with civility.

So, here we go:

No doubt this horrible event will evoke the following all too predictable reactions among the media and political pundits in this nation:

1. Race relations are horrible in this country. Why do whites hate everyone else?
2. Why is the act of one lone gunman an indictment of all white people in this country?
3. Are you sure the shooter wasn’t a Muslim?
4. Gun control would have prevented this (he got the weapon to easily).
5. Less gun control would have prevented this (if only those poor people had been properly armed themselves).

In fact, I’ve seen all these comments already in the short period since this event occurred and President Obama is already leading the charge to greater gun control and saying that these events do not happen as often in other “advanced” countries because they have greater gun control.

Now, I am not an advocate for gun control as a rule. Even though I can’t understand why any private citizen needs a military grade weapon. I mean really folks, despite what television and movies might lead you to believe there isn’t and never will be a zombie apocalypse and if we are invaded by foreign troops (or even our own) these weapons won’t help much against drones armed with missiles, tanks, grenades, etc. They are only good for taking out most of your neighbors (who may be as well armed as you) and I would hope that in the case of a complete breakdown of society that maybe we all might get along a little better instead of wiping each other out (yes, I know, I’m an optimist who believes in basic goodness in everyone – so sue me).

So, I am going to abandon my liberal roots here and suggest something else. Frankly, something more destructive and harmful to our society than any number of gun laws.

The shooter was said to have made some comments before opening fire along the lines of (and I’m paraphrasing) “you raped OUR women and took over OUR country.” Now this statement, if true, tells me a a few things:

The shooter has a poor understanding of American history and doesn’t realize that the same thing could be said by any Native American to him.
The shooter has no concept of the distribution of wealth and power in this country.
The shooter seems to believe that women only have sex with men when violently forced into it.
He felt powerless and a victim. Another sad indictment of the culture of “victimization” rampant in our society. Especially since the alleged shooter is a white male. Arguably the least victimized ethnic group in history.

Now, what also occurs to me is that of the items above two of them (1 and 2) indicate a poor education in both history and economics. The third item reflects poorly on his upbringing, social skills and possibly love life and I won’t comment further on this. The fourth is a bigger issue than I can even think about now. I don’t know why everyone seems to feel that they have been wronged and don’t understand that sometimes life just plain sucks. Maybe I can address this in a later blog.

But I will speak more to numbers 1 and 2.

What also occurs to me is that on the whole other “advanced” countries not only have greater gun control but that they also tend to invest more heavily in education and health care than the USA on a per capita basis. Why? Because in our ongoing effort to pay as few taxes – if any at all – as possible we continue to demand that cuts be made and those cuts usually come from education at all levels. On top of this much of the mainstream media, which despite claims to the contrary, includes FOX, Limbaugh, and other right wingers, suggest on a daily basis that science and history cannot be trusted (global warming, etc).

I recently saw some statistics which said that this next generation (generation “Z” – which does not stand for “zombie”) will be the most educated in history. I disagree. I think you can say that they will have the most degrees in history. But, I don’t think that they will learn as much. Regardless of the number of “advanced” college level courses we insist our children take in high school (and coming soon, junior high in Ohio). We continue to cheapen and dilute it with every election and every vote. Make college affordable again and you remove the main reason for pushing kids into the AP classes – cost. In my opinion, we as a whole would be better off allowing our students to progress through K-12 at the same speed to give them all a chance to absorb the information before being rushed into an advanced courses. Let the brighter students mix and mingle with the others to discuss current events and other thoughts with their age appropriate peers. And most importantly, stop having the colleges and universities do the job of the high schools!

Likewise, we continue to push education as a means only to get a job. This has resulted in a devaluation of society of the basic liberal arts education which, in my opinion, is the most valuable (full disclosure, I have two degrees in English). Why? Because a liberal arts degree doesn’t teach you how to “do” something it teaches you how to think about something. How to appreciate art, literature, science, history. The very things which separate us from the animals. Things much more important than any job (yes, I realize that you can’t eat a poem – but I’m trying to make a point here). You learn how to think for yourself and to not blindly accept whatever some “talking head” or, as probably was the case here, some idiot online tells you.

So, what I am suggesting is that we as a nation must look beyond gun control and race relations for solutions to these shootings. We need to leave education to the educators and to properly fund and support them at all levels instead of wasting time breaking those “evil” teacher unions and removing tenure – both put in place to keep educators from being fired on a whim and allow for the free exchange of ideas – and start thinking about our children.

Gun control might not have prevented this latest act of evil but proper education might have.

Just my two cents.

NEXT UP: Civil discourse – How to Express Yourself Without Resorting to Cussing.

ITS GO TIME. Pacific Coast Trail or Bust!

June 9, 2015April 7, 2021davidpwahr

My niece (Caitlin) starts her next epic adventure!

Not Washed Up...Yet

This is it! We are currently on a train to Yosemite National Park, where we will spend the night preparing our packs for tomorrow’s kickoff in Tuolomne Meadows. But first, let us recap the last few days for you.

After Becca got back from OKC on Thursday, we got to work. And by that we mean food shopping, including an EPIC trip to Costco where we are pretty sure we set the record for most instant mashed potatoes purchased in one trip. Many thanks to our cashier friends Eric and Jon, who checked out our absurd amount of food with surprising glee (we even took a selfie! see below).

After that it was off to Whole Foods, where our good friends at the Cranbrook store had donated $100 of store credit toward our trip! Needless to say, Becca was completely overwhelmed and a little emotional. Thanks WF Cranbrook!

Once we…

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Lessons In Management: It’s All Show Biz

May 30, 2015August 1, 2021davidpwahr

Every now and then someone asks me what I get out of theatre. I usually give some sort of glib answer like “attention” or “standing ovations.” But the answer is really more complex than that. For example, it occurs to me that many of the methods used to put on a show can be directly related to any business project. Don’t believe me? See below the steps that a director goes through to “manage” a successful production and see if they don’t fit your next project.

Set the Goal

A show starts, like any business project, at the beginning. The first thing a director needs to determine is “what show are we doing?” In some cases this is determined by an outside force (i.e. board of directors, committee, or producer – a.k.a the “supervisor”). The director starts with the script, which is in essence the bare bones of the play. Just words on paper waiting to be brought to life. Read and study the script. Understand what the playwright was trying to achieve. Research, research, research. You need to know the script (plan) better than anyone else on the team. You can’t guide people to a goal if you don’t know the way.

Determine Your Needs

How many characters are in the play? Male? Female? Is it a comedy, drama or musical? What are the ages of the characters? How many sets do you need? Costumes? The questions are numerous but like any project these basic facts need to be known and understood before you can fully determine your needs.

Block Your Movements

In theatre blocking is the process of mapping out the movements that an actor will take during the show. In business, this is similar to the strategic steps or tasks which need to be done to complete the project. In a play the blocking may be basic (go from stage left to stage right) but should always have a purpose such as to make the scene seem more natural or to place focus on a specific characters actions or to set a “tableau” demonstrating relationships of characters to each other or evoke a mood or feeling from the audience. A show that is not well blocked becomes chaotic and random often devolving into a random mess of motion without meaning or, worse yet, a stagnant grouping of people on stage (the audience “sees” first and “hears” second). In business, if there are no set plans or tasks the project can grind to a halt as the team each goes their own way without clear direction.

Set the Budget

Now that you know the requirements to start the project, you have to assemble the resources. As so often with any project you need to know what will it cost. Then you most likely need to look at what you are provided as very few of us get unlimited funds to do anything. Do the two match? Probably not so you need to go through your needs line by line and prioritize to determine which items get the most money and which items you may need to be more “creative” with (theatres may have fund raising abilities which your business will not – but let’s presume you have enough funding to continue with your project).

Assemble Your Cast and Crew

Now you need to find the best people to help you complete the production. You hold auditions (interviews) and determine who best suits each role. Like the hiring process in business you may not have all the information you need to make the perfect choice so you go with your gut and make the best choice you can at that moment (anyone who tells you they’ve never made a mistake casting or hiring probably doesn’t have much experience with either or are dangerously oblivious to their surroundings).

Set the Schedule – how long do you need to get the production finished? How many hours a day can you devote to the show? Like most workplaces, those involved in theatre – especially amateur theatre – have other things that they need to continue doing along with the show or project. Can everyone make each rehearsal (meeting)? Will they have sufficient time to work outside rehearsals on their specific task?

Know Your Role and Theirs

A director (manager) is a guide to the cast and crew. He or she needs to show the way and understand how each member of the production contributes to the overall success of the show. Likewise, the director needs to understand that he or she cannot do it all alone. This is the same in business, if you don’t know what your purpose is in the project you can fall into the micro-management trap or end up doing all the work yourself.

Rehearse

Rehearsal in show is the same as training in business. The cast cannot perform if they do not have the skills needed. Likewise, your team cannot do their jobs if they are untrained and unskilled. Professional development is a must!

Follow the Script

The script is your guide. In theatre you usually do not have the option to change this. However, in business, you may be able to make adjustments to your plan as you go along. But even with the play your understanding of the script will likely change during the rehearsal process and you may make adjustments with the actors (blocking, inflection, timing) as you go along to better fulfill the “vision.”

Support, Support, Support

Give your cast feed back. Are they on the right track with their character? Are they learning their lines early enough? Are they doing a good job? Tell them! A cast, or team, who only hears negative feedback will quickly become under-performers. But be careful of praising indiscriminately. They need to trust you to tell them the truth – good or bad. Check in often to make sure that they have the tools and equipment necessary to get the job done.

Re-Cast When Needed

Sometimes it just isn’t working out. It’s the toughest part of a directors, or manager’s, job but you need to know when it’s time for different personnel. But not until you’ve done all you can to support and be sure that the person who is underperforming had everything he or she needed to get the job done.

Know When To Quit

In theatre there comes a point where you need to realize it (the scene, dance, whatever) just isn’t going to get any better and that more rehearsal may only make things worse. Sometimes this point is not where you hoped it would be and maybe instead of a great show you’ll only have a good show but you have to be realistic. Remember that budget item above? You can’t do Broadway on a Andy Hardy (you young ones may want to Google him) “let’s put on a show” budget.

Take a Bow – Or Not

When it’s all over, celebrate. Let your team members take a bow and share in the spotlight. Everyone from the leading lady to the stage hand who opened the curtain made an important contribution regardless of size. When do you take your bow? Probably not until later and not in public. In the theatre the director does not take a bow with the cast but watches everything from the back of the house with a satisfied smile and the knowledge that it all came together as planned. And then the director moves on to the next project!

I hope this little primer gave you some ideas to be successful with your next project. On with the show!

All photos by David P. Wahr unless otherwise noted in which case the original artist retains all rights. Otherwise photos and words @copyright by David P. Wahr

Crohn’s and Fitness Update: Still Here

April 18, 2015December 17, 2019davidpwahr

It’s been a while since I posted so I thought I’d catch everyone up with what’s going on with me health and fitness-wise.

Crohn’s: I’m past my “starter” doses of Humira and on my regular dose now for almost two weeks. Not feeling as good as I did with the starter kit and I’m thinking that maybe one shot every two weeks won’t be enough. I’ve got a couple more shots before I see the doctor next so we’ll see what he thinks.

Fitness: My left elbow has been so sore that I have avoided any lifting for the past week (even when I just do legs the arms seem to get involved a little). This morning was the first morning in quite a while that I did not have any obvious pain in the arm when I woke up so my resting it seems to be working. However, I’ll probably end up seeing another doctor about this too…

Diet: Oddly enough, I seem to be losing more weight when I eat more than what MyFitnessPal says I should. Not sure why, especially since my exercise is down I should be gaining weight. There’s no way I’m in “starvation” mode with the 2,100 calories a day I’m eating but I’m going to be playing around with my calories a little more to see what happens.

Overall: Stress levels are moderate – some concerns about work but nothing I haven’t been through before and some new opportunities are presenting themselves. Keeping active with outside interest so all in all I’m doing okay.

More later – onward!

Fitness Quest: Trap Bar – Finally Used One

March 30, 2015December 17, 2019davidpwahr

Well, today was quite a day for me training-wise. Because of the ongoing pain in my left elbow I’ve been focusing on lifts which don’t involve movement of the arms. Most of these lifts, oddly enough, focus on the legs. So after squats, calf presses, leg presses, I actually still had some energy (but I was starting to feel it) and there in the corner of the gym I saw it – an unused trap bar.

Even though I’ve been lifting for more than 30 years now I have never used a trap bar. What’s more I’ve been wimping out and not deadlifting like I should so I figured why not give it a try? And guess what? Like Mikey of the old Life commercials – I liked it! It was nice to do deadlifts without hitting my shins against the bar and if it weren’t for the fact I had a little trouble holding my grip I could have gone heavier.

Plus, in other news, I learned about the Jefferson Lift (aka the Jefferson Squat or the Jefferson Deadlift) as well today. I didn’t give it a try yet, but I will next leg day and let you know how it goes.

Onward!

AACT Fest 2015 Weekend

March 30, 2015December 17, 2019davidpwahr

Those that know me know that one of my passions is theatre. I’m not a professional actor so I get my “fix” through community theatre and this weekend I experienced one of the community theatre’s biggest events – an AACT Fest.

For those who don’t know, AACT Fest is a theatre competition among community theatres held every two years. The competition starts at the state level (this past weekend in Owosso, Michigan) then the winner moves on to a regional competition (in a couple weeks in Midland, MI), and finally the winner of the regional goes onto national competition (this June in Grand Rapids, MI).

Now, astute readers will notice that all three levels of competition are in Michigan this year – a rare opportunity for theatre goers in Michigan to see some of the best community theatre around. This year’s Michigan competition was won by Players de Noc (Escanabe) and their production of Eugene O’Neill’s The Hairy Ape and Holland Civic Theatre’s, Revival at Possum Kingdom Community Church by Michigan playwrite Linda LaRoque.

My personal favorite, which came in third and will be the alternate entry to the regional was The Amish Project by Jessica Dickey presented by the Farmington Players. This was an extremely moving drama based on the Nickel Mines schoolhouse shootings in 2006. There was not a dry eye in the house when this show was finished. A total of eight groups competed (Monroe had submitted but was the ninth entry and the organizers limited the field to eight for reasons I don’t completely understand but were well within their rights to do. So we have to wait until the next festival to enter again).

By now you may be wondering what this has to do with my quest for fitness. Not much except that I went completely off the diet wagon this weekend! I traveled with my good friend Bob and unfortunately, I think we are both enablers of each others bad eating habits! We passed a Ponderosa Steakhouse on the way into town, a fading restaurant chain that has a great buffet, and that’s where we went for lunch on Saturday. Well, it was a good thing that we were limited on time because three platefuls and several desserts later I was still ready for more! Plus our hosts, Owosso Community Players feed us well at the afterglows – oh and did I mention Roma’s Back Door? A great Italian restaurant steps from the theatre…

Interestingly enough, the damage may be controllable as I don’t appear to have gained weight yet and I’ve upped my cardio and strength workouts this week so I’m burning more calories. Also interesting, to me at least, is that I could put away so much food this weekend. My Crohn’s usually limits my intake. There has been many a meal eaten out that came home with me because I started hurting – but not this weekend. My guess is that this is because the Humira is doing its job and my insides can take more because they hurt less.

So, I need to be even more careful with my food intake than I used to be…I can’t imagine how fat I could get if the brakes are now off my digestive system (so to speak). Time will tell!

Onward!

Fitness Quest: The Fatness is Starting to Go Away…But Not Quickly

March 26, 2015December 19, 2019davidpwahr

I made a couple discoveries in the gym today, both welcome!

First, I had been fretting about this pain in my elbow (Golfer’s Elbow I think) and wondering how I could work my arms if I couldn’t bend them. So I’ve been concentrating on other lifts the past couple of weeks, legs (squats, calf raises, etc.) and some presses as that movement didn’t seem to bother my arms. But today I played around a little more and found out that I can do hammer curls without pain in my arm. So, that’s what I’ll be doing for arms for a while to directly hit the biceps. The good news is that the pain is getting less each day so I hope to be back at full strength soon.

Also, in more good news I noticed today in the mirror that if I hit just the right light and squint that there is a hint of a bulge coming back to my biceps – and more than a few veins are appearing when I’m lifting. Gotta love lower body fat – but I have a long way to go still!

So, I was motivated enough to finally do what I’ve seen all over Instagram, Facebook, etc. I took a quick selfie in the locker room mirror. Nothing unclothed (sorry ladies) but a quick side shot to see how I look without my inner filter. Not quite as bad as I used too – my rear seems to actually be vanishing and my stomach is flatter than I thought. I just can’t sit down and need to always maintain strict posture to keep appearances up.

In terms of diet I’ve made some changes. As I mentioned earlier I’ve been frustrated that the weight and fat doesn’t really seem to be coming off. So, I’ve been doing a much better job on searching out and eating more nutritional foods (in other words avoid the drive-thru) and I did start taking a fish oil supplement again along with my prescribed iron and calcium. I’ll be adding a multi-vitamin again as well making sure that I have folic acid in it – which helps with iron absorption.

Oh, and I took my second dose of Humira this week. Feeling good still – just got to keep working on the looking good part.

Onward!

Fitness Quest: The Road Less Traveled

March 21, 2015December 19, 2019davidpwahr

It should not come as a shock to anyone who’s ever known or paid attention to me (or has read this blog) that I’ve had a long time interest in health, fitness, bodybuilding, etc. This interest goes back quite a ways to my first flirtations with the gym and working out in high school, through a more serious attempt during college, up to the current day. Yet, during all this time, even when I was at my strongest and curling more than 100 pounds and benching almost 1.5 times my body weight (when I weighed close to 240) I don’t think there was ever a time you would have called me muscular. Sure, I had big arms and a big chest but I also had (have?) a big butt and big gut to go along with them. In my quest for size and strength I only gave lip service to fat loss. So even though I could bench more than 300 pounds (which is why I’m glad I write down my workouts – it’s hard to believe that I was once capable of this) I couldn’t run around the block without the risk of heart attack. Though my arms taped at just over 17.5 inches in circumference when flexed (4.5 inches more than the “average” man’s) my biceps lacked peak – though my tris were pretty well defined – in short, I was big but not built. I wanted to look like a bodybuilder but I looked more like a Bluto (from the Popeye comic strip).

Over the years I’ve tried a variety of workouts with varying consistency. I always blamed my lack of consistency, genetics and even my Crohn’s for my lack of progress. Well, people with Crohn’s much worse than mine have made better progress (see my earlier blogs on Peter K. Vaughn and Peter Nielsen for examples) and I know men who have made dramatic changes in their physiques in the course of a few months.

Well, today in the grocery store I finally had a revelation. My problem has been in front of my for all these years. Why do I not look the way I want? Because I eat the way I want!

I’ve been told this over the decades by at least two personal trainers (maybe three), a nutritionist, friends, family and God only knows how many books on exercise, weightlifting, diet, and nutrition.

So, what am I going to do about this? Well, I’ve already started.

Now that I have my caloric intake under control I need to improve the quality of what goes into my mouth. I loaded up on fresh (or as fresh as we get now days) veggies and fruits. I avoided the sugary treats, and I have enough to last the week. I chose Greek yogurt over regular because it has fewer calories and more protein (need some dairy after all). Tomorrow I plan my meals out so that I’m not caught in a situation where I “have” to go through the drive-thru and I’m taking another look at my supplement plan. Currently, I’m not taking anything except iron and calcium that my doctor prescribed. I’m thinking of adding back in a multi-vitamin and fish oil. Possibly some glucosamine as well for joint health.

I currently feel better than I have in years so I’m determined not to squander this feeling. I may never lift 350 pounds again (or maybe I will, who knows) but I bet I still have time to see my abs. At least two of them…

Onward!

Update: One Week on Humira

March 18, 2015davidpwahr

Well, I’ve been on Humira as a treatment for my Crohn’s now for one week and so far, so good. I haven’t had any of the short term side effects except for a little muscle soreness the first day. I’ve already noticed improvement in how I feel each day, though I have to admit that every time I eat something I expect that I’ll have pain – but so far I haven’t had any. I’ve even noticed that there are times where I don’t feel my “gut” on the inside. However, I am still a middle aged man so I don’t want to push my eating to the limit – indigestion can happen to anyone after all. I have also noticed that my bowel movements are changing (stop reading if you don’t want to hear about normal bodily functions) and instead of going two or three times a day I’m down to about one without the bloating that constipation would bring! My usually sore “bottom” isn’t and that in and of itself it actually a remarkable thing.

So, in brief, I’m very hopeful that this new treatment continues to work for me.

In exercise news I’ve developed a pain in my elbow. At first I thought it was “tennis” elbow but after further web searching and self-diagnosis I think it is actually “golfer’s” elbow (on the inside of the arm instead of the outside). My guess is that I strained it while weight lifting. The bad news is that it’s difficult to curl when you can’t lift the weight without a sharp pain. Looks like I’ll have to put off “loading the guns” and focus on legs and cardio for a little bit. If the pain doesn’t ease up it’s off to the doctors again.

It’s always something…

Onward!

Crohn’s Update: Humira

March 12, 2015December 17, 2019davidpwahr

Well, after what seems like years (it’s only been weeks) I’m finally on Humira (adalimumab). You may remember that after finally having my Crohn’s re-diagnosed my doctor thought it would be best to put me on some new medication in an effort to avoid surgery in my future. I was, of course, all for this.

However, I didn’t realize what it took to get the medicine that I was prescribed and now have a better appreciation of what some friends and family have been complaining about. Because of the expense of Humira my insurance company had to pre-approve me getting it (despite the prescription). Then once it was approved the prescription had to go through a specialty pharmacy because it needs to be kept refrigerated. So, I can’t get this picked up at the local Walgreen’s I have to call in each month to have it shipped to me (not a huge problem, but not what I’m used to). Then there is this entire “support” team to monitor me while I take it. An “ambassador” to check up on me every couple weeks, a nurse to train me on how to take the injections, and others. I think I understand why it costs so much.

The good news is that I took my first dose yesterday. I start with 4 doses the first day, then two weeks later I take 2 doses, and then 1 dose every other week from then on. Not a bad schedule as far as life-long medicines go (if not life-long than at least until something better comes along). And the injector “pen” that I use really does make the injection fairly painlessly.

I did have a slight headache yesterday and some muscle soreness (among the least of the side effects) but those seem to have passed. But I noticed something else odd today…I couldn’t feel my insides. There were no odd rumblings, no twinges of pain every couple of hours, no after lunch ‘bloat.’ I don’t know how quickly this stuff is supposed to work and it’s possible that some of the effects may only be of the placebo variety but still – I think that this may be the start of something good.

Unless I get lymphoma (another rare side effect). That would be bad…

Onward!