possible project for 2010
Time Bider
tallest freestanding structure in the world. (It was recently replaced
as such by a building in Dubai.) Although people ride an elevator to
get to the tower's observation deck and revolving restaurant, there
are stairs for emergencies--about 1,600 to 1,700 steps.
Every March, a charity runs a CN Tower stair climb to raise money for
"green" causes. You pay an admission fee and then you climb the stairs
to the top.
I'm thinking of training for this year's stair climb. Yes, I have a
long, _long_ way to go before I can climb 1,600 steps without dying,
but there's a stairwell of 14 storeys only a few feet from my door, so
it would be easy to train, a little bit at a time.
What do people here think? Should I try to do it?
Miki
Time Bider
> I went through a phase of climbing stairs wherein I would walk up and
> down 65 flights of stairs at one of our tallest hotels. I started
> off at walking (not running) them once a week. I was pretty sore for
> the first few weeks, but gradually got up to doing it three days per
> week. It was very good exercise and I dropped nearly a stone in the
> first month. After six months I was to the point of being able to
> jog up the flights at a pretty good clip. It was excellent aerobic
> conditioning. Probably the best shape I'd been in since the
> military. But after the attacks of September 11th in New York, the
> security people at the hotel (and other places I attempted to find)
> put an end to my stair climbing.
>
> You have piqued my interest again. If I can manage to lift myself
> from this depression, I should like very much to take up stair
> climbing again. I need something to infuse my life with meaning. I
> am very depressed and feeling a bit suicidal here lately.
>
> And...I have gone off my meds since my wife dropped her bombshell on
> me on the 20th. I did it in a fit of anger. After all, if she's not
> going to be my wife then I have no reason to stay on the meds. And
> the hallucinations have been coming fast and hard here lately. Screw
> it. I fucking hate her for this. I should kill her before killing
> myself. In a world that makes no sense, who would even give me a
> second look?
>
> Can you say "rapid-cycling?"
I've always been permissive of suicide. A suicide caused--rather than
triggered--by a single traumatic event, however, is bound to be
emotional rather than rational. It doesn't seem that you're in a
position now to make a rational decision as to whether or not your
life really is over. Please give it some time and try to balance your
perspective.
And rule number 1 of suicide is YOU DON'T TAKE ANYONE WITH YOU. So, no
matter how you feel about your wife right now, please don't take her
with you.
Here's something else to consider: A newspaper headline saying
"Unmedicated Schizophrenic Involved in Murder-Suicide." Think of how
much damage that would do to your online community--further distortion
of our basically docile nature and the unlikeliness of us doing
violent things.
If you're going to go off your meds, try to get medical supervision
for it and taper off, don't quit cold turkey. Otherwise it'll be hard
to know what's a symptom requiring meds and what's a withdrawal
effect.
Wishing you the best. If you want to email me, use my
durw...@hushmail.com address and I'll let you know the primary email
addy I use these days.
Miki