This And That And Those

I woke up this morning feeling great, deciding that this weird, mild but still lingering cold-like illness was finally completely gone. I got a flu shot yesterday, so maybe my immune system got all revved up and knocked off the few remaining beasties.

Then I sneezed six times in a row. That’s all. Nose a little drippy. Seriously, I touch around 50 people in church once a week, hugs, hands, heads pressed next to each other…you could make a good argument against organized religion right there. It’d be nice and dramatic to think something was messed up with me and my sinuses, but I have a feeling this is how (and why) my winters end up the way they do. And I’ll take the socializing and endure the stuffy nose, any day.

No, I felt great because I got that extra hour of sleep I’ve been missing for a week or so. Just hasn’t happened; too busy, to bed too late, light changes, etc. I know most of us face the same issues, some harder than others, with getting enough sleep. I’m just saying. It makes a difference for me, obviously.

And I’ve been up a few hours and haven’t sneezed again. I’m fine.

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Some Chinese guy sent me a Facebook message a couple of weeks ago, wondering if I’d be willing to review his resistance bands on Amazon (I’d posted a public review of some that I bought, and how much I enjoyed using them). I know this goes on, this solicitation of reviews, I understand the process. They give you a product to test, you write a review. You keep the product, of course.

I asked for a link to his product page, and I thought it was interesting. I’d certainly check these out, much more advanced than the simple bands I use a few times a week to try to keep from becoming completely helpless. He sent me a gift card code, I bought the product, I used it for a few days, I wrote a review, which was positive. It was a positive experience. They thanked me and that was that.

FYI, then, in case it ever happens to you.

Yesterday, then, I got another Facebook message, from another person (not sure from where), asking if I’d review their product (in a broken English kind of way). It got annoying, because these seemed like fine products but nothing I’d ever use, and I wasn’t interested in collecting junk and having to write a review. Just took a few messages to make that clear.

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Freeze-frame from my first commercial.

In a related development, a friend who works in media at Amazon asked me to answer a few questions about the company in a phone video, just a couple of minutes. I feel self conscious when I record myself on video, because I think my teeth are crooked and one is slightly grayed out, and I just feel bad. But this turned out OK, even if I didn’t smile enough (you know, people, who urge me to smile more? There’s a reason. Give me nice straight, white teeth, and I’ll smile all the time and post videos every day). It was kind of fun, and fun to help a friend out with a research product.

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I read an article this morning on how skinny people have trouble putting on weight. This was really aimed at people trying to add muscle, and I’m not really interested, but it did bring up some things to think about.

One, which I haven’t researched but sounded plausible, was the idea that thin people have more lean muscle mass (because less body fat, although this isn’t always the case with thin people), and so their resting metabolic rate is higher (i.e., they burn more calories just being alive). This lines up with my situation, anyway. I rarely go crazy with exercise anymore, but at least my Fitbit always is assuming a pretty decent output every day, and that seems to align with my weight. That is, I can eat plenty of food, but still burn just a little bit more than I eat, so it’s drip drip drip.

The point is, I don’t know what if anything I’m supposed to do about this at my age. I’m not dying from a mysterious wasting disease. I have most of the characteristics of life-long thin people, at least according to the article—I don’t seem capable of overeating anymore, and if I do have a big meal then the next day or so I always eat lighter. Not on purpose. Just don’t have the appetite.

But I’m not a life-long thin person. I was a normal person for a long time, then an obese person. Now I’m a thin person. None of this really makes sense, other than a psychological thing, some denial, something.

I feel OK, though. My exercise tolerance is fine. Maybe I’m just going to be this guy for the rest. Maybe it’ll all change in a few years. It was just interesting to read, that’s all. I really don’t have a clue about my particular situation, other than I got sleep and I feel good and I’m not really worried about it.

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We’ve had our new car for nearly a week, and I believe I’ve spent a total of a little less than 2 hours behind the wheel. This makes sense but doesn’t feel fair. I might jump in the car tomorrow morning and drive somewhere interesting for an hour or so. Gotta figure out the lights one of these days.

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Finally, I got a notice today that FilmStruck is shutting down. It’s a streaming service, 10 bucks a month, with a bazillion classic films from Turner Classic Movies and The Criterion Collection. You’d have to be a fan, obviously, but for this one it was a no-brainer. Even if I only watched a couple a month. They were just there, waiting. And now not. Sigh.

Some of the films I’ve watched recently, most of them early Saturday mornings:

Counterclockwise: 12 Angry Men, Cool Hand Luke, McCabe & Mrs. Miller

I grieve a little today, then. Although, really, how much can I watch? Maybe with this high resting metabolism, it’s fine. Maybe I’ll just take a drive in the car. Decisions.