Life on the Oregon Coast

Old BLOG

2011-11-23T19:43:00.001-08:00

I had started an old BLOG some years ago but lost interest and sort of forgot about it. One day started to think about it and eventually found it again. Couldn't log in because it was associated with and old e-mail I had at msn.com. That e-mail quit working due apparently to a problem with Firefox and MickeySoft's hotmail. I had to give up on that e-mail because I use Linux OS which won't run IE. IE sucks anyway which means hotmail is no longer acceptable. After some messing around I finally regained control of my old BLOG and started to blog there again.

http://absolutemaybe.blogspot.com/ That BLOG will be mostly for opinions about anything I care about. Will try to keep both BLOGs active. Cyberspace can be fun but frustrating at times. Be sure to note all login and password info for any accounts you may care about later.

Lincoln City? Weather has been wet and windy this week. Tried some ocean wave videos. Maybe some can be uploaded to youtube? Will see.

Ken.

No mosquitoes?

2011-09-14T12:34:00.000-07:00

Don't miss the little blighters but amcurious as to why I don't see any this year. I usually get severalmosquito bites during the year even while taking vitamin B1 whichhelps to reduce the number at least. Don't like the spray on or wipeon repellents. They are supposedly safe, but...

This year I'm not even taking extraVitamin B1. I just don't see any mosquitoes. I still walk around alot, at the beech , in the woods, around town, the occasional trip toPortland or Salem. Still no mosquitoes. We had a wetter than averagespring and the summer has also been cooler than normal even inland.Maybe they like it hotter?

Just another benefit of living on theOregon coast. Away from the sweltering heat and bugs that infest therest of the world.

Ken.

Diet that works

2011-08-07T17:52:00.000-07:00

Over the years my wife has searched for a diet that will work for her while I mostly offered encouragement as I enjoyed my beer and chips kind of eating. I learned from childhood to eat my veggies so the other stuff didn't hurt too much, or so I thought.

As age started to manifest itself with increasing joint pain, fat belly, acid reflux, depression, headache, aggravated allergy, high blood pressure, well, you get the idea, it seemed time to make some changes. Cathy started the so called "Paleo diet" which includes lots of vegetables, fruits, meats, fish, poultry, nuts and some tubers. Conspicuously absent is grains, legumes and dairy. So, I figure, what the hell. All ready know I have gluten and, dairy problems. May as well try this paleo stuff.

Well, guess what. Joint pains are gone. Allergy is much better. No more headache or depression. Blood pressure is lower. Acid reflux is much better. I can now fasten the top button on my pants! I wear size 36 pants that were too small but refuse to go to size 38. Only fat dudes wear size 38.

At first it was difficult to avoid some of my old favorite foods such as breads, chips, cookies, candy and such but is well worth the effort. I had just assumed all those little maladies were a part of life. It's nice to find a dietary source of relief.
For more info see Cathy's website at www.coastalpaleo.com

Ken.

Cathy's BLOG

2011-06-01T11:29:00.000-07:00

I setup a new blog for my wife Cathy http://catonthecoast.blogspot.com/. Hopefully she will blog more often than I do. Now I need to figure out this blog follow stuff so I can keep an eye on her. Oh no! she might follow me too! Need to watch what I say.

We are also working on a new website for her at http://www.coastalpaleo.com/

Ken.

Many Diets.

2011-04-27T11:08:00.000-07:00

Added a new page to pdxken.com called Diets. This page compares some of the popular diets. The idea is to get people to examine different diets to see which fits the best. Everybody is different so it would seem that not everyone would do well on the same diet.

In my case grains and dairy cause joint pains and aggravated seasonal allergies. Glutenous grains are especially bad for me. My wife also has problems with grains and dairy foods, different symptoms. This is only a sample size of 2 but it still makes me wonder how many other folks have similar food sensitivities and don't know it. Yes, I love breads and such but the body complains if I eat that stuff. We are both trending toward the Paleo diet. Lots of fruits and vegetables, meats, fish, chicken. Just not dairy, grains, or legumes. Oh, we also need a lot of willpower.
http://www.pdxken.com/diets.html

Good health to you.
Ken.

Barefoot walk

2011-04-12T12:57:00.000-07:00

Last summer Cathy and I started barefoot walking. Our son Sean started barefootin and talked us into it. Sigh, the stuff our kids get us into. Anyway when the weather cooled off and got wet last fall our shoes stayed on but we really missed barefootin. Yesterday afternoon with temps in the 50s and the sun shining warm we went for a walk and decide to try our feet bare again. Only the last several blocks, need to toughen up again. How nice! The sun had warmed up the ground to a perfect temperature and we were in bliss! We both realized how much we missed walking barefoot. This from a couple in our 60s? I think we are getting younger.

Barefoot walking and running is actually very healthful and beneficial in many ways. Guess what. We were born that way! After years of wearing shoes of various poor design our feet and also our whole body gets more and more deformed. High heals are just one example. With all the padding and heel cushioning shoes have people tend to land heel first whether walking or running. When barefoot we tend to land on the front part of the foot which has natural shock absorption. This may help to reduce some leg and back problems. There is also the benefit of grounding. Grounding? Connection to the Earth is naturally healthy. Good Chi, Schumann Resonance and just feel goodedness.

For more info see http://www.barefootted.com/ and http://www.runbare.com/

BareFoot Ken.

Looking at different Linux Desktop Environments.

2011-03-20T12:46:00.000-07:00

Linux OS has more than one DE (desktop environment). The first time I used Linux it came with the Gnome DE. That was nice but I eventually discovered KDE (The K Desktop Environment). After trying Gnome and several others KDE has become my favorite. Why do I prefer KDE over the more popular Gnome? Well, KDE seems to be more configurable. It can easily be changed in various ways to suit an individuals work habits or personal preference. I use the Ubuntu distribution of Linux, actually Kubuntu for the KDE version. After experimenting with a number of others I keep coming back to Kubuntu.

So, what's the problem? Well, as software develops, progresses and improves it always seems to use more resources whether CPU or RAM. The KDE developers have done an amazing job of keeping CPU usage under control but RAM usage is creeping up, the price of more features and goodies. Most of what I do works just fine even with the latest and greatest. But with my old Pentium 4 rig maxed at 1G RAM some sound and video editing programs start to slow down. The obvious solution would be to upgrade to a nice new Multi core CPU with lots of RAM, which I intend to do eventually. For now though I am looking at window managers that us less power such as LXDE, Fluxbox, Openbox, or maybe Enlightenment. They all have there advantages and disadvantages, not to mention the learning curve that comes with new stuff. The nice thing is that it's easy enough to install each and play with it.

Ken.

2011-02-27T14:46:00.000-08:00

End of February (27th). No walk on the beach today, rain and a bit windy. Last week was rather cold. Lows in the 20s and highs in the 30s and 40s. Except for an inch of snow it was very dry.

Decided to look at my website www.pdxken.com and changed a few things. Looking at the Linux page I had to ask myself why anyone would care about my experience with that. So, it is now more of an informational page than a story about what I did. If you Google something you want information not someones experience. Experience?. Stuff I did? That's what blogs are for?

December walk on the beach.

2010-12-16T12:29:00.000-08:00

December is normally the rainy season in the Pacific North West, but today we get sunshine and temps in the 40s. It seemed a good day for a walk on the beach through the woods, past the beaver dam, and down to the beach. This little walk comes out at the Roads End wayside.

Some folks were feeding the seagulls there, tisk, sigh. Don't want to get too close to that. Not that I have anything against seagulls but that's too many in one spot. When they fly overhead the odds are greater of getting shat-upon. I actually like the varmints myself. Enjoy watching them fly. I read the story "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" about 40 years ago. Also like the Neal Diamond recording and the movie.

Down to the beach a few feet to the left of the parking lot is a rocky area where the storms have washed some of the sand away leaving the rock. Amongst the rocks is where agates can be found. I only found a few small ones this time. Need another good storm or two. In the winter the storms wash a lot of the sand out to sea or someplace and leave some rocky areas where the agates hide.

Ken.

Beach combing

2008-02-27T16:55:00.000-08:00

The Oregon coast seems to change a lot. With the storms coming and going and the tides doing the same, the shifts around a lot. Currently the sand has diminished somewhat causing more rocks and Agates to be uncovered.

I noticed several people picking up rocks and asked one what was to be found. He showed me a handful of agates he had picked up. Cool! Where are they? Mostly in amongst the rocks he told me. So I started looking around and found several myself.

Agates are nice, but it seems to me that other rocks are nice too. So I started walking the beaches and collecting agates and interesting rocks.

Now, What to do with them. Hmm. I'll let ya know.

I need to develope better writing habits.

2008-02-13T09:21:00.000-08:00

When did I start this blog? October of last year. Hmm. This is only my second post. Guess a good writing class would be in order. Not sure where to start. I Googled writing tutorial last night and found the usual mix of good and not so good stuff.

The problem is, I have several blogs out there in cyberspace that I started at one time or another but never really developed any one. Maybe I should pick one and put more effort into it. Not sure which to choose. Does it really matter? No one but me will ever read it. Well, maybe it would be good to practice in silence. but what's the fun of that?

Any suggestions?
Thanks. Ken.

New blog

2007-10-21T14:55:00.001-07:00

This is a new blog just created today. Sunday, October 21, 2007.
When and if I get creative I will add stuff.

I live in Lincoln City, Oregon about half mile from the Pacific ocean, hence the name of the blog. I can hear the ocean but can't see it from home. Still an easy walk to the beach.
My wife and I walked to a nice breakfast place this morning for bacon and eggs. It's a 2 mile walk to this particular restaurant but it takes a lot to walk off that kind of food. Part of the walk is on the beach and part on side streets. Overall really nice.