I think this is the beginnings of an economy based on perpetual growth and fossil fuel energy running headlong into geological energy constraints. Basically I see an undulatory downward path for the rest of my life. From here out, I think any rallies in our economic condition are going to be met with spiking commodity prices that knock us right back down.
Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 8:22 am Post subject: Re: Americans are too lazy to walk
PonyBoy78 wrote:
WildRose wrote:
oowolf wrote:
Here's one American who has walked over 25,000 miles since May 1997.
That's a lot of miles, oowolf. Do you have canine companions to walk with?
I have spent the better part of my life taking long walks with dogs.
I have a ten-year-old akita that I walk every day several times, usually 3 or 4 miles. He can't take this summer heat, so we usually go on our strolls through the nearby park around 5am when the deer and rabbits are out and about on the trails. Keeps us both thin and trim.
It's great, isn't it? I had a lovely German Shepherd that I often walked with between 4 and 6 a.m., after I got home from work. She also couldn't stand the heat. It's the best time to walk, when the world is just waking up. The summer sky is so beautiful, interesting cloud formations. My dog passed away a couple of weeks ago (she was 16), so I will have to find a new canine friend, probably this fall. I miss her, and our walks, terribly.
Joined: Sep 14, 2004 Posts: 6536 Location: Rural Virginia
Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 2:19 pm Post subject: Re: Americans are too lazy to walk
Extremely sorry to hear of your loss, WildRose. I dread the day it happens to my dog (she's going on seven and still as frisky as wind-blown paper cup).
Years ago we lost a rottweiler after 11 years with her. She was "something else"!
The best medicine for you will be a new puppy, after a suitable period. May I suggest a pound puppy? The need is so great.
Non-dog people can't understand how we dog people feel about this stuff. _________________ "Actually, humans died out long ago."
---Abused, abandoned hunting dog
"Things have entered a stage where the only change that is possible is for things to get worse."
---Me and my brother
Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 5:51 pm Post subject: Re: Americans are too lazy to walk
Heineken wrote:
Extremely sorry to hear of your loss, WildRose. I dread the day it happens to my dog (she's going on seven and still as frisky as wind-blown paper cup).
Years ago we lost a rottweiler after 11 years with her. She was "something else"!
The best medicine for you will be a new puppy, after a suitable period. May I suggest a pound puppy? The need is so great.
Non-dog people can't understand how we dog people feel about this stuff.
Thank you, Heineken. I understand how your rottweiler was "something else". Our shepherd was the dog I would have kept all my life, if I'd had any control over it.
We will watch our local SPCA shelter for a new dog in the fall. I know I'll love the new one as well. My kids are pushing for two dogs, one large breed and a smaller one.
Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 9:48 pm Post subject: Re: Americans are too lazy to walk
THIS is about ppl who DONT walk. DUH.....sorry bout the dogs etc. but not what its about. Nor about ppl who walk their legs off.
I love to go to Walmart and park way out and walk in, watching ppl circle and circle looking for a closer spot. Cant walk that extra 100 feet to the door.
We have lost our ability to work hard and hence to survive in tough times.
Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 10:51 pm Post subject: Re: Americans are too lazy to walk
Well, the modern car-oriented developed patterns as well as producing sterile homogenous environments also lead to isolation, diabetes, hear disease, obesity etc.
Expect when gasoline gets up to about $15/gallon, folks in America will walk a bit more.
At $10/gallon, it will break the suv fad.
By $15/gallon, the working class will have to walk or ride bikes and use buses.
Don't think that will happen at $7/gallon. They can still use debt at that level.
g
Joined: Sep 14, 2004 Posts: 6536 Location: Rural Virginia
Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 7:24 am Post subject: Re: Americans are too lazy to walk
WildRose wrote:
Heineken wrote:
Extremely sorry to hear of your loss, WildRose. I dread the day it happens to my dog (she's going on seven and still as frisky as wind-blown paper cup).
Years ago we lost a rottweiler after 11 years with her. She was "something else"!
The best medicine for you will be a new puppy, after a suitable period. May I suggest a pound puppy? The need is so great.
Non-dog people can't understand how we dog people feel about this stuff.
Thank you, Heineken. I understand how your rottweiler was "something else". Our shepherd was the dog I would have kept all my life, if I'd had any control over it.
We will watch our local SPCA shelter for a new dog in the fall. I know I'll love the new one as well. My kids are pushing for two dogs, one large breed and a smaller one.
Give your dog a hug for me!
Thanks; I just did!
Two dogs is a great way to go if you have the space and can afford all that flea and heartworm medicine. Those damned veterinary drug manufacturers sure know when they've got you cornered.
If you get a dog from the pound I strongly recommend a puppy no older than about 16 weeks (8 to 12 weeks is ideal). Many of the older dogs have behavioral problems, as you probably know. This is not to say they don't deserve a home too. But since there won't be homes for all of them anyway, you should choose a puppy you can begin training (including crate training) immediately. This is esp. important if you adopt a mutt, the adult disposition of which cannot be known early on.
You probably know all this already.
I once adopted a stray adult Dalmatian that wandered onto our property, and it kept biting my companion, in one case actually slightly injuring his eye. We had to take it to the pound, where I later heard it bit one of the volunteers. Very sad.
We got our current dog from the local animal shelter when she was 12 weeks old. She was the last of the litter and was only a short period away from destruction. Even so, she had behavioral difficulties (timidity and fearfulness; hard to housebreak even though I'm an expert at it; very hard to clip her claws). She once smeared feces all over the house; I spent a whole day cleaning it up.
But with consistency and love and proper "correction" she's matured into a great dog. Intelligent and loving and protective and fun.
Being a mutt, her veterinary bills have been a tiny fraction of the rottweiler's. Nothing like hybrid vigor!
Anyway, to get back to topic, dogs are one way to get us walking! _________________ "Actually, humans died out long ago."
---Abused, abandoned hunting dog
"Things have entered a stage where the only change that is possible is for things to get worse."
---Me and my brother
Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 11:07 am Post subject: Re: Americans are too lazy to walk
I know ppl still have cable tv, internet, gym memberships etc. so its not that bad yet. And the mall parking lot is full so someone is shopping.
There are many ways to cut back but no one is yet. NOW, there are a lot of poor ppl that are at the end however. And those on fixed incomes are having a hard time I am sure.
Everyone else is still driving like a mad man. Ppl driving all over the state to ball games too. When will that end. I dont know. Probably at about $10 a gallon. That makes a trip to a ball game cost $120 plus eats and tickets in etc. That will cull them out. I think this year, you will see less parents traveling to the events out of town.
Of course the schools will still go go go as they can raise taxes to keep that going. DONT THEY GET IT>>>>we are broke too.
Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 10:40 am Post subject: Re: Americans are too lazy to walk
Just a couple of thoughts:
If more parents walked their kids to school, from a very young age, instead of driving, the kids would probably develop more of a life-long habit of walking.
Remember how we used to see kids delivering papers, flyers, etc.? Where I live, it's now much more common to see adults delivering newspapers by car. I guess there could be some safety issues here as well, for the kids, I mean.
Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 10:24 am Post subject: Re: Americans are too lazy to walk
When my husband and I were looking for a house to buy, one of my criteria was that I need to to be able to walk the girls to school. Well, it's been really great over the last 8 years to be able to do that...every day, unless it is absolutely a frigid morning or pouring down rain, we walk. 1/2 mile (on sidewalks, fortunately) every morning and afternoon. But, it's crazy to see my neighbors heating up their car for 20 minutes, then drive them to the school. There, they have to wait in a long line to drop the kid off! Mind you, even a few who literally live3-4 houses away, will drive their kids to school. It's crazy! It will be interesting to see if this fall, they change their habits, due to gas prices. Habits are hard to break, we'll see if anyone breaks theres. They've seen me walk my girls to school for years...smiling and waving as they pass..maybe they will join us on the sidewalk one day! Usually, I plan trips to the bank, CVS, hair stylist, or other errand at about 9:00 so that I just continue walking after getting my daughter to school and with that, it's only 20 minutes extra walking.
Fortunately, my town has sidewalks that are even being expanded upon. For example: the High School has sidewalks coming from all sides of the school, which is great for those kids who live on the side of the main (extrememly busy and dangerous) drag in town. Those of us whose kids live in the section of town that we live in would have to ride their bikes nearly 1 mile extra just to cross the road safely. Well, this past year, they installed traffic lights at the intersection that will make that pretty easy for kids to get to the high school on thei bikes or scooters. So, at least one community is making some changes. Kids who live in rural districts may have to change habits and ride the bus because they can't afford gas money. If there continues to be bus service, that is...that's a whole other issue!
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 6:41 am Post subject: Re: Americans are too lazy to walk
mommy22, there are so many benefits to walking your kids to school, as I'm sure you have experienced. You can do the "walk and talk" thing, as I call it, just sharing the events of the day and talking about what you encounter on your walk. Fresh air, exercise, feeling comfortable in your own neighborhood. Quality time with your kids!
We (hubby and me and our three "big" kids) still like to walk, to get a few groceries or go and rent a movie, or a 3-mile round trip out for breakfast, or visiting someone, instead of driving.
I know a lot of people are hesitant to let their kids walk to school because of safety issues, but really, I've often thought that the solution to that would be groups of kids walking together, watching out for each other.
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 7:09 pm Post subject: Re: Americans are too lazy to walk
Thanks, WildRose, yes the talking is really a great way to connect about our days. Plus, there is always some kind of weather to talk about (the freshness of the morning air, how the dew sparkels in the sun, how the icicles off the maple trees taste maple syruppy (really! try a little taste next winter!). We wouldn't have those conversations if stuck in a car for the time it takes to drive to school.
What's also nice is that they are learning how it feels to walk somewhere...something that a lot of kids are missing out on. We lived for a time in a big city, and when our friends came to visit, the visiting children were always whining after a couple of city blocks. My girls just kind of looked at their friends as if they were crazy....they've been walking a lot since they were old enough to! Kids move pretty much only on the playing field or gym class today, I think. In fact...that's an excuse I've heard from moms who drive little Johnny to school every day...that they have to save up their energy for soccer later in the day. Whatever......
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 11:33 pm Post subject: Re: Americans are too lazy to walk
It might a bit hard to get people to walk for miles without sidewalks. If you guys want to walk, you might want to think about what it might be like to live in a place like this :
This is the shopping mall near my home. It's not gigantic but it has almost everything I might typically look for - a couple of bank branches, ATM machines, clothing stores, electronics store, a supermarket, restaurants. There is also a public library on the top floor.
There is a bus interchange on the far side of the building and there is what you would call a subway running underneath. We call it the MRT. The tracks you see on the right side of the picture going into the shopping mall are the LRT - it is a light rail system. Here's a photo from the station platform :
I live just across the road from all this. It is a 5 minute walk, and to cross the road, there is an overhead bridge that has an up-going escalator (stairs on the other side to get down). _________________ Live quotes - crude oil, gold and currencies
http://www.post1.net/lowem/page/livequotes
Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 11:40 pm Post subject: Re: Americans are too lazy to walk
... that is, if you don't really mind living in one of those boxes in mid-air that you see in the background ...
How's that for high-density living? Each of the housing blocks above easily house around 100 families in a land footprint roughly equivalent to about 4 average American homes.
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