A few possibilities come to mind. “Digger” is an antiquated derogatory term used for Native Americans in California and some other regions of the West. Also, some people are using it as an Ersatz for the N word in an attempt to veil their racism or bypass automated filters, much like how my inlaws think they are so clever by referring to non-whites as “Canadians.” Racists are rarely as smart as they think they are.

And this is Kristian Matsson, who goes by the stage name of The Tallest Man on Earth. He is 5’ 7".

+1. Birds are flipping awesome. When you get into your 40s, looking at birds hits different. I now get up at 330 in the morning on my days off to look at birds.

Definitely. Also, lots of local birdwatching groups or chapters of the Audubon Society that host pretty frequent outings. Most are free or pretty cheap. Then you have lots of experienced people to ask questions and make friends. Check Facebook or your local photography store flyer posts.

I love going on hikes or nature walks. Some great free apps are Merlin (for identifying bird calls) and Seek (for identifying plants and animals). All completely free aside from getting to to trail, but even in city parks it can be pretty fun. A good pair of binoculars is a great addition if you have the $$.

And the greens are super tasty, too!

I live in the Sierras and always keep a change of clothes, 72 hours of food and water (plus filter), a small pack, fishing gear and a radio in my car. You never know what could happen. I’ve had quick fishing trips turn into unplanned overnighters and had snow or fallen trees or wildfires block roads at all times of the year. We have exactly 2 roads into and out of our little valley.

Blood speed isn’t a particularly useful metric. We’re typically more interested in the volume of blood circulated, as that is a better measurement of blood (and therefore oxygen) delivered to end-organs. Most organs are very good at regulating the speed of flow through their supply, and are more dependent on volume of flow.

One of the more useful measurements we look at is cardiac output (CO). It’s just the stroke volume (how many ml of blood is squirted out of the heart every heartbeat) multiplied by the heart rate. This tells you how many ml of blood are sent into circulation every minute. Doppler imaging can be used to show flow speed, though that’s much less useful. Measuring CO is relatively easy to measure and is a useful measurement of how much blood is being made available to end organs. The heart rate is very easy to count or calculate, but the stroke volume does require an ultrasound study (preferably a transesophageal study). For an even more useful measurement, you can divide that CO by the person’s total body surface area to get the cardiac index (CI) this gives you a more standardized number from person to person, which allows a more meaningful comparison than CO alone.

About a month ago I was having some bad kidney stone pain and had to drive 2.5 hours home. I threw up twice in the first couple miles it hurt so bad. Then I hit a pot hole and the pain went away. Check mate, doctors.

I was with Captain Janeway, being chased by Nazis through and on top of a train for stealing their marijuana plants. I don’t ever remember my dreams. I vividly remember that one.

Yes, facing adversity does build resilience. However, creating adversity for another just because YOU had to face it is wrong. I had a professor who called our career a “brotherhood of suffering” and would purposely create artificial stumbling blocks and make things more difficult because he had the same done to him. It’s perpetrating a cycle of abuse. I’ve now gotten to the point where I’ve taught in university and in the hospital and I try to break that cycle. It’s still a very difficult path, the content and pace are still taxing. Many still don’t make it to graduation, why make it harder then it needs to be?