Let's hear it for the young lady!

[martin-w 3,239]

1 hour ago, birdguy said:

Why not?  Why not climb the highest mountain? 

 

Because it can kill you and life is about a sensible balance between risk and quality of life. Its the guys that nudge that balance further towards to risk end of the equation that interest me in evolutionary terms. Traits tend not to remain unless is offers and advantage. Most people don't take the sort of risks I am talking about. Those that do have the gene I'm hypothesising about switched on and they are relatively small in number. 

 

1 hour ago, birdguy said:

When I was a young Marine stationed at Twentynine Palms in the desert we used to go out some Sunday afternoons and get an empty box and catch sidewinders...rattlesnakes.  We would see how many we could catch and then let them loose.  To put them in the box you had to handle them.  Not many of us were willing to do that but when you learned how and when you actually picked a venomous snake that might bite you it was a thrill.

 

Maybe YOU have the gene? 👍

 

Quote

Do you just wrap yourself in your cocoon of safety and never take a chance or try to accomplish something that might be dangerous?

 

Most don't no, not to the extent I'm talking about.  A small percentage do and that small percentage that might be essential to the survival of our species, now and on into the future.

Edited January 21, 2022 by martin-w

[Luis Hernandez 571]

6 hours ago, martin-w said:

Why conquer the harshest mountain where you might die? 

Because it's there? And the motivation to do so also?

Anyway, hats off to the young lady!

 

[birdguy 3,943]

2 hours ago, martin-w said:

Maybe YOU have the gene?

Maybe those of us who make a career of the military where you can be called on to take life threatening risks and those of us who pick up rattlesnakes and those of us who pilot light and ultra light aircraft or become fighter pilots and racecar drivers and skydivers and skiiers and rock climbers do have that gene.

Are you afraid of heights?  My brother took a picture of me standing on the rim of a ledge of a cliff several hundred feet above the floor of a canyon.  He wouldn't get within 6 feet of the edge.  Maybe I have the gene and he didn't.  

When Betty and I were in Toronto we went up CN Tower.  On the walkway around the top they have a glass panel you can stand on.  You are looking something like 1,000 feet down.  When I stood on it and looked down my balls tingled.  It was a good feeling.  But I have never been afraid of heights.

It was interesting to watch people attempt to walk out on that panel.  They would take a step and then step back.  Some would try to crawl out on it.  Few people actually just stepped out and walked on it.

Yes, Martin, maybe I do have the gene.  And if I do I am thankful for it.

On my 90th birthday, if I reach it, I am going to Canon City, Colorado, where they have a skydiving school.  My daughter is going to take me.  And we are both going to make a tandem jump.  We've had this planned for several years.

Noel

Edited January 21, 2022 by birdguy

[charliearon 3,025]

I hate climbing my ladder up to my roof!  Whoopee... Maybe 10 feet high!  Another great example, if anyone knows the Vatican Cathedral in Rome (Saint Peter's).  You can go up to the observation deck at the top by climbing the tilting stairway to the top.  Very cramped quarters and I nearly mangled a couple of nuns going back down after becoming dizzy while climbing!😵

 

[birdguy 3,943]

1 hour ago, Rob_Ainscough said:

otherwise we're all just planetary sheep. 

You see them very weekday being herded into subway cars.  Then they go into an office and do the same thing they have been doing for years. 

After getting out of the Marines and working as a file clerk for a year I decided to join the Air Force.  I had already soloed and the Air Force had a flying club on every base where you could rent a plane and take flying lessons.  But more importantly they had many career fields to choose from.  And when you got tired of one job you could cross-train into another.  I started out working in a bomb dump.  Then I became an armament technician.  That led to special electronics and seismology at stations monitoring for underground nuclear tests.  And then a weather forecaster.  I don't think I could be happy in a lifelong career doing the same thing over and over again.  Freelance writing and photography as sidelines were fun.  And once when I was out of work looking for a job I had several interviews and offers.  I chose a lesser paying job over a higher paying job because I thought the lower paying job would be more fun.  And it was.  

I went to work for Garret AirResearch at the DOT test track in Pueblo Colorado and was an insturmentation technician and pilot for this guy.  I drove it close to 200 MPH.

https://pueblorailway.org/roster/rocket-cars/the-garrett/

Noel

 

[Fielder 3,681]

Scottie Ferguson trying to slowly cure himself of vertigo.

[martin-w 3,239]

23 hours ago, birdguy said:

Maybe those of us who make a career of the military where you can be called on to take life threatening risks and those of us who pick up rattlesnakes and those of us who pilot light and ultra light aircraft or become fighter pilots and racecar drivers and skydivers and skiiers and rock climbers do have that gene.

 

Not sure about the military as many people join the military who aren't necessarily risk takers. A percentage are though for sure. The others yes. And I think its a sliding scale in regard to the degree of risk an individual is prepared to take.

 

21 hours ago, birdguy said:

I went to work for Garret AirResearch at the DOT test track in Pueblo Colorado and was an insturmentation technician and pilot for this guy.  I drove it close to 200 MPH.

 

I'm saying you have the gene. 😁

 

Quote

Are you afraid of heights?  My brother took a picture of me standing on the rim of a ledge of a cliff several hundred feet above the floor of a canyon.  He wouldn't get within 6 feet of the edge.  Maybe I have the gene and he didn't.  

 

Yep, can't stand heights. One slip and you are dead. I'll carry out home electrics which involves high voltages that can kill with no issue. But the thing is, I can switch off the power and verify its off, but I cant switch off gravity. 😁

 

Quote

On my 90th birthday, if I reach it, I am going to Canon City, Colorado, where they have a skydiving school.  My daughter is going to take me.  And we are both going to make a tandem jump.  We've had this planned for several years.

 

That's absolutely fantastic and you have my utmost respect. In fact I'll allocate you five cat points.

😸😸😸😸😸

Edited January 22, 2022 by martin-w

[birdguy 3,943]

2 hours ago, martin-w said:

Not sure about the military as many people join the military who aren't necessarily risk takers. A percentage are though for sure. The others yes. And I think its a sliding scale in regard to the degree of risk an individual is prepared to take.

When you join the military there is no guarantee that will be placed in a no-risk career field or that you won't be sent to a war zone where you will be at risk.  I had a no risk job in the Air Force loading bombs on airplanes.  But in Vietnam I spent some hours in a bunker during mortar and rocket attacks.

In the Marines every man is a rifleman regardless of your job qualifications.  At anytime if you serving in a war zone you can be pulled from your desk if you are a clerk or from the stove if you are a cook, handed a rifle, and sent to the line.  Before entering any specialist school right after boot camp you go to Camp Pendleton for 30 days of infantry combat training.  At least that's how it was in my day.  We learned to fire everything from 45 caliber pistols to 50 caliber machine guns, rocket launchers and mortars.  We learned how to throw hand grenades and crawl under barbed wire while 30 caliber machine guns were firing over your head.

Noel

 

[harrry 322]

I am not sure she did this.  I have not seen it on TikTok

[birdguy 3,943]

What's TikTok?

Noel

[pete_auau 1,163]

1 hour ago, birdguy said:

What's TikTok?

Noel

its  what a  clock  sounds  makes  when  your  trying to get  to sleep 🙂

https://www.tiktok.com/

Edited January 23, 2022 by pete_auau

[martin-w 3,239]

14 hours ago, birdguy said:

When you join the military there is no guarantee that will be placed in a no-risk career field or that you won't be sent to a war zone where you will be at risk. 

 

True, but that doesn't mean you are a person that likes to take extreme risks. Its a sliding scale. Many might be prepared to accept a theoretical risk of injury if a certain circumstance while in the armed forces is manifest, but that's not the same as deliberately bungee jumping off a cliff, or preceding up Everest where that single activity has a 15% risk of you dying. Or base jumping off a tall building onto the street below. Or shooting for a world record in a rocket car.

 

[birdguy 3,943]

2 hours ago, martin-w said:

bungee jumping

Something else I'd like to try before it's time for me to go.

Noel

[martin-w 3,239]

1 hour ago, birdguy said:

Something else I'd like to try before it's time for me to go.

Noel

 

😁

[birdguy 3,943]

It's called conquering your fears Martin.  

Noel