Changes, Survival in the Wilderness, Bad Teaching

Alright, it has been entirely too long since I posted something here - in my defense I have been preoccupied with looking for a new position as mine is winding down in 8 weeks due to some really exciting and some really aggravating circumstances. Take your pick. Also we are going to look for a new lean-to, something out of the trees, and lower to the ground. Preferably with some Spruce trees around and maybe even some chipmunks.





The temperature here in Toronto of late has been so cold - in the minus 20s Celsius - that I've had to carry Monty out to the back area of the building, plonk him down, encourage him to fertilize and water the snow/grass and then hoist him back up so he has a nice view as I carry him back in. All the salt the enthusiastic grounds people pour onto the laneways is painful to him, plus the cold. Plus I think he rather enjoys being carried. I enjoy carrying him, it has made my arms stronger.





As I am overseeing a project at work, involving a late-night event taking place out in the west coast, I time-shifted work today - in at 3:00 PM and I'll start on my way home around 11:00 PM. I decided to watch a show by a guy named Bear Grylls. He's an ex-SAS special forces guy, and has climbed Everest.



In the episode, he was to play the role of a stranded heli-skier, dropped at the peak of an Alaskan Mountain, and had to make his way out. Now, I'm only an armchair survivalist, but boy the mistakes and crazy crap he did I think was irresponsible. Some of the most blatant stupidities he committed were:

1. Climbing through an ice-tunnel under a glacier, instead of taking an additional kilometer of a walk around the glacier. Stupid risky move.



2. Forded a river without a walking stick, and without checking downstream first for obstacles or problems.



3. Climbed down the face of a waterfall, allowing himself to get totally soaked. I could go on and on but boy what an irresponsible show for showing this kind of crap. He could still do the show well, if only he took adequate and reasonable precautions, and could probably be a little more educational in his approach too. It seems more like a self-satisfying show for him, but doesn't really do anything for the audience.



I suppose this show got me ticked off, because in part I have this dream that I could open a school for survival skills, and back country camping expeditions etc... and would teach responsible environmentalism and primitive skills and cater to the artistic community, underprivileged youth, and even the corporate world. And I wouldn't bring any of the students into a glacier tunnel, across a stream without carefully scouting it out, or down a waterfall.

I'm sleepy and my brain has shut down so I will now stop writing - thank you for reading my words here. More soon.