Clean Up Time — Health, Environment, Alcohol
You’re never too old to lean young
Back in late fall of 2023, I got an offer I simply couldn’t refuse. My lease in the condo I was renting at the time was expiring. A longtime friend of mine from Phuket, who owns a pristine one-bedroom unit in Pattaya, Thailand, reached out to see if I would be interested in renting from him. I told him to send me some pictures. When I saw them, my jaw dropped. It’s hard to convey just how astonishing this place was, particularly the view overlooking the entirety of Pattaya Bay from the 15th floor.
I messaged back to my friend, Tony, and said, “Tony, yeah, I’d love it, but I don’t think I can afford it.” He replied, “Well, what do you want to pay?” I knew the market rate was around 20,000 Thai baht per month, but I’m more comfortable around 10,000 baht. So, I proposed, “Give me a trial period of three months at 12,000 baht, and if I like it, we go up to 15,000.” He accepted the deal, and I moved in. I was utterly astounded.
Now, let’s be real here. I’m an old man, and I like younger Thai girls, at least 20 years younger than me. They like to come over and see me. I’m not delusional; I know the score, but I use everything to my advantage while still being nice and having a good time. That condo supercharged all of that.
A few months into this arrangement, which was informal—no contract, just a monthly bank transfer to Tony—the unexpected happened. I made a trip to the USA and then the Philippines for about two weeks. Upon landing in Bangkok to complete my journey, I received a message from Tony. He said, “Hey Richard, sorry, but I got an offer to sell the place that I can’t refuse.” Since we didn’t have a lease contract, and I was getting the place at way below market value, there was nothing I could complain about. Zero. But because Tony is a stand-up guy, he said, “Look, this will probably take two months to close. Don’t pay me a dime of rent.”
I ended up getting two months of free rent out of the deal, but I had to scramble. I didn’t want to pay so much again, so I found another place in a high-rise just 200 meters down the street. It wasn’t a one-bedroom with a panoramic view like before, but it was a decent studio with a good size.
The new place served me OK for a few months. April to June.
That’s when I learned my lesson: esthetics fucking matter. And it wasn’t only that the chicks loved to come over and stay longer. It was my own mental attitude. The contrast is too stark to put into words. I’ve come to explain it like if I was here for a month or three, it would be ok because in that space of time, I would be creating my own extracurricular activities…if not daily, a few times per week. That breaks down and you realize, I’m living this long term.
Something crept in, again. Alcohol.
Such a beast.
Here’s a link to check. There is zero chance you won’t be wowed and amazed.
Until next time, once I’ve moved to the new place.
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Free The Animal is an eclectic writing project about everything since November 2003. 23 years, 5,500 posts, 5 million words.
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If you’re looking at getting back into the gym, then I recommend watching the Pavel Tsatsouline and Andrew Huberman podcast. Goes for over 4 hours but covers a lot of ground in the exercise department. Pavel is credited with introducing kettlebells to the west and is a former Spetsnatz physical instructor. Deals mainly with strength but combines it with endurance and training for longevity. Is serious about adequate recovery and performing exercise in a way that it not detrimental to your body and health. He believes training should serve your life and not vice- versa. A lifelong exerciser, I’m 62 years old now and have been following his training principles for 3 years now and feeling much better for it.
I can relate to the Grok story big time.
My alcohol and caffeine intake tend to be inversely proportional, and I dabble in nicotine as well (Zyn/Velo nicotine salt pouches).
I said before that I trusted myself to keep alcohol consumption down spontaneously. But after I got deep into caffeine cessation, that discipline started to erode, and I found myself cracking a beer or pouring a shot several days a week.
This seems to be a common tale. When people quit one, their use of one or both of the others skyrockets.
The reality is that all three of these substances are powerful and addictive drugs. The real root cause of the cycling is our habituation of getting a fix by putting things into our mouths.
People’s awareness of alcohol’s risks are fairly well known, due in part to the obvious signs of impaired judgment and liver cirrhosis, as well as the famous hangover sensations.
Nicotine is a complicated one, because most of the studies are directly related to tobacco and its effects via smoke inhalation, tar, and (for dip) fiberglass-induced damage to the gums. The jury is still out on the nicotine salts that I use, but my gut tells me the verdict won’t be good. We never get a fix for nothing.
Caffeine & coffee are unique hazards, simply because most of the world is not aware of the long list of negative effects. The industry pays for the studies claiming it is beneficial, but in reality the cons outweigh the pros, and this fact is very heavily occluded/censored. The media says what its sponsors want it to say, such as Big Pharma with its extremely invasive and risky drugs, including our ridiculous modern vaccine schedule. It’s no different with the multi-billion-dollar caffeine industry.
Even a small amount of caffeine in the morning is likely to disrupt our sleep, and over time we incur a massive health debt from a lack of quality sleep to repair us, which is the main function of sleep.
It activates our adrenal system and puts us into “fight or flight” mode (this is the “alert” or “energetic” sensation), while rewarding us with a dopamine hit. Coming off of this high makes us want more, and the crappy feeling we get from withdrawal makes us feel much worse when we’re off of it, even though we don’t really feel that good with chronic use. We actually feel fatigued, anxious, and irritable, but since that’s our new normal, and withdrawal is worse, we get stuck in a habituated cycle.
Coffee itself (even decaf) has harsh oils that strip our gut lining and weaken the valves separating our digestive tract components. Backflow from the colon is common, and we partially digest/absorb our own turds, rather than passing them intact. This causes leaky gut, constipation/diarrhea, and Crohn’s/colitis.
There are cardiopulmonary side effects too, which get worse with chronic use. And of course the liver is taxed, which prevents it from disposing of other waste in our system and otherwise functioning optimally.
It’s not good for us. It’s a drug, and it causes problems when consumed routinely.
I got this info from the book Caffeine Blues. It reminds me of the vaccine book you recommended that I started reading, Turtles All the Way Down. It showcases some very inconvenient truths about caffeine and coffee.
The following video was extremely instructive and led me to the book.
youtu.be/KzChJKJxFkE?si=GZdBkfqxrPNNXoNf
I think the only salvation from all of this is to go through the difficult withdrawal process and replace the fix with exercise, water, healthy food, and other forms of fulfillment. Swapping one drug for another just causes more problems.
The NAC et al supplement epiphany is very interesting. I see that as a useful tool to help with withdrawal.