Bum

I've done a few Alaska cruises (living in Vancouver helps). Royal Caribbean will be a slightly younger crowd, but you'd also have a good time on Princess. The ships are large enough (2000+ passengers) that even though there's lots of oldies aboard there's still lots in the younger age groups too. Lots to do on the ships, they've turned keeping people interested into a science. It helps too if you happen to like mountains and glaciers. Tons of excursion options in every city you stop at, or you can walk three blocks to the "Red Dog Saloon" and make your own shore excursion. This is the year to go, prices are obscenely low because folks need to get motivated to travel these days. Next year the cruise lines are pulling some ships out of Alaska so expect to see the fares go back up then. Cheers, Doug the DZ Bum

As someone who's been there, done that, if things are bad my advice is to pony up for a light box. I use mine 30 minutes each morning while I web-surf and I'm good for the rest of the day. The key is regularity - your brain needs to get back to it's normal (summertime) daily rhythm of releasing the sleep/wake endorphins at the right time of day. It's amazing how much that makes or breaks your mood. I like the Sunlight Jr. and have had good experiences with the company Light Therapy Products over the years. Light boxes work for most but not all people. If it's working you'll know it right away; within 3 days your mood and energy levels will be unquestionably improved. If not, return it because you need a different solution. As previous posts mentioned, other things that help include: any form of daily exercise, being in whatever sun you can find, 8-10 minutes in a tanning bed for some reason (use the eye protectors, this is not a light box and will fry your retinas), excercise, and excerise. Endorphins are your friends. Watch out for drugs and booze, they intuitively seem like they might help but really just make things worse for your non-synaptic brain. Save 'em for the spring boogies. --- Doug the DZ Bum

Just got back from visiting the Falkland Islands. Their unfortunate coat of arms lets you know which side of the sheep the sailors like. Sorry, I had to take this thread to a bad place

...to greater prosperity. (free advice and worth every penny) --- Doug the DZ Bum

NSFW boobywall.ca Real boobies for a real cause, because boobies rule and cancer sucks ass. --- Doug the DZ Bum

All these sorts of meds come with benefits and side-effects, and the ratio is different for each person who uses them. It also takes many weeks to stabilize/acclimatize on a new drug before you can tell how it's working for you. Work with your doctor to find which one works best for you (she/he may be able to set you up with a couple of weeks worth of free samples from the drug reps) without leaving you either a: totally wired and unable to sleep, or b: narcoleptic. And remember that "newer" drugs aren't necessarily better, they just make more money for the drug companies. Cheers, Doug

Some are cool with my eccentric-ness, some prefer to hang out with people more like themselves. I think everyone in the world faces the same thing, really. Anyway, I haven't been kicked off the dz yet and have met some interesting people just by hanging around. When I started jumping I didn't introduce myself as someone with Aspergers because I didn't know, having only recently learned that my personality type has a name. I think it's more relevent to mention when you're newly meeting someone so they don't misinterpret your shyness as disinterest. After they've know you for a while they know you as you, not as some label, and it becomes a "yeah, so?" situation. I take SSRI (a group of anti-depressants/anti-anxiety meds that help keep your brain's neurons firing properly) for Season Affective "winter darkness sucks" Disorder so got the anti-anxiety side effect for free to help with the social anxiety that comes with AS. But while the pill will help, I believe the goal is to become comfortable in social situations by easing into them, always learning, and eventually gaining self-confidence. Sometimes you have to push yourself to do things you're afraid of, sometimes you have to back off because you're trying to do too much. The trick is learning which is which, usually through trial and error. But it does get easier if you get out there and don't stay home and isolate yourself.

Aspie & dz regular here. I find the dropzone to be the idea place for AS; the people are cool and you can interact as much or as little as you feel on any given day. Everyone else is thinking about their own jumps so it's easy to fade into the background on days you don't feel outgoing, or to join in the conversations on days you feel chatty. Your milage may vary because AS is a different experience for everyone depending on the coping methods they've learned, but I find the informal nature of the dz to be like having training wheels when it comes to practicing social situations. Edited to add: > I've heard that certain SSRI meds like Zoloft and Paxil help with the anxiety that goes w/AS. They help a lot. --- Doug the dz bum

Here on west coast Canada it's soft drink or pop. When I travel I try to remember to ask for a a burger with a "soda", as in "Yew waan a sooodah wiyath yer bug-gur?"

Cheers. Now that you've got me thinking about stuff to see in western Canada in winter, I've done the 3 night Northern Lights tour with these guys and they're great. http://www.altacan.ab.ca/english.html They put you up at a hotel and each evening drive the group to a clubhouse away from the city lights so you can see the Aurora in the clear prairie air. Daytime you can poke around the city of Ft. Mcmurray, home to the oilsands (more oil than the middle east). Don't miss the "Oilsands Discovery Center" where you can see how it's all done, including the largest trucks on the planet. "Ft. Mac" is easy to get to from Edmonton or Calgary by coach or air. Westjet usually has slightly better fares and tons better service than Air Canada. http://www.westjet.com Another thing I've wanted to do but haven't yet is Ice Cave hiking (tramping) in Jasper in the rockies. Here's one company I googled up, I'm sure they're others as well. http://www.jasperadventurecentre.com/winter.html And just for the spectacle of it, if you're in Edmonton check out the worlds largest mall. http://www.westedmall.com They've got a full waterpark, amusement center with roller coasters, more submarines than the Canadian Navy, restaurants and cinemas... you don't have to come out for days. --- Doug the DZ Bum

The problem with Via Rail out of Vancouver is that they do most of the trip through the Rockies at night, which in December starts at 4:30pm. They're also kinda pricey if you want anything more than a coach seat for this multi-day trek. Since you're coming all this way, pony up some extra dough and go with Rocky Mountaineer Rail Tours. http://www.rockymountaineer.com/ They run a couple of special winter trains that do the route in daylight, stopping for the night to put you up in a hotel (included in the price). And their rolling stock is decades newer than Via's, with big picture windows so you can ooo and ahhh at the scenery while the guide points out the cool stuff. Both trains roll past my condo window but I only envy the Mountaineer passengers. --- Doug the DZ Bum

An ex-girlfriend used to call me "mister barometer-head" as I'd often get headaches while the barometer was falling. High pressure and Low pressure areas can sit still for days, but usually are moving around. As a High pressure area (usually associated with clear sunny weather) moves away from your location and is displaced by a Low pressure area (usually associated with clouds and rain), that's usually when people and critters start feeling restless and irritable. So it's potentially not so much if you're in a High or a Low, but the rate of change between the two. Sooo, if you're going to measure rate of change then I think every couple of hours would be a minimum. Plot them out and then look for days with a big downward spike; those just might be the days when headaches are more common. --- Doug the DZ Bum

Enjoy the feeling while it lasts. Eventually you'll be thinking about mortgages and car payments and the people you don't like at work. Remembering back to when you used to spend time thinking 'bout sex will seem like the "good ol' days". Enjoy 'em before they're gone. --- Doug the DZ Bum

Light Saber. Guess that means I'm supposed to close my eyes and trust the force. --- Doug the DZ Bum

My own definition of cheating is "something that would hurt your SO if they found out from someone else". But every relationship is different, so it's up to people to do what they think is right.