Beginner: Wannsee loop 16km

Beginner hike starting at S-bahn Wannsee.

Route: We head to the coastline via the forest, then walk towards Pfaueninsel. From there we walk through the forest until we reach the famous Glienicke Schlöss, a palace formerly built for Prince Carl of Prussia in 1826. We then head into the forest again, before crossing the bridge over the Griebnitzsee, and heading into the Wannsee-Düppel forest and eventually arriving back at S-Bahn Wannsee. Those not wanting to head straight home afterwards can join us for drinks/food.

Distance: 15 – 16km on easy forest paths.

Approximate route: http://bit.ly/2CKfqAK

Meeting place: Outside the main entrance to S-Bahn Wannsee (S1 or S7; don’t go through the tunnel directly towards the ferry, but come up the steps and meet by the bus stops). Look for the big group of hikers 😉 If you are early, then look for the guy wearing bright red (that’s me / Ryan).

Costs: You may need an A-B zone BVG ticket to reach the start point. You may want money to buy food and drinks at the end.

Weather: Rain, hail or snow will not stop this event. If the weather looks horrendous, bring a good rain coat and thermals 😀

Bring: Appropriate clothing and footwear. Drinking water and food. A smile.

Note: Attendance is entirely at your own risk.

Chocolate eclair dinner

I was feeling terrific this afternoon, so I decided to treat myself to a horrendously unhealthy but equally tremendously yummy dinner of chocolate eclairs.

I went to the bakery and they had two left. The friendly Turkish man by the counter (who I had never met) asked me what I’d like and I said “Ich hätte gern zwei Eclairs bitte!” (gimme two eclairs!). He started to package up the two eclairs for me when I realised that perhaps the gods didn’t want me to have just eclairs for dinner as I realised I was totally out of cash (ze Germans don’t understand how to pay via normal methods). So I apologised and said I didn’t have any money. He then told me that wasn’t a problem, and with a big friendly smile, he told me I could just come back in the morning and pay then.

He had no idea who I was, if I was trustworthy, or anything. Freakin’ sweet! Literally sweet! Just like my dinner 😀

Ryan’s lazy arse fitness goal

My goals normally involve losing fat, eating more vegetables or drinking less cola. I have met every single goal I have set for myself which I publicly announced. So with this in mind, I decided to set a goal which would put me in better physical shape.

Goal = to be able to do 100 press-ups (in a row) within 365 days

delayed by six months due to breaking my arm on May 2nd.

Why?
* It should be a fairly trivial target to reach
* I’ve always been a scrawny runt and want to fix that
* More muscle will make it easier to lose my chubby gut
* Without a goal, I’ll only run/walk as exercise
* Pumping weights bores me
* I can do press-ups anywhere, any time
* Winter is coming
* Gyms are annoying
* Press-ups give a good all body workout
* I work well with targets
* I’ll give up with a higher goal
* Once I can do 100 press-ups, maintaining it should be easy
* 100 press-ups per day will count as an aerobic workout too
* This is a goal which I can maintain for a long-time

I rarely miss personal targets I set for myself. I’m also very careful about what targets I set, to ensure that I meet them. This is a straightforward and hopefully easy to target to meet.

Jerking bum

Humans are inherently unhappy by nature. No matter how good their conditions are, they’ll always find something to be depressed about.

I often wonder if the homeless bum jerking himself off in front of everyone is happier than everyone who is looking at him and thinking “what a miserable life he must have”.

Response to blog post by Anthony Cole about mental health.