February 10, 2005

• Scotch. And hugs to you. I guess it's in the middle of the night over there, but when you see them next, tell the Turkish Dudes to hang on in. The Newly Admitted Members to the Order of the Honorable Monkey (Turkish Dude Division) do not get fucked with again. No chance of cctv cameras in the area getting the faces of the assholes?
• I gave the cops that arrived a pretty good general description, as did a few other neighbours, and another car picked them up within ten minutes of their leaving the scene. That made me very, very happy. Hurrah! for the Turkish Dude Division. We Honourable Monkeys suffer not the thrashing of our Brothers and Sisters; neither bonobo nor chimp, howler nor vervet need fear the jackels of yon alleyway will escape unpunished.
• I don't think there's a direct solution to adrenaline. But you can limit the duration. I think what prolongs it is that one keeps re-living it in one's head, trying to get a better outcome. But you can't, and you just re-inject the bloodstream with the fight-or-flight chemicals. So try to turn that off, at least until tomorrow. You did the absolute best thing with the 911 call and by giving the police what they need to do their jobs. Bananas ))) to you for a citizen's job well done. side notes: Where do you live roughly? West End? Targeting Turks? I'm baffled. Unless these white guys are such losers they are still carrying one of those Balkan-style grudges from 1342 or something.
• Moneyjane, if you can, go see a doctor. A few years back, I read a report on a woman in her mid-twenties who worked in a bank, and got held hostage when the bank was robbed. About twelve hours after that, she died of a cardiac arrest. She had literally been scared to death. Please, please take care of yourself. You did a good job; there'd been little you could have done to help those Turkish dudes if you had just rushed in there, but you helped the police nab the perps by staying on the 911. Vote for Turkish Dude Branch duly seconded here as well. Were the white guys of Greek origin? The two countries have been non-too-friendly with each other lately, IIRC.
• Smoke fags (even though I've given up). Fags = cigarettes, BTW.
• Alnedra, that was the subject of an article in today's New York Times.
• Stretch. Relax. Smoke pot (or opium if you can get it). I have a couple of albums that always manage to set me back right (Africa Brass by John Coltrane and Sama Layuca by McCoy Tyner), so maybe you have something similar. Take deep breaths. Go get laid (for pleasure, not profit). Go to the Quiet American site and listen to some sound poems. Breathe in lavender or vanilla. Shoot a gun.
• A nice cup of tea and some chocolate. Watch a favourite film. Take a hot bath with lots of bubbles in. Pamper yourself. You need to recover from the shock.
• ((((( You did the right thing. Not fantasizing about what might have happened had you decided to kick the punks' asses will help to calm you down. Just chill at home for a while. And be prepared for the empty post-adrenaline feeling; be nice to yourself today. Eat some good chocolate, watch a funny movie.
• Burn that adrenaline, moneyjane! Do something physical that you've been putting off, even if it's just rearranging the contents of the cupboards or vacuuming the living room.
• The more demanding and/or mindless, the better. Physical labor has a way of clearing the mind.
• i'm with fes on this one. do you jog or work out? that'd be great. i'm posting hours later so i hope the crisis is over and you managed to get some sleep. Three white guys came up on two Turkish guys, asking if they wanted to fight, and if they were Turkish... sounds like the beginning of some odd joke. hmm.
• Third the burnination. Hop on a treadmill or run around the neighborhood, make a random and vigorous booty call to the cute guy down the hall (that's paying it forward), clean your apartment, do situps, whatever. Burn it off.
• Exactly where the hell in Canada did this take place? What part of what city?
• Sounds like physical activity followed by hot bath/cup of camomile tea/glass of wine is the ticket. Kudos to you for doing the right thing.
• adrenaline is a component of stress, and these medical folks advocate exercise. and they sugesst no caffeine. granted, this is for prolonged stress, but it seems that the advice would hold for a stressful event as well.
• A heavy bags good. Too bad about the Turks, they make good cancer sticks. This sort of thing doesn't happen a lot in Canada though, sounds more like England.
• Once when I worked in a Hydrocracking plant, a fire broke out next to a Hydrogen compressor. We had to fight the fire with a crowbar and one fire extinguisher. While fighting the fire I also had to Slowly shut down a hydrocracking unit so it would not blowup. Needless to say I was on a massive adrenaline high when I got home from work. I found that talking it out with my girlfriend(now wife) and having some life affirming sex worked nicely. Then I switched jobs.
• moneyjane, Your posting has made me wonder. Being temporarily located in South Ontario I have recently heard surprising animosity towards Middle Eastern and Indian individuals. I overheard someone saying… "the browns hunt in packs"… "we know we have to go out in large numbers now"…"the browns always carry weapons". I’m also increasingly hearing stories about fights between groups in bars and clubs. The people being talked about are also students here to study English. It reminds me of West Side Story. What is happening to Canada? Perhaps it was always like this and I never noticed before. Has anyone else noticed a change? I'm sorry if this doesn't help your Adrenalin ... I always find logic puzzles are best for stress because they are all-consuming
• Vodka and a really good comedy (movie, standup or TV show)... Also, having a close friend talk to you about it helps...
• I have the best image in my head of LokiSpeak kicking open the door to his girlfriend's apartment, panting and sweating from the strain of his exertions, covered in soot, and taking her bodice ripper-style on the coffee table. You, sir, will forever reside in Marlboro Country, in my imagination.
• panting and sweating from the strain of his exertions i read that as "erections"... ha!
• I can understand an anti-Arab sentiment creeping into the minds of some (bigoted) Canadians, but why specifically anger against Turks? Is there a significant Turkish expat community in your part of Canada?
• Well, Istanbul was Constantinople, but now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople. Been a long time gone, Constantinople. Why did Constantinople get the works? That's nobody's business but the Turks'.
• Laf, Come to where the flavor is... Come to Loki Country...
• Made even better by the fact that I'm actually wearing boots right now, partner.
• Similar thing happened to me just about a year ago. Woke up in the middle of the night to yelling and banging. Laid there trying to figure out what the hell was going on, if it was just normal drunks or something serious. They keep yelling so I get up and look out the window that overlooks some storage units. Two guys are out there and beating up a 3rd guy who is on the ground not moving. One is yelling "Get up you ain't hurt. You don't want to fark with me!" the other is banging on a door trying to get into a building attached to the storage units. I called 911 and luckilly didn't have to give too many directions (smallish town) and 6 cop cars were there in less than 5 minutes. The guy on the ground had gotten up by that point and they ended up taking all 3 off to jail. And FYI Istambul is allegedly a localization of "Constantinople" without the "con" according to my friend from there.
• moneyjane: I fourth or fifth the physical activity thing. My favorite is to re-arrange furniture or scrub the bathtub or something (I only clean when stressed. When my apt is messy, you know I'm happy!). After that, a good relaxation tool that I like a lot is to lay on the floor with my legs up in a chair or table. Then take lots of deep, slow breaths. Lying this way does something good to your circulation, and that coupled with the breathing forces your heart to slow down. If I do it early enough, it even wards off (mild) panic attacks. You also get a serious urge to giggle, especially if you have a pet that wants to investigate why your head's on the floor. Lastly, don't question what you could have done. Be glad you did something. Lots of people would freeze in fear or walk away to avoid getting hurt. Although the urge to beat the yucky guys up with your shoe was strong, you got help to come and led to the guys' capture. Can't get much better than that :)
• Count me amongst the physical activity folks. I have only one time been super-hyped with adrenaline. I did nothing, and it was a strange experience. I am not doctor, but I am of the belief the adrenaline arrives to help the body deal with a demanding physical situation. If nothing physical is done, then I am guessing that it just lingers there? (Why I am doing medical speculation right now is beyond me, but I love the fucking sound of my keyboard.) Exercising will give your body a way to get rid of the adrenaline. It is sort of like the condition commonly known as "blue balls." The body believes that it is going to orgasm. It makes some serious preparations to do so. When the body is then unable to orgasm, the preparations that the body has made now cause the body to be extremely uncomfortable. The best way to alleviate this condition is to orgasm one way or another as quickly as possible.
• If you're not in the right place for meditation, definitely go with the physical activity. If you know of a boxing gym nearby, Go there and go to work on the heavy bag. Surlyboi does a few katas, some spinning crescents and it's all good.
• Good on you for calling the police! Even better is showing the neighbor's that someone sees them as human beings. (now see if you can get them to give you yummy Turkish recipes to make!)
• GACK! Neighbors. Damn that evil apostrophe.
• Moneyjane, thanks for being one of the people who refuses to turn away and "mind their own business". what you did was brave and dangerous, and it is entirely possible that you saved the guys life, or at least quality of life. When you feel discouraged by the racist hate-mongers in the world, remember that there are also people like yourself, who will actually be bothered to care about a stranger and do the right thing. re the adrenaline: find a quiet place, sit down, take many deep breaths, try to hold an image in your head of something beautiful and tranquil, let the energy of that thing fill you. then have a nice drink. if that doesnt work for you, I would try going for a run/working out. physical activity is a great way to burn the adrenaline out of your body.
• Good on ya, Moneyjane. I've always found that a trip to the local pool is a great de-stresser. A swim, a sauna, a soak in the hot tub followed by a pint works wonders.
• Got me wondering where does the anti-Turk sentiment comes from. Doesn't racism usually have some execuse for their hate.
• yeah, Medusa says it well--I'd previously overlooked the awesomeness of you stepping in to help the guy and not making him another Kitty Genovese. Turkish Division Rocks!
• ))), MJ.
• Islander's suggestion is seconded. Thanks for being one of the good guys MJ.
• Well done, moneyjane. sorry you had to go through this, but I'm glad that you did, in a way. Too many people are indifferent or don't want to get involved in these kinds of situations. Exercise works/worked for me when I build up too much adrenaline too quickly. I preferred the weight bench, but I don't see why any physical activity wouldn't help.
• Sudden stress can weaken the heart, as reported in the NY Times today. some relevant excerpts: Sudden emotional stress - from grief, fear, anger or shock - can cause heart failure, in a little known and poorly understood syndrome that seems to affect primarily women, researchers are reporting today. The victims are generally healthy, with no history of heart disease. Most were older: their median age was 63. But one was 27, another 32. Some had such poor heart function that they would have died without aggressive treatment to keep their blood circulating, the researchers said. But all recovered. "How exactly it occurs is not clear, but the patients had unusually high levels of stress-related brain chemicals and hormones like adrenaline, which may have temporarily impaired their heart function. Why nearly all the victims were female is also unknown. The researchers' scientific name for the condition is stress cardiomyopathy. It is not a heart attack, though it may be mistaken for one. The patients recovered fully and, unlike heart attack victims, did not suffer lasting damage to the heart muscle. The doctors at Johns Hopkins and Dr. Fuster said they thought the syndrome occurred because the huge burst of adrenaline in these patients was toxic to the heart muscle and "stunned" it, leaving it temporarily unable to contract. The Hopkins researchers measured adrenaline and related stress hormones in 13 patients with the syndrome and found the levels to be 2 to 3 times those in people having severe heart attacks, and 7 to 34 times normal levels.
• Ahhhhh...feeling much improved, and able to testify to the miraculous calming properties of warm milk and honey, and looking up a Corelle Corningware dish pattern on Ebay. I had no idea you could get so much crazy crap in a set of dishes - spoon holders, trivets, stacked sugar/creamers...zzzzzzzzzz...though I think next time I'll take advantage of excellent monkey advice and jump on the mini-stepper I've got here and step my way to stuper. Got to sleep at about 4 am, and, oddly enough, one of the best sleeps I've had for ages; perhaps my hyper-vigilence fuse was tripped, and that let me sleep like a human being and not like a bat, one ear cocked for bug farts. The lane my apartment overlooks is part of the Downtown Drunk Funnel that guides the pissed and stupid away from the bars on Granville to their apartments full of Maxim magazines, beer can bongs and Canadian flags for curtains, and often they like a bit of the old ultraviolence on the way. I have a sneaking suspicion that one of these days I'm going to get my ass killed jumping in on something, but I'd rather that then eventually doing a faceplant into my jigsaw puzzle in the crafts room of the Home for Wayward Ancient Broads. Thanks all monkeys - as usual, your rocking-ness is off the hook :)
• mj your comment about having the best sleep in ages reminded me of a dumb anecdote. I was at a coffee shop and had this large cup of coffee with about 10 shots of espresso in it, which is way over kill for me considering I almost never drink coffee. It had me strung out and heart beating like a rabbits for several hours. I would just be sitting down and it felt like my whole body was vibrating. When I finally came off the rush I slept like a baby. I felt so comfortable and refreshed the next morning it was awesome. That was probably 6 years ago and I still remember just for how awesome and rested I felt after that sleep. Uhhmm, I don't think I have a point.
• Yeah, that was defintely a comedown sleep. I've had those after big matches and the occasional bar fight. It is the sleep of the dead.
• Hopefully the newly implemented heroin release program will cut down on some of the local violence for you, moneyjane. A quotation from the article: "In a similar project in Switzerland in the 1990s, fewer than 10 per cent of the addicts quit taking heroin
• Hey MoneyJane, you need a cane like in the manly arts guide. I myself would have come in with a flying mule kick, but I'm a bit loco. Thers a good programme out of Colorado that handles "street situations" confrontations, self defence, etc. It's basically like a two week study confrence/holiday in a beatiful setting. After your done with that course you'll feel much safer, if ever faced with a situation like that. I can look up the info if your interested.
• There's actually a studio out here that teaches you, essentially, how to beat the crap out of someone, street-style. You want eye gougin', they got it. Not especially elegant, but apparently very effective.
• I could totally teach that class...
• Surfing works for me. I went surfing on 9/11. I'll never forget it. Had to get away from the TV and the phone. Weird but beautiful.
• the Home for Wayward Ancient Broads... moneyjane, I think that place might be more fun than you think. they could knit crazy stuff like this.
• Yikes! I have to go look at a photo line-up later tonight, and I suspect I'll be quite hopeless as I was seeing this from four stories up and 50-75 feet away. The Turkish Guys are doing one too, so hopefully they got a way better look. Now I feel all Law and Orderish, and I'll be waiting for S. Epatha Merkerson to show up.