Motorcycles, Life and Impairment...

CaptCrashIdaho · 03-30-2009, 07:08 PM

Motorcycles, Life & Impairment by CaptCrash

Ever ride impaired? Come on…be honest…admit…admit…Wait, first let’s go to the dictionary and look up ‘Impair’.

im⋅pair; verb, to make or cause to become worse; diminish in ability, value, excellence, etc.; weaken or damage: to impair one's health; to impair negotiations. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc.

Wait a moment…where’s the alcohol? Why doesn’t it say: Impair; to make worse with alcohol? That’s because culturally we’ve hijacked the word to mean only one thing. In America when we talk about impairment we almost exclusively talk about alcohol; you know: booze, joy juice, rot gut, lightning in a bottle, the hard stuff, satan’s bile—whatever you call it, when we talk impairment we’re talking adult beverages.

But not today. I’m not. I’m talking the pure meaning of the word. To make things worse.

Ever impair yourself? Make a situation worse? How about that time you got pulled over by that slightly pudgy cop? And you WERE speeding and he LOOKED like he had one too many donuts? Did you open your yap and make the situation worse? Did you impair your driving record?

Girlfriend/wife ever ask: “How does this look?” and then you flat out told the truth? Situation got worse? Did you impair your relationship?

When we talk about being impaired we’re taking a verb and using it as a noun. Say we’re out drinking tequila and we drink too much. We say “I’m impaired” when we mean “tequila has impaired my judgment, or my ability to talk, or make relationship decisions”. Tequila is the subject, impaired is the Noun, and Judgment is the Object. So, when we say “I’m impaired” what we’re doing is using a VERB to define ourselves. “I was impaired” isn’t really a complete sentence. How was I impaired? What about me was made worse? When we drink our driving skills become impaired. Our judgment is impaired.

Let me tell you about the last time my I rode when my operating skills, and physical motor coordination were brutally impaired. Hoping for a tequila story? Nope, this is a DIABETES story!

I ride motorcycles and I take insulin. The danger is that when you ride, you don’t want your skills or judgment impaired. Every day I get up and I take a shot. The amount of long term, slow release insulin I take is a judgment call. Some days, when I know I’m going to be extremely sedentary I take a little more; days where I’ll be active I take a little less. It’s a judgment/gestalt kind of thing. Then, as the day progresses, I take short term insulin to process sugars that I put in my body—long story short: eat = take a shot.
If I screw up that equation then I can end up with my skills and reasoning seriously impaired. Low blood glucose levels are a lot like being drunk, you lose short term memory, motor coordination is affected, reaction times slow, judgment is impaired and you think you’re a lot better looking than you really are. (And for me? I can get mean, curt, and ill-tempered as well. ) Frankly, a low blood sugar while riding is a VERY serious problem.

When my sugars are low I feel it. I know what it feels like to be low. Years ago I’d get sweaty and shake. Now I get this weird feeling at the base of my skull (like my heads floating just a little) and I get sick to my stomach. When I feel the symptoms of a low blood sugar I immediately pull over and check my sugars using a small portable monitor. If I’m low I reach into my magic bag of stuff and pull out a Powerbar or other glucose booster (OK, a Snickers) relax, wait for my sugars to come back up, check my sugars and once they’re up, off I go.

Part of this equation is being able to catch your problem early. For blood sugars 80 to 120 is normal range on your glucose index. I get below an 80 and I feel it. If I get below 60, I start thinking things like—maybe I had some bad fish, or maybe it’s just too hot in here. Below 40 and I KNOW I’m in a real bind. See, there’s a point I get to where I’m impaired enough to trick myself into believing I don’t have a problem. If I pay attention early and realize, uh-oh, I might be low and I act quickly then there’s no problem. Are there false alarms? YES. Sometimes I’ll pull over and check because I THINK I might be low. My mantra is to fix the problem before it is a problem, while it’s still small and manageable.

It’s odd, but it seems that when you’re a little impaired you’re willing to admit it. “I’m a little buzzed”. When you’re a whole lot of judgment impaired it’s easy to tell “I’m soooo toasted”. But right in the middle? Boy, you’re good looking and smart, you know what I mean?

Booze and Blood sugars aren’t the only things that impair your judgment. Sickness, hypothermia, hyperthermia, sleep deprivation, stress, hunger—all these things can diminish your ability to make sound decisions. Here’s a trick Diabetes has taught me. If I think: Man, I don’t feel right I stop and chances are, something’s probably not right. Don’t wait. If you’re thinking, “Man, I’m tired.” You probably are and guess what? Are you thinking about riding or being tired? (Hint: if you’re riding along and can’t stop thinking about being tired—your capacity to ride has been diminished i.e. IMPAIRED.)

Don’t take chances. If you think you might be impaired listen to your inner voice and act ‘cause if you wait too long that other voice will show up and it’ll be telling you “you’re OK…it’s gonna be alright…and dang, you just keep getting better looking”…that’s when you are in real trouble.

The better angels of our nature, listen to them.

David 1 · 03-30-2009, 07:31 PM

No. Never. No impairment. No booze, no drugs, no cigarettes, got to feel good, feel good omens, or ... I don't go.
dc

FlyBy · 03-30-2009, 07:32 PM

i would say i was impaired like couple of times when i started riding in the winter for the first time. That was in the month of January. I use to wear those gloves which breathe and one morning when the temps were around 26 i couldn't feel my fingers. My clutch-gear coordination went out of the window.. i was around 5 miles away from my work and i was feeling like hell.

From that day onwards i never take cold for granted.

Cue-Ball · 03-30-2009, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptCrashIdaho

Tequila is the subject, impaired is the Noun, and Judgment is the Object.

"Tequila" is the Subject
"has impaired my judgment" is the Predicate with "my judgment" as the object.

"Tequila" is a noun
"has" is an adverb/auxiliary verb
"impaired" is a verb
"my" is an adjective
"judgment" is a noun.

That being said, I rode one mile very tire one day and I have not done it since. Scared me. You are right. I was impaired.

jmark · 03-31-2009, 12:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptCrashIdaho

Motorcycles, Life & Impairment by CaptCrash

Ever ride impaired?

Um...well, it's like this. I generally feel that I have too much blood in my alcohol stream. It makes it difficult, when I'm trying to get home before it closes. But I never trust a man who doesn't have a respectable beer gut, and you can't buy those on amazon, you have to earn them.

I'm always looking for new ways to be impaired. Right now, I'm getting to know a bottle of Jameson. And btw, Jameson is Irish whiskey. If you're in Scotland, you order whisky, not whiskey. And whatever you do, if you have half a brain (which is all anyone should really have), DO NOT ORDER "SCOTCH." That is, do not order "scotch" in Scotland. Not a good idea. And for that matter, do not order "scotch" in Ireland, either. If you do, being "impaired" will be the least of your problems. Trust me. I been there.....

Dodsfall · 03-31-2009, 12:32 AM

I've never ridden impaired, unless you count a cramp in the hip. Those are painful and can be distracting. It usually happens the first long ride of the year. I'll pull over and walk it off. It sucks getting old.

Badlands-4-2 · 03-31-2009, 09:21 AM

Over tired, yes. When you are going down the road and then realize that you have no memory of the last roughly 20 miles. Scary.

skooter Bum · 03-31-2009, 11:20 AM

stupid: Lacking or marked by a lack or intelligence.
Yeap,...that pretty good definition of person who rides or drives impaired.

FlyBy · 03-31-2009, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dodsfall

I've never ridden impaired, unless you count a cramp in the hip. Those are painful and can be distracting. It usually happens the first long ride of the year. I'll pull over and walk it off. It sucks getting old.

On the same lines, i remember my second day in the gym. I was all excited and so started doing squats. I was suppose to ride back home after the gym and on my way back my legs were trembling at every red light... i was temporarily impaired..and it scared the **** out of me.

hlquinn · 03-31-2009, 03:17 PM

hi, i beleive we r all impaired in one form or another, the secret is to find comfort in knowing that we can change ourselves and those around us by treating people better, smile and always lend a encouraging word.

skooter Bum · 03-31-2009, 08:14 PM

Wait a minute holquinn,......there isn't one impaired person on this forum,.......
some functioning illiterates, a few door knobs, a couple of mongolians idoits, bbut no impaired people!

jmark · 03-31-2009, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hlquinn

hi, i beleive we r all impaired in one form or another, the secret is to find comfort in knowing that we can change ourselves and those around us by treating people better, smile and always lend a encouraging word.

Ah, there is a lot of wisdom in those words, thank you. If we all lived by those kinds of principles, the world would be ok. ... Sadly, it isn't.

Mark

FlyBy · 04-01-2009, 02:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmark

Ah, there is a lot of wisdom in those words, thank you. If we all lived by those kinds of principles, the world would be ok. ... Sadly, it isn't.

Mark

so very true.

03-30-2009, 07:08 PM	#1
CaptCrashIdaho Safety Hooligan Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: SW Idaho! Posts: 1,681	Motorcycles, Life and Impairment... Motorcycles, Life & Impairment by CaptCrash Ever ride impaired? Come on…be honest…admit…admit…Wait, first let’s go to the dictionary and look up ‘Impair’. im⋅pair; verb, to make or cause to become worse; diminish in ability, value, excellence, etc.; weaken or damage: to impair one's health; to impair negotiations. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. Wait a moment…where’s the alcohol? Why doesn’t it say: Impair; to make worse with alcohol? That’s because culturally we’ve hijacked the word to mean only one thing. In America when we talk about impairment we almost exclusively talk about alcohol; you know: booze, joy juice, rot gut, lightning in a bottle, the hard stuff, satan’s bile—whatever you call it, when we talk impairment we’re talking adult beverages. But not today. I’m not. I’m talking the pure meaning of the word. To make things worse. Ever impair yourself? Make a situation worse? How about that time you got pulled over by that slightly pudgy cop? And you WERE speeding and he LOOKED like he had one too many donuts? Did you open your yap and make the situation worse? Did you impair your driving record? Girlfriend/wife ever ask: “How does this look?” and then you flat out told the truth? Situation got worse? Did you impair your relationship? When we talk about being impaired we’re taking a verb and using it as a noun. Say we’re out drinking tequila and we drink too much. We say “I’m impaired” when we mean “tequila has impaired my judgment, or my ability to talk, or make relationship decisions”. Tequila is the subject, impaired is the Noun, and Judgment is the Object. So, when we say “I’m impaired” what we’re doing is using a VERB to define ourselves. “I was impaired” isn’t really a complete sentence. How was I impaired? What about me was made worse? When we drink our driving skills become impaired. Our judgment is impaired. Let me tell you about the last time my I rode when my operating skills, and physical motor coordination were brutally impaired. Hoping for a tequila story? Nope, this is a DIABETES story! I ride motorcycles and I take insulin. The danger is that when you ride, you don’t want your skills or judgment impaired. Every day I get up and I take a shot. The amount of long term, slow release insulin I take is a judgment call. Some days, when I know I’m going to be extremely sedentary I take a little more; days where I’ll be active I take a little less. It’s a judgment/gestalt kind of thing. Then, as the day progresses, I take short term insulin to process sugars that I put in my body—long story short: eat = take a shot. If I screw up that equation then I can end up with my skills and reasoning seriously impaired. Low blood glucose levels are a lot like being drunk, you lose short term memory, motor coordination is affected, reaction times slow, judgment is impaired and you think you’re a lot better looking than you really are. (And for me? I can get mean, curt, and ill-tempered as well. ) Frankly, a low blood sugar while riding is a VERY serious problem. When my sugars are low I feel it. I know what it feels like to be low. Years ago I’d get sweaty and shake. Now I get this weird feeling at the base of my skull (like my heads floating just a little) and I get sick to my stomach. When I feel the symptoms of a low blood sugar I immediately pull over and check my sugars using a small portable monitor. If I’m low I reach into my magic bag of stuff and pull out a Powerbar or other glucose booster (OK, a Snickers) relax, wait for my sugars to come back up, check my sugars and once they’re up, off I go. Part of this equation is being able to catch your problem early. For blood sugars 80 to 120 is normal range on your glucose index. I get below an 80 and I feel it. If I get below 60, I start thinking things like—maybe I had some bad fish, or maybe it’s just too hot in here. Below 40 and I KNOW I’m in a real bind. See, there’s a point I get to where I’m impaired enough to trick myself into believing I don’t have a problem. If I pay attention early and realize, uh-oh, I might be low and I act quickly then there’s no problem. Are there false alarms? YES. Sometimes I’ll pull over and check because I THINK I might be low. My mantra is to fix the problem before it is a problem, while it’s still small and manageable. It’s odd, but it seems that when you’re a little impaired you’re willing to admit it. “I’m a little buzzed”. When you’re a whole lot of judgment impaired it’s easy to tell “I’m soooo toasted”. But right in the middle? Boy, you’re good looking and smart, you know what I mean? Booze and Blood sugars aren’t the only things that impair your judgment. Sickness, hypothermia, hyperthermia, sleep deprivation, stress, hunger—all these things can diminish your ability to make sound decisions. Here’s a trick Diabetes has taught me. If I think: Man, I don’t feel right I stop and chances are, something’s probably not right. Don’t wait. If you’re thinking, “Man, I’m tired.” You probably are and guess what? Are you thinking about riding or being tired? (Hint: if you’re riding along and can’t stop thinking about being tired—your capacity to ride has been diminished i.e. IMPAIRED.) Don’t take chances. If you think you might be impaired listen to your inner voice and act ‘cause if you wait too long that other voice will show up and it’ll be telling you “you’re OK…it’s gonna be alright…and dang, you just keep getting better looking”…that’s when you are in real trouble. The better angels of our nature, listen to them.

03-30-2009, 07:32 PM	#3
FlyBy Motorcycling Unplugged !! Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Edmonds, WA Posts: 1,263	i would say i was impaired like couple of times when i started riding in the winter for the first time. That was in the month of January. I use to wear those gloves which breathe and one morning when the temps were around 26 i couldn't feel my fingers. My clutch-gear coordination went out of the window.. i was around 5 miles away from my work and i was feeling like hell. From that day onwards i never take cold for granted. __________________ kawasaki zx6r

03-31-2009, 12:32 AM	#6
Dodsfall Administrator Join Date: May 2008 Location: Illinois, USA Posts: 15,880	I've never ridden impaired, unless you count a cramp in the hip. Those are painful and can be distracting. It usually happens the first long ride of the year. I'll pull over and walk it off. It sucks getting old. __________________ 2008 XL1200R To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

03-31-2009, 03:17 PM	#10
hlquinn Motorcyclist Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: G.R. Michigan Posts: 7	Impaired hi, i beleive we r all impaired in one form or another, the secret is to find comfort in knowing that we can change ourselves and those around us by treating people better, smile and always lend a encouraging word.

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

03-30-2009, 07:31 PM	#2
David 1 Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 1,460	No. Never. No impairment. No booze, no drugs, no cigarettes, got to feel good, feel good omens, or ... I don't go. dc

03-31-2009, 09:21 AM	#7
Badlands-4-2 Super Moderator Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: The Badlands of North Dakota Posts: 9,653	Over tired, yes. When you are going down the road and then realize that you have no memory of the last roughly 20 miles. Scary.

03-31-2009, 11:20 AM	#8
skooter Bum Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Warren, Michigan Posts: 1,280	stupid: Lacking or marked by a lack or intelligence. Yeap,...that pretty good definition of person who rides or drives impaired.

03-31-2009, 08:14 PM	#11
skooter Bum Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Warren, Michigan Posts: 1,280	Wait a minute holquinn,......there isn't one impaired person on this forum,....... some functioning illiterates, a few door knobs, a couple of mongolians idoits, bbut no impaired people!