Thoughts and travels

I haven't written in a long time now (again), the summer has been pretty busy and I've been pretty tired too.

I'm currently in a period of watching movies a lot to have something to do while resting, the movies of choice at the moment is the Star Wars movies as I've always loved them all, and have been fascinated with the universe ever since I was in elementary school. I even dreamed of becoming an astronaut when I was in 2nd grade...

The Star Wars movies are interesting too as they may very well be reality in another galaxy or a parallel universe that we just have not found yet, nor have the technological advancement to visit today.
I firmly believe that we are not alone in the universe, and I firmly believe that there's intelligent life somewhere else in the universe, intelligent life that makes us humans on earth look like cave men in comparison.
I also believe that our definition of habitable may not apply for all kinds of intelligent life. Maybe on another planet, the inhabitants breathe another gas than oxygen, and consider oxygen as bad we do with for example propane gas when it comes to breathing.

Our knowledge about the universe is also very narrow even though we know a lot more about it today than we did 100 years ago. Today we're still lacking the technology that is needed to explore more, and we're yet to develop a way of transportation that can cover great distances in a reasonable time. But I firmly believe that in the future, deep space travel will be quite possible. It's all about finding out how. In another galaxy we don't have the technology to explore yet, intelligent life forms may already be traveling between planets and planet systems. We just don't know about it because we can't see it and have a hard time imagining that there may be life out there that is greatly ahead of our own intelligence and technological advancement.

As for traveling, I haven't been to deep space *duh* but I did travel some last week. Last week a couple of friends and I were on vacation to Crete. It was my first charter vacation since 2002 and it was absolute bliss to just spend a week by the pool and sea, and catching some sun and enjoying the warm weather! Managed to not even get burnt in the sun, despite spending all day in the sun by the pool and the UV index reaching 10 (it reaches 5 here in summer, 6 if the ozone layer is unusually thin), SPF50+ kept us safe! I did feel better in Crete as well, not as much pain as I have at home, most likely due to the warm weather and the humidity being just right for me, I felt a bit more like a well oiled machinery. Same effect as I had in China in 2010 actually. I wish I could be in that environment more...

I absolutely love Crete! Just wish the accessibility was better so I could explore more. I had to leave my wheelchair at the hotel room all week because it was not possible to use the wheelchair due to narrow sidewalks, high curbs and such, so I mostly stayed at the hotel as my ability to walk is very limited. But other than the poor accessibility, I love it! Crete has such stunning scenery, and the people are so kind!

Now I've been back home since Saturday morning, and I'm paying physically for the trip as I did walk too much while in Crete and the flight took a toll on me as well. I've been in a lot of pain this week and felt very tired. My lower back, SI joints, hips and neck are not pleasant at all... Just today I have been mostly bed bound due to a bad headache from my neck, and had to wear my Aspen Vista collar to manage to attend an important meeting. Earlier in the day I couldn't even be upright without feeling like my head was about to fall off of my neck and explode.
A couple of days ago I was just sitting in my wheelchair at a neighborhood meeting and as I was going to fill a cup of water by the sink, my left hip subluxed just by me turning around slightly in my wheelchair.
My joints are unstable in every direction, and it seems, especially sensitive to being pulled. Even a very slight pull in a finger can completely separate my joints in that finger and my wrist for example. A slight pull on my arm and I feel my shoulder separating. So maybe me turning in the wheelchair a bit was enough of a pull for my hip to try to take a stroll on its own.

Now I need to try to take a shower. I'm really too tired, but I don't want to look like shit tomorrow when going outside, it's really enough feeling like shit most of the time without looking as bad as you feel...