Are You an Otrovert?

Hmm... Interesting. This struck a responsive chord in me. For those who don't quite relate to introverts or extroverts, meet the otrovert. 

In 2025, psychiatrist Rami Kaminski (with Neil Hellegers) published "The Gift of Not Belonging", in which he discusses his new term to describe a different type of personality. Kaminski mentions the polarization of introverts and extroverts: “When Jung invented the terms extrovert and introvert, he saw them as two fundamental orientations of the personality. I see the otrovert in the same way. A personality trait that faces away from the group... Unlike introverts or extroverts, otroverts are not defined by where they draw their social energy. Instead, the concept captures people who constantly feel like outsiders, and tend to look in a different direction altogether, not necessarily aligned with the rest of the group.”

Some signs that you might be an Otrovert: 

• You might happily spend three hours exploring one idea with one person, and then not speak for weeks without either of you taking it personally. 

• You can appear extroverted in public yet feel fundamentally ‘other’

• You prefer to work from home

• You feel less lonely in solitude than with people

• You don’t resonate with ‘introvert’ or ‘extrovert’ definitions

• You feel like an observer in social settings

• You have a few very close friends

• You sometimes feel like a ‘performer’

• You appreciate alone time, but crave connection

• You don’t feel seen or understood by many

• You don’t need external approval

• You value privacy

Recognizing aspects of this type in yourself and others (if it applies) can help “balance between your individuality and your function as part of the social matrix that determines your well-being. The experience of otherness in a togetherness-minded world can be emotionally bruising. Often misunderstood and misdiagnosed, otherness may lead individuals to feel strange, lonely, and unwelcome in groups. Left unidentified, otroverts’ non-belonging can result in a frustrating, futile lifetime effort of trying to ‘fit in.’"

Check out this Upworthy article about a new personality type called the otrovert and this YourTango article about Eleven signs you might be an otrovert, and Rami Kaminski's publication The Gift of Not Belonging (co-written with Neil Hellegers). 

Coffee DOES count!

 

OK, I take it back: I apologize to anyone I've ever told, that "Coffee and tea don't count toward our liquid intake, because they're diuretics."

I learned something new this week, while researching things to do about a medical condition I've been fighting for the past month, and was advised to drink plenty of fluids to flush my kidneys and gallbladder. Firstly, yes it's true that caffeine is a diuretic, so that part was never wrong. But in the course of all my searching, I've learned something new to me: Modern medical research has concluded that the fluid in your coffee or tea easily balances out the mild diuretic effect of the caffeine. It absolutely counts toward keeping you hydrated and flushing your system. Which is great news for me!

 

So drink up, enjoy your morning latte (which DOES count toward those eight glasses of water we're supposed to be drinking), and forgive me for my years of spreading old information!

Of course, as my cousin mentioned when I posted this on Facebook, fluid intake is one thing, and the effects of caffeine itself are another thing entirely. It's important to know that the FDA recommends limiting your daily caffeine to 400mg -- unless you're a fan of irregular heartbeat, chest pain, and stroke. And, of course, for those that are sensitive to it, caffeine can have adverse effects on sleep, especially when drinking it late in the day.

 

Here's a good reference from the Mayo Clinic for the curious.

More Than One Kind of Introvert

I keep repeating to myself: Everybody’s different. Even Introverts have their varieties. Over my lifetime, I’ve heard introverts describing introversion differently, but it wasn’t until recent years that I started using the label Extroverted Introvert on myself. Based on this Upworthy article, which identifies four types of introverts (Social, Thinking, Anxious, and Restrained), I suppose that along with the Social Introvert label, I might lay claim to one or more of the others, but I’ve always felt myself start squirming, when I tried to pigeon-hole myself like that. The Myers-Briggs indicator always felt a little entrapping as well. 

Quinine: Who knew?

I just read this morning that Quinine is ototoxic (affects the inner ear). I drank an entire small bottle of tonic water a week ago Wednesday to deal with a major hamstring cramp, my worst ever. It helped with the cramp, but the next day and subsequent days, I've noticed some dizziness, weakness, spacial disorientation, and my everyday tinnitus got significantly louder. 

 

I've had other issues going on for the past week, for which I saw a doctor on Friday, and have been taking an antibiotic until today. But I was curious about my entire suite of symptoms, so I asked an AI to try to integrate and analyze all the information I could think to provide about my activities and symptoms for the past week. I was surprised when it mentioned that the much louder tinnitus was probably the result of drinking the tonic water. What?! 

 

So I asked Google to tell me more about quinine and tinnitus:

"Based on your description, you are experiencing symptoms consistent with cinchonism—a syndrome resulting from quinine toxicity, which often causes the exact side effects you mentioned: tinnitus (ringing/buzzing), dizziness, and vertigo. While quinine in tonic water is diluted, sensitive individuals can experience these effects, which are recognized as being ototoxic (harmful to the inner ear)."

 

The attached image contains the complete response. Interesting!

 

P.S. My dad got me started on tonic water for cramps decades ago. This time, with a massive and repeating cramp that was getting the best of me, I gulped down the entire 12oz bottle, instead of just taking a few sips. So that could have been a factor in why it affected me so much more than before. 

Recovering

I'm slowly recovering from my bike crash endo on 8/8. My sternum and rib cage in front are still pretty sore. There are some quite painful moments when I'm riding, when I pick one hand up off the handlebars, and my body compensates to handle the weight on the other hand. Also, in the gym, pretty much all the upper body exercises hurt like hell. And that's what I'm focusing on there, as I'm assuming the cycling is enough for my lower body. Coincidentally, I had my annual physical this week. The PA said there's a lot of connective tissue in there, and I may have torn some. Not much to be done, except just let it heal slowly... and be on the lookout for anything worsening. 

Oops

My Thursday afternoon started out pleasantly, 75° and overcast, pretty much perfect for a bike ride. This time I waited three days after giving blood, having learned my lesson. A couple of deer crossed the Chatfield interior trail just in front of me, which was a real treat.

A large thunderstorm rolled through when I was a few miles from home, and I ended up pretty soaked. I thought of that as a good thing, as it helped clean off the blood and grime from the spill I took about halfway around.

 

I had a misadventure after crossing the railroad tracks, when trying to coast down the rocky grade that had a new deep track in it, probably from a maintenance truck. 

 I’m now regretfully declaring myself as earning the “endo” badge, having gone over the handlebars when my front wheel came to a complete stop. I still find it somewhat unbelievable, that such a small discontinuity could have such a disastrous effect.

 I’m mostly fine, with a few scrapes on knees and elbows, and a some sore spots where my chest and lower rib cage took the brunt of my fall on the rocks. I suspect my sternum will be developing additional soreness, as the days go by. 

My right brake/shifter handle got bent over about 45 degrees, and I couldn’t force it back, so I had some relearning to do, to get home, but I was glad it still worked. This might be my painful opportunity to disassemble the beautiful job the bike shop did on my handlebar tape and brake hood and cables, and see if it’s a simple task to get everything back where it belongs. Oh well, it was mostly fun… 🤷‍♂️

 

Gym

It's been quite warm here, in the mid to high 90s. With all the heat and smoke, I haven’t been riding, so we finally got around to re-signing-up for the gym company we used to attend, although they closed four of their facilities nearest to us during the pandemic, so this one is a few miles farther away. We took it relatively easy, but I know I’m going to be sore over the next few days.

Thursday ride

Fun Thursday afternoon bike ride around Chatfield Lake.

The South Platte River has been quite full lately, as they carefully meter the outflow from the lake.

The prairie dogs were ready and waiting to greet me, on my usual hydration stop.

I scooted around my favorite course, with just a little threatening weather to remind me to keep moving.

I spotted a Great Blue Heron, and managed to catch a pic of it, lined up with the pod of Pelicans in the lake.

There a freight train on the tracks I had to cross, but this one was paused just a short distance away from where I portage over the tracks, so of course I *had* to snap a pic of the engine facing me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Near the end of my ride, I ran up against yet another Highline Canal Trail closure… hooray for our trail maintainers! I didn't see any signs suggesting a detour path, so I just headed down the Lee Gulch Trail, which took me straight to my neighborhood, so…not too bad.

Home from ER

We're glad to be home from the Littleton Hospital ER on this otherwise pleasant Sunday evening. Jennefer had another SVT (fast resting heartbeat) event, that went longer than any she’d remembered, and the clinic recommended she go.

 

The ER PA taught her a trick that knocked her heart rate right down to normal; we need to remember that one! It involves simply trying to blow into a limited-airflow tube (a straw would probably work) for perhaps 15 seconds while sitting up, then quickly lying back. After that, it stayed down in the normal resting rate. 

[This event closely followed a few days of nausea, followed by a long period of vomiting Friday and Saturday, not positive why. We resorted to calling her medical clinic on Saturday. They recommended a visit by a mobile service that could provide home IV to get her rehydrated, replenish electrolytes, and administer anti-nausea meds. The mobile techs thought she was getting over a virus, but we’re skeptical.]

Finally caught it

Well… crap. A few days after we got back from Yuma and San Diego, Jennefer got sick with a sore throat, and a few days after that, I also got sick. We tested positive for COVID-19 about that time. Likely from the unmasked guy with obvious symptoms in the same row as us on the plane. 

We pretty much lost our holiday to this virus. I’ve had the worst of it, even relapsed a few days after Christmas, and am still feeling pretty lousy. It doesn’t feel life-threatening; more like a bad flu. Hoping for some relief soon. 

Yuma and San Diego

We just returned from a trip to visit Jennefer's sister, whose husband died just before Thanksgiving. Jennefer really wanted to give her sister some emotional support, so we scheduled the trip soon after we heard.

We flew into San Diego, rented a car, and drove to Yuma. We went for walks, visited with Jennefer's sister and her chickens, dogs, and cat, and her backyard feral cats. We helped her complete an automotive themed jigsaw puzzle, in honor of her late husband. We drove down to the border, and hunted together for some Mexican Pokemon, and generally tried to give her sister some sympathetic company. 

We drove back to San Diego a few days before our flight back. We wanted a little extra time there, to relax by ourselves, and let me show Jennefer a few fun things in my old home town. We drove by my old house, went up to enjoy the view from Mt Soledad and chatted with a volunteer veteran there, then headed across town to grab a crab cake sandwich at Point Loma Seafoods, and go for a walk along the America's Cup Harbor, then drove to Pacific Beach, and checked into a delightful beachfront hotel right on the boardwalk.

We walked to breakfast at Kono's Cafe, walked out onto the Crystal Pier, which had a cute Christmas tree out at the end, walked down the boardwalk to Mission Beach, walked back along Mission Bay, through The Catamaran Hotel. We went back to Point Loma Seafoods for another Crab cake sandwich, visited the Ocean Beach Target store, enjoy watching the ocean view and surfers from Saratoga Park, watched the sunset over the Ocean Beach pier, and stopped at Sea World on the way home to take a picture of their Christmas lights.

We walked to breakfast at Breakfast Republic, drove to Kearny Mesa to check out my old work neighborhood, then booked a tee time, and headed down to the Morley Field Disc Golf course. It's still an awesome course, even with tee times, green fees, and major road construction closures. We realized we were starving after 19 holes of disc golf, and went on an adventure to find dinner at The Prado restaurant in Balboa Park. Driving back to the hotel at rush hour was a little crowded and slow, but it kept moving, and I didn't think it was as bad as people like to say.

 

Holiday decorations in Denver airport.

 

Walking over the bridge to Concourse A, I couldn't resist snapping a photo of aircraft tails and the Rocky Mountains.

 

Quirky Christmas decoration in Denver airport.

 

Crossing the Rocky Mountains.

 

Arriving in San Diego. This is the Interstate 5 S-curve through downtown.

 

There are a lot more boat moorings adjacent to Harbor Drive than there were back in the day.

We drove to Yuma after landing in San Diego and getting a rental car. This is Jennefer's sister at her home near Somerton, with her two dogs.

We worked an automotive-themed jigsaw puzzle with Jennefer's sister, for a few hours each morning, for most of the week we were there. We finished it just before we left.

After driving back to San Diego from Yuma, we drove past my old house in Pacific Beach, then drove up to the top of Mt Soledad. We ran into this nice volunteer veteran, and chatted with him for awhile.

I don't remember there being a veteran's memorial on Mt Soledad, but there are now several walls with inscriptions on them.

 

Stopping for a crab cake sandwich at Point Loma Seafoods. Still the best around!

 

Walking around the America's Cup Harbor, and enjoying the quirky Christmas decorations and other interesting sights.

Beautiful Aloe plant outside a restaurant at America's Cup Harbor

 

Sun setting over a dock in America's Cup Harbor

Fresh caught lobsters

 

Bird of Paradise plant, seems appropriate for San Diego.

 

Our room in Pacific Beach had a wonderful view.

 

We checked in, just in time to enjoy a gorgeous sunset.

 

The sunset just kept getting better

 

Lots of surfers out in the afternoon.

 

The next morning, we walked to breakfast at Kono's Cafe on the boardwalk in Pacific Beach. This full-size nutcracker was by the door of our hotel, on our way out, adding a holiday touch to our visit.

 

Surfboard, Christmas wreath, and Poinsettias at Kono's Cafe.

 

Looking back toward Pacific Beach from the end of Crystal Pier.

 

Looking south at Mission Beach from the end of Crystal Pier.

 

Christmas tree at the end of Crystal Pier.

 

Octopus wall art in Pacific Beach.

 

Beach bar rooftop Christmas decorations.

 

Christmas tree on the beach.

 

We saw this huge tree growing around a house, and it was nice to see that they preserved it.

 

Pretty sunset at Ocean Beach.

 

Sunset behind Ocean Beach pier.

 

Surfers at Ocean Beach.

 

We stopped by Sea World to snap a photo of their Christmas tree.

 

Coming back to our hotel at night provided a welcoming view.

 

Christmas lights on Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach.

 

Cute mug and cream pitcher at Breakfast Republic.

 

Christmas tree by the door at Breakfast Republic.

 

Enjoying our walk on the Pacific Beach boardwalk.

 

Small raptor on a tree by the boardwalk. Maybe a Kestrel?

 

Looking back along Pacific Beach, after our walk to the south end of the boardwalk.

 

The pro shop at Morley Field Disc Golf Course.

 

Finishing up our disc golf adventure at hole 19 in the Morley Field disc golf course.

 

Giant root system on the big Moreton Bay Fig tree in Balboa Park.

 

Giant Moreton Bay Fig tree at Balboa Park.

 

Walking through the prado in Balboa Park, in search of The Prado restaurant for dinner.

 

The mirror pond in front of the San Diego Botanical Garden.

 

Airplane watching at The Prado restaurant.

 

Settled at our table at The Prado restaurant. They served us a delicious sea bass dish.

 

Pretty decorations at The Prado restaurant.

 

Pretty lights outside The Prado restaurant.

All too quickly the next morning, we had turned in our rental car, rode the shuttle to the airport, checked our bags, found a place to get breakfast, waited too long due to our early arrival, were masked up on the plane, and on our way back to Denver.