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[censored] Ratner "saved" by bike.

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01 / Original post[censored] Ratner "saved" by bike.Email address hidden · 9 Mar 2006 02 / This pagePosts 1–10Page 1 of 1 · chronological order 03 / Latest replyPost #10Peter · 12 Mar 2006

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UK and Europe
Published
9 March 2006
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12 March 2006
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  1. Original post
    Email address hidden
    Archived post
    #1
    Quoted message said:

    From the Daily Telegraph:

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2006/03/04/ccprof04.xml

    His saviour was exercise, more specifically his bike. "If it wasn't for
    my bike, I'd have gone to the funny farm," he says.

    He cycles every day religiously along the same 32 miles, which he has
    carefully mapped out to avoid all traffic lights. He listens to his
    iPod, to an eclectic mixture of modern pop (mostly Green Day, but also
    Radiohead, REM, Snow Patrol and Idelwild), always striving to beat his
    best average speed of 18.2mph.

    His behaviour is borderline compulsive-obsessive. "It's the highlight
    of my life. I love the music. I love the feeling. I love getting all
    the clothes that go with it, the shoes that click into the pedals, the
    windproof jacket, the Lycra, the tights," he enthuses.

    The bike saved him from going into therapy. Though the bike is a Trek
    Madone, which can retail for nearly £5,000, cycling was a great deal
    cheaper than a shrink.

    And if he fails again, he still has his bike and his music to fall back
    on. We finish the interview and he dashes upstairs to don his cycling
    gear. He emerges draped in skin-tight black Lycra and lovingly shows me
    his bike, before strapping on his iPod and hitting the road.

    Report
  2. Zog The Undeniable
    Archived post
    #2
    Quoted message said:

    The bike saved him from going into therapy. Though the bike is a Trek
    Madone, which can retail for nearly £5,000, cycling was a great deal
    cheaper than a shrink.

    Yeah, it's a bummer when your business collapses and you can only afford
    a £5k team issue bike ;-)

    Report
  3. Email address hidden
    Archived post
    #3

    Clue:

    "Ratner was forced out with a £375,000 payoff, which he is still very
    upset about. "It was terrible. It's not very much when you are on
    £600,000 a year and on a five-year contract."

    Boo hoo.
    It's almost as bad as our deep sea fishing fleet trawlermen fighting
    for 20 years for compo after the cod wars.

    Report
  4. Simon Brooke
    Archived post
    #4

    in message <[email hidden]>,

    (') said:

    Clue:

    "Ratner was forced out with a £375,000 payoff, which he is still very
    upset about. "It was terrible. It's not very much when you are on
    £600,000 a year and on a five-year contract."

    Boo hoo.
    It's almost as bad as our deep sea fishing fleet trawlermen fighting
    for 20 years for compo after the cod wars.

    Speaking as an ex-trawlerman, I have no sympathy. The fish ran out
    because they were over-fished. And the surviving fishermen continue to
    evade or deliberately break every restriction on catches, so the fish
    populations can't recover.

    They killed their own industry; they have only themselves to blame.

    --
    [email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

    Age equals angst multiplied by the speed of fright squared.
    ;; the Worlock

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  5. Simon Mason
    Archived post
    #5

    "Simon Brooke" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:c0s7e3-h

    Quoted message said:
    Quoted message said:


    Boo hoo.
    It's almost as bad as our deep sea fishing fleet trawlermen fighting
    for 20 years for compo after the cod wars.

    Speaking as an ex-trawlerman, I have no sympathy. The fish ran out
    because they were over-fished. And the surviving fishermen continue to
    evade or deliberately break every restriction on catches, so the fish
    populations can't recover.

    They killed their own industry; they have only themselves to blame.

    This was in 1975 when Iceland suddenly introduced a 200 mile limit. Many men
    were thrown out of work with no redundancy pay. It had nothing to do with
    the fish running out.

    --
    Simon Mason
    http://www.simonmason.karoo.net

    Report
  6. Simon Brooke
    Archived post
    #6

    in message <[email hidden]>, Simon Mason

    (') said:

    "Simon Brooke" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:c0s7e3-h

    Quoted message said:
    Quoted message said:


    Boo hoo.
    It's almost as bad as our deep sea fishing fleet trawlermen fighting
    for 20 years for compo after the cod wars.

    Speaking as an ex-trawlerman, I have no sympathy. The fish ran out
    because they were over-fished. And the surviving fishermen continue to
    evade or deliberately break every restriction on catches, so the fish
    populations can't recover.

    They killed their own industry; they have only themselves to blame.

    This was in 1975 when Iceland suddenly introduced a 200 mile limit.
    Many men were thrown out of work with no redundancy pay. It had nothing
    to do with the fish running out.

    Why do you think the Icelanders introduced the limit?

    That's right, got it in one.

    Like I say: been there, done that, got the battered and very smelly
    oilskin, recovered from the sleep deprivation.

    --
    [email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

    ;; Semper in faecibus sumus, sole profundum variat.

    Report
  7. Simon Mason
    Archived post
    #7

    "Simon Brooke" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:psp8e3-

    Quoted message said:
    Quoted message said:


    This was in 1975 when Iceland suddenly introduced a 200 mile limit.
    Many men were thrown out of work with no redundancy pay. It had nothing
    to do with the fish running out.

    Why do you think the Icelanders introduced the limit?

    That's right, got it in one.

    Like I say: been there, done that, got the battered and very smelly
    oilskin, recovered from the sleep deprivation.

    Kudos to you Simon - that's one tough job there :-) Our pubs are full of men
    with wonderful stories about fishing in the White Sea in winter '63 dodging
    USSR subs. The kids of today etc...

    --
    Simon Mason
    http://www.simonmason.karoo.net

    Report
  8. Phil Clarke
    Archived post
    #8
    Simon Mason said:

    Kudos to you Simon - that's one tough job there :-)

    IIRC, statistically the most dangerous job in the UK (deaths per head) a
    while back.

    Report
  9. Chris Malcolm
    Archived post
    #9
    Zog The Undeniable said:

    [email hidden] wrote:

    Quoted message said:
    Quoted message said:

    The bike saved him from going into therapy. Though the bike is a Trek
    Madone, which can retail for nearly #5,000, cycling was a great deal
    cheaper than a shrink.

    Quoted message said:

    Yeah, it's a bummer when your business collapses and you can only afford
    a #5k team issue bike ;-)

    But there's an interesting point being made. Ratner became suicidally
    depressed, and was seeing psychiatrists and taking Prozac, to no
    effect. He is claiming that the physical exercise restored his sanity
    when pills and psychiatrists failed.

    I recently asked a psychiatrist whether it was considered that
    physical exercise was a usefully beneficial therapy for depression.
    "Of course", he said, "extremely useful. That's why our old mental
    hospitals all have such large grounds. But depressed patients are
    typically unwilling to get off their backsides, and these days we
    can't afford the staff time to walk them around, so the best we can do
    is give them a pill."

    --
    Chris Malcolm [email hidden] +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205
    IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
    [http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]

    Report
  10. Peter
    Archived post
    #10

    "Chris Malcolm" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:
    Zog The Undeniable said:

    [email hidden] wrote:

    Quoted message said:

    But there's an interesting point being made. Ratner became suicidally
    depressed, and was seeing psychiatrists and taking Prozac, to no
    effect. He is claiming that the physical exercise restored his sanity
    when pills and psychiatrists failed.

    I recently asked a psychiatrist whether it was considered that
    physical exercise was a usefully beneficial therapy for depression.
    "Of course", he said, "extremely useful. That's why our old mental
    hospitals all have such large grounds. But depressed patients are
    typically unwilling to get off their backsides, and these days we
    can't afford the staff time to walk them around, so the best we can do
    is give them a pill."

    There are some health initiatives whereby doctors will refer patients to the
    gym
    (prescribing a gym pass for a set length of time)
    rather than prescribing medication or a talking therapy.
    makes perfect sense - and ties up with both the above thoughts.
    (cue posts of 'why not prescribe a bike' - I've no idea. Maybe it happens
    somewhere?)
    Peter

    Report

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