If you're terrible at navigating, it's not necessarily your fault

Mrs. Brad and I spent a week in a rented condo in Portland a few years ago.

Each day, we'd walk around, exploring the city. Each day, I'd leave the condo and immediately head out, convinced I was going in the correct direction. Each day – every single day – I was wrong.

What I thought was north was south.

What I thought was east was west.

Every. Single. Time.

That is still true. When someone tells me to "head north," I only know which way to go if I'm within sight of the North Pole (Which I presume is a large pole with the word "North" written on it).

If someone says to go west, I can confidently head that way only if I'm on the West Coast and can see the ocean (which may be part of my problem: I grew up in a town where I could always see the Pacific Ocean, so I always knew "west," which oriented me).

I'm directionally challenged. I can navigate by map, but not by nature. And I'm not alone. 

Researchers know that's common. Many of us just can't get directions right.

An article in Knowable Magazine says that scientists sometimes measure navigational ability by asking someone to point toward an out-of-sight location – or, more challenging, to imagine they are someplace else and point in the direction of a third location – and it’s immediately obvious that some people are much, much better at it than others.

It appears to be partly nature, partly nurture (unless you can see the Pacific Ocean from your childhood front yard). The nurture part makes sense. The more you have to naturally navigate, the better you get. People who live in rural areas are better at naturally navigating than city folk, because they don't have constant street signs and major intersections.

The city residents who are best at navigating tend to live in cities with chaotic street designs – as opposed to a perfect grid, where all streets are parallel or perpendicular. Chaotic cities create better navigation skills.

But there's more to it than that.

Part of the cause may be – and the words "may be" carry a lot of weight in this sentence because researchers aren't settled on the "why" of navigation abilities – the ability to make a mental map of a place, using landmarks. If you're one of those natural navigators, you have a mental picture of where you are and where you're going in relation to other places. Those people (Mrs. Brad is one) have a feel for where things are because they picture them in their head, while the rest of us (like me) just guess, or say things aloud to help us remember ("A couple of blocks from home, there should be that big green building on the left side.")

The point? Like a lot of things, nature and nurture combine to make us good or bad at naturally navigating.

You're not great at it because you're better, you're great at it because of how your mind works and your experiences.

And if you're bad at it, it's not because you're dumb, it's because of nature and the fact that the stupid people who designed Portland put the front door of your rented condo and the streets in a way to confuse you and, by the way, why does your wife make fun of you when you head the wrong way?

It would obviously be easier to navigate if one of two things happened:

• We all could make a mental map of where we are, even without seeing a physical map, or
• There were huge towers with "North," "South," "East" and "West" written on them visible from everywhere.

Reach Brad Stanhope at bradstanhope@outlook.com.

Five ways to enjoy the Olympics as much as during the Cold War

The Olympics aren't what they used to be.

A generation or two ago, the Olympics were our only chance to watch many sports (gymnastics, swimming, volleyball). They were also our only chance to watch great non-American athletes in familiar sports.

Even more, the Olympics were a chance for us to show that the United States was better than any nation on earth because we had faster runners and better boxers. If Americans weren't contenders in a sport, that sport was dumb – except when the rare American did well, in which case it showed how great America was, after all. The Cold War was important. It gave us a passionate rooting interest in international sports!

Don't look for logic. It's not there. But in those days, before we had 1,000 entertainment options, the Olympic Games were a shared cultural event.

The Paris Olympics (which will probably be called the "Games of the 33rd Olympiad" by NBC Sports) run Friday through Aug. 11 (although a few events begin Wednesday). It's unlikely that anything like the Bruce Jenner decathlon win or the Carl Lewis four-gold-medal performance or the U.S. women's soccer team's gold-medal-winning overtime game or the Mary Lou Retton gold medal will happen, because we don't view the sports that way. 

Want to rediscover the passion? Here are five ways to get more enjoyment out of the Paris Olympics.

1. Embrace jingoism.

This is normally a negative (and maybe jingoism is the wrong term. Let's call it "patriotism"), but this is an opportunity to be on the same side as your neighbor who supports a different political candidate. Even better, you can finally root for the same team as that guy at the office who is a fan of the Dodgers, Lakers and Cowboys. Embrace this. Cheer for Americans. Call the team "us," because this time it's appropriate. Chant "U-S-A!" when an American wins an event you don't understand.

2. Root local.

One exception to the jingoistic rule: root local. As detailed by the Daily Republic's Matt Miller, 2017 Armijo High School graduate Luis Grijalva is running the 5,000-meter race for Guatemala. Grijavala enters the Olympics with the sixth-fastest time, which means he's a medal contender after finishing 12th at the last summer Olympics. The trials for the 5,000 are on Peacock Aug. 7 beginning at 2:10 a.m. PT and the finals are on Peacock Aug. 10 at 11 a.m. Both will likely be aired again in NBC's prime time show (and Peacock has an on-demand function). Grijalva is attempting to be the first graduate of a Fairfield high school to medal since Fairfield High grad Keisha Baker won a gold as part of the women's 4x400 relay team in the 2012 Olympics in London.

3. Watch a variety of sports.

If you subscribe to the aforementioned Peacock, you can watch anything from the Olympics. If you don't have Peacock but you have a satellite dish, cable or a streaming system with multiple channels, you can still watch multiple NBC networks. The Olympics will be on NBC, Peacock, USA Network, E, CNBC, Telemundo, Universo and something called Paris Extra. If you told me the Olympics were also on networks called NBC LOL and NBC Xtreme TV, I'd believe you, even though those networks don't exist (yet). If it's too confusing, the nightly prime time show on NBC will have all the main events, although most will be recorded. Take the time this summer to watch table tennis or judo or archery or surfing (and root for the American!). Special tip: Watch breaking (break dancing in the Olympics!) or sports climbing, so you can proclaim you've seen every Olympic gold medalist in the history of that sport. Both are new this year.

4. Complain that the Olympics aren't what they used to be.

If you get more joy out of negativity, ignore the fact that we now get about 1,000 times more live coverage of the events than back in the day. Focus on how much better it was when we cared more because of the Cold War. The good old days, when we could feel good about rooting for the failure of a Soviet runner and about proclaiming that Sugar Ray Leonard's gold medal proved that America is the greatest nation on Earth.

5. Get a cheap laugh.

Here's one that I've been using for decades: Every time someone from Switzerland is shown, their nation in the graphic is shortened to "Sui," providing the chance to yell, "Hey, it's someone from Suisun City!" Mrs. Brad and my sons never tired of that. Trust me. It will enhance your Olympics experience.

Reach Brad Stanhope at bradstanhope@outlook.com.

'Rules' for behavior on video calls vary with your age

Older Americans think it's wrong to wear pajamas for a video meeting. Young people don't.

Those are among the results of a survey on what Americans think is acceptable for video meetings, both personal and business. Some opinions are consistent: In the survey by YouGov, more than 70% of all respondents, regardless of age, considered playing music or a TV in the background of a video call to be unacceptable, along with vaping or smoking and having an alcoholic drink. Those are inappropriate for any type of meeting.

On the flip side, more than half of us think it's OK to leave the room during a call, have a pet sit on our lap or eat a snack during such a meeting – apparently never having sat through a Zoom or Teams meeting where a work colleague is snacking after neglecting to mute their microphone while they chew loudly.

Video calls – particularly professional video meetings – are common, which might have shocked the 2000 version of you. The explosion of such meetings for business purposes during the COVID-19 pandemic never slowed. In many work scenarios, video meetings are the default.

If you're on such a call with colleagues who are 30 or older and you're wearing pajamas, realize that statistically, the majority are irritated by you. If it's a bunch of 18- to 29-year-olds, the YouGov survey says that only 40% of them think it's wrong, likely because they're wearing pajamas while they eat avocado toast into an open microphone while somehow blaming you for their student debt.

Of the 22 behaviors included in the survey, the oldest respondents – those age 65 and older – were the most likely to think every type of questionable behavior was unacceptable, including turning off the camera (if they knew how) or wearing a hat (fedora? Now I'm stereotyping people who are barely older than me!).

Respondents who are 18 to 29 were the least critical of weird video-meeting behavior (the majority think it's OK to eat a meal, leave the room and even wear sunglasses on camera). Of course, young people are more forgiving and less bound by tradition. They grew up in a world where suits and ties were rare. They called adults by their first names when they were children. They've never lived in a world without the internet or cell phones.

Also, they've been making video calls far longer than the rest of us, so they've seen their friends in pajamas and eating meals and they've taken a call while wearing sunglasses indoors and realized it didn't ruin things.

How you handle video calls probably says something about you. If you're concerned about how others see you, you're likely to minimize questionable behavior. If you don't care or if you are under 30, you probably are fine with almost anything.

The takeaway? We all have personal rules for what's appropriate for a video call and many of us have workplace rules. But like everything, how we should behave on video is a moving target.

A moving target like the person who wanders around the room in their pajamas while eating on a video group call.

Reach Brad Stanhope at bradstanhope@outlook.com.

Leftover thoughts on the best meals on Day 2

I'll pass on eating leftover sandwiches. They're almost always bad.

It's not a fear of food poisoning or anything like that. It's more that leftover sandwiches aren't very good, because something about Day 2 bread doesn't work. I guess that "something" is sogginess. Most sandwiches – even great ones, like those from Joe's Buffet in Downtown Fairfield – lose their spunk on the second day because the bread spent 24 hours soaking up the condiments.

Reheat the leftover sandwich? Not good. Eat it cold? Not good. Best plan? Eat your entire sandwich the day you get it. It's a leftover failure.

Sandwiches aren't alone as other foods that don't work as leftovers. Consider with burritos and other wraps.

I guess that tortillas often have the same problem as sandwiches. They're just extremely thin bread, right? (Don't check me. Trust me.) A second-day burrito or taco or wrap doesn't work well.

So what does work? Glad you asked. Because the real purpose of this column is to identify the best leftover foods. These are the seven best foods for Day 2, counting down:

7. Casseroles. I'm not a fan (I grew up with some sort of tuna casserole nearly every week in my 1970s family), but give them this: They're as good on Day 2 as they are Day 1, which gets them on this list. Sometimes being steadily mediocre is enough. If you can consistently hit .260, you can have a long major league baseball career.

6. Turkey. I only know this because of Thanksgiving leftovers, which is the main time I eat turkey. It's good in late November, so it would be presumably good other times, too. 

5. Italian food. This generalization excludes most pasta (see below). It includes lasagna. Ravioli. Arancini (not really. I looked up Italian foods and that was included. I'd never heard the word. What the heck is arancini?). It is possible that the Italians invented leftovers because their food was so good on Day 2. If so, did an Italian also invent the microwave, which makes second-day food so good?

4. Enchiladas. The Mexican version of lasagna, really. Or vice-versa. This is the exception to the rule that tortilla-wrapped food doesn't play well on Day 2 because enchiladas are delicious when reheated.

3. Pasta. I suspect some pasta doesn't hold up well for Day 2, but I can't think of any. A pasta salad may be better on the second day, due to marinating. Spaghetti is at least 90% as good on Day 2 as Day 1 and in some cases, it's better (does it marinate in the spaghetti sauce?). Is macaroni and cheese considered a pasta? If so, it fits, because it's good on the second day, too.

2. Fried chicken. Most meat doesn't play as well on Day 2, partly because of the possibility that microwaving it just further cooks it. But chicken? If turkey is good, chicken is great. Microwave it and it's good. Eat it cold and it's good. If you like fried chicken, you like leftover fried chicken.

1. Pizza. Arguably the greatest food of all time, pizza generally holds up for Day 2. At least pizza parlor pizza does. Frozen pizza and take-and-bake pizzas fall short, but pizza made by a professional pizza maker? It's a 10 out of 10 on Day 1 and a 9.5 out of 10 on Day 2. I could eat pizza for the rest of my life and would be fine if it was always Day 2 pizza.

Reach Brad Stanhope at bradstanhope@outlook.com.