Not bulking up too much -- oh, please

It gets a bit annoying at times. When I mention that I work out, there are ladies who say, "Oh, no! Don't overdo it! You don't want to look like Arnold or those other huge bodybuilders. That's just gross."

Oh, puh-leez. These people have no clue. They simply have no idea how hard it is to reach that level. You can't get to the grossly pumped up level by accident, folks. You have to work hard for it, and the entire process can take years, especially if you don't use steroids (and you shouldn't!).

These people are well-intentioned, but horribly naive. They must think that if you lift weights for a few weeks, BAM! You're going to get grossly overmuscled. Folks, that is NOT realistic. That is NOT how it works. Get a clue.

The 29th

September is almost over.

Stamina

Most people have rather poor stamina. Most people also allow their stamina to deteriorate dramatically as they get older. They get used to lounging around and being physically inactive -- sedentary, even -- and it shows.

I looked at some photos of my old elementary school classmates, and it was pretty obvious that almost all of them had fallen badly out of shape. And to think that I was one of the least athletic people in our class way back when.

I watch these folks who attend our cardio boot camp classes at the gym. Most of them can't keep up for very long, even when they're barely doing the moves. The worst offender is this rotund fella who barely moves at all during the exercises, and who gives up easily. I don't think it's a question of being tired, since he scarcely works up a sweat and there are no signs of exhaustion on his face. Rather, he just doesn't put much effort into his moves, and so he's never going to see any real results.

Birthday greetings, bro

Today marks the birthday of one of my brothers, a young fella who means the world to me.

Browncoat!

I was gratified to see that one of my former co-workers is a fan of Joss Whedon's short-lived TV series, Firefly. These people are known as browncoats, and they are a discerning bunch. What a terrible shame that this show went off the air so quickly.

It didn't help that Fox TV decided to air the action-oriented "The Train Job" in place of the originally intended pilot episode. It was a good ep, but it didn't do as good a job of setting up the story premise.

How to give good presentations

Most people -- and this includes college-educated folks -- do not know how to give an effective presentation. They tend to ramble, or they tend to focus on irrelevant details, or they use graphic ineffectively. Many of them also tend to read off of their PowerPoint slides, treating PowerPoint as though it were a teleprompter.

This generally indicates poor mental organization. It's one thing to use your PowerPoint slides to guide your presentation. It's yet another thing to read the content of the slides to the audience, treating them as though they were idiots. The same problem holds for those who ramble on and on, using a hundred words to explain something that should only require one sentence (and yes, I've seen my share of presentations like that).

Stupid EBAY stock

I wish that my Ebay stock were performing better. Darn. I blame Ebay's vendor-unfriendly policies for its decline. Amazon.com's second-hand stores seem so much better.

Kangaroo courts

A lawyer friend of mine says that the local municipal courts are pretty much kangaroo courts. That is, the judges are lazy and pretty much don't care about their work.

I don't know for sure if that's true or not, but I can believe it.

Incompetence

I had this encounter with an utterly incompetent person. More than one such encounter, actually. How unfortunate.

It's aggravating. This person must not be very well liked. That much is abundantly obvious.

She is in entirely the wrong line of work.

This illness sucks

Being sick stinks. It stinks to high heavens. Thankfully, all of the symptoms are above my neck.

Sneezing

I've got a bit of congestion in my nose, I have post-nasal drip, and I have started sneezing. I hate this. I hate this to high heavens.

I need my T cells to kick into high gear. Like, right now.

Gym slackers again

I'm still irritated by all these slackers in the gym. Why do some of these folks even bother coming? They take up space, they yap and yap and yap, and they put in practically no effort. If they were simply harmless, that'd be one thing, but they tie up valuable equipment and exercise floor space. What's more, by setting a bad example, they bring the energy of the entire room down. Sheesh.

Biotech

Ohio University has this here list of biotechnology companies. Good call. There's a lot of promise in biotech, so I think we should be doing whatever we can to promote it. What's more, I think that students should learn more about these companies.

AAPL

I sure wish that I had bought some Apple stock last year. Darn. At least I did invest in Google (GOOG), which has also done well.

One female attire and professional conduct

I just wanted to repost something that I read on a discussion board.

Now, if I made a point in dressing in very tight work clothes, or wearing shirts with a lot of cleavage, I'm not helping the situation at all. A gentleman would avoid comment, of course, but not all men are gentlemen, and some professional sports players are also quite young and thus not as experienced or polished as even a 25 year old man. If you're going into a male locker room then I think it's reasonable to expect a female reporter to dress in attire that, while feminine, is not overly revealing and for her to be strictly business - avoid flirting or sexual innuendo while on the clock. It makes it much easier for everyone to keep proper boundaries intact. On top of that, I think the women who adhere to those guidelines will find that respect is much more forthcoming from the men. In my experience men are much happier when the distinction between business and fun is kept sharp and clear and far more likely to conduct themselves in a respectful manner.

Coast to coast

I had a weird debate with someone over the meaning of the phrase "coast to coast." This expression clearly means "from the east coast to the west coast" -- that is, spanning the continental USA. In her interpretation though, it could mean from any coast to any coast -- the coast of Lake Michigan, for example.

What a strange thing to even debate.

Congestion

I hate being congested. Argh.

Weird guys at the gym

There's this weird Asian guy at the gym who can't seem to follow any of the moves during the cardio classes. He frequently winds up doing something completely different from the rest of the class. Instead of doing knee raises or lunges, for example, he kinda twists in place. He also reacts very slowly to the instructions. When the class turns in one direction, for example, it takes a few second before he notices and starts to face the same direction.

Then there's this weird middle-aged fella who does his moves at an extremely slow pace. He doesn't seem to be mentally handicapped, but he does move as though he... can't. Like he's dragging himself through molasses. It's not just that he's out of shape; rather, he has the coordination of a six-year-old. It's strange.

Bending over instead of squatting

I mentioned that a lot of people in my gym classes cheat heavily when they're doing their moves. These people, I hate to say, will not see much by way of results.

For example, instead of squatting, they will typically bend over a little bit. This requires a lot less effort, though their backs might feel a bit sore the next day. Our instructor routinely points out that they're cheating, but that doesn't stop them.

I'm also a little bit annoyed at this woman who joined our class, and who consistently moves with the wrong arms or feet. This is a problem when doing side kicks, since it means that she could wind up hitting someone. It could also be a problem if she were to move in the opposite direction as the rest of the class, darn it.

A day of infamy

This is the anniversary of a tragic day.

Gym cheaters

I am sick and tired of these people who blatantly cheat on their moves during our cardio gym classes. In a way, I shouldn't be; after all, it's their time, their money, and their business. At the same time though, I find it darned irritating, especially since this tends to be distracting and it brings the energy level of the class down.

I'm talking about the gal who comes in late during our Saturday Hi-Lo class, for example, takes up a spot in the front of the room, and who barely moves. What's more, instead of doing a grapevine -- a mildly vigorous lateral motion -- she simply faces sideways and slowly shuffles in the direction of travel. Good grief. If you're going to do that, you may as well stay at home or walk slowly on the track.

Or the guy who, instead of doing trunk twists, just kinda swings his arms back and forth. He's not really working out his body; rather, he's just moving his forearms a little bit. I suspect that he's gotten so used to moving minimally in the course of his day that he's used to finding ways to sorta-kinda mimic a move without actually doing it.

Great dialogue on "Psych"

I loved this little bit of dialogue from last night's episode of Psych:

Gus: I told you that newspaper thing was a dumb idea.
Shawn: Are you at all serious? We just captured a dangerous international spy. You're hung up on the newspaper bit?
Gus: No. I'm hung up on the fact that you've been obsessed with this woman this whole time. She makes the ultimate move on you and you shut her down? What's wrong with you? That makes no sense! Are you crazy?
Shawn: I know, it doesn't make any sense. Maybe I am crazy. All I can tell you is just now, in that moment, all I could think about was Jules. I just can't wrap myself around the fact that she's dating Declan. Actually… it's actually killing me.
Gus: Shawn, that is not fair.
Shawn: I know, I know it's not fair. And you're right. She likes this guy, who I am to stand in the way?
Gus: Exactly.
Shawn: You think I don't want her to be happy? I want her to be happy. But, serious Shawn moment here: I want to be happy too. But, for some reason, I can't imagine that happening without Juliet. How crazy is that?

Psych summer finale

Oh, my gosh. That was great. I watched the scene with Juliet in the surveillance van over and over again.

Iggy

I was reading the rantings of this unusual fella named Iggy. Iggy, from what I've read, is an outspoken atheist. I won't criticize him for that; however, he carries that torch a little bit too high and makes it burn a little too brightly.

I'm referring to the fact that he insists that the medieval Christian church was vehemently anti-science. According to him, they went around burning books, as well as burning and torturing men of science. Now, it's true that the Catholic Church did burn books and presecute heretics (John Hus was famously burned at the stake with Wycliffe's bibles used as kindling), but it simply untrue that they also went around killing and torturing people simply for being men of science. Nor is it true that they went around burning science texts; quite the contrary, the Catholic Church promoted the development of science, and some of its own clergymen were scientists.

Note that I'm not trying to excuse the abominable things that the medieval Catholic Church did. Not at all. I also think that it's unfair to accuse them of attempting to squelch science, though. It's also unfair to blame Christianity as a whole for their misdeeds. (Iggy did not specifically say such a thing, but based on his wording, it was pretty clear that this was his intent.)

Pain

Boy, do my legs hurt. My lower back, too. It's from all this exercise, and I could really use some more. I like it.

Excellence in exporting

Came across this site which lists various recipients of an "excellence in exporting" award. I wonder how companies are selected? What criteria are used?

I can think of a few Third World countries that might benefit from giving out such awards.

Old cartoons

Just watched a DVD of some old 60s cartoons -- Marine Boy, Space Ghost, the Impossibles, etc. Good retro stuff.

Typing

I once worked with a guy who was a bit freaked out that I could type while looking at him -- that is, without looking at the computer. "You're supposed to look at the keyboard!" he exclaimed.

No, you're not. What's wrong with you?

Lazy pool guys

Why is it that whenever I go to a Bally gym with an indoor pool, there are usually several guys lounging on the pool chairs and scarcely anyone in the pool itself?

Today, there were four guys in swimwear, stretched out on the pool chairs... even though the pool itself was out of order. Huh.

Articles on gym tips

I found this page which contains a couple of articles on gym etiquette, as well as one on how to get results from a calf workout. Strangely, the latter was cut off, as though the web designer neglected to include the latter half of the text. Too bad; that's where all the good stuff would have been.

The etiquette rules are worth heeding.