You can't fathom? I ran six miles once and was so pleased with myself I posted it to Facebook.
Six miles is a lot! I can probably count the times I've run more than five miles on one hand.
I've run six miles maybe a dozen times, but you don't see me bragging about it.
For what I'm sure are unrelated reasons, I have tendon problems that haven't gone away in over a year.
Or rather, they go away but always come back when I try to run more than four miles.
I can't imagine even walking slowly for twenty-four hours straight, unless there were Cossacks after me or something.
(And I must start running again. First I was working too much, then Newt was sick, then I really just didn't want to for a couple of days, then I was sick, and now I'm sort of better but it's somehow been six weeks or so.)
I've only run once or twice since starting Xfit in July, which is odd for me. It appears that Xfit keeps me in sufficient shape that I can go out and run a normal distance with no problem.
OTOH, this is consistent my hypothesis that I am the kind of person who does not get in shape from training.
I have a good friend who regularly does these. She also mostly does them in Israel, where it's hot. Oh and also she works as a a lawyer/advocate for Palestinian rights there. Pretty fucking tough chick.
In four days, the days will be getting longer again. Then we'll get more light and energy and it'll be easier to go out and run, which isn't to say that I'm recommending it because I'm not. This is the close of the year and the shortest days and time for hibernating and coziness. It is a good time to not be running.
Megan, are you some kind of predator trying to lure the other animals into a false sense of security?
On a sort of related note, I've received three boxes of chocolate in the past five days.
I wonder if I could eat chocolate for 24 hours straight. I bet not. I'm having trouble imagining anything I would do for 24 hours straight.
Like one chocolate per hour for 24 hours? It would kind of suck to get up in the middle of the night, but otherwise doesn't sound too overwhelmingly challenging.
The frat I pledged but then dropped out of in college had a contest where you competed to see who could drink 1 beer/hour for the longest. I think to start you had to commit to at least 48 hours. You could go to sleep and miss your hours but then you had to make it up, so if you passed out and slept for 8 hours you needed to drink those 8 beers that same day (effectively, it became a 24 beers/day plan). The guy who "won" did it for a month and a half.
I can't fathom running a century, but when I jog, I feel just as convinced as your friend does that stopping to rest would end my run on the spot; if I have to run a certain distance, of any length, I'd better do it all in one go.
I also can't fathom drinking 24 beers in a day for 60 days.
The guy who "won" did it for a month and a half.
Things like this do much more than anything I ever read in term papers to convince me that college students are idiots.
According to something I read somewhere, your liver can process a beer every hour. If you got some 3.2 beer, I suppose you could stay within the legal definition of sober for most of the waking hours.
16: Are you sure that's not just an excuse to get out of reading term papers?
I'm sure within the first few days your BAC reaches equilibrium with the beer. It could be a could measure of liver function.
I wonder if the small beer consumption of a sweaty guy in the middles ages wouldn't lead to about the same level of alcohol consumption as 24 cans of IC Light in a day.
(I've mentioned before that) Jammies' mom was a nurse, and when she started working, they'd hook women up to an alcohol IV to delay labor for a premature birth. And the women would be drunk, for as long as it worked.
And the women would be drunk, for as long as it worked.
You know, I love drinking and lying around in bed, but that would get old really quickly.
On a related note, I tried to drink a PBR and found it awful. Some guy at the bar, a guy who I haven't seen in a while possibly because he got kicked out, said PBR was the highest alcohol/dollar drink available at this particular bar.
An Aussie colleague of mine used to do 24-hour Rogaines (an orienteering-like competition with the world's worst name). Sounded intriguing (you created your own "route") but I think it generally just ended up as a bloody-minded death slog.
23, that's why butt-chugging was invented. In and out quick!
I actually think anyone who would run 100 miles is crazy.
SP gets it right in 19. Swimming, the boredom would pass once I got into the groove; x-c skiing, it wasn't ever an issue; but every time I went running I just thought TEDIUM TEDIUM TEDIUM the whole time.
I have no problem doing some otherwise repetitive activity in the context of something more interesting- running while playing soccer football tennis volleyball whatever. Skating during hockey. Swimming for water polo or snorkeling. But the base activities themselves, running skating swimming, are pretty much crap as enjoyment.
Oh my god, I find swimming the dullest thing in the world. Trying any freaking mental device possible to keep track of the laps because it is relentlessly monotonous and boring and you can't even listen to a podcast or look at pretty scenery. So much worse than running.
28: I find it exactly the opposite with swimming and running. Because breathing and clorine.
Pwned, but at least I added my own misspelling of chlorine.
Actually, my dad once accumulated so many exercise-related injuries that he resorted to treading water for an hour at a time. That seems even duller than swimming. Although I suppose you could at least listen to podcasts.
Also I never mastered the egg-beater kick, so it also sounds incredibly tiring.
But swimming, you get warm and you're in the water. It's what the womb was like when you were eensy-weensy, except with chlorine and irritating people wanting to share your lane sometimes. Running is just the dull, thudding march to the grave, only slightly faster.
Sharing the lane is a big part of it.
No, 31 was valuable. I too hate the chlorine and breathing parts. And the underwater flips at the end of the lanes.
If I had to run along crowded sidewalks or even where there was a great deal of traffic noise, I probably wouldn't like it.
And the underwater flips at the end of the lanes.
I don't even try those anymore.
With running, you can go until you're twenty minutes away from your house, and so you might as well jog home and at least get there sooner. With swimming I can quit any old time.
||
OMG, my kid's recital is a fucking recorder concert.
Full disclosure: I can't do them without getting disoriented and water up my nose.
42 is about recorder recitals, that is.
Chopper, did you not know your child was learning recorder?
People are always telling one just to find the kind of exercise one actively enjoys and then it will be easy to stay in shape! But the only kind of exercise -- "exercise," really, sadly -- that I actually enjoy is walking. Not very impressive.
44 -- it's secret musical instrument knowledge Santa!
I sort of liked swimming before I knew what it meant to exercise. But it always got boring after a while. Now it just seems pointless, plus it sucks for losing weight..
You could buy a vest or belt to hold weights and gradually get to where you are walking with 30 pounds of extra weight. That's supposed to be good exercise.
The problem with walking is that it's hard to budget the time for it, because it feels like goofing off. It's very pleasant, though. Especially when you're not carrying anything.
You could buy a vest or belt to hold weights and gradually get to where you are walking with 30 pounds of extra weight.
I was supposed to buy a vest?!?
I've always thought that the advice given in 45 was bullshit advice, or at least bullshit put that way. It's more like "find the kind of exercise you enjoy as exercise enough to keep doing it" which is a pretty different than "find something you actively enjoy while doing it."
Yes, and also it takes a lot of time for it to qualify as anything that would make one fit!
t's more like "find the kind of exercise you enjoy as exercise enough to keep doing it"
Either way, the answer for me is "no, really, I hate it all."
What about gardening? I remember hearing that people who get really into gardening seem to have all the health benefits of people who exercise. Or something. Plus you end up with vegetables or flowers.
I like gardening about once a month. Part of the problem there, though, I admit, is that it's really hard to do with Jane around, because she wants to "help" and that makes it suck. But also I'd hoped I'd like it better, but I'm not very good at it, the part where the plants JUST KEEP GROWING AND WILL TAKE OVER EVERYTHING is stressful, and my schedule and the weather never line up very well.
In other words, basically, I'd like gardening a lot better if it didn't involve exercise.
||
Goddamnit. Trying to buy a book on Amazon as a Christmas present, I just accidentally bought the kindle edition for myself. Which I can't see any way to undo or return. Feh.
|>
What about mailing homemade candy to your favorite bloggers? That's supposed to be excellent exercise.
You have a time window to cancel something like that. I've done it before and it was decently user-friendly.
57 is only true if you make it a regular habit, I suppose.
45: I recently got an app that's a fitbit-style passive pedometer plus GPS thingie, and it makes walking feel so fucking valorous. Plus, it turns out I walk a lot. I walked 8.1 miles yesterday, for some reason!
55: OR SMALL CHILDREN! I got a little work done the day Selah was willing to stay outdoors in her playpen and throw things at the dog happily, but that was it for two months, no bulbs, no nothing. I suppose I can still weave the rose canes into the fence when it's warm enough to comfortably be outside, but it was a worthless fall and I have to be on the fucking garden tour again in June. (Admittedly because I volunteered to, but still!) And I still don't exercise and don't anticipate starting any time soon.
Walking is great! I love walking. I sing to myself when I walk, you know, or I talk on the phone.
@45 My impression is that walking is actually supposed to be pretty good exercise as long as you do a fairly substantial amount of it on a regular basis.
Can you walk to work?
56: I did that on Abebooks recently for Xmas gifts; *two* non-returnable .pdf versions of a book. (Though I should have realized that was why it was much cheaper.)
46.1: I'm imagining one of those elaborate practical jokes long in the planning. Chopperwife has Chopperchild learn an instrument for months, in secret, just so she can spring an awful experience on him right before Christmas! Awesome, Chopperwife.
Indeed, I do walk to work. I love to walk!
the part where the plants JUST KEEP GROWING AND WILL TAKE OVER EVERYTHING is stressful,
Actually, that's one of the parts I really like about gardening. The plants will do a lot of the work all on their own. You go away for a while, and when you come back, they've done stuff.
Its not like grading, or research, where you go away and come back to find the project is in the same frustrating place that made you walk off in the first place.
You go away for a while, and when you come back, the horrible weeds have done so much stuff.
Or
You go away for a while, and when you come back everything died of dehydration.
58: Yay -- you were right, I just needed to look a little harder.
Its not like grading, or research, where you go away and come back to find the project is in the same frustrating place that made you walk off in the first place.
Actually, I'm sitting in a classroom for three hours right now, watching my grading grow by a lot.
45: I have this issue. It turns out the only sports I like doing are either overly expensive or difficult to do on a regular basis (like, canoeing) where I currently live.
I am pruning my grading, very slowly, with maybe a pair of cuticle scissors. I hope that it does not continue to grow.
75: You really have to kill the source.
Biking is good because you have to be engaged or you'll die. Plus it's equal or faster than taking the bus or driving to work along with counting as exercise. Stationary bike / spinning, on the other hand, is about the most boring thing I can possibly imagine doing for exercise.
On the other hand, you can die.
I've done a few spinning classes. It would be unbearably boring but there's a cute girl yelling at you and booty shaking music.
I don't really understand how people do it regularly, though.
I imagine if you really weren't paying attention you could die swimming too, unless you're naturally buoyant.
Spinning: the music is fun and upbeat, but then you realize it's stealth Christian rock, and plus you feel vaguely embarrassed the whole time and slightly panicked that your friend who got you to attend will mention your presence on Facebook. Or maybe that's just my experience.
I'm afraid of spinning classes because they're always yelling at the students to go to 140% or whatever and I'm afraid my heart would explode.
For years I would try every six months or so to take up running. Now in the past couple of years I've finally gotten so I enjoy it enough that I do it with a little consistency. Podcasts plus scenery plus not having to go to a special facility to do it.
He said with uncharacteristic pedantry.
Whatever nonsense is fine with me, just so long as everybody knows they float.
85: I'm not, which is weird since fat is supposed to make you so.
Update on the concert. My kid's group was the best of the three that I listened to, possibly because she was faking the entire time--just holding her mouth open around the mouthpiece instead of blowing through it. This is similar to what I did in band class in middle school, so I suppose I can't hold it against her.
For the record, I did know she was learning the recorder, I just didn't connect the dots with the recital. I'm not one of you big brains.
My buoyancy has changed significantly over the years. I used to be a good swimmer, was a lifeguard, then I didn't swim for about 5 years and took up other sports that focused on leg strength, next time I swam my legs kept sinking and made it harder to maintain position than previously and I was extremely slow.
Here's to you, raise a glass for ev'ryone
Here's to them, underneath that burning sun
Do they know they're buoyant in water?
77: Agreed. I'd rate biking as more fun than most types of exercise, but that wouldn't be enough to make me stick with it. The fact that it's both the fastest* and cheapest mode of commuting available to me makes it very easy to stick with, though.
* This time of year, biking is faster than the bus. In the middle of summer, biking would require showering and changing clothes and it would probably take longer than the bus once you add that in, but for at least six months of the year biking is quicker. A car would probably be slightly faster than biking, but not as much as if I lived in a rural area, and it definitely wouldn't be cheaper.
I miss running. People do weird things in SLC that I would completely miss if I didn't run to work. My favorite is when someone left spices on the sidewalk with a sign that said "free." Yes...I'll feel completely safe taking your spices.
Watching TV while using the elliptical at home is a lot more fun than showering at the gym and walking a block to work while my hair turns to icicles, though.
I just read Murakami's What I Talk About When I Talk About Running*, and he indirectly makes a point that struck me as very true -- you can run exactly as far as you need to run, but no further. When I lived in SF and my regular run was Lake Merced, I could run 4.5 miles before getting tired. Now my regular loop is 3.1 miles, and you'd think I could just do 4.5 like I used to, and maybe walk the rest of the second lap, but nope. The first 3.1 is easy; another step is pretty much impossible.
*More or less enjoyable, but it did nothing to improve my assessment of Murakami. On the one hand, at least it wasn't this book. On the other hand, it took me maybe two hours to read, and I suspect it took him somewhat less time to write. At this point the man could probably just sneeze on a sheet of typing paper and have a NYT bestseller on his hands.
I just read Murakami's What I Talk About When I Talk About Running*, and he indirectly makes a point that struck me as very true -- you can run exactly as far as you need to run, but no further. When I lived in SF and my regular run was Lake Merced, I could run 4.5 miles before getting tired. Now my regular loop is 3.1 miles, and you'd think I could just do 4.5 like I used to, and maybe walk the rest of the second lap, but nope. The first 3.1 is easy; another step is pretty much impossible.
*More or less enjoyable, but it did nothing to improve my assessment of Murakami. On the one hand, at least it wasn't this book. On the other hand, it took me maybe two hours to read, and I suspect it took him somewhat less time to write. At this point the man could probably just sneeze on a sheet of typing paper and have a NYT bestseller on his hands.
I like to walk really long distances but I don't really understand the appeal of running for more than a mile or so at a time. The guy whose office is across the hall from me keeps moving further and further away from work but still commutes mostly by running. I think he's doing 20 miles a day commuting now, plus he's always flying to some random mountain somewhere to run crazy-long distances with no oxygen. It doesn't seem altogether sane to me.
2 I can probably count the times I've run more than five miles on one hand.
Running on two hands would be difficult enough!
I liked running in the morning in high school because it was fun to feel like I'd actually gone somewhere that day before getting to classs. But then I got injuries plus lazy. I swam almost daily for many years before I took up running and liked the activity of swimming but the repetitiveness of lap after lap got really dull so I quit.
Heebie, I mentioned this before, but they make pretty inexpensive mp3 players for swimming. I used for a while and it worked really well.
I'm doing the Zombies C25K program, which I really like. I also discovered through the use of a treadmill that the reason that I run slowly is not due to any inherent lack of aerobic capacity, but simply that I'm a slacker.
Either way, the answer for me is "no, really, I hate it all."
Me three.
I bet building a house cob is good exercise.
||
Surprise surprise, bomb threat called in by student who wanted to avoid his exam that day.
|>
And, according to the dean's email, it worked! He gets to calculate his grade based on coursework excluding the exam, and/or take a pass/fail grade for the class.
I wonder if they'll make an exception for him personally.
105: not for the exam he was trying to avoid, apparently. Only for the 2PM exams yesterday.
So, they totally got the info on his ID from the NSA, didn't they. "Harvard was able to determine he'd accessed the Tor network"? Uh huh.
You know, from Harvard's big metadata facility in Utah.
Wait, it says he used Tor while on Harvard's wireless network. Shouldn't Harvard be able to tell who's connecting to Tor from their own network?
110: in theory, sure. That's what makes it plausible.
Also, how'd they find out that whoever it was connected to guerillamail from Tor so quickly? Presumably a mail service like that doesn't include the IP in the headers or store logs?
108/110/111: Yeah, I'm also confused. I mean, isn't the real NSA link the part where they know that the person who sent the email from Guerrillamail did so via Tor?
Err, that was me, but I'm not sure why I'm claiming it since I was so badly pwned by Sifu.
Maybe they just assumed whoever did this probably used Tor, and then looked for who had connected to it from their network.
Typical Ivy - use anonymizing services but still on your own computer, rather than, say, going to a library in a different neighborhood.
use anonymizing services but still on your own computer, rather than, say, going to a library in a different neighborhood
Not just your own computer, but the campus wireless network!
113: I imagine the whole thing was NSA. Why wouldn't you just have the experts give you a local IP and then tell Harvard IT to check who that was and if they connected to Tor?
Also all that hand-waving elision in the affidavit? C'mon.
I rode 6 miles to work at -2 degrees F this morning. Then I rode 6 miles home in a heavy snow. In between, I moved around a lot of large boxes of vegetables. Repeat that five days a week, and I've lost 50 pounds in the past six months, since I started.
Relatedly, I had to catch a bus to another city. I was taking the public bus to the bus station, and in a brain fog got on the wrong bus. I got off at a point nearish to where the two bus lines intersect, but the other bus stop was farther away than I thought, and I ended sprinting uphill for a reasonable distance (400 m?) in 35 degree weather. That triggered my exercise induced asthma, and now I'm on the long distance bus and my seat mate is eyeing me nervously and edging away as I cough up a lung. I thought it might be polite to tell her I have asthma instead of SARS, but I don't really want to let her know I speak Chinese.
I do yoga every day and enjoy it, except I don't know if I'd be motivated enough to do it if I didn't live in a yoga studio.
Eh, Sifu's probably right. They credit a bunch of agencies and probably wouldn't if it was just Harvard figuring it out. Though I still think a plausible path would be find out who connected to Tor > question them > guilty person breaks down and confesses and supplies the other info.
I actually don't think everyday, getting-around-town biking is very good at all for exercise. The whole point of a bike is that it's extraordinarily efficient: if you're on flat ground, you'll barely notice the exertion of, say, a 10mph pace. Less effort than walking, probably. Obviously if you start pushing hard, or going up hills, that's different--but then you're going to sweat, which you probably don't want if you're just talking about getting to work (and can't change clothes, etc.).
The efficiency/speed of the bike makes it kind of difficult to get a real workout: if you're in a city, biking at a workout pace is *dangerous*, unless you're going uphill--and even then, you have to come downhill at some point. And if you're not in a city, you have to be prepared for the possibility of equipment failure, which could strand you 20 miles from home.
Don't get me wrong: I love everyday/commuter biking, and biking is also my main form of exercise (at least it has been since I hurt my knee a year ago). But I don't think bikes are actually very *good* for exercise.
So, Sifu, should this be taken as an indication that, in general, Tor does not actually do much to hide your trail from The Authorities, if what you do ends up catching their attention?
I think you're underestimating the difference between doing something physical at all, however gentle, and sitting in a chair. If you're using a bike to get around enough that you've got an hour or so a day on it, it doesn't have to be that intense to be a real difference from a sedentary lifestyle.
So we can extrapolate that the NSA knows exactly how much time we spend commenting on Unfogged from our work computers?
125: well, Tor gets you so far, right? They could figure out that somebody connected to guerillamail from a Tor node; they could figure out that somebody at Harvard connected TO a Tor node. They could figure it when that connection started and when it ended. So no, it doesn't buy you that much. If you connect to a Tor node from someplace totally random then it buys you a lot.
I was saying to one of the guys in my lab (before all this happened) that what the (as yet unidentified) freshman SHOULD have done is connect to some forum or other from a random location and offer to pay some Ukrainian (or whatever) dude in bitcoin to send the emails (using Tor).
128: Maybe you could send me a list of all the important emails I haven't gotten around to replying to yet?
I mean, if Big Brother is watching us, the least he could do is send a friendly and useful reminder every now and then.
"As yet unidentified"? His name's all over the affidavit.
129.2: You should set up a consulting sideline to dispense wisdom like that to disgruntled undergrads who have lots of money and little sense.
132: as yet at the time the conversation happened, one presumes.
129 isn't quite there. This shit is not so easy.
Though as r h-c revealed at the other place, maybe the English language is actually a lot more ambiguous than I think it is.
132, 134: right, this was yesterday.
All this just to avoid getting an A- instead of an A?
139: we're setting aside that fundamental stupidity for the moment.
It's not just fundamentally stupid, it's somehow independently stupid along three or four different axes. But I guess I was told a few times during the orientation things for my job that "our undergrads are amazing; they're not like undergrads anywhere else; they'll do things that can blow your mind".
|| So, for about a month the parking spots next to mine in the (mostly lawyers) garage have been taken up by two nearly identical (except for color) 1980s Mercedes SL 580s, in mint condition. That was a little weird but whatever. On Monday, a third Mercedes SL 580 showed up. Today, there were ten Mercedes SL 580 Roadters, all in different colors, all parked next to each other, taking up every spot against the wall except for mine. |>
What I am hoping, but what almost certainly isn't true, is that some firm had a big year and is paying bonuses in 1980s Mercedes 580 SLs. "Here you go, take your pick."
141: ahahaha you were? My recently completed teacher training featured a lot of "no, really, they are fundamentally college students, not lawsuit-happy workaholic overachievers".
142,3: are all the spots assigned?
I have the only assigned spot on the wall.
Yes, they're gone by late at night. Otherwise it would just obviously be some car collector using the work garage as storage, which is obviously the case for a few other cars parked there. But the two SLs have been going in and out for about a month.
Have you recently connected to the Tor network?
I mean, it probably is just some car collector or guy who wants to sell them but doesn't have space at home. But who is this person? Does he have a team of drivers? And where do they go late at night?
The efficiency/speed of the bike makes it kind of difficult to get a real workout
Try riding up a giant hill on a singlespeed.
You should run into one of them in a way that makes it really obvious it was your car that did it. You'll find out an awful lot about them that way.
151 continues "... not that I'm bitter."
150 But who is this person? Does he have a team of drivers? And where do they go late at night?
When you do your stakeout, take Backup with you.
142- We were at a hotel in Germany a few months ago and when we were leaving there was some kind of BMW convertible club meeting, at least 50 of them.
124- You haven't seen my bike I take it. I weighed the kids the other week, my weight plus their weight plus bike plus backpacks plus accessories is about 500 pounds. I do drop them off sequentially during the commute so by the end I'm down to about 300.
OTOH I have an electric assist on the front wheel that I use for going uphill. But it was awesome in the snow, the back wheel would slip while I was pedaling, I'd engage the motor, and I had all-wheel drive.
... my weight plus their weight plus bike plus backpacks plus accessories is about 500 pounds.
<*boggle*>
There are so many times that I think Halford and I occupy opposite worlds, but 142 still stands out.
Imagine ten F-350s in different colors, all parked next to each other. All with truck nuts.
"I am doing some agonizing reappraisal of my activity/workout regime," he said from the temporarily-focusing confines of his hospital room.
I need to get back into hiking/biking/kayaking/canoeing I think.
Stormcrow, what are your updates? Are they keeping you in overnight or did I miss an update? I'm about to go to bed, so don't actually feel pressured to answer, but on the other hand you won't have anything better to do if you're stuck with sensors on all night. Also note that both JRoth and Sir Kraab have been blamed. If we're going to start pushing things any farther, I think Rance's first appearance might be suspect. I'm pretty sure I didn't leave anyone limping after DC, so I am clearly in the clear!
161: The last two items are similar enough that making it a tetrathlon seems kind of forced. Maybe you could switch one with swimming or shooting or something.
There are so many times that I think Halford and I occupy opposite worlds, but 142 still stands out.
And yet, somehow he was able to talk you into XFit . . .
I saved a spot on the roof of the garage in case I buy a kayak. Then I spent the kayak money on beer.
But this year, I'm going to rig up something with pulleys to store the kayak.
And by "this year", I mean "next year".
162: It probably wasn't my fault. I suggested the Squirrel Cage, because it's marginally safe than actually smoking a cigarette while standing in gasoline.
Stormcrow, have you had your glands checked? It's possible you connected to a limp node on the Tor network.
OT, but has anyone seen this? http://xkcd.com/1305/ It feels oddly familiar. (Sorry, Nosflow)
162: i'm in here for a couple of days starting From Monday evening at least. On heparin* (fast-acting anti-coagulant) via IV, and started on warfarin (Coumadin)--which is slower-acting--by mouth, and at minimum my release depends on the latter to have reached therapeutic levels in the blood. Not sure on the actual fricking clot, leg still a bit swollen, but one of those things where it was much worse (in terms of soreness anyway) last week when I was walking around on the loose as a civilian.
*This from Wikipedia amuses me because child: One unit of heparin (the "Howell unit") is an amount approximately equivalent to 0.002 mg of pure heparin, which is the quantity required to keep 1 ml of cat's blood fluid for 24 hours at 0°C.
170: John Goodman's on his way over to show you the life of a limp node on the Tor network my friend.
Glad to hear that you seem to be on the mend, JP. Get well soon.
On the OP, I am getting steadily increasing pressure at work to compete in lunatic races - marathons and half-marathons were bad enough, but now they're trying to say we should really all be doing ultramarathons! Every year! Or desert multi-marathons, or that lunatic O Till O thing in Sweden. It might be time for me to switch to a less gungho job or possibly find some way to induce clinical apathy in my new boss. Or work out some wacky 1980s comedy way to swap him for someone less energetic.
Try for a Bob Graham Round. A friend used to do some pretty crazy peak bagging run in tbe Lake Didtrict. He would slso run the Pikes Peak Marathon as well.
JP: if you're on warfarin, they'll advise you not to drink, which might be a bugger over Christmas. Being in America, they'll probably set your alcohol limit lower than it needs to be, but you do want to be moderately careful or you'll fuck your liver. For real.
How much you can actually quaff will depend on the dose, but as an old pro who has taken the stuff daily for ten years, my advice would be, drink wine, because it gives you more bang for the buck than beer or shots in the allowable doses, and don't go over 2/3 of a bottle tops until it's fully metabolised.
Back in the day when Indid do triathalons, i would do a lot of time on a "wind trainer" where you had your bike locked into a stand with fans for resistance (are they still a thing?). I found it gave a very good, tough workout. Around that time, I recall reading where an early Race Across America guy, Michael Secrest, would set one up in his closet to mimic the night riding.
177: Thanks, I'm not actually much of a drinker these days.
143: getting a 1980s Mercedes instead of your bonus is the new killing it.
Actually, getting a 1980s Merc instead of your bonus in a good year is the new killing it, lawyer style.
God, is this what I've got to look forward to under the new European regulations? Life hardly seems worth living.
||
Now that was a bit unsettling. Repeating synthesized voice alarm: "Code Red, north extension 2nd floor". But no commotion in the halls, and I'm on the 3rd floor. I'm guessing some kind of loose patient scenario rather than biohazard release--I forgot to ask for the code book. ("All clear" as I was typing this.
|>
The frat I pledged but then dropped out of
/destroys Glenn-Danzig-esque mental image of Halford
/replaces it with Mark Hoppus in khaki pants and backwards ball cap
Did you not watch "A Few Good Men"? Code Red means that they're beating a patient to death with bars of soap wrapped in towels.
Code Blue means, I think, "chap stopped breathing". (quick google) Yes, "patient in need of resuscitation".
Code Red means... a fire.
Ah.
Probably not what you want to hear.
Fire drill, says ny nurse. But that's what she *would* say,
Thing is they vary from hospital to hospital. If you're in Ontario, you want to start worrying at a Code Orange: "an external disaster with mass casualties, CBRNE and Pandemic. Lockdown or controlled facility access is often used as part of the response".
(CBRNE = chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or explosive attack.)
Code Brown, OTOH could mean anything from "severe weather alert" (Texas) to "Sewers backing up" (Ontario).
Code Yellow: Sun has gone supernova. (Toilet backup in some jurisdictions)
Code Pink: Pepto-Bismol spill.
Woad Blue: attack by Picts. (Led, of course, by Mel Gibson, the Woad Warrior.)
Code Octarine: Sourcery in progress.
Adding my wishes for your speedy recovery, JP. Hope you get out quickly.
Imagine ten F-350s in different colors, all parked next to each other. All with truck nuts.
Different colored truck nuts?
Aside from the truck nuts, I would probably not notice in a parking lot if there were ten F-350 all in a row.
Keep us posted, JP. Speedy recovery.
Code Red October: it sheems the reactor primary coolant loop has shprung a leak. OR HASH IT?
Code Blue Oyster Cult: There's a reaper here, but no worries.
197 applies to Australian hospitals only.
When I first heard of warfarin I thought it must be some awesome drug carrying out warfare against bodily invaders or something. That it's named for the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation is a disappointment.
It makes me think of Don Henley and the Boys of Summer.
Warfarin is better known as a rat poison to people who don't need anticoagulants. For years I thought it was a violent metaphor for pest control.
200 took me a minute. And now I have an unwanted earworm.
199: I had a similar thought; warfarin is to other drugs the way Wario was to Mario.
I don't get how "warfarin" fits in with the lyrics, but now I have the earworm anyway.
I'll explain, but full-disclosure: I'd already like to distance myself from this unfunny mess. Warfarin reminds me of Wayfarers.
Code White: Santa, Jesus, and George Zimmerman walk into a bar. Barkeep says:
206: Huh. Thanks. I'd never noticed that Wayfarers bit in the lyrics.
The thing for me now is to get my INR above 2, and it was 1.1 this morning (started at 1). Theoretically (and hopefully) it does not rise linearly.
208: Or else you'll see the deadhead sticker that turns you into a pillar of salt.
I was thinking Eurydice. I must have thought about the similarity of those two myths before but somehow it surprised me this morning.
Also, I decided to put on a sport coat for my meeting with the billionaire, and it looks like I'm dressed for a funeral, and now I feel inexplicably solemn for no good reason.
If I had more energy, I'd make Stormcrow a "Get Better Soon ... Asshole" card. Possibly with an allegorcal representation of Edith Bolling Galt Wilson having sex with some kind of weather system.
OT, but has anyone seen this? http://xkcd.com/1305/ It feels oddly familiar. (Sorry, Nosflow)
Wow, that is . . . nothing at all like unfogged, of course.
Remember, Essear, the world of billionaires consists of nothing but blowjobs.
Don't forget to scrape with your teeth! Good luck.
||
Seeing this makes me surprisingly happy (I am not generally a vindictive person, and yet . . . ) (via CT)).
|>
He probably got pissed off at her laughing uncontrollably at the article eviscerated in the previous post by Holbo.
NickS, your effort to make the link in your quoted text actually linkable shows true dedication to excellence in commenting.
216: As someone said in the archives, it's just like eating an artichoke.
218: Ah, but I do now assume that much of the odd tone of that article was related to unfolding personal life circumstances.
Halford's the best at projection.
That is some PF Strawson weirdness.
I kind of want to be an asshole and say that changing her first name when marrying isn't that much objectively weirder than changing her surname. At least she didn't change it to David so they'd match and really seem like a family unit.
They compromised from his original request of "Bathsheba".
Fortunately, there's no reason to be concerned one way or the other about objective weirdness.
235: you're right, it's a suit coat, but not worn with the suit pants it came with. I don't know the right words.
What kind of asshole wears a suit coat and no pants to a funeral? Put on the suit pants or go home. Where's my blowjob?
I mean maybe if you're too distraught by the death to find the suit pants, I could be forgiving. Or if they're stained with blood.
Warfarin makes me think of Rilke's "Eranna an Sappho" ("O du wilde weite Werferin").
you're right, it's a suit coat, but not worn with the suit pants it came with. I don't know the right words.
The right words for that are "a terrible mistake". If you bought it as part of a suit, you should be wearing the whole suit -- without the pants, it's going to look like a suitcoat with the pants missing. If you want to wear a jacket that's not part of a suit, buy it separately.
On the other hand, in context, possibly dressing like an eccentric will make you look like just the sort of person a billionaire wants a blowjob from to give money to.
Just reassure me that you are wearing some sort of trousers, whether or not they match the jacket.
234: really? It's obvious which jackets came from a suit?
I dunno, maybe essear should go Full Smearcase.
238 to 236 and possibly to 237 but I can't figure out what it means.
I recall reading some guidelines intended to answer the question "can I wear this suit jacket without the pants they come with?" that basically came down to something like tallying the markers of causalness on the jacket. Style of pockets, for example. I have worn a jacket bought as part of a suit without the corresponding pants before and I don't think it looks conspicuously misplaced (this is not true for the jacket of the other suit I own, which definitely would look wrong).
It's obvious which jackets came from a suit?
Depends on the suit. The more formal the suit, the more obvious it is.
I only own three suits, unless you count a tuxedo as a suit.
Just reassure me that you are wearing some sort of trousers, whether or not they match the jacket.
This probably is the point at which it is appropriat to make the obligatory reference to the conclusion of the Big Bang Theory episode in which Leonard has been trying to convince a rich widow to donate to the Physics department.
Nosflow only owns two suits?
For all of his affectations, nosflow has never struck me as a dandy.
Wearing a suit jacket with a different set of pants seems like one of those things that you shouldn't do unless you already know you can pull it off.
Until not too much more than a year ago I owned only one suit, which I hardly ever wore! And its sleeves were too long!
245: but my shoes were the talk of (a very small part of) the decadegon!
The suit pants don't fit well anymore and the blazers I own look kind of ratty. So in my "oh, I'd better throw something suitable in my bag" rush before leaving for the airport, this seemed like the best option. Oops.
essear has the meeting happened yet? Go buy a sport coat! That's billionaire thinking.
208 is advice for wooing billionaires, with or without pants.
Go buy a sport coat!
It's hard to get one that fits right without alteration.
It might be easier to argue that pin-striped sports coats are too a thing.
the article eviscerated in the previous post by Holbo
This should be required reading to go with the article Holbo went after.
It isn't pin-striped. Jeez. It's a black suit coat I'm wearing with a gray shirt and charcoal pants.
I feel like I'm being urple-like now. Maybe I'll just squeeze the coat into my backpack and forget about it.
Or where does LB work? Maybe I have time to swing by so she can tell me exactly how ridiculous it is.
Oh, man, if you saw what I was wearing while I pontificated about fashion, you would laugh until you plotzed.
essear, it's not a date and he's not planning to give you a clothing budget, so you don't have to look astonishing in either direction. Can you ask the people you're traveling with? And now you're going to get hassled for wearing a suit coat with a backpack, especially a backpack big enough to carry a suit coat.
Look, you've already fucked up. The only way out is to amp up the crazy scientist look. Where are you, so we can direct you to the nearest place to find a Nehru jacket, monocle, and prop parrot.
And buy them. Nothing looks as rented as a rented bird.
But enough about you, Essear. How about me? We're at threat level midnight for the Secret Santa gift exchange here at work. Will I get the pigeon mask? How will the scented candle I bought that cost 3x the price limit for the exchange be received by the receptionist?
You're not even speaking; relax. No one is going to care that your jacket doesn't match your pants.
I'm so confused by this conversation. All the physicists I know are awful dressers. I almost feel like your billionaire would be disappointed and confused to see orderly, well-groomed supplicants. Shouldn't you focus on looking smart and rumpled, as if thinking about clothes takes away from your time to think Big Thoughts About Physics? Like, did you button your shirt properly? Is it tucked in everywhere? You win already.
Seriously, good luck. I hope everyone performs well and you get generous funding.
Did you ask for anything besides the pigeon mask? I can't see why you'd want to, but maybe those were the rules.
I think I have time to swing by the place I left my luggage and trade the jacket for a simple black sweater. Maybe I'll do that.
Theoretically (and hopefully) it does not rise linearly.
Like so many things, warfarin dosing is like piloting a dirigible: the effects of dose changes take a while to kick in. Presumably your doctors know this, and won't give you 5mg, check you the next day, and bump it to 7, only to find by the weekend that your blood has the viscosity of ethyl alcohol. In addition, people react very differently to the drug, so a small, frail person might need more than a big, hearty one, etc. So be prepared for them to be calibrating for a while.
My other possibilities, assuming my secret santa sticks with the requests, are (a) random gift from some website that sends random gifts that Neb linked to, or (b) lots of beef jerky.
267: Too arty. Stick with what you've got.
I almost feel like your billionaire would be disappointed and confused to see orderly, well-groomed supplicants.
Very plausible!
Full disclosure: I'm wearing khaki pants and a blue oxford for the 2,025th day in a row. Take fashion advice at your own risk.
268: geez, he marries a doctor and suddenly he's some kind of expert.
I'm wearing a simple black sweater but would gladly have traded it for a suit coat if I had a black suit coat that went with black jeans, which I don't. But seriously, essear, if you're worried, put the other outer layer in the backpack and check how well you match the rest of your team. I like the grayscale color palette, in any case, though I'm no billionaire.
I interviewed a summer intern applicant on Monday wearing a black t-shirt -- respectable pants, but a t-shirt, and my hair all catawampus. I'd forgotten the interview was scheduled, and was at the low end of what I think of as work-acceptable grooming.
On the other hand, his cover letter said that he was interested in pubic interest law, so he really doesn't have a leg to stand on. (I was actually wondering -- would a good person have told the kid that he had an embarrassing typo in his cover letter? It's not going to kill his chances with us, but I figure the same letter is going out to other people who may be fussier.) Should I email him? It seems really awkward.
If you like him as a candidate and would hire him, tell him but by phone and in a way that's very reassuring about his chances. If you don't like him, ignore it. Thus says I.
I didn't like him enough to overcome the awkwardness (although I did recommend hiring him. But at the sort of "Eh, he'll do" level, rather than "Ooo, we get to hire this guy!" level).
If you're hiring, you can ask him to resubmit the letter without the typo. Because some asshole in some other department might see it and whine.
I once wore jeans -- and a suit jacket, a white shirt, and a tie -- to a first-round summer job interview with a NYC law firm. (Not what I'd call a white-shoe firm, but close enough.) The reasons did in fact involve losing my (suit) pants, but not while I was wearing them.
It turned out not to be a bad ice-breaker. I got a callback interview, but ultimately no offer. Always figured I should have worn the jeans to the callback.
I just ordered six pigeon masks "from Santa". This should be fun Christmas morning: everyone gets a mask.
I'm not currentl wearing pants. I was earlier, but I was shoveling, and everybody knows shoveling with no pants on is simply not done.
My first real job interview they made fun of me for wearing a tie. Ahh, tech.
I once wore a jacket without a tie to a job interview -- it had been years since I wore a tie, and the morning of the interview I couldn't figure out how to tie it in a way that didn't look outrageously wrong to me. It was getting late, so I gave up and drove to the interview in downtown Columbus. I couldn't figure out where to park, and wound up getting to the interview 5-10 minutels late.
Sixteen years working at this job, and I still haven't figured out why they hired me, or if it was a good or a bad thing.
275: I know a law student who's genuinely interested in public-service jobs but also has a sort of zeal-of-the-convert air to his enthusiasm. He dressed pretty flamboyantly (i.e., a far cry from your typical blue/grey boring conservative suit) for a round of interviews, presumably in a bid to stand out. I gather it didn't go well, but maybe that wasn't the goofy bow tie/tweed jacket/sneakers combo. I definitely cringed and felt bad for him when I saw him at [big regional job-begging conference].
||
Two major obstacles surmounted in my quest to get out of Dodge for a few months!
Another union (the one in Pittsburgh) has made me an almost-formal offer for a 3-month contract (subject to some further discussion with the staff union. G.D. unions.) My boss has ok'ed it. Now my union president has to agree, which he likely will after he fumes for a bit.
Salvation, temporary though it may be, is in sight!
|>
265: I'm reminded of the horrible fights between my mother and my oldest brother, who was at the time a professor in the biomedical sciences at UCLA. As a biomedical researcher in LA he would be invited to parties with celebrities that were donors to medical research. He would casually mention that he had met, for example, Peter Falk, (that's the one name I remember) at a party, and my mother would immediately ask him what he(my brother) wore to the party. He would reply, "I was dressed fine! I wore my good jacket!" -- that would turn out to be a jacket my mother has bought for him when he was in high school, and my mom would be so distraught, like he had brought shame onto the family. It's so puzzling since she's from Israel, one of the most casually clothed countries in the world.
Congrats, Sir Kraab! I've heard good things about Pittsburgh.
285: Yay! JP Stormcrow can stop offering up his suffering for your job success now, I guess.
I should be clear that I won't be living in Pittsburgh, just making occasional visits while telecommuting.
I appreciate Stormcrow's sacrifice.
289: Congrats Sir Kraab!
I telecommute to Pittsburgh too! It's a nice place to email, but I wouldn't want to visit.
Sir Kraab-
That's wonderful! Congrats. I've been wondering how that was going to pan out.
289: As long as you aren't taking my parking spot.
I once wore jeans -- and a suit jacket, a white shirt, and a no tie to a wedding. It was 30 years ago and fashions were different.
Still married, though.
It turned out not to be a bad ice-breaker. I got a callback interview, but ultimately no offer. Always figured I should have worn the jeans to the callback.
You should have worn suitpants and a denim jacket.
275: I always tell candidates when there are errors in their resumes. I use it as a litmus test to see if they care about the mistake because patent prosecution is all about the details. The students take it well. The 10th-year associate didn't, but there's no excuse for having typos in your resume at that stage so I really don't feel bad.
|| Holy crap! Ambassador Baucus! Governor Bullock will appoint Lt Gov Walsh -- who's running for the seat already. We just might hold this seat! |>
Did you immediately put it on, and wear it for the rest of the Secret Santa?
Yes, yes I did. Not for the whole time.
299: He put it on and went and crapped on all of the 80's Mercedes in the parking garage.
Brewster McCloud is his new pseud.
304: no postdoc, but you each have a vintage Mercedes?
I guess I didn't follow heebie's advice enough to produce a climax. (Plucking my own low-hanging fruit here...)
The receptionist didn't seem skeeved out but was confused because she didn't know what "cassis" was.
So, if the cost limit was $30 (the price of the pigeon mask), and you paid three times that, I guess my question is where the fuck did you find a ninety dollar candle?
I now have the pigeon mask mounted on my desk. Is this unprofessional?
310 -- yeah, I would have guessed a max price of maybe $8.50 for a scented candle. Was I ever wrong.
312 -- that was the brand, but I didn't get the $450.00 candle.
311: Nah, you're good at least through New Year's.
If you want to keep it out longer than that, stick a plaque on it and pretend it's a deal toy.
Can we get a picture of you sitting on Santa's lap, wearing the pigeon mask?
In a suit, I interviewed for a job with several casually dressed people. The top guy in the room - the ultimate boss's lieutenant - was wearing shorts.
Later, when he was demoted and I got his job, he attributed it in large measure to my insistence on wearing a tie, even after I was hired. He was wrong, but not completely wrong.
310 -- yeah, I would have guessed a max price of maybe $8.50 for a scented candle. Was I ever wrong.
Yeah, there's a whole new world of high-end scented candles out there. Good work, dude.
Congrats on the pigeon mask, Halford. And congrats to Sir Kraab on the job news.
I guess I didn't follow heebie's advice enough to produce a climax.
You should have taken some meth to lower your inhibitions.
(Too soon?)
I won't know the outcome of the meeting soon. But it was interesting to see that the billionaire wore no socks.
I'm disappointed we didn't get a pervy yoga pants story. Life just keeps finding ways of letting me down.
316 seems like a reasonable enough request.
Also, Sir Kraab, I missed the context on why you wanted out of Dodge, but congrats on the new job.
325: People need a reason to leave Texas?
Halford, did you get the $35 travel candle or the $65 home candle? I like Joe Malone and wish I had less to lose because I'd like to go and shoplift about five of those candles.
329 was me. I'm not really going to go shoplifting.
329 was me. I'm not really going to go shoplifting. and I meant Jo.
Guess now you're really going shoplifting!
It was some kind of 90 dollar super candle, not travel size. I was thinking about wearing the pigeon mask to this Christmas event at my kid's school, but I chickened out and it's still on my desk.
I am going to have to stop reading this until the girls are asleep, because I can't stop giggling and snorting about the pigeon mask. But please, Halford, tell us more. Was the person buying for you as unsure as you were about the yoga pants? Did everyone envy you?
For added realism you could smear the outside of the pigeon mask with hipstoplasma capsulatum.
Delighted to hear about the pigeon mask! I texted my significant other immediately to share the news.
I think most were confused and disturbed by the pigeon mask.
the billionaire wore no socks
You checked all three places?
Hey, I have to buy a CD for an office music exchange for a boomer-age cow-orker. I think he's into 60s and 70s rock, but this should be something new-ish. Ideas?
340: Gary Clark Jr. or Wolfmother
340: There's a Humble Pie Fillmore Concert remix a good friend of mine did that's getting good reviews, though I haven't actually heard it yet. It costs more like 30 bucks, though, at which point you might as well get a pigeon mask and pretend you misunderstood the rules.
It's not new, really, but I listened to this XCing on Sunday, and it's a great soundtrack while you're doing something else. This isn't "new" either, but covers are fun. The PERRO sessions are a great treat too, and I see that they're not actually released, but you can find them. Your oldster might not have downloaded them.
I haven't listenef to it, but what about the DBs reunion album: http://thesonginmyheadtoday.blogspot.com/2012/12/my-top-ten-albums-of-2012-is-this-year.html
For $90, that candle better be made with real opium.
Teo's got it right. Just get the guy some heroin.
Ha. This morning I read a post on a fragrance blog about how spending $100 on a single candle is actually a better value than spending $100 on three $30 candles, and I thought, who on earth spends $100 on candles, regardless of whether you get one or three? And now I know.
But is it a better value than spending $90 on three $30 candles?
You could get candles at the 99 cent store.
Does the pigeon mask smell nice?
Now I am tempted to buy marijuana candles for my super-conservative friend who works for DOD. I wonder if that would be the last straw that ends the friendship?
Marijuana-scented candles sound silly to me. If you want a place to smell like marijuana, there are better ways.
Well, hey, same with Opium. Which genuinely does smell lovely.
354: That depends on your relative marginal utilities for candle stank and storage space.
356: Does the pigeon mask smell nice?
You think they bothered to build in an olfactory function?
358: Tell that to super-conservative DOD friend.
torrey pine, I don't think anyone gave you any advice about your actual job, but I love your turn toward being the most subtle supervillain ever!
It would be funny if I actually caused DOD friend to lose his security clearance, and then ended up on some FBI watch list, all because of some novelty scented candles.
364: I also like your sense of humor! But would your friend recognize the scent? Would he (and maybe if I don't assume "he" this becomes more likely) actually burn the candles? I bought Lee some hemp shampoo and conditioner with pot leaf icins as a joke years ago but then made her get rid of them in case a caseworker ever looked in the shower. (The conditioner was excellent but the shampoo was nothing special; I was tempted to pick some up last time I was at the beauty supply store.)
365: Idiot, there's a gendered pronoun in the conment you're referring to, so paty attention!
I guess that's no more surprising than $100 candles.
Nah, I'm pretty sure he'd just throw the candles out. At this point, he regards pretty much everything I suggest with suspicion. It's great.
Although he might appreciate the utility of a non-gendered pronoun in this discussion.
Mandom is still a possibility, though.
He might not even recognize the irony.
I wonder if there are candles bloggers who are just in it to get free candles.
I have just started swimming again. Loved it. The other swimmers mocked me bc I was out of shape and at the end of the lane.
But, shame and humiliation is an important part of exercise.
shame and humiliation is an important part of candles
We certainly all know the scent of shame and humiliation.
Oh man yeah when they have to clean the floors after you pooped on 'em and everything just has this bleach odor the rest of the day and you can't play with your transformers because they need to be sterilized and
oh no you guys were talking about something else I see carry on.
268: Like so many things, warfarin dosing is like piloting a dirigible: the effects of dose changes take a while to kick in. Presumably your doctors know this, and won't give you 5mg, check you the next day, and bump it to 7, only to find by the weekend that your blood has the viscosity of ethyl alcohol. In addition, people react very differently to the drug, so a small, frail person might need more than a big, hearty one, etc. So be prepared for them to be calibrating for a while.
Yes, that looks like the game we're in except we have not gotten to the over-prescribing part yet. But my freaking INR is still only 1.2. Off the heparin IV and on Lovenox so may be able to be discharged in a day or so and complete the bridging at home. Although I don't relish doing the inject in your stomach fat thing. (Was gratified the both nurses who have given me the shot/demonstrated how I would do it got my Pulp Fiction references: "That needle looks like what you'd use when Barbie ODs," and "So that's where I draw the circle in red magic marker.")
Other than that I feel fucking great--best in weeks. Lost 10 lbs. (portion size control and no snacks FTW), but as I remarked to my wife when she encouragingly opined, "Sure doesn't look it;" it's the exact opposite of the good muscle-building weight loss. Eat less, exercise less...
. . . may be able to be discharged in a day or so and complete the bridging at home.
Good luck on the continuing recovery. That sounds not fun (but not as bad as it could be).
"So that's where I draw the circle in red magic marker."
Heh. Best wishes on being titrated. Hope you get out soon.
Glad your health is improving and your spirits are up, Stormcrow!
380. You may be on the tail of the curve like me in terms of warfarin efficacy. Don't want to distress you but it took them 10 days to get my INR stabilised, and I'm stuck on heroic doses forever. The surgeon came and said, "The trouble with you is, you're a resistant rat."
On the plus side, you can directly experience what d-Con tastes like.
383: And I'm finally penetrating a "newer" Pynchon--just could not suspend visceral annoyance withAgainst the Day but doing better with Mason and Dixon.