Just the facts: Monday: weights plus an easy 2 mile walk. pull ups: 9 sets of 6 bench: 10 x 134, 5 x 160, 4 x 160, 3 x 160, 6 x 155 (got fatigued) high incline: 10 x 94, 6 x 105, 6 x 105
Tuesday: 10k course in 1:35:35 85 F, 70 percent humidity.
Wednesday: pull ups: 7 sets of 6, 1 of 10 (included some mixed grip) bench: 10 x 134, 6 x 155 incline: 5 x 134, 6 x 134, 5 x 134 trap bar dead (all low) 10 x 150, 10 x 200, 10 x 225 The final set made my thighs quiver.
treadmill walk: 26:20 (13:35/12:45) It was storming outside.
Well, I’ll start with the workouts first: Thursday: 6.3 miles (Bradley Park out and back plus a lower loop plus going out to Bradley ave) in 1:37:44 (15:31) 86 F, 69 percent humidity.
Friday: upper body weights plus a 2.2 mile walk at just under 17 minutes per mile. The weights:
pull ups: 5 sets of 6, 10 (almost), 2 sets of 6 (mixed grip), set of 3 penalty reps bench: 10 x 134 incline bench: 3 sets of 5 x 134 curls: 3 sets of 10 dumbbell shoulder: 3 sets of 10 x 40 (supported)
Saturday: thunderstorms so I did trap bar and straight bar deadlifts plus a 2 mile walk (break in the rain) straight bar (small bar) 10 x 105, 10 x 149, 10 x 193 Trap bar low 10 x 224 trap bar 6 inch: 10 x 260
Sunday: started just after 9 am. 84 F, 80 percent humidity. There was some cloud cover. To Bradley Park, out and back, then two loops where I did the upper park loop with a double back on the “middle” road, down to the start of Cornstalk, then along the bottom of the hill to the Bridge and up to Dog Park hill, one lower loop, one mini loop. Garmin got 10.15 miles; “course correction got 10.51 so we’ll call it 10.3 in 2:49:08, or 16:25. I did NOT go fast, and my stepson’s friend got a photo of me. No, my support knee was not straight.
Damn, I am really bad at what I do (in terms of sports/fitness)
Baseball:
Well, I caught games on Wednesday, (solo), Thursday (Lynn), Saturday (Tracy), Sunday (solo)
The opponent was the West Michigan Whitecaps, who lead the Eastern Division. And yes, they are good.
Wednesday’s game: a rout. The Whitecaps got out of a 9-0 lead and cruised to 9-4 win. Few were there due to the heat.
Thursday: The Whitecaps got out to a 5-0 lead after 2, and I thought “this one is over.” But the Whitecaps would not score again, and the Chiefs rallied with 3 in the 3’rd and again in the 5’th and then got some insurance to win 9-5. That might have been the finest game of the season: Arias threw two shut out innings to close.
Saturday: we got there late to see the Chiefs lose 8-3 on a game that was postponed due to lightning on Friday. The 3 runs cam in the 9th.
Then came the second 7 inning game. The starter for the Chiefs struggled just a bit in the first but only gave up 1 run. Then he was on fire for the next 4 innings. On the other hand, the Whitecaps starter was fire for the first 4 and then wilted in the 5’th. The Chiefs rocked the starter for 4 runs in the 5’th and picked up 2 more in the 6’th to breeze 6-1 in what was their best game to day, surpassing Thursday’s win.
Sunday: this one was a sloppy game: 5 errors between the two teams, plus several “not on the score sheet” errors. But this also featured some spectacular plays too (unassisted double play by the Whitecaps first baseman off of a line drive, a running catch in deep right center). It was 5-1 Whitecaps going into the 6’th when the Chiefs rallied to tie the game. But the Whitecaps came back with 2 (off of a big home run to left center) in the 7’th, and the Chiefs made up 1. But they could get no closer. Very entertaining game though.
Note: some of the Chiefs officials appeared to be confused at the company I kept. Barbara was scheduled to go both on Thursday and Saturday, but did not feel up to it. She made Tuesday’s game though.
Pat visited us for a couple of days. This meant Chiefs, walks and photos.
Tuesday: I did 5 miles on my own; it was one of my better workouts on the course, even though it was 79 F, 85 percent humidity.
Then I went out for 3.4 miles slow with Pat; I drug her to St. Mary’s Cemetery in West Peoria. We went up the big hill. Pat was interested in the Bishop Sheen headstones.
I am not sure what the above is.
Later, it was Chiefs baseball time. Once again: the Chiefs lead 5-2 going into the 5’th, when they put in a struggling relief pitcher, who gave up 3 hits (one home run) and 3 runs. BUT..one of the runners reached the base on an error and, when there was 1 out, a very close call denied a double play, leading to a run. So the pitcher, despite the 3 hits, really could be blamed for one of the runs.
The Whitecaps got a run in the top of the 8’th and that was enough to win 6-5.
We got a visit from a cute Westie.
Today, I drug Pat up 3 hills in Bradley Park. It was only 2.4 miles
Afterward, weights: Pull ups: 5 sets of 6 (felt ok) Chin ups: 4 sets of 5 Bench: 10 x 134, 9 x 150, 7 x 150, 7 x 150 Deadlift: low: 10 x 150, 10 x 200, 6 inch: 10 x 260 high incline: 10 x 94, 5 x 105, 5 x 105
Later: we visited the cathedral and the Sheen museum.
I’ve heard the word “empathy” a lot. Here is my understanding of the word: it means being able to put yourself in the place of another person and understand them.
And here is another case of a liberal/conservative divide: when a liberal says “empathy”, they mean “for the marginalized classes” (which often, but not always, include them, of course.)
To me, this is yet another reason why, politically, liberals lose so damned much.
If you are going to make the case of why someone, say, should pay more tax, or why the government should provide some benefit, you have to understand how most voters will see it. And you have to convince the voters why THEY would be better off.
Saying STFU, “check your privilege” convinces no one outside of academia (or other bubble areas).
I believe this is one reason why so many men have dumped the Democratic party.
One thing that liberal activists do not get is that the average man is much closer to the garbage man working in 15 F conditions or the construction worker pouring hot tar in 95 F conditions than they are to the CEO pulling in 7 figures.
One thing that bothers me is some of the actions of ICE. Yes, a nation has the right to control immigration. Yes, one should obey the laws. And yes, even Democratic presidents deported people. Personally, I wish we would reform a guest worker program to get people here that can and are willing to do beneficial tasks.
But that discussion is for another day.
What ICE doing is, well, unethical, incompetent and reckless. Yes, business has a saying “go fast and break things” but in an area where an error can seriously harm people’s lives, the humane thing is to MAKE SURE. Here is a case where a legal immigrant with a clean criminal record was secretly deported. In his case: he lost his wallet so he went to the appropriate agency to get a replacement green card, and that is where ICE got him. Actions such as these discourage people from acting ethically and following the law.
By all means, enforce the law, but do so ethically, competently and as humanely as the situation reasonably allows for. Yes, one has to be rough and harsh if one is, say, deporting a violent gang member.
Medicaid Rollbacks One misconception in liberal circles is that illegal immigrants do not get Medicaid. That WAS true up until 2020 in most states. But in 2020 (the year COVID started), aid was extended to all, without regards to legal status, in come states. Yes, that made sense at the time; after all, the COVID virus was highly contagious and didn’t care about your status. Fewer infected meant that fewer could pass it along.
But now that is being taken away. Yes, a host country can decide which non-citizens are eligible for subsidized services.
Fact: the day after a longer walk, I cannot work my legs hard. So, today, it was an easy one: straight bar deadlifts (more for fun than anything else) 10 x 134 low trap bar 10 x 134 straight bar 6 x 224 straight bar (did not want to push it: left hamstring) 5 x 234 wagon wheel (surprisingly hard) 5 x 234 wagon wheel (easier)
I’ve noticed this: a 4 inch handle trap bar deadlift is easier than low handle, but the wagon wheel (which provides a 4.2 inch advantage) doesn’t really feel that much easier than the regular height. Then, during a break in the rain, an easy 5k walk at 16:27 mpm.
My Garmin got it at 10.06 so let’s call it 10.2 (just a hair over 16 minute miles). It POURED…rain, rain, rain. On the “out leg” I did an extended West Peoria Cemetery loop (with the big hill). On the back, I did an extra mini campus loop to get to 10.
The feet hurt just a bit but that was about it. I was waterlogged throughout.
This was my 10’th 10 mile walk of this season (which started after I got through that annoying knee-ache period). Now, I should bump it up a couple of miles to get ready for September.
I stayed up way too late after the Wizard of Oz play. It was fun! (the play, that is)
walk: easy 2 miles afterward. Weights: pull ups: 7, 6, 6, 6, 6, 10 (8 counted), 1, (elbow during chin ups), 6, 5 (chin ups; no pain) bench: 10 x 134, 10 x 150 incline: 6 x 134, 6 x 134, 4 x 134 (hit the spotter arm and threw me off) trap bar: low: 10 x 134, 10 x 184 4 inch: 10 x 228
Yesterday: 2 mile walk, weights: pull ups/chin ups: 9 sets of 6 (one was a supposed set of 10, but only 8 counted) bench: 10 x 134, 7 x 155 (tired out), 15 x 134 high incline: 3 sets of 5 x 105 low trap bar: 3 sets of 10 x 134 (isn’t this weak?)
Today: my 6.2 mile course (5 mile out and back plus campus loop) in 1:28:04, which is my fastest time since October of last year. Reason: it was 77 F instead of 85. It felt like walking in air conditioning.
Slowly, I appear to be snapping out of the lethargy.
Welfare of my family and loved ones. Their conditions are private.
My job, and it is not good to broadcast proprietary information in public.
Events of the day: political and social issues.
So, only 3 is fit for public discussion, and I just have no interest in putting it out there. There are many reasons. I’ll vent about a few of them:
Low quality discussion. Say, I take exception to the way ICE does things (yes, I think that law enforcement should announced themselves, show badges, etc.). So, if I say this, some moron will say “oh, so you are in favor of illegal immigrants just coming over whenever they want?” (no, I am not) “Oh, you must be against deporting illegal immigrants.” (no, I am not). I just happen to believe that law enforcement should be as human as practically possible and that we ought to have better guest worker programs.
I do not love everything associated with “my side” (I am a Harris voter). I agree with many Trump voters on a few issues. But, I am not a single issue voter, and yes, Trump seems to attract many who ARE xenophobic, racist, approve of fascism, etc. But where I do say this, people would accuse me of thinking that most Trump voters are evil and stupid, and I do NOT believe that. This brings me to
While I voted for Harris and would do so again, given the choices that we had, I think that most Trump voters are really no worse that most Harris voters. In my opinion, both sets of voters have their virtues and their shortcomings, as do I. And, sadly, it is THIS point that would have me on the outs with many who voted the same way that I do.
The fact is, I think many of the attempted implications “if you voted for X, you must be in favor of Y” are just outright false.
Sigh. No, I am not smarter, more moral, or more virtuous than most. But I believe that if I *really* spoke my mind about all issues, well, I’d probably get disowned at home and have no friends left anywhere.
And…here is the kicker: I honestly believe that some of my beliefs ARE WRONG. But I don’t know which ones they are. I don’t have all the facts. I am not well informed on everything. And I am capable of getting emotional and making logical errors. On the other hand, this does not mean that I have any desired to listen to half-baked nonsense from other people. I am often amazed at how confident others are in their opinions, including those whose self confidence is a mystery to me.
Life of an old goat 