Category: personal

Bears and Trump

I’ve seen some ads for Trump and I thought a couple of them might be effective. No, I did not think to save them.

But here is the gist: they admit that Trump is flawed and they admit that some conservatives might not be able to stand him. But they get right to the point: “LIBERALS WILL DESTROY OUR COUNTRY” and tout judges, business deregulation and rampant wokeness and breakdown of traditional norms (the bad way..they mean)

They more or less concede that Trump is a horrible human being but he is what they have.

This election is a toss up; uncomfortably close.

And what does the other side offer: leftist students occupying college campuses, blocking roadways in some locations and…Bears?

About the bear thing:

“

A question floating around social media asks: Picture yourself alone and unarmed in the woods. Would you rather encounter a bear or a man? Nearly all women (and I truly have not been able to find one woman who disagrees, but let’s just say nearly all) choose the bear.

Wait, I need more. What’s the background here?

It’s unclear where exactly this debate originated, though some are crediting the viral TikTok news account Screenshot HQ, which posted a video of two hosts debating the topic last week. However, they seem to reference a conversation already in progress, so the first to posit this question is still a mystery.

“

Now of course, none of this is scientific and many of the women I know in my life find this ridiculous. And, of course, it is. True: men have raped and assaulted women, but, only a tiny percentage of men have. Nearly all bears would prove lethal.

But that isn’t really the point. What I think is going on: feminists like to conflate all ills done to women by men, from sexual harassment at the workplace to stranger rape. And they appear to argue that if men would only live by the script that feminists give them, the evil patriarchy would no longer exist and all of those ills would be gone.

Many men counter with the fact that stranger rape is done by sociopaths and they are hardly representative and they are NOT the fault of “all men” or even “most men.”

My opinion: yes, some things like sexual harassment or “hostile work environment” can be improved by a combination of training and peer pressure. There is research that appears to show that training can help reduce certain kinds of rape (sex with a woman too drunk to consent ..yes, I know..double standard but that’s unavoidable given the nature of human copulation )

But I doubt that the other kinds of rape and sexual assault can be improved. You can report him to the police and you can ostracize him. But you can’t do much more than that, realistically.

But when it comes to being angry that she chooses the bear, why?

Now in terms of politics: the D’s are over a barrel. Thank goodness the student protesters don’t like Biden. But you have the feminists (fired up about abortion but anti-male), racial and religious minorities, labor, etc…all with separate but conflicting agendas..everyone feeling as if they are taken for granted and each wanting to take their ball and go home.

Neo-toddlerism

This observation struck me as interesting:

And this is part of it; You can act up to your heart’s content! You are merely expressing yourself! And how DARE you be subject to consequences!

This is one of the January 6’th rioters…hey, can’t you just storm the Capitol if you want to?

And we are seeing this in some of the current protests.

These wankers are not drawing attention to their cause; they are drawing attention to THEMSELVES, just like a toddler. Here: Humphreys talks about voting, but mentions protests.

Another aspect of toddler-ism, at least in my opinion, is the idea that other people are merely props for one’s existence and entertainment.

Here some idiotic prankster (someone who hassles others just for laughs) gets shot..and the shooter was let go! My feeling is that people are just sick of these idiots.

And lately, at least in gym communities, there has been pushback against those who film in gyms…and expect everyone else to clear out for them.

I don’t know if such incidents of self absorption are more frequent nowdays (due to the “influencer culture”) or that we just hear more about them.

Oh yes, I film myself while working out, but mostly that is to check myself for form errors or to see if I am damaging my back further. I have very poor body awareness. I doubt that my sorry performances awe anyone.

Why this blog has gotten so boring

In my previous blog life, I used to write about a lot of things. Now I rarely do. Frankly, I see little point in it.

Yes, things are happening and I have opinions on some of those things. Ok, i have opinions on many of them. But I rarely express them in public anymore.

It appears as if the online community has become polarized to the extent that even deviations in thought…and I mean, in “thought”..not in actual preferred actionable policy, are greeted with cursing, cries of “bigotry”, etc. It appears to be all “politics by meme” or “politics by slogan” now.

So, any meaningful online discussion is all but dead for me.

Workout notes: Well, I did my 5.2 mile course (lower Bradley Park plus campus loop) in 1:12:56; just a hair over 14 minutes per mile with the final 2.2 done in just under 30 minutes (13:36 pace) Later: 2.2 miles at 16:37 in glorious weather; both walks were painless though the back got tired from sitting.

Dumpster fire and a 5K

Well, my spouse ended up in the ER again; this time for an infected tooth. Yes, the infection was serious. It did impact classes on Thursday. She will certainly need more work and assistance.

Wednesday: 5.2 mile walk in the morning. 1:13:49 (14:20 pace) then a 2 mile commuter walk.
Thursday: 3.4 mile walk to the hospital to pick up the car and drive her home. Class was impacted.

Friday: weights: and two 2-mile commuter walk.
Pull ups: 6, 5, chin ups: 5, 5, 5 pull ups, 5 chin ups, 8 pull ups, 4 pull ups, 5 chin ups, 5 chin ups, 48 second hold.

bench press: 10 x 134, 5 x 155, 5 x 155, 4 x 155, 4 x 155

high incline: 10 x 94, 10 x 94, 10 x 105

curls 3 sets of 10.

Saturday: 2 mile warm up walk. 5K Interplanetary race: 11:10, 10:42, 10:25, 1:00. Final time: 33:20, which is faster than last year. But I am lighter and not fighting COVID. Then 1 mile cool down. This gives me 156.9 miles for the month; even 5K tomorrow should get me to 160 miles, which will tie my “post stenosis” high water mark.

Working it

Interesting day: “two factor authentication” was on the fritz so I had trouble logging in to Canvas. I was able to, eventually.

Besides the usual PT, I did the following:

pull ups: 6 sets of 5, 8 plus 4, 7 chins plus 4. I was doing to do some holds but the skies let loose and the wind kicked up like crazy.

Downstairs to high incline: 10 x 94, then 3 sets of 5 x 120 (this was my max not that long ago)

bench: 3 sets of 6 x 145

curls: 3 sets.

Then the W. Peoria 3.14 plus 1.2 campus for 4.35 in 1:01:44 (14:11 pace); not that bad given I was just around 30 minutes at mile 2. I picked it up quite a bit. And nothing hurt; I was 183.0 after the walk.

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Human variation: COVID and acting one’s age (“you’re too old for that”)

Covid: it is hard to discuss this at times, because there is such a great variance in experiences.

Here is my experience with my age peers.

2 of my good friends got it, but only found out they had it via a test. It wasn’t even a cold for them.

2 of my other friends got it and ended up hospitalized; one of them had their oxygen levels drop into the 80’s. He was hospitalized for a month and almost died. He has recovered since. Mind you, he was an accomplished ultramarathon runner.

The other also was hospitalized and, 3 years later, has not recovered. She went from being an ultra marathon runner to barely being able to walk.

I knew of someone else who ended up wheelchair bound and lost a limb!

Me: sick for 2 weeks (worse than any flu I had) and it took me another month to get up to speed, physically. But I did recover at home.

My point: people’s experiences are all over the map, so it is hard to generalize.

Age: So, are you really “too old for that?”

It depends. Most of us have chronic conditions of some sort. My right knee now precludes my trying to run; the last time I tried I could feel the pounding on the top of my shin bone. My back precludes squatting and going for max deadlifts, and it makes open water swimming all but impossible (the “sighting” motion where one lifts their head to look puts the back into extension).

But others do not have this set of difficulties, and still others have the body awareness to know how NOT to put their respective condition into a painful position.

So, the answer to the question is “it depends.”

I do know that my days of jogging to the pool, swimming, lifting, jogging home and then going to work are pretty much over. I have to be selective and I have an “energy” and a “back” budget.

Getting exposed

I thought the recent episode of some glute ache flare ups was going away. But this weekend, my wife went places with me. Why that matters; she is old: 81 right now, and she walks very, very slowly. And such slow walking is tough on me if I don’t remind myself to brace properly: it is one of the hardest things for me to do. I have to really work on the pelvic tilt and abdominal bracing when I am walking so slowly.

About all of those trips: last night, we went t0 the Illinois State at Bradley men’s basketball game (9200 showed up; best crowd of the year) and Bradley won a very ugly game 48-45.

Bradley did build up a lead but cold shooting allowed Illinois State to pull to within 1 late.

Yes, the defense WAS tough and the effort was there. But the shooting was ice cold, for both teams. Here is one of the more exciting moments:

Today’s women’s game: It was very tight for the first 3 quarters; back and forth. But ultimately Indiana State’s inside game prevailed (Bradley was hurt by having a key big player out with an injury) 75-68

Still, there was better offense today than last night.

Note: their big center/forward could shoot the 3 too.

While there was good action on the court, few were there to see it. It has been a rough season.

Workout notes I am stopping goblet squats for a bit and experimenting with other movements. I have to balance the limitations of my back and my knees.

I finished with a 4.25 mile walk (Cornstalk hill) in just over 1 hour. In terms of discomfort, the walk went very well, if just a bit slow. Perfect day.

Full PT

deadlifts: low: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 225 (went well)

4 inch: 3 sets of 5 x 274 (these went ok; glutes and quads were throbbling.

I experimented. I ended up doing 3 sets of squats with the farmer’s walk handles and a step stool (arms?); not quite enough range of motion. 52 lb each arm. Then I did 3 sets of belt squats (10 reps); heaviest was 74 lb (pretty weak, I know). My legs are toothpicks!

I might try these (the bar on the thighs squats) again. For belt squats: I got better results holding the balance bar lower.

I like the way these felt, but the range of motion is lacking. Maybe try these with the trap bar?

Catching up…again

Life is flying by..exams, meetings out the wazoo and, well, just everything.
Due to watching the Super Bowl on Sunday night, I switched walking and lifting.

Monday and Wednesday: 5 mile walk in the morning (lower Bradley Park to avoid the tree, plus a loop to get to 5.2 miles), followed by a 2 mile commuter walk in the afternoon. On Monday, I felt the tighness/ache in the left glute. Not so much on Wednesday; that was pretty painless.
And on Wednesday, I used new shoes. Should have done that a month ago.

Times for the 5.2 mile course: 1:12:23 on Monday, 1:14:01 on Wednesday (less pain, but very sluggish until the end)

Weights: Tuesday I focused on the high incline: 5 x 94, 5 x 105, 5 x 115, 2 misses at 130, but 5 x 114, 5 x 114, and followed it up with 3 sets of 5 x 145 on the bench, 1 set of curls. All of this came after the 10 sets of 5 pull ups. Walking was a slow, commuter 5k.

Thursday: 2 sets of 10 singles, 6 sets of 5 pull ups, downstairs for 3 sets of 10 x 134 on the bench, 2 sets of 10 x 94 on the high incline, and deadlifts: 10 x 134 low, 10 x 184 low, 10 x 260 8 inch (too big of a jump? ) 5 x 280 8 inch (no leg drive), 5 x 280 8 inch (better leg drive). Some free squats too.

Walking was 1 mile then a 2.11 mile commuter walk; latter was a bit stiff at times.

Basketball: On Wednesday night, Bradley beat UIC 85-73 in a game that was not that close; at one point BU lead by 24, but got sloppy with the ball torward the end. Not many were there to see it though: 4400

The women’s team coach showed up and tried to exhort the crowd to go to the Women’s game tonight.

Well, very few came; in fact this was the emptiest I’ve seen it on a non-snow day and Valpo, who was 3-9 in conference play coming in, raced out to a 39-22 halftime lead and won easily 68-50.

What can you say.

Turmoil and serenity

Well, what can I change? Perhaps this letter to the editor is too idealistic, and perhaps out of touch. But I think there should be great caution when an organization decides to sacrifice quality for shallow “branding”, flash, and chasing after the latest trend.

From industry:

Basketball:

This was, by far, the best crowd of the season (8000). Unfortunately, Drake had a strong start at shot 64 percent from the field in the first half and built up a 41-30 lead at the half. The lead was to grow to 17 points with about 16 minutes to go in the game. Bradley rallied furiously to pull within 2 a few times but ultimately Drake made the plays it needed to make to win 74-67. Note that Drake shot 10-12 from the free throw line. Bradley was a terrible 6-16..and missed a few front ends of a 1 and 1. This was the second time Bradley fell behind by 16 or more in this week (road loss to Evansville); they just can’t keep digging those early holes.

Workout notes: I had a gap between my weight workout and walk. I can say the walk was painless and the pain has been going down..AFTER I started to stretch my hamstrings more.

The walk: 43:30 for my 3.15 segment and ended with 4.3 in 59:34 (13:51 average).

The post PT weights: 10 x 134, 10 x 184 low, then switched bars: 10 x 225 low (felt good), 5 x 270 4 inch (bailed..didn’t feel right), 10 x 270 4 inch (widened my stance), 1 x 300 8 inch (awful; forgot to bend my knees), 3 x 300 8 inch (much better) then light goblet squats: 5 to the box, then 3 sets of 5 to the stool plus a plate. Last set was the best; the next too last set was “too much good morning” like.

A thought

This semester has been crazy and is going to get crazier.

And the thought came to me: ”don’t beat yourself up for not being what you were never meant to be.” And yeah, I wanted to be an athlete, but I never had the DNA for it. The upside is that I grew to love working out, though I was never good at that either.

Today: later I had two 2-mile commuter walks; 16:39 pace and 16:28. This is my “moving forward but not training” pace. The second one: some stiffness; I think that I did not stretch before going out.

This morning: up too early; did full PT,

pull ups: 4 sets of 5 singles, 6 sets of 5 reps (2 of them chin sets)

high incline: 10 x 94, 8 x 105, 1 x 130 (hard), 2 x 114 (zero left in the tank), 8 x 105

This was amusing: after the 8 x 105 I deliberately tried 130 to give myself confidence for a 5 x 115 set. Instead the 130 rep was a very slow, energy sucking grind. For some reasons that I can no longer fathom, I thought I was just going to CRUSH that rep right up.

bench: 3 sets of 5 x 145 (pathetic but I got ’em). And I did a lot of free squats: I get to depth easier but have not increased my depth as yet. Well, not that much.

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