Empathy

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.

Toxic dialogue

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.

Acceptance

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.

A ridiculous walk

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.

Keeping on keeping on

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

sort of getting back into it

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.

Why I don’t talk about important stuff

For me, the important things are:

  1. Welfare of my family and loved ones. Their conditions are private.
  2. My job, and it is not good to broadcast proprietary information in public.
  3. 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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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
  3. 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.

summer lethargy

Undisciplined as always..
Monday: weights and a 2+ mile walk.
pull ups: 9 sets of 6 (one was 8 plus 2 partials). These continue to be tough. Too much weight.
bench: 10 x 134, 3 x 165, 3 sets of 5 x 160
Note: I have an unusual bench press curve: My bests are (NOT all on the same day!)
20 x 134, 10 x 150, 7 x 155, 5 x 160, 3 x 165 and max is 180
high incline: 10 x 94, 6 x 105, 6 x 105
trap bar dead: low: 10 x 134, 10 x 184 4 inch: 10 x 228

I cannot do long walks and maintain anything like heavy trap bar deadlifts at the same time.

Tuesday: Usual 10k course (5 hill) 1:31:02. It was warm (83 F) and humid and I started too late, and the air was tough. I was 1:00:10 at 4 miles. So, that means I did my last two right at 14:00; it should NOT have been that hard.

But, the insoles have really helped that foot lump, so there is that.

Some very frustrating Chiefs games

First: I did an easy 4 mile walk at 17:30 mpm around the neighborhood.

Now about the Chiefs:
Friday: this was a double header. The Chiefs lost a tightly contested contest 4-3. Barbara was with me for that one. Second one: Barbara went home, but Linda, Vickie and Harry were there. The game got a late start due to *potential* thunderstorms which didn’t materialize, and ended after the top of the 6’th due to a thunderstorm which DID materialize in a big way. Final was 6-5.

Saturday: this one wasn’t really close. The Chiefs bullpen did deliver 5 consecutive shut out innings but they were already down 5-0 and it ended 5-2. Tracy and Barbara were there. This game saw one ejection (batter arguing a bad strike call)

Sunday: here is the kicker. Chiefs start out 8-0 after 3. Starting pitcher tires after 4 innings and gives up 3 runs. In the 7’th the bull pen gives up 2 more, then…argh..3 more in the 8’th. Horror show.

So, now it is 10-8 in the top of the bottom of the 10’th. 2 out, runners on first and third. Clutch hitter at the plate (grand slam, game winning double, multiple hits with runners on base). So what do you do? You…steal and get thrown out. OMG.

This last loss was the most frustrating one in a long time.

To recap the week: 6 losses in a row. Leads of 5-0, 3-0 and 8-0 blown.
ARGH!!!

Note: this was a chippy series. In one game, the Kernels pitching coach was tossed. In another game, a Kernel player was tossed. In today’s game, a Chiefs player was tossed (arguing about a shift?) and in the 10’th, a Kernels player and a Chiefs player started to square off due to a contested play at the plate.

Getting easier..physically

It was 76 F, 72 percent humidity with cloud cover. I waited way too long to start: close to 10 AM. I just can’t seem to kick myself out the door early if I do not need to. And I tend to balk at the longer walks: I tend to remember how tough the first few were instead of how well the more recent ones went.

Garmin got it at 10.1 so I went with 10.2 . The course: it started with the usual Parkside to Bradley Park and the first part of the spur. Then on the first loop: I did a weird thing where I went past the Cornstalk building but took the alternate “lower on the hill” part, but then turned left to go past the Cornstalk tent area (down for renovation) then back DOWN Cornstalk hill and then got back on the loop in lower Bradley Park. That put me at 5.5 miles when I did a second Cornstalk loop (full one). That got me to 6.8. Then I did a mini no hill loop to take me up the Upper Bradley Park hill and that got me to 7.8 (very close to it) at the exit.

Then I returned by taking Parkside all the way to University then to Columbia Terrace. Then I walked the usual return and added a short Moss/Cooper loop to finish the 10+

And, FINALLY, just under 16 minutes per mile. Not fast at all, but the course was slippery in spots due to rain, and I never really felt bad.

And when I finished my shirt was completely soaked.

Yes, this would have been done in 2:10-2:20 when I was in Centurian shape, but that was 20-21 years ago. My body is not the same.