Month: September 2011

I needed that

/ hsoi

My day job sucks.

Yeah yeah, happy to have a job, good pay, work from home. I know all that. But that doesn’t change the fact that it sucks.

You suck it up, you do your job. That’s how it goes. I have a family to provide for, and I know there’s little out there that can help me manage like this job does. So I know all the good, I know the advantages, I know the blessings. But I’m still miserable.

The past couple weeks have been especially demoralizing and destructive.

But something happened.

Sure, I look at my blog stats to see what’s going on, and sometimes I wonder where all the hits to a certain page have come from. One such page is this one, about Mental Toughness. I write a lot, don’t always remember what I write, so I went back to read it.

It is not easy getting over any shattering experiences, but with guts and determination, you can get over any painful ordeal. Life is full of disappointments and letdowns. When we don’t get what we want, the consolation is that we gain experience. This doesn’t seem like a worthwhile prize, but see how the adversity can enlighten you. If may not be obvious, but look hard at any opportunity for personal growth. Take in the life lesson and move on.

So allow me to rephrase…

I’m presently gaining a lot of experience, enlightenment, and undergoing massive amounts of personal growth. 🙂

Oddly tho, when I step back to look at things, I see it… and I see the growth in more ways than the obvious. Question is… what am I going to do with it?

We shall see.

But at least, after a long crappy couple of weeks… reading the above was a needed reminder.

We’re Pro Choice, when it serves us

/ hsoi

Generally speaking, those of the “Liberal” or “Democrat” ilk claim to be “of the people”, and all about “choice”.

It’s my body, let me do what I want with it. It’s my life, stay out of our bedrooms. And so on. Choice choice choice.

So if they’re so pro choice, why aren’t the consistently pro choice?

They tend to be anti-gun. Why do they deny a woman the ability to choose how to defend herself? If you want to choose to defend yourself with a knee to the crotch and yelling “NO!” that’s your choice. I think a serving of lead is a lot more effective, but hey… it’s your choice.

They want to choose what we can and cannot see for advertising, because it could “harm the children”. We can’t choose what to see, what to watch, what to be exposed to, and how to raise our own children. No choice, they know better.

We can’t choose to raise food for ourselves, nor to consume the food we raise.

We can’t choose what to put in our own bodies. Even those things well-established to be good for us. Seems to be rather contradictory, when they clamor about health and obesity, then people want to do things to help their health, no no… can’t do that.

Even if it’s something that could be harmful, aren’t I an adult that’s allowed to make my own choices?

I just don’t get it.

If you’re so “pro choice” why aren’t you consistently pro choice?

(The “Conservatives”/Republicans are well out to control you too, but at least they don’t claim to be pro choice). And if you don’t know, I don’t affiliate myself with either of these goon parties.

2011-09-23 workout

/ hsoi

“Week 2” 3 reps

  • 5/3/1 – Squat (working max: 230#)
    • 2x5x45 (warmup)
    • 1x5x95
    • 1x5x115
    • 1x3x140
    • 1x3x165 (work)
    • 1x3x185
    • 1x5x210
  • Asst. #1 – Squat
    • 5 x 10 x 90
  • Asst. #2 – Leg Curl
    • 5 x 10 x 45
  • Metcon – jump rope
    • 1 Tabata set – all single hop

Today was alright. I’ve been really focusing on trying to improve my squat form, trying to be really aware of what I’m doing, things like keeping my entire body tight, head and eye position, letting my knees go out, not letting it be a quad (only) exercise, and so on. Consequently, I don’t feel very strong, and I try to only focus on a couple cues so I don’t overwhelm myself. But, I’ve a ways to go to really get form right. I’m trying to listen to advice from powerlifters that know what they’re talking about and trying to tighten things up, but I also think that I’m going to need to video myself to really see what’s going on.

That said, it’s well possible that I may not bump my weight next cycle since I’d rather have tighter form… or maybe only bump by 5#. I’ll have to see how “week 3, 5/3/1” goes. I think that I’ve been too quad-dominant and not enough posterior chain, but in fixing form it’s bringing more of that in and correcting things, so of course that makes me “not as strong” as those weaker points get brought up, but in the long run that’s the better way to go. So, even if weight doesn’t linearly progress, if form is getting better and weak spots are getting stronger, that’s still progression, which I’m cool with.

I will say, I want to bump my assistance went to 95 next time… today was a bump to 90 and was good, 95 should be a bit better. I really try to emphasize form here, and I’d like to hope it’s paying off.

Curls… bump to 50 next time. Just slow increase in weight. I’ll get there.

Didn’t feel like trying the running in place rope jumping today because my legs were just too exhausted from squats and curls… wouldn’t have done well in the coordination realm. 🙂

Mainstreaming

/ hsoi

When things start to become normal, you know your side is winning and things are improving.

For instance, non-whites don’t have to sit at the back of the bus. It’s normal to see non-whites sitting wherever they wish. Winning.

Last night I was watching UFC Live 5 on Versus. What did I see? AmmoToGo.com had sponsorship logos on numerous fighters. Duane Ludwig had a sponsorship from Daniel Defense. And someone else had another firearms-related sponsorship, I forgot who and what.

Seeing firearms advertising in non-niche areas. Winning.

Oh, and Ben Henderson was a beast last night.

Opeth – Heritage

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

I just picked up the new Opeth album, “Heritage”.

It’s Opeth, but it’s not.

For fans of their death metal heritage well… it’s certainly not “Morningrise”. It’s not “Damnation” either, tho I can see people drawing immediate parallels since “Heritage” is kinda on the mellow side. But it’s not even “Watershed”, yet it seems to just be an evolution of where Opeth has been going with their later albums. There’s no question it’s still Opeth in terms of composition, song structure, lyrical content, and so on. It is Opeth… but unlike anything they’ve done before.

It’s more “progressive”. It’s more jazzy. “Famine” made me think of Jethro Tull (guess why?). Still has that “spooky” overtone to everything. No death growl vocals (tho I honestly don’t blame Mike for that… the longevity of my throat would appreciate it too). In fact, if you look at the setlists for the tour going on right now, it’s rather a mellow overall set… like maybe I should be sitting at a small round table with a cigar and cognac while I listen, but certainly no mosh pit here.

Like all Opeth albums, I’ll need to listen to it numerous times before I can really form my opinion. This is just first listen reaction. I do dig it, and while it feels so familiar, it feels so different. Just have to keep listening to see where I end up placing it.

2011-09-21 workout

/ hsoi

Set another PR on bench press.

“Week 2” 3 reps

  • 5/3/1 – Bench Pres (working max: 195#)
    • 2x5x45 (warmup)
    • 1x5x80
    • 1x5x100
    • 1x3x120
    • 1x3x140 (work)
    • 1x3x160
    • 1x8x180
  • Asst. #1 – Bench Press
    • 5 x 10 x 100
  • Asst. #2 – Dumbbell Row
    • 5 x 10 x 40
  • Metcon – jump rope
    • 1 Tabata set – all single hop, tho I did also try running in place

To set a personal record (PR) could be a number of things. If you did more reps with the same weight, that’s “more work” and could constitute a PR. If you did more weight (tho of course slightly less reps), that could constitute a PR as well. If you did more reps and more weight, well, that’s pretty clear. 🙂

On my previous 5/3/1 cycle, the PR was 1x10x175 (with a 180# working max). On this cycle, “week 1” had me do 1x11x170, which one could argue was a PR since I’ve never moved 170 for 11 reps. Well today, I did 1x8x180, which I’ll claim as a PR because I’ve NEVER moved 180# in bench press for any reps, and then to crank out 8 reps with it? Yeah, that’s acceptable. 🙂 Of course, the question then is, am I getting stronger? I think so. Makes me still wonder if I’m under-dosed on what my bench press max really should be.

On the assistance bench, I opted to bump to 100 this workout and that still felt fine to me so… 105 next time. Slow hops.

On the rows I realized that I explode the weight up, but then kinda “drop” it down… not really drop, but there’s not much emphasis on the negative. I need to change that and have a little more work on the negative. I focused on that and the 40# of course worked me harder today. I think I’ll continue with 40 and more negative emphasis before I go up to 45. But this is working nicely.

Jumping rope… I don’t know what gives. It’s like I took a step back in coordination. Geez. But I also tried a round or two of the “running in place” type of jumping… wow, that was a big failure. 😉 So I’m not going to even consider it yet as my workload, but I will try to do a little “running in place” rope jumping every time from now on so I can work out the coordination aspect of it all and get it figured out.

Side note: I’m shopping around for life insurance and of course there’s going to be a medical exam. This should be interesting because my height/weight obviously doesn’t fit the charts, but it’s not because I’m an unhealthy lard butt. As well, what’s my pee test going to look like? For instance, the creatine supplementation. My creatine levels aren’t high because I’m unhealthy, they are because I supplement with it. I’ll probably set the medical appointment out a good week or two then just go off the extra sups, drink lots of water, and try to flush my system a bit so things don’t look too out of whack. I’m not wanting to do this for fear of how it might lower performance, but on the same token I’m looking at it that it could be revealing to see just how much of my performance is in fact coming from the supps. So, it should be an interesting thing to observe.

Quote for the day

/ hsoi

“When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men, they predictably create for themselves a legal system that authorizes and protects it, a political party that enshrines it, and a ‘moral’ code to justify it.”

Frederic Bastiat

Seen here.

National Reciprocity

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

There’s movement afoot for National Reciprocity.

H.R. 822, introduced in the U.S. House by Representatives Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) and Heath Shuler (D-N.C.), would allow any person with a valid state-issued concealed firearm permit to carry a concealed firearm in any state that issues concealed firearm permits, or that does not prohibit the carrying of concealed firearms for lawful purposes. A state`s laws governing where concealed firearms may be carried would apply within its borders. The bill applies to D.C., Puerto Rico and U.S. territories. It would not create a federal licensing system; rather, it would require the states to recognize each others` carry permits, just as they recognize drivers` licenses and carry permits held by armored car guards. Rep. Stearns has introduced such legislation since 1995.

I’ve been torn on this issue because it hits two things dear to me: gun rights, and state’s rights. While sure the gun rights side of me would love to see this happen, it also feels like it’s potentially stepping upon state’s rights since as it is most gun laws — including concealed carry — is instituted at the state level. How to reconcile these? I know a lot of people, especially these days, are happy to jump on whatever part of politics achieves their goals: if screaming “states rights!” meets their goal, they’ll jump on it, even if it might contradict other things… because too many people are self-serving instead of principled.

Somehow I felt that yes, this is right, but I couldn’t adequately word it in a proper, Constitutional way, if in fact there was one.

The Cato Institute Daily Podcast for September 19, 2011 featured David Kopel and discussed this very issue. It’s only 9 minutes long, but it discusses why yes in fact a system of national reciprocity is Constitutional and doesn’t step on state’s rights. In short, 14th amendment. But to better understand it, listen to the podcast.

Driving to the bus stop?

/ hsoi / 15 Comments

When I walk home from the gym in the morning, if I hit it at just the right time I walk by a school bus stop. I’ve been seeing something at the bus stop that I find curious:

Why are parents driving their kid to the bus stop and dropping them off?

I’ve seen it enough, and by the same cars/parents, that I know this isn’t some one-time fluke such as Junior running late. As someone who went to public school for K-12 and either walked or took the bus, I do know what a pain it can be for parents if Junior misses the bus.

But that’s not what I see.

Are these children living so far away from the bus stop they can’t walk? Perhaps, but most school systems make the bus routes and stops within reasonable walking distance. From the looks of it, I’d say these are junior-high school kids, so they certainly have the physical ability to walk a little ways.

Heck, the other morning as I was walking home, I saw a minivan pull out of a driveway… drive 2 blocks to the bus stop… drop off the child… then the mother drove back home.

WTF?

Two blocks.

Your child couldn’t walk two blocks?

I’m dying to ask that parent just why they drive their child to the bus stop, especially when this is a vehicle I’ve seen do this on numerous occasions.

Is it a matter of being late to the bus? Well, every parent seems to be arriving well on time and if in fact you do miss the bus it teaches you two things: 1. how to run (faster), 2. how not to be late so you don’t miss the bus again. They can also teach you the value of “hustle”, which seems to have a different meaning to kids these days.

Yeah, I sound like a grumpy old man now… uphill both ways in the snow.

Nevertheless, I find it most curious and perhaps a little bothersome. Maybe it’s because I’m walking home from the gym, which is not just that I’m in a post-exercise frame of mind but because I intentionally chose to walk to/from the gym because I think it’s kinda silly to drive half a mile when the whole purpose is to exercise… it’s like that famous picture of the escalators outside a 24 Hour Fitness. And we go on and on about kids not getting enough exercise, when walking a few blocks every day would certainly do them good.

Could it be they don’t feel the kids are safe? I grant the world may have some ugly people in it, but if you won’t let your child walk 2 blocks away from your own house then perhaps you should reconsider where you live in the first place. Or maybe consider not letting your child out of your sight, ever.

Or maybe this is just that day of helicopter parenting, when parents give all for their children… everything except the ability, confidence, and wherewithal to do things for themselves. Not sure how kids are going to survive because someday they will have to be allowed out from under their parent’s wings.

I’m sure I’m filling in the informational gaps with my own biases. I don’t know why these parents keep driving their kids a few blocks to the bus stop. Still, I find it curious. Maybe one morning I’ll ask.