Author: hsoi

KR Training – Basic Pistol 1

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

What a fine day!

The weather was fantastic.

The students were great.

Just a great day to teach another Basic Pistol 1 class at KR Training.

Actually, we didn’t teach it at KR Training. Rather, we didn’t teach it at the A-Zone Range. Instead, we were at Schaefer Training Academy. Tom Schaefer offers, in conjunction with KR Training, the CHL classes and a Beginner Pistol class. Well, with some construction going on at the A-Zone, Tom was kind enough to let us use his place for class today. Thank you, Tom!

For me, what I liked about the class is refining the presentation. I’m finding places and ways to convey the same information in a simpler, and more effective way. It’s information overload as it is, so if we can simplify, put it into easier to remember terms, that’s going to go further and help out. I am happy to keep finding ways to do this.

Oh… and as I like to point out to those who wish to stereotype gun owners? I don’t think you could have pinpointed a single stereotype here. This was one of the more diverse classes (in every respect you could think of) I’ve been a part of. Actually, there might be one stereotype: it’s a group of people who understand and are willing to take responsibility for themselves. If being responsible for yourself is a bad thing, then none of us there today want to be right.

Thank you to the 11 students that came out today. Looking forward to seeing you back for Basic Pistol 2!

KR Training January 2014 Newsletter

/ hsoi

The KR Training January 2014 Newsletter is out.

Big thing is the 2014 schedule is filling out, and classes are already filling (and selling) out.

Hope to see you out at the A-Zone Range sometime in 2014!

Weight training programs

/ hsoi

I’ve been following the Wendler 5/3/1 program for a couple years and making great progress on it. I’ve been looking at the Cube Method for a while and have been giving it serious thought for later. But now with my ankle injury I need to consider something different while I rehab. I got to thinking about programs and wanted to write something general here.

Note, what follows is just my opinion and understanding. I don’t have 20 years “under the bar” so to speak. I have lifted on and off since I was a teenager (does that count as 20+ years?), but it wasn’t until about 3 years ago I really got the schooling I wish I could have received 20+ years ago. So, here’s some information.

Starting Strength

The “Starting Strength” program by Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore is probably the best place for anyone to start. Here’s their website and here’s a wiki with tons of great information about the program.

If you want to get bigger or stronger, you start here. Period. It doesn’t matter if you want to look good, if you want to play football, if you want to powerlift, or whatever — if its going to involve a barbell, start here. You will learn how to do the lifts, you will learn how to do things properly, and you’ll learn how to do them in a general manner that is applicable to any area. Sure, the way you squat here isn’t like a powerlifter will squat, but that’s fine — adjust to that style later, after you’ve laid a good foundation.

The advantage of SS is as a novice you’ll make “n00b gains”, which means you can work hard, progress fast. Before you know it, you will be bigger and stronger than you imagined. And ladies, don’t be afraid you’ll turn into Ronnie Coleman — you won’t, because you just don’t have the necessary physiology for it; but you will be in better shape and have a better looking butt.

Don’t be cheap. Buy the book. There’s tons of useful information and you’ll use it as a reference for a long time to come.

This is simply the best and right place for a novice to start. Yes sure, not everyone will be appropriate (I wouldn’t put a 14 year old on it at first), but in general yes.

Similar Programs

There are other similar novice programs out there. First, SS itself has some variations. Then there’s stuff like the Bill Starr 5×5 method, which SS owes much to. Stronglifts 5×5 is another similar program. Greyskull Lp is supposedly in this realm too, but I’m not familiar with that program beyond the name and seeing a few templates.

If you can, do SS as it is. If you can’t, consider one of the SS variations.

But really, milk SS for all you can.

And what should you do? Stop asking questions about the program. Read the book, read the Wiki, and just do the program — as written. Don’t think about it too much, just do it. You don’t know enough at this point, so just put a little trust in the program and do it as written. Milk it all you can. Don’t think, just do. After 3 months, you’ll be amazed.

Texas Method

After you’ve milked SS for all you can, look at the Texas Method. It’s a program made for the intermediate lifter, and I’d also say for the younger lifter. It may well be too much for us older guys, unless you can really dedicate your time and energy towards recovery (eating and sleeping and other things like massage). I never did the Texas Method myself, due to being too damn old. But I’ve seen guys that have used it, and the progress is undeniable.

Of course, this is really useful if you are wanting to just get bigger and stronger. If you may have specific programming (e.g. you’re playing football), you may have different needs. But for the average guy that just wants to be stronger and look better, here you go.

Wendler 5/3/1

There’s tons of stuff out there on this. It’s one of the most popular programming approaches one can find these days. The program is simple, it’s based upon principles, and it works.

I would say, if your’e an older guy, going from SS to Wendler is a good transition. If you’re a younger guy, I’d say to try to milk Texas Method all you can first. Thing is, the gains come slower on Wendler because the programming is stretched out and it strives for long-term but slower gains. But it works.

I think what makes this program so good is because it’s really about principles, and it’s really simple. Thus, it’s really flexible and you can apply it to a host of situations and contexts. I have seen football programs use it. I’ve seen CrossFitters use it. I’ve seen powerlifters achieve elite totals with it (not big name guys, but no-names that love to just lift and compete, and have used 5/3/1 to get there). It’s solid.

What’s also nice is Jim made it principles based, but also gives lots of templates. In fact, so many of his later books are just templates. It just shows how you can adjust to make it work for you.

For a new guy, just do the Boring But Big template for 6 months. Just shut up, don’t ask questions, do it as-written. You’ll see the results. You will be stronger, you will be bigger. Just trust in Jim, especially when he tells you to start light.

I used 5/3/1 for 2 years, made great progress. I’m sure I will always come back to it in some way, either in principle or in strict template.

If you don’t know what else to do, try 5/3/1.

Cube Method

What I like about Cube Method is Brandon Lilly strives to bring things back to being simple. It’s about you and a bar, raw lifting (tho it could be applied to gear too). It’s about trying to address all aspects of training in a single program: fast, heavy, reps. Building all aspects. Sure you could do these things with other programs, but Cube gives you a very nice and logical template for it.

I like the principles behind Cube. As I’ve been dabbling with it, I find a lot of good here. There’s a lot of subtle things that aren’t obvious when you read the books, but as you start doing it, things make more sense. It’s pretty cool that way.

One thing about Cube tho is I think Cube is really geared towards someone that wants to be a powerlifter. If you’re wanting to lift to bodybuild, Cube really isn’t for you. Cube is about working to lift maximal weight in squat, bench press, and deadlift. It’s about powerlifting.

To that end, I also think Cube is a more advanced program. It’s a much slower cycle, it’s going to work better for folks where the gains will come slower (i.e. not the rapid n00b gains). Cube also has a lot of “feel” required to make it go. As you read and look at how it all is, you really gotta know what you’re doing and how your body works and responds, to get the maximum out of it. That’s not something for the beginner.

One strike against the program is I don’t think the books are that good. I mean, Brandon’s an inspirational writer, but the fact there’s a lot of questions that come up about details of the program tell me things weren’t conveyed all that well in the writing. I would reason an advanced guy would get it, but with the program being pitched to a wide audience well, you gotta write for all levels of folks and understanding. That’s one thing Wendler did well in his book, was he laid out the principles, but also a LOT of templates and examples (original Cube book just has one, 365 Strong just has one — but if you read both books AND follow the Cube Facebook group, you start to piece it all together). This isn’t a dis on Brandon, just constructive criticism. I think what might be good would be for Brandon to write a 3rd Cube book that works to clear the air and really clarify things. Take all the FAQ’s, try to incorporate all that into better explanations of how it goes. I mean, beginners need to be hand-held and spoon-fed — that’s just how it goes, because they do not understand yet; it’s your job as a writer to do convey and foster understanding.

That said, best I can say is if you’re considering Cube, get all the books, and just read and let it all sink it. It’s really not horribly complicated, but it may take a little bit before the lightbulb comes on as to how the program actually works.

Lift-Run-Bang

Paul Carter is a great guy. You just just read his blog and his postings as there’s much good things about life in there in general.

I recently picked up his 3 eBooks. He’s got some great approaches to stuff, and you can see how he and Wendler influence each other, yet keep their own distinct approaches.

There’s core stuff to Paul’s work, like Strong-15, Big-15, and the like. As I look at his work, well… it’s getting me interested enough to want to try it. I actually think I may go here next. Not just because I think I can work it while I rehab my ankle, but I gotta admit that after I drop this fat I’m probably going to want to focus more on getting bigger than getting stronger (tho strength will remain a vital component of my training, of course). Paul’s got some good approaches here, and I would like to give them a try.

While Paul’s a good writer, it looks like a lot of his eBook material just came from his blog (e.g. copy/paste). It’s minor things in wording and presentation, and it seems there’s some assumption of prior knowledge of his stuff — which may come from the fact it came from the blog; that if you read it in that serialized context, it makes better sense. Can’t say for sure. But I found that if I read all 3 books, then read them again, everything made sense. That which didn’t before, then was covered in another book, so as I went back through it again, ah there we go it makes sense now. Paul’s a good writer, I just think better editing perhaps was needed for continuity.

All in all tho, it seems like some solid stuff because yeah, I want to lift, progress, and not get beat up any more than I already am. 🙂

So…

There are lots of programs out there.

These are the ones I’m most familiar with.

What’s more important isn’t to worry too much about the programs. Pick one, stick with it, and keep working. Give the program time (don’t program hop). Your effort is far more relevant here than what guru you subscribe to.

2014-01-30 training log

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Oh, this ankle….

  • Bench Press – Reps
    • 45 x 10
    • 45 x 10
    • 95 x 10
    • 115 x 10
    • 135 x 10
    • 165 x 12
    • 165 x 10
    • 165 x 7
  • Close-grip Bench Press
    • 175 x 6
    • 155 x 7
  • Bench Press with 1″ pause off chest
    • 145 x 8 x 3
  • Lat Pulldowns
    • 105 X 15
    • 105 X 15
    • 105 X 12
    • 100 X 12
  • DB front raise
    • 15 x 10 x 3
  • Fat-Man pullups
    • bw x 8 x 3
  • Foam Rolling

Something happened yesterday while doing my ankle rehab work. I just got this wicked quick, sharp pain right in the area of the torn ligament. Yeah… that scared me. The pain went away after a bit, and this morning feels generally OK, but I can feel things aren’t totally hot. So I drove to/from the gym. I mean, everything at the gym was sitting or lying down really, so… I just kept awareness.

I do wonder about my bench technique. I thought I should look at going back to flat foot instead of tucking, but I wonder if that may be worse because that will put my foot into extension — which directly “stretches” the torn ligament. Tucking may be better, once I can do it without pain. So hell, I really don’t know right now. Just going to keep flat feet and my shins at a right angle to the floor… which will probably lead to some butt coming off the bench, but whatever right now.

Anyways….

Today’s session was taken right out of Cube Kingpin cycle 1 bench reps. I’m not sure if I overestimated my weights, if I overworked on the work-up sets, if it’s because I have no juice for reps due to the CarbNite stuff… but geez, you can see I lowered weights as I went along in hopes of getting the reps. *shrug* Just how it is right now. Just happy to get some work in.

100 wise words

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1. There are plenty of ways to enter a pool. The stairs is not one of them.

2. Never cancel dinner plans by text message.

3. Don’t knock it ‘til you try it.

4. If a street performer makes you stop walking, you owe him a buck.

5. Always use ‘we’ when referring to your home team or your government.

6. When entrusted with a secret, keep it.

7. Don’t underestimate free throws in a game of ‘horse’.

8. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

9. Don’t dumb it down.

10. You only get one chance to notice a new haircut.

11. If you’re staying more than one night, unpack.

12. Never park in front of a bar.

13. Expect the seat in front of you to recline. Prepare accordingly.

14. Keep a picture of your first fish, first car, and first boy/girlfriend.

15. Hold your heroes to a high standard.

16. A suntan is earned, not bought.

17. Never lie to your doctor.

18. All guns are loaded.

19. Don’t mention sunburns. Believe me, they know.

20. The best way to show thanks is to wear it. Even if it’s only once.

21. Take a vacation of your cell phone, internet, and TV once a year.

22. Don’t fill up on bread, no matter how good.

23. A handshake beats an autograph.

24. Don’t linger in the doorway. In or out.

25. If you choose to go in drag, don’t sell yourself short.

26. If you want to know what makes you unique, sit for a caricature.

27. Never get your hair cut the day of a special event.

28. Be mindful of what comes between you and the Earth. Always buy good shoes, tires, and sheets.

29. Never eat lunch at your desk if you can avoid it.

30. When you’re with new friends, don’t just talk about old friends.

31. Eat lunch with the new kids.

32. When traveling, keep your wits about you.

33. It’s never too late for an apology.

34. Don’t pose with booze.

35. If you have the right of way, take it.

36. You don’t get to choose your own nickname.

37. When you marry someone, remember you marry their entire family.

38. Never push someone off a dock.

39. Under no circumstances should you ask a woman if she’s pregnant.

40. It’s not enough to be proud of your ancestry; live up to it.

41. Don’t make a scene.

42. When giving a thank you speech, short and sweet is best.

43. Know when to ignore the camera.

44. Never gloat.

45. Invest in good luggage.

46. Make time for your mom on your birthday. It’s her special day, too.

47. When opening presents, no one likes a good guesser.

48. Sympathy is a crutch, never fake a limp.

49. Give credit. Take blame.

50. Suck it up every now and again.

51. Never be the last one in the pool.

52. Don’t stare.

53. Address everyone that carries a firearm professionally.

54. Stand up to bullies. You’ll only have to do it once.

55. If you’ve made your point, stop talking.

56. Admit it when you’re wrong.

57. If you offer to help don’t quit until the job is done.

58. Look people in the eye when you thank them.

59. Thank the bus driver.

60. Never answer the phone at the dinner table.

61. Forgive yourself for your mistakes.

62. Know at least one good joke.

63. Don’t boo. Even the ref is somebody’s son.

64. Know how to cook one good meal.

65. Learn to drive a stick shift.

66. Be cool to younger kids. Reputations are built over a lifetime.

67. It’s okay to go to the movies by yourself.

68. Dance with your mother/father.

69. Don’t lose your cool. Especially at work.

70. Always thank the host.

71. If you don’t understand, ask before it’s too late.

72. Know the size of your boy/girlfriend’s clothes.

73. There is nothing wrong with a plain t-shirt.

74. Be a good listener. Don’t just wait for your turn to talk.

75. Keep your word.

76. In college, always sit in the front. You’ll stand out immediately.

77. Carry your mother’s bags. She carried you for nine months.

78. Be patient with airport security. They’re just doing their jobs.

79. Don’t be the talker in a movie.

80. The opposite sex likes people who shower.

81. You are what you do, not what you say.

82. Learn to change a tire.

83. Be kind. Everyone has a hard fight ahead of them.

84. An hour with grandparents is time well spent. Ask for advice when you need it.

85. Don’t litter.

86. If you have a sister, get to know her boyfriend. Your opinion is important.

87. You won’t always be the strongest or the fastest. But you can be the toughest.

88. Never call someone before 9am or after 9pm.

89. Buy the orange properties in Monopoly.

90. Make the little things count.

91. Always wear a bra at work.

92. There is a fine line between looking sultry and slutty. Find it.

93. You’re never too old to need your mom.

94. Ladies, if you make the decision to wear heels on the first date, commit to keeping them on and keeping your trap shut about how much your feet kill.

95. Know the words to your national anthem.

96. Your dance moves might not be the best, but I promise making a fool of yourself is more fun then sitting on the bench alone.

97. Smile at strangers.

98. Make goals.

99. Being old is not dictated by your bedtime.

100. If you have to fight, punch first and punch hard.

— one high school teacher’s list of 100 wisest word

Found on M. Drew Baynard’s Facebook page. I don’t know the guy, this just somehow found it’s way through “sharing” to my feed. I don’t even know if he’s the original author, but it doesn’t matter. I thought it was a good list.

2014-01-29 training log

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Now that I know the story with my ankle, time to start some proper rehab.

I’m still not settled on a full program yet. Been so busy due to all my computer problems, I’m behind and playing catch up. My plan was to do this today, maybe tomorrow I’ll hit the gym again for a “rep day” Cube Kingpin style, then by Monday have a solid plan. I am thinking about following a Paul Carter approach. Something about the “man maker” template is appealing. It’s something like Monday is squat and deadlift, Wednesday is “push” (pressing, triceps), Friday is “pull” (back, biceps). But that you squat and deadlift on the same day… yeah. 🙂  But I don’t know. It may fare better for me to have a “leg day” twice a week. No matter what tho, the gym day would be to do gym-specific things; I do plan on doing at-home rehab work every day.

So with that.

I opted against going to the gym this morning. I have to start slow on this, and I know if I went to the gym I’d want to jump into things and try a bar on my back, 95 on my back, maybe not 135 today, but I know if I was good with 95 I’d grow that (over?) confidence. I need to force myself to go slow.

So I stayed home and did some very simple things. I did ankle rehab work like writing the alphabet with my big toe, windshield wipers, seated calf raises, supporting my bodyweight on one foot (steadying with my hand so my ankle doesn’t have to also deal with weight shifts due to balance). I also did some bodyweight squats and deadlifts (a couple sets of 10 each). Basically, put myself in the starting position for the lift, then just go through the motion to ensure I still have the range of motion, etc. Deadlifts were a little stiff, because that has a narrower stance and feet pointed more forward, so there’s certainly more flexion in the ankle joint — precisely what and into the area I’m dealing with. But it wasn’t bad. I also ensured to go slowly because as I’ve tried these over the past some days, I know I’ve been leaning right to take weight off my left foot — don’t want to do that. Sure, no pistol squats (not that I could do those anyways), but at least evenly distributed weight.

So, hardly a strenuous day, but I’ll keep doing these. The key will be working the ankle stuff into my daily life, so as I’m sitting at my desk working, I stretch, rotate, lift, support, etc.. But making sure I do NOT overdo it. Gotta be slow. Gotta be slow. Gotta hold back.

MRI Results

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Finally got the MRI results.

I’ve got a 70-80% tear of an ankle ligament (Anterior talofibular). There’s fluid, inflammation, and supposedly a bone chip floating around (tho directly reading the MRI results I don’t see “bone chip”… a mention of a large osteophyte, so perhaps that’s what he means).

So it’s not so bad, despite the initial horribleness.

Options? PT and Surgery

Surgery would work to repair the ligament, clean things out. The theory is 4-6 weeks in a cast, 4-6 weeks of PT, then maybe another 4-6 weeks until I’m really active again. Of course, nothing is certain, even that it will be “stronger than before”.

PT will be 4-6 weeks of someone telling me to trace the alphabet in the air with my toes, band flexion/extension, calf raises, etc.. And paying someone for it. End result is that it will heal via scarring, won’t be as strong as the original, but will be strong enough.

Feh.

Look. Over the weekend at the LA Fit Expo, Brandon Lilly was squatting 744# on his third attempt and collapsed while in the hole. It’s horrible to watch. Well, he’s out of surgery:

Brandon may have set a world record in ligaments/tendons that needed repairing with tears to both quad tendons, patella tendons, MCLs, meniscus, as well as the left ACL, hamstring tendon and breaking the left knee cap in two.

– Chad Wesley Smith

So you know, that requires surgery. (BTW, get well, Brandon; can’t wait for the come back!)

What I’ve got? Nope.

In fact, I’m not even going to go the professional PT route. It’s just too expensive and I don’t see the gain.

A short trip around Google shows all sorts of ankle PT to do, and it’s all basically the same things. Yeah, being under the watchful eye would be useful, but then it comes down to cost — and after the sudden massive expenses I’ve recently had, just can’t do it.

My plan is to do ankle PT exercises pretty much every day at home. I’m looking at adjusting my lifting to follow something like Paul Carter’s “man-maker” template, but I don’t know just yet. I will do leg work at the gym, but very VERY light. Like squats may start out just being bodyweight, deadlifts would just be the bar with the lightest bumper plates, empty-machine calf raises, etc.. And I may do some “heavier” extensions and curls just to give me a little real work in my legs. 🙂  Slowly over the next 4-6 weeks ramp it up. And watch it week to week to see how it goes. If things don’t seem to be improving, or certainly go bad, then I’ll reevaluate.

I do expect to have ankle problems the rest of my life. I expect to injure it again, probably in a worse way. It’s just going to happen, all things considered. I’ll wait for surgery until I have to.

Retina MacBook Pro impressions

/ hsoi

So, what do I think of the new MacBook Pro?

First, my old reference point is my prior MacBook Pro, which was a “MacBookPro8,3“. I believe I had the 2.3 GHz model, 750 MB hard drive, 16 GB RAM. Note that officially this machine only supported 8 GB of RAM, but OWC said it could do 16 so I upgraded to 16 shortly after buying the machine and was quite happy with the added RAM. I also ran Mac OS X 10.8.5 (Mountain Lion) on it; I couldn’t upgrade to Mavericks (Mac OS X 10.9) due to some work requirements.  Also, this was a 17″ screen, and the last 17” MacBook Pro Apple made.

The new machine is a retina MacBook Pro, which is technically a “MacBookPro11,3“. It’sthe 2.6 GHz model. 1 TB flash drive, 16 GB RAM, 15” retina screen. I didn’t relish spending that kind of money, but because you can’t upgrade the thing after the fact well… given I need as much RAM as possible, here we are.

How do things compare?

Overall… meh.

OK, no question it’s faster, and I know I’m going to be happier with it. But my “meh” is because I don’t like upgrading like this. My old machine did NOT feel long in the tooth at all. It was still quite a capable and functional machine, hardly obsolete. I only bought because I was essentially forced to. When these machines came out I didn’t feel there was anything compelling about them that I could gain from an upgrade, and I still don’t think they are a significant enough upgrade from the prior machine.

But that said, there’s some good and some bad.

First the flash drive. Holy crap it’s fast. Long long ago the disks were faster than everything else, so things like CPU were bottleneck. Now the disk i/o is by far the slowest subsystem and everything waits on the disk. I have no idea if the disk is still the slowest subsystem now, but holy gee whiz, Batman! This is unreal fast. Everything is so responsive. It’s awesome. Compiling is very disk intensive, and it seems to be better, but I can tell when I’m still up against CPU now (e.g. when the deep static analyzer is running). Still, if I could have benchmarked before and after, I’m sure I’d see improvement. If nothing else, the fact so many apps now launch almost instantly is awesome. No more waiting and waiting to start rolling on your ideas and work. That’s welcome.

Second, because of the drive… gee, are there any moving parts any more? Ok, the fans, but otherwise wow, she’s quiet.

I haven’t tried putting her on battery alone yet to see how battery life is, but supposedly it will be a lot better.

I am impressed with how light/thin it is. Almost feels too much so tho.

The screen? That’s a mixed bag.

First, retina. I wasn’t explicitly caring about retina, but as I started using the machine and just reading text on screen, it started to sink in how crisp and vibrant everything was. It just slowly crept up on me, but wow, it’s a significant difference. I am mighty impressed. It’s just… wow. My initial feeling was that my aging crappy eyes would really love this towards the end of the day as my eyes get tired of staring at the screen all day.

But, I did not like the loss of resolution. Yeah, the pixel density is huge, but then since retina is just a double-density trick, I lost massive amounts of resolution compared to what I had before. That sucked. I always got the largest screen because I like screen space, I like being able to see as much as possible when I work. Back in the day, I always used 2-monitor setups. When I went laptop-only a couple years ago, I wanted that 17″ precisely because of the screen real estate. So now it’s a step back — a big step back. Retina isn’t worth the trade-off here, for me.

Now, you can scale the display. In fact, I can scale it to the same resolution I used to have on the 8,3 model. However, it crams that same resolution into a smaller screen. So if I want the real estate, it’s now smaller. So far my eyes are ok with it and don’t really seem to notice. And the quality of the screen still seems ok and better — maybe strong LCD backlighting? maybe the glossy screen vs. the matte? Either way, quality of picture does seem better, but I’m annoyed by the loss of resolution (or the trade-off of making everything smaller to regain the resolution). Who knows tho, as I work over the coming weeks I might try the smaller resolutions for a while to see if I can work with the smaller resolution in favor of the retina fun.

One nice thing about the 15″ screen tho?

I can now get one of the ITS Tactical Discrete Messenger Bags to use as my briefcase. 🙂 Win!

On paper, the 11,3 machine looks to have some slower specs than the 8,3, but I think it makes up for it with the flash drive. I really don’t notice. Again, the 8,3 was really a fine machine. But remember, what I mostly do in a day is do email, do lots of stuff on the web (running Safari, Firefox, and Chrome, depending what I have to do), intensive work in Xcode, TextWrangler, communication work (Adium, Skype, Messages), and then other things here and there like Calendar, Yojimbo, Terminal, Textmate, etc..  So, my needs and workflow are different from yours. But there we are. So that’s how things work out for me.

One side effect of the new machine was being forced to adopt Mac OS X 10.9 “Mavericks”. So far I haven’t noticed any problems or issues. It’s been fine. The main reason I couldn’t upgrade was the possible day-job need to still run Xcode 4.x.x. However, the need for that is rapidly fading and essentially a non-issue now that Apple’s forcing Xcode 5 and iOS7 compatibility for any App Store submissions. So, I think it’s fine to take the upgrade at this point. However, it did break my ruby install, so I have to spend a bunch of time in ruby gem hell now. One fun thing about the Mavericks upgrade? I use the Messages app, of course on my iPhone, but I’ve used it on my machine while I work because it’s easier to use for Messages interaction (texting Wife and Kiddos and other Apple-based folks, much nicer when I have a real keyboard). Well, finally in Mavericks there’s support for real emjoi! Yeah I know, totally silly reason, but that was probably the main reason I wanted to upgrade to Mavericks. 😉

Anyways, I’m not happy about why I had to go here, nor having to unexpectedly drop that much money. But so far the machine is alright and I’m sure as I use it more I’ll come to appreciate it more.

2014-01-27 training log

/ hsoi

Whatever…. MRI results today, hopefully.

  • Bench Press – Explosive
    • 45 x 5
    • 45 x 5
    • 95 x 5
    • 115 x 5
    • 135 x 3
    • 155 x 3 x 8
  • Close-grip Bench Press
    • 165 x 5 x 2
  • Bench Press with 1″ pause off chest
    • 145 x 8 x 3
  • Lat Pulldowns
    • 110 X 15
    • 110 X 15
    • 110 X 10
    • 90 X 15
  • DB side raise
    • 20 x 10 x 3
  • Fat-Man chin-ups
    • bw x 5 x 3
  • Foam Rolling

MRI results didn’t happen because of the Great Austin Ice Storm of 2014. Doctor cancelled all his appointments. So supposedly today I’ll get results.

Originally I hoped to have results and this week would have started a new routine based upon those results, but lacking the information I just stayed the course and did another “explosive” day modeled after the Cube Kingping program (1st cycle). In many respects, it was a “going through the motions” sort of day, which is fine at this point.

I did walk to the gym. My ankle isn’t quite ready for “angry gorilla walking” sort of walk, but I could walk at a pace slightly more than a mosey. I figure I’ll slowly work my way back up.

In other news….

I weighed in at 240 this morning. Color me surprised. That’s 10# lost in about 6 weeks. Not too bad, really. I want to be happy about it, and I am, but I’m not feeling like a clean win. See, lost 5# pretty quickly, then been hovering in the 243-246 area for the past some weeks. Either yesterday or the day before I weighed in at 242, and now 240. Why the sudden change?

Is the loss because of the program? Or something else?

Is it because I haven’t squatted nor deadlifted in almost 3 weeks, and I’ve lost some muscle?

I thought the 242 might have been dehydration (I didn’t drink much at all on Friday for whatever reason), but I drank tons of water all weekend. So that’s probably not it.

I did start taking some Konsyl psyllium husks over the weekend. Been avoiding that hoping I could just get enough fiber through veggies, but alas, no. Thing is, a lot good fiber-rich foods are also carb-rich, or at least carb-enough they won’t play with this CarbNite stuff. Even Kiefer suggests a fiber supplement so…. I’ll just say things are happier, and who knows if this contributed in some way.

I’ve upped my daily dose of caffeine, and while not a coffee drinker, I’m drinking some while doing this. Maybe this?

In my quest for sweets that work, Wife and I hacked up a “pudding” consisting of coconut cream, my unsweetened chocolate whey isolate, and some Splenda. Works out that about 100g of the stuff has like 55g protein, 12g fat or some such like that. Had 3 servings over the weekend. I noticed after having it, my heart was a little “happy”… Wife reports coconut oils can do this to her heart too. Could that, and the caffeine, and whatever, have some impact? Maybe the MCT’s?

So you can see, there’s a lot of possible questions here.

I really don’t know.

Funny thing is, as I squeeze the fat around my middle, it feels really squishy. In some regards, it makes me feel much fatter than normal. But then, I also think that when it was a lot more, it felt more solid… so maybe more squishy is a good sign — i.e. same amount of skin, but less stuff filling it up?

Anyways, lots of unknown at this point. I’m wanting to be happy about the 240, but it’s just going to have to be continued progress to really know if this is happening or not. Just push forward, stay the course.

The hard drive saga gets worse….

/ hsoi

So that hard drive swap? The story got worse.

After the long weekend of swapping and getting back up to speed, I finally go back to work. Close the lid on the MacBookPro, lift it to put it into my bag… and there’s this buzzing noise coming from the hard drive. It sounded like a lightsaber (best way to describe it).

That can’t be good.

I contacted Other World Computing about it. It only makes the sound when on… doesn’t have to be going to sleep, could be lid open and in the middle of doing whatever, pick up the machine and tilt it (not even a quick tilt, just gently) and noise. So it’s not say a loose bracket or something. They opt to send me a replacement. I got the replacement just before this past weekend, and just time.

See, all the week while I had the new drive in, I had strange crashes. Some background daemon would crash, or Xcode would crash in a non-normal way (yeah, Xcode 5.0.2 crashes on me, but the crashes seem to be fairly deterministic and reliable — these new crashes were out of character).

Made worse? All day Friday while at home (the great Austin Ice Storm of 2014!) I kernel panicked 3 times. Well, more than that, but after the 3rd one I figured it was time to stop work for the day and investigate. All my crashing and panicking was coming out of processes like mds and backupd, which starts to point to disk i/o. Hrm.

So I swap in the new drive (so we have “original drive”, “replacement drive 1” and now “replacement drive 2”. I put replacement 2 in, and start the process again of restoring things. Hrm. Long story short, first restore attempts fails for some unknown reason. Try again, and it appears to have succeeded but didn’t, because reboot and while booting it panics again (couldn’t find ‘init’. That’s bad). So again I go around and around. Yeah, it starts to panic again.

And I tried tilting the machine. Sure enough, replacement 2 makes the same vibration lightsaber noise.

Well crap.

It’s unlikely to have 2 faulty drives in a row, possible, but unlikely. What gives?

I did a bunch more experimentation. After talking it over with my buddy W, it came down to a simple thing: time vs. money. To try to further diagnose this problem would require a lot of time, perhaps a week or two without the machine. I cannot afford that. If it was just for email and Facebook, whatever. But as a developer, the machine is vital to my daily existence. Time is more critical here.

So….

I am now the proud owner of a MacBookPro11,3 — the 15″ retina model. 🙂 And the big model too, because these machines can’t really be modified or upgraded after the fact, and 16 GB of RAM and 1 TB drive space matters given what I do in a day.

No, I’m not happy to have suddenly dropped 3-grand (and yes, I got AppleCare — always do), but I’m thankful that I could.

So I’ve used Migration Assistant and things seem to be getting back to normal.

As for the other machine….

While doing some of this restore work, I had put their “replacement 1” into an external case (see their DIY upgrade kit). On a whim I tried it… I just tilted the naked drive. Sure enough, it vibrated. I’ve been in communication with OWC’s tech support, and just sent them a follow-up with a little video of the vibration noise. We’ll see what they say.

I was convinced the old MacBookPro was dying a hardware death somewhere, but now I’m not so convinced. Nothing I can do about it now… I guess it just means the kids get a nice MacBookPro for school. But we’ll see how everything shakes out in the end.

The story continues…. but I just hope that I’m nearing the end of it, at least the major headache portions.