Thursday, January 25, 2007

Ten Bucks!

Well, actually $7.00. A couple of weeks back, when the Mega Millions game got up to $122,000,000 jackpot, I decided to play. For my $3 ticket, it looks like I grossed $10. I think this is the first time I've won more than the cost of the ticket. A friend of mine describes lotteries as "a tax on the stupid." I know he's right, but when the payout gets big enough on these progressive games, I like to play. With about $80 million representing the break even point, I don't feel too bad playing, even if the tax man will get half.

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Saturday, January 20, 2007

Driving On Ice

Driving on ice is dangerous. I try to minimize it. Regardless, this video is remarkable because it shows just how tough it can be to control a car sliding on an icy road. Trust me, this video is remarkable. Watch it, then drive scared. (And if you're out running, recognize that this is what you can expect from drivers.)

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Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Confession Is Good For The Soul

...And maybe for the sole. (Bad pun, I know, sorry!) Miss (well, actually, Mrs.) JK Running confessed to skipping her runs last week. And Vince "Boston or Bust" Hemingson confessed to having chest pain. So, I guess it's my turn. My feet still aren't right. They're tight and the plantar warts are slow to shed. More significantly, I've been erratic (that's putting it mildly) about my workouts and my eating. This weekend, we had a couple of family events, and on Saturday, I ate to the point where I was on the verge of losing dinner from pure volume. On Sunday, I weighed myself. I was (unsurprisingly) up, believe it or not, I weighed 180! I decided to be very careful about my diet for a while, and aside from one Hershey's Kiss, I was good all of yesterday. I also weighed myself again, 175! How's that? Five pounds in a day! I'm the greatest dieter ever! OK, I'm fully aware the that weight loss was the weekend's overindulgences winding up in the toilet. Still, at 175, I'm 15 lbs. up from the weight I like to run at, and 25 over my "good" running weight. I'll have to watch out for harpoons if I go to the beach. (Not likely with the cold snap we're supposed to be getting here in the northeast. The weather that bred those horrible ice storms across the midwest should be getting here tonight. I hope we don't have much tree damage.

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Friday, January 12, 2007

Spaghetti

I like to listen to Dr. Kenneth Cooper's radio show (available online). A recent episode had a discussion of cardiovascular disease. One point they made stood out, most of our arteries, when healthy, have an opening the size of cooked spaghetti. Memories of high school first aid class had made me think of arteries that could spurt blood several feet if cut (and I guess it's possible even at this size - think about a water pistol), making me think of opening the size of a finger.

This radical size difference makes very vivid, to me at least, just how important it is to minimize arterial plaqueing. Think for a moment how easy it is for a little bit of fat or scab from in a vessel to break loose and block blood flow. Frightening, isn't it? I bet you're going to be more diligent about diet and exercise now.

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Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Biased Science?

One of the trends in science in recent years has been greater corporate involvement in funding research. This has been a mixed blessing, good for the taxpayer because it reduces the government's need to fund science, bad because some science may be done in a way that makes the researcher beholden to the funder. This study, reported on by NPR, shows that when science is paid for by commercial interests, it's much more likely to be favorable to the business that paid for it. Does this mean that scientists are being effectively bribed by business? No, business will generally have a pretty good idea what will be found before a study is funded. So, business will not pay for science likely to be unfavorable. Thus, the statistic is not surprising, nor an inherent sign of bias. It does show that there is a possibility. The audio report raises the specter of bias being introduced by the way questions are asked. Ask any good pollster if they can vary the result of a poll by phrasing the same question differently. The answer will be "yes." As the dairy industry guy notes, they take great pride in the quality of their science and their studies are published in peer-reviewed journals. Still, it means that we should look hard at science to try to understand whether it MAY be biased.

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Sunday, January 07, 2007

Excellent Chocolate

Those of you who are regular readers of this blog remember that my family went to HersheyPark this summer. One of the outcomes of that was that I tried a new chocolate bar. I favor dark chocolate, and while I enjoy milk chocolate, I'm not a big fan of Hershey's, though I'll acknowledge eating it. Dark chocolate, when well made, can be a superb taste experience. I've found that when the cocoa level exceeds 70%, it's too intense for my liking. One of the bars I found at the Hershey store was their Cocoa Reserve 65% cocoa bar. I tried it and found it to be wonderful. I won't claim that chocolate is health food, though it does appear to contain some excellent antioxidants. Still, in modest amounts, it can be an excellent treat. It takes a bit of work to find these bars, but Target carries them. At $2-3 per bar, they aren't cheap, but I ration them out and they will last me 3 or 4 days and that will generally sate my appetite for chocolate for a couple of weeks, so it's an inexpensive indulgence.

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Saturday, January 06, 2007

Books - Half Off!

My family went out to dinner a few weeks ago. The restaurant had a bookshelf full of books to provide ambiance.

I noticed a title that looked interesting. I took it out, and saw something that was both amusing and a bit disturbing. The book had been modified so it would fit on a grossly undersized shelf.

In light of this, is it any wonder I've titled this post "Books - Half Off!"

Friday, January 05, 2007

A Few Goals

The new year brings a chance to look at ourselves, and I felt that there were a few fitness goals that I need to achieve.

Goal 1: In shape to walk a marathon in April. I'm going to try to wangle myself an invite to walk Boston (there are ways). If I can't manage that, then NJ Shore will probably be my backup. My goal will be low-5 hour range. I'd like to say under 5, but don't think I'll be able to be in that kind of shape by April, so I'll identify my goal as 5:15.

Goal 2: In shape to run a marathon in the fall. I'd like to try to BQ for 2008, but will probably choose to run Steamtown, which I've wanted to run for years. Steamtown has a reputation of being fast, but I've spoken to area people who've run it, and they note that it's a hard marathon unless you're very comfortable with hills. If I come through OK, but don't BQ, then I'll probably try to double with Philly. The five weeks between will likely be adequate to recover IF I pull the plug early if Steamtown starts to come apart.

Those are my fitness goals for 2007. I'd also like to add some upper body strength, and will try to do exercise at least 2x/week.

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Thursday, January 04, 2007

Two Hundred Calories

I was reading the Boing Boing blog today and found this post, which links to a wonderful WiseGeek post showing a number of foods of similar (200 calories) caloric content. They range from about 3 lbs. of celery to just past two pats of butter. It helps to drive home the point of the difference in how filling different foods are. They happened to have included two foods I often use to illustrate the difference between two foods which are often thought of as healthy snacks, apples and pretzels. They pictured all the foods on identical plates, so you can see relative size if you click on the pictures. Here are shots of the two foods I often comment on. Note the difference, then visit the post and LEARN!

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