Vy Blog

Resolutioneers

Something I never look forward to:

The endless parade of New Year's resolutioneers who will vow Sunday night, "I'm going to start exercising!"  They'll clog up the Y starting Tuesday.  You can at least look forward to about January 20 or 21, when they will have given up.

Pardon the cynicism.  If you plan and commit and stay with it -- even if it's just 20 brisk minutes a day on the treadmill -- you deserve respect.  If you have no intention to commit to actual fitness, and you keep cramming your face with ice cream, please just do everyone a favor and skip it.

Man of many peeves, part 476

The pool was closed this morning.

If I'm going to get up that early and make the effort, I'd really like the staff to have a clue about how to balance the chlorine mix.

And I hate that flat, sluggish feeling I get when I don't get in an anticipated workout.

Election day head gravel

This blog is drifting.  Do you feel it?  I do.  I know it is and I'm conciously not doing anything about it except adding thoughts here and there when it appeals to me.  That's not how I want to run the blog, but it's what I have capacity for now -- to make room for the blog, the way I want it to be, would be to penalize other areas I'm not willing to penalize at the moment.

So, changes coming.  I know what I want it to say and look/feel like.  Just not yet.  Stay with me. 

Meanwhile, Election Day thoughts:

1) I'm glad the election is almost over, and that's saying something when a political junkie is talking.  I'm interested in both politics and government, and my instinct is that the former has nearly consumed the latter.  Interactions in the government are defined politically, and the political camps today are not just different, but openly hostile.  That's what's making the election cycle such a mess, and I'll be glad when tomorrow arrives because I won't have to listen to, "I'm Jack Toothpolish, and I approved this ad becuase Mike McWeatherwax is [earnest look added here] just too extreme and deserves to lose."

I don't necessarily have a quarrel with either party.  But if either party has a big day, I'll hate it if it gloats.

2) For unusual reasons, I've had the occasion to consider the ego.  If you look it up, the definition (under the context of my thoughts) is this:

An inflated feeling of pride in your superiority to others

You may pick up from my tone that I despise any kind of self-importance.  In fact, I'm not sure I hate anything more.  I firmly do not believe that a "healthy ego" is a prerequisite for success.  Confidence may be, but confidence and egoism are entirely separate.  Examples abound, but here's one: Warren Buffett, the most successful judge of business, the most successful investor, of any time or age -- and he's a normal human being.  The fact of the matter is that unhealthy ego is a shortcoming all its own, and my amateur psychology would guess it's a defense covering another shortcoming, which is lack of confidence, or lack of regard for others.  If you're good at what you do, that's impressive enough to me.  If your ego starts crowding the room, you're losing my respect.

Andrew Woolard pointed to a good post at Brand Builder about commitment and desire.  It was worth reading to me, because it hit me right between the eyes with the reminder to cut the crap.  At the end it asks if "brand you" is a happy brand -- in other words, do you love what you're doing and dedicate your energy to it?  That's a great reminder about how to orient your time, energy and effort.

3) If you're in the Portland area, you need to do some hiking in the Columbia River Gorge.  I went with three friends last week to do the Wahkeena Falls loop, a 5.2-mile round trip that starts at Wahkeena Falls, takes you up to Devil's Rest, over to Multnomah Creek, and down the creek to Multnomah Falls.  It's about a 1,400' gain in altitude.  Spectacular hike, one that I haven't done for several years.  We did it in two hours -- unanticipated consequence is a workout of muscles I apparently haven't worked in a while, even though I've been running regularly.

All cynicism aside on the election issue, if you haven't, get out and vote.  It's the most critical thing you can do in the life and operation of our country.

Something I don't like about myself

I don't get workout results like some people do.

I know, everyone is different.  Learn to accept whatever your body style, learn how your system reacts to fitness input and diet, all that.  I'm learning all the time, but frankly, very frankly, it doesn't stop me from being jealously angry with people physically predisposed to getting a result.

I ran into one if these people, a friend of mine, this morning.  From outward appearances, it falls in line for him.  All I can do is all I can do, right?

Friday roundup

You get your head back under water, and it gets harder to breathe.

I miss discussions on the issues of marketing and PR.  I think there are a couple of reasons for this --

1. I'm busy.  (But that's just me.)
2. There's not a whole hell of a lot to write about at the moment.

So here's some head gravel:

Journalism:  Mike Arrington links to a strong post from Philip Kaplan about his recent experience with journalists covering a CEO change at the company he founded.  As is my general rule, I'm not going to slam journalists, but I will point out there's good and bad in everything, including that profession.  Is it just human nature for a story to be tricked up to heighten interest?  Maybe that's not even relevant -- I've been on the receiving end of that Kaplan experienced and it's unpleasant.  If you're a PR practitioner, it's a good reminder of the fact that you're not usually in any kind of control of your story.

PR and spinach:  Anytime there's a crisis of some kind, I'm always a little amused, if not annoyed, at its description as a PR problem.  Let's sweep that out of the way -- what this industry has is a problem (and a temporary one at that, one would assume) with its product.  It's not safe at the moment.  No one wants to buy it anyway.  Before long, it will get figured out and it will be safe to buy, and we'll start eating it again.

The challenge between now and then is the one of restoring trust.  What do you communicate, to whom, and how, to restore trust in the product and help induce purchasing of the product?  That's what I would want to focus on.  For plain-spoken wisdom on this, smarter than what you just read here, see John Wagner.

Fitness:  My summer fitness goals had to do with getting in shape for triathlon events.  It worked -- I'm in good aerobic condition.  However, thanks to a week of barbecue and throwed rolls in the midwest in August, I'm not particularly, uh, svelte.

I'm much more motivated to work for results when I have a goal to aim for.  So, my wife and I just learned we have an opportunity for a beach trip in January -- there's the new goal, thank you.  This time I'm going to take some time to learn about nutrition, about which I know little, and focus that along with a revamped workout.  I'd like to see what kind of shape I can really get into. 

Ollabelle:  Have you heard this group?  Roots-influenced music that is hard to categorize.  Some bluegrass, some folk, some rock, some gospel, some country.  Really great harmonies.  They're second album, Riverside Battle Songs, is well put together.

One other thing, please:  When you could not care less about something, don't say you could care less.  If you could care less, then you actualy could care less, not that you could not.  I'm begging you.

Mid-Summer Tri

No one will care about this one except maybe my wife, who was there with me.  So I'm writing this for my own benefit.  It's my blog, so there you go.

Yesterday was the Mid-Summer Triathlon.  Great event, well put together, and a course that's doable for a couple of beginning tri athletes like us.  We did the same course in June and I didn't get to finish, thanks to a bad bike tire.  This time, the tires held and I did the whole thing.  I'm wiped.  So is Lana.

I'm glad to have finished it and established a baseline.  I was not that happy with my times, particularly swimming.  It was 800m in the water, and my split time per 100 was 1:26, much too slow for me.  I did the swim in just under 14:00 -- in previous events I've done it as much as a minute and a half faster.  The bike leg was my relative worst, thus my biggest opportunity for improvement.  The run was fine -- I don't beat myself up too much about that because I don't even approximate a good runner.

All that said, there were a lot of positives.  The weather for the event was beyond perfect.  The cameraderie, as usual, was very good -- everyone there was positive and encouraging all around.  It was a well-run event.  I had fun doing it.  Lana was concerned about her swim leg, but she did really well.  My energy was good all the way through.

So I know now what needs improvement -- specifically, the bike leg, and a little better endurance in general.  I think the plan is to do a couple of run events through the fall and then start prepping for a couple of more tris beginning next spring.

There, it's out there.  Now I have to live up to what I just said.  Good motivation.

Thursday roundup

Here and there:

• If you know golf, you're flat-out impressed with what Tiger Woods did yesterday.  In a match play event, where you keep score by number of holes won, Tiger beat Stephen Ames like a rented mule -- he won nine straight holes and closed him out as early as is mathematically possible.
• Clever headline:  Bond.  Jamth Bond.  New 007 Daniel Craig had a couple of teeth knocked out while filming a fight scene for Casino Royale.
• Only half of worried Americans try to manage stress.  That's easy to believe.  Stress has to be overlooked as one of the most harmful factors in everyday health.  That said, I don't do as well as I should trying to manage it.
• The Dodgers re-signed Vin Scully to a new deal that will keep him behind the microphone through 2008.  That's great -- he's one of the last of the old-guard guys I've always liked.
• Speaking of baseball, hard to believe it's as close as it is.  Why can't I find a Cardinals cap that I like?  I could find one if I wanted to look like a gang member in Brooklyn, but not a casual Redbirds fan.

The actual problem with healthcare today

On top of that, the way the dog barked hurt her feelings

There's too much stupid here to deal with.  The AP reports:

As doctors warn more patients that they should lose weight, the advice has backfired on one doctor with a woman filing a complaint with the state saying he was hurtful, not helpful.

Dr. Terry Bennett says he tells obese patients their weight is bad for their health and their love lives, but the lecture drove one patient to complain to the state.

"I told a fat woman she was obese," Bennett says. "I tried to get her attention. I told her, 'You need to get on a program, join a group of like-minded people and peel off the weight that is going to kill you.' "

So, naturally, doing the right thing earned him a complaint to the state medical board.  Here's the even dumber part:  The board referred him to the attorney general for investigation.  For investigation?  As in, he committed a crime? 

At least he's got one patient going to bat for him:

"What really makes me angry is he told the truth," Mindy Haney told WMUR-TV on Tuesday. "How can you punish somebody for that?"

Haney said Bennett has helped her lose more than 150 pounds, but acknowledged that she initially didn't want to listen.

"I have been in this lady's shoes. I've been angry and left his practice. I mean, in-my-car-taking-off angry," Haney said. "But once you think about it, you're angry at yourself, not Doctor Bennett. He's the messenger. He's telling you what you already know."

Good for Oregon

Says the AP:

Obesity rates rose last year in every state but Oregon, according to an advocacy group that called on the government and the private sector to get more involved in Americans' battle with expanding waistlines.

How about calling on Americans to get rid of the TV and get some exercise?

Link to the report here.