Cruiser’s Current Thoughts

Sounds like a good domain name for my business for both Fitness Training and Nutrition Distributer, right? So This domain has nothing on it, but its owned by Buydomains. I asked for a quote, here’s what they sent me:

Hi Michael,

Best Regards,

…HAHA! I may be stupid and crazy at times, but Im not F*CKING INSANE!

…when it comes to being grouchy due to sleep deprivation. Today was no exception.

12pm: Woke up yesterday about noonish. Went to go take my test and THOUGHT part of the final exam was to lift more weight than I had done earlier in the semester. I was ready to go, workout gear, mind set, protein shake with some carbs, everything! Nope. "Just the test and thats it. You can go home." …yay. I came all the way to school for a 3 minute test. Enough there, lets continue…

1:30pm: Had a check to cash and figured its pay day at work, I’ll head over and pick up my check. Asked about my raise "It will probably be 25 cents, IF you get it." …yay. Not like I got the ****tiest shift or anything. Screw it. After BSing for a little bit there, I head for the bank. Then I head home.
2:15pm: Went home, relaxed for just a little bit. I was told of a movie in production nearby and that they are needing extras. So I decided to tag along. Before, though, I wanted to buy a kettlebell or kettlebells for my home gym.Before I leave to Academy, I have a PB&J sandwich. Back to kettlebells.
3:30pm: I know they work WONDERS, so I head to Academy and do a little debating with myself whether or not I should get anything at all. I do, then return home to shower and get ready to leave for the shoot.

5:15pm: Me and my cousin got stuck in traffic on the way to the shoot, NOT to mention a flat tire as we were leaving. …yay again. We arrive late, but thats actually okay because we sat around for over 4 hours! And it was COLD inside. What made it better is, although it was supposed to be an indoor shoot, I guess it was changed to an outdoor shoot. It had to have been like NOTHING degrees outside. IT WAS COLD.

10:30pm: The dress code for this dinner party was formal. I had a nice shirt, slacks, dress shoes. My biker leather jacket seemed too extreme for the look, so I left it inside. BIG MISTAKE. I was cold throughout the whole shoot. Actually,everyone was. And I give it to the actors, 1was wearing a sleeveless undershirt, and the other was wearing just a pair of shorts and some shoes. DAMN. I was bitching, but I gave those 2 mad props. (Movie is Beatdown. Assuming its coming out next year…) But it was cold. Originally it was supposed to last till possibly midnight…

2:15am: Its still cold. They were nice enough to provide us with food. Wataburger, but if you read the blog, my last meal was the PB&J. The burger was GOOD. Almost done with the shoot, and I haven’t felt my toes in several hours.

4am: Its a wrap. My toes are gone. I snag one more dessert from the table I was at (I think I ate maybe 5. They’re the finger food desserts. YUM)

4:45am: We get home. My cousin works in about an hour, so he takes a nap, or so he claimed. I have an appointment with the Veteran Affairs Hospital that is an hour away at 7:30am. So I stay up too. I clean dishes, start making beans, clean up a little, and head out the door just after 6am.

7am: Im falling asleep behind the wheel…

7:40am: Im falling asleep in the waiting room…

8am-8:25am: This is where Im crabby. The appointment was to determine if I should get compensation for the knee pains in my left leg. Also this scar on my face. Rather small, barely there, but it happened. I just want the information to be in the system so if it DOES cause me further trouble down the road, then I DO expect to get compensated for it. This docter…

"UmmmmKay….Does the scar emit pain…No(click click)…does the scar show deformity…No(click click)…Is it a deep scar…No(click click)…is it…" Basically, after he looked at it, measured it, and said, "Oh, THAT little thing?" he seemed to turn into a sarcastic prick that knew all the answers for the computer.

In my head Im thinking, "Are you fat?…Yes…Do I hope you have a stroke and die?…Yes…Are you completely worthless without your cell phone and PDA?(He inadvertently admit this earlier)…Yes…Do I hope you fall down the stairs?…Yes…" Oh, the look on my face was not to be tampered with. I was in a foul mood. I want these injuries to be in the system, and refuse to rob other service members who TRULY deserve compensation by holding back on some things. Like my Mental Evaluation. I said somethings, but I held back on a lot of things. Again, do I have PTSD? Who knows, but Im not going to rob that from someone TRULY suffering from it. And this guy, this doctor wants to give me a hard time because I wanted to notate a god damn scar on my face?! Then my knee! I know I can walk, bend, raise, rotate the legs. I KNOW theres no pain when its up in the air like that, nor will you ever FIND IT. The pain occurs when Im running, jumping, squatting, lifting, boxing…WHEN THERE IS WEIGHT ON THE KNEE. F*CKING DUH.

But whatever, in the end, those 2 things are in the system. Thats all I wanted, but for whatever reason got a little aggravated in the process. He seemed to tone it down a bit too towards the end. I guess he saw my face. Not a happy face…

8:45am: Start heading home.

8:55-9:30am: Fighting sleep. Hurts…it hurts…

9:50am: Arrive home and check emails, blah blah blah..

10:45am: Good night

Cover songs by Jason Mraz and Stealers Wheels plus an original song.

Performance on the 17th of October.

Amusing, embarrassing, and possibly lost a shot at a cute girl. Let me being with the fact that I do NOT have a problem with homosexuality. Nothing against them, they are people just like everyone else and I treat them as such. In some cases, some of my cooler friends are gay.
The following takes place at work in the gym…
3:00am- I go to rub my left ear cause thats just something I do as a habit. No particular reason, just like to play with my earring…only this time it wasn’t there! I check my right ear, SH*T, the right earring IS THERE! I switch the earring to the left ear immediately. HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN LIKE THIS!

(going back in time to the previous night)

10:00pm- I show up to the gym an hour early to squeeze in a HIIT workout before my shift begins at 11:00pm. I say hello to the new girl at the desk and move my way to the locker room.

10:15pm-Im doing my workout, rotating from jump rope to doing pushups on that half ball thingy to doing lunges with a plate overhead. Im working it hardcore! This one asian guy moves his working out a little further from me. Good, more space for ME.

10:50pm-Get up to the front desk n clock in. Start talkin to the new girl (cute as hell), trying to get to know her a little better. With about less than 5 minutes of interaction, she leaves. Try to get to know her some more next time.

11:20ish pm-asian guy leaves, barely says good bye.

11:30pm-3:00am-mixed emotions from people. I would like to consider this normal, but after discovering the missing earring, I could understand it better. Either some people felt uncomfortable or something.

But in the end, DAMN! I wonder how many people took that damn right earring seriously. And that girl, ****! I laughed, of course, but then it got me thinkin of all this stuff.

Again, nothing against homosexuality, but thats not me. And now there may be some people that believe that, including that cute girl. So what do I do now? Continue about my business, look back at this and chuckle. Also, check damn earrings before I go to work!

Tushe

and still not enough.

My biggest English assignment is a research paper. My topic: Nutrition. The problem: Obesity. My solution: The individual must have a true desire to change.

Well, I ran into a problem myself. You see, the paper is only to be 5 paragraphs and 900-1000 words. Mine is 7 paragraphs and 1500 words…And this is before any research has been done. And by research, I mean looking up the sources behind my theories, which are based off of the many articles I have read along with my own personal observations.

What I included was a short history of the human body and its primitive ways, carbs proteins and fats and how they produce energy, diet fads and their ‘glory’, lack of vitamins minerals and water, and lastly the food industry being a direct cause to obesity, as well as the individual.
Am I right? Oh you bet-cha. Minus a few tweaks. I might have the wrong terminology for a word or a percentage or calorie count might be off a bit. Thats where the research comes in.

But now I must face the instructor tomorrow and ask, "What can go and what should stay, cause I want to get the point across, and accurately."

Damn this research paper…

No, not towards fitness…

Towards customers!

No, not towards the average customer…

Towards the expressionless, acknowledgment-less, pricks!

I say hello, good bye, whatever. And they say nothing.

Okay, I’ve complained about this before, I know. It still goes on but I wont blog about it cause it will get old rather fast. But this isn’t a blog about complaining. This is a blog about REVOLUTION after realizing a RESOLUTION.

From now on, when ever I see one of these people, I will be a SHINING STAR full of joy jumping up and down and have enough to go around! I will welcome them with a smile while fighting the urge to jump over the counter and give’em a great’ ol big lovey dovey HUG! I’ll ask them how their day is and if they just stare at me like they usually do, I’ll reply, ‘Yeah, I’d look like that if I was hanging out with the devil all day too. Tends to wear off on ya, dont it?’ And when I see them leaving, Im going to jump up and down and wish them a better day tomorrow and hope to see their SMILING FACES soon while once again fighting the urge to run up and hugging them good bye!

Too much? Well, I will be all smiles when these punks come in. Its just a handful, so I wont be doing this all throughout the shift. But it just annoys me that they go through the trouble of ignoring the comments or they’ll just stare at me and look away.

WHO ARE YOU TRYING TO STARE DOWN AT F*CKING 2 IN THE GOD DAMN MORNING. THE WALL? WHAT A F*CKING LO-SER.

Yeah, come around when the gym is empty so you can show EVERYONE (you, your buddy, and the cricket that snuck in) in there how hard you really are… Dont mind me, I wont pay any attention. I’d rather look out the front doors and stare into emptiness than to hear your miserable grunts while lifting a 30lb bar…I dont actually know. Im guessing.

Again, this is only maybe 5-10 people out of the hundreds that I have interacted with.

But wont they be in for a ‘pleasant’ surprise the next time I see them…

(Evil outro laugh)

One reaches a point where many things are inexcusable. No longer can, ‘well, I didn’t know’ be used as common because more is expected out of the individual. The years are there, the experience should also be there. The innocence has been long gone and now its time to take total control, if it has not yet been tapped into. Feel as if it is a fresh start, an eye opening moment, a new quarter century. No longer should there be any moments where one must be lead by the hand, rather now be the one lending out a hand. Now more than ever will others now be expecting right answers or even AN answer. Looking for leadership, commanding orders, paving the way to reach sought out goals.

In today’s world, one cannot afford to goof around anymore. To sit back and expect great things to come their way. To constantly be a parasite feeding off of other individuals to survive, because everything eventually comes to an end. And I fear for the future, our future. Again, innocence has been long gone, and I am no longer blinded from the truth.

The first quarter was hugely based on being a sponge and learning all that could be learned. Many experiences have been harsh, others have been a nightmare’s WORST nightmare. But as long as the understanding is there, and respect, then it makes it that much easier to move ahead with whatever the following days have in store.

Believe in karma, believe everything happens for a reason, believe there is more to just this tiny planet and our chaotic existence. Be prepared to face the hardships to follow and have enough good in you to do the right thing.

I know I will.

Here’s to the next Quarter Century!

09-09-09

Ban Trans-fats? Not So Fast…

by Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS

*2 things I enjoy reading/learning about. Nutrition and government intervention. Damn the government and their ‘nudging’ ways.*

Q: As a nutrition expert, are you excited about the trend in    banning trans-fats?

A: That issue may be more complex than you think.

Late in 2006, Michael Bloomberg, the enormously popular mayor of New York City, announced that New York City would become the first city in the nation to ban trans-fats from the menu offerings of the city’s 24,000 restaurants. “If we can do without trans-fats, you’ll save a couple of hundred lives a year in New York City,” said the mayor.

Other cities, notably Philadelphia and Seattle, followed suit. And then in 2008, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation that officially banned restaurants and other food establishments from using any margarine, oil, or shortening that contained trans-fats, making California the first state to adopt such a law covering restaurants. California, along with Oregon, already had laws banning trans-fats in meals served in schools.

Health experts were jumping for joy. Should they be? I’m    not so sure.

It’s not that I’m a fan of trans-fats. No one has railed more loudly against these manmade spawn of Satan, which have absolutely no place in the human diet.

Don’t believe for a second those reactionary apologists at the American Dietetic Association who hedge their bets with their usual vanilla claptrap about “lowering your intake” and consistently link saturated fat and trans-fats as if they’re virtually the same thing. They’re not. In fact, as far back as 2002, the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine issued a report that concluded that “the only safe intake of trans-fats is zero.”

So why am I not overjoyed about a trans-fat ban?

Because it’s a slippery slope. And understanding the pitfalls of such a ban — and the possible repercussions — can help us to think more deeply about the role of government in our diet.

Trans-fats are an easy target for government intervention. There’s basically no disagreement about what they do and how bad they are for you. They make the arteries more rigid, cause major clogging of arteries, cause insulin resistance, cause or contribute to type 2 diabetes, and cause or contribute to other serious health problems. Top nutritionists at Harvard have concluded that trans-fat could be responsible for an many as 30,000 premature coronary deaths per year.

But here’s the thing: Once the government starts deciding what you should and shouldn’t eat, you open up a really ugly can of worms. What about all the “experts” who think saturated fat should be kept as low as humanely possible? There’s very far from perfect agreement on that one, and if the “experts” get to dictate policy, the next thing you know I’ll be forced to order that idiotic egg white omelet, or pay a “sin tax” on full-fat yogurt.

And that’s where things get dicey.

Who’s going to decide what’s okay to eat and what’s not? The American Dietetic Assocation? The American Heart Association? The Corn Refiners Association? Are we going to ban high-glycemic foods (which leaves fructose untouched since it has a low-glycemic index)? And what’s next, vitamins?

And — not to get all political on you— but those who say all this regulation intrudes on the individual’s right to eat any crap he wants to, unfortunately, have a point. I may think your eating (or smoking, or drinking) habits are pretty stupid and destructive, but as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else, do I really have the right to tell you not to do it?

It’s a thorny issue, and the answer may reside in a fascinating book written not by nutritionists, but by a professor of economics and a professor of law.

The book is called Nudge and it’s all about how organizations and government can help “nudge” people in a positive direction without taking away any of their freedoms — including the freedom to smoke or eat crappy trans-fats.

Consider, for example, these interesting factoids, all supported    by copious research:

• People tend to choose the foods they see first on line at    a cafeteria.

• People tend to go with the “default” options on    forms and licenses.

• People tend not to contribute to 401Ks when they have to “opt-in” but will contribute to them when they have to “opt-out.”

So what authors Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler propose is a system of "nudges." Put the fruits and vegetables first on the cafeteria line. Leave the crap there, but take advantage of the tendency to choose the first thing you see.

Make people opt-out of the organ-donor box on their drivers license, rather than having to opt-in. Make contribution to 401Ks automatic unless the employee chooses to check the "do not contribute" box.

You stack the deck for better decisions, but leave    everyone’s freedom intact.

Here’s my solution to the trans-fat ban problem and the other much more thorny issues of food regulation and "sin taxes" on fast food that are sure to follow: Make every single restaurant post the nutritional data on everything they serve. And not buried behind the counter in some place that no one can find, but prominently on the menu.

Post the sugar content, the trans-fat content, even the stupid cholesterol content (which matters not a whit). Put it all out there for everyone to see.

Then educate people like crazy. Let them know what that 1,548 calorie super-burger is doing to their waistline; let them know what 3 grams of trans-fat per serving is doing to their heart; let them know what 27 grams of sugar per serving is doing to their chances of living past 60.

Then let them know that the cholesterol they "eat" doesn’t hurt them a bit. Let them know that the trans-fats they eat will kill them.

If we do our job as educators, more people will think twice about eating crap, but their freedom to do so will remain intact.

That just might be the best compromise we can hope    for.

*can be found on www.tmuscle.com more specifically: http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_nutrition/dirty_nutrition*

Okay, I for one am for letting us choose. No government intervention PERIOD. Little by little, they’re giving us the options THEY provide us. They direct us and we subconsciously follow. Dont believe me? Lets look at the most recent trick: Swine Flu. "Get your shots! Its the only way to be safe!" My ass.

Enjoy labor day everyone.

No d*ckheads last night. It was somewhat enjoyable. It was weird for me, cause I usually get at least one.

But then, here I am trying to accomplish all my tasks. Tasks took maybe 2 hours total. Damn, now what to do with the rest of the 6 hours.

The keyboard for the main computer I have always noticed is rather dusty. And thats putting it lightly. The thing is disgusting. Looks like its been the same keyboard since they opened back in 2000.

What do I do? I made this pick out of a wire I found and started scraping the dust out with it. HOLY HELL! The floor in front of me was covered before I was done! There was a lot of dust I picked out of that keyboard. But just to make sure, I wanted to blow the keyboard. (yes, I know. Let it soak in…good? Great. Movin on) So here I am, blowing at the keyboard, and shrapnel (cause debris seems unfair) is stinging my face. Then, I start getting light headed at all the blowing. I had to stop lean over, and take some deep breaths before continuing.

When I was done 20 minutes later, it looked a lot better than before. Like ‘used’ new. So am I weird for doing it? I was just really bored and wanted to do something to pass the time.

At one point I decided to go to the upstairs weights to see if anything could be done again up there. Im walking up there and Im SO zoned out of even being up there, I almost walked on a guy on the floor doing crunches. OOPS. Sorry, didnt see ya, just bored…

night night.