Flying Penguins

I was watching this show the other night about cool things you may not know about, and one of the things they had on there was this flying penguin. The idea was that these things were very efficient as they were modeled after how penguins work underwater. Basically they were just giant autonomous flying helium balloons that happened to be penguin like. They were computerized to be smart enough to avoid obstacles and each other.

But where is the market for these things? Personally, if I was in the front office of the Pittsburgh Penguins, I would have already been on the phone ordering these things to fly around my arena during games. Just paint tuxedos and a logo on them and they'd be ready to go. Got a better idea?

Worry

If I let myself, I could get really worried about a lot of things. Our food is full of chemicals, are homes are created with carcinogenic compounds that cause things like Mesothelioma Cancer. There is plenty out there to be worried about.

Most of us don't think about this stuff very often. Especially people without kids. Once you're a parent however, the world can seem like a very scary place as you try to keep your kids safe from every possible harm you can dream up. I'm worse than most in that I often get made fun of for being too safety conscious, but I can live with that reputation. My kids safety is more important to me than worrying about what others think.

New TV

I really want a new TV. I seem to be the only person left on the planet that does not own a nice HD flat screen TV. Clearly I'm not and I'm just being whiny but I do really want one, and have for a very long time. My hope is that soon we will be able to finish our basement and when we do I can put in some nice home theater seating and a really huge TV.

That will provide a really nice spot to watch sports and movies and play the Wii and I really look forward to the day that we have all that done. In fact I need to make some calls soon and figure out how we can make that happen.

Time Change

Honestly, I never really noticed the time change before this year. If you noticed my dark circles under eyes lately, it's probably because I have had a hard time adapting to daylight savings time this spring.

I honestly don't know why but for some reason it has been a very hard adjustment for me this time around. Normally it's one night of a little less sleep and then I forget all about it but that just hasn't been the case this time around.

Oh well, I'll get used to it.

Hard Work

The main reason that a lot of people choose to stay overweight is because losing it is not much fun. Exercise can hurt and wear you out and it's just easier not to do it for some people.

Obviously, if you have made the commitment to get in shape you want to maximize your results for the time you spend in the gym. Why go through the pain and discomfort if you aren't getting the best bang for your buck?

So what is the best fat burning exercise? Well first off, it isn't just one. Frankly, there is not one holy grail movement. If you tried to do the same thing all the time, your body would eventually adapt and you would get nothing out of it. You have to train with a wide variety of movements, and change them up often. Also don't minimize your rest breaks. Keep yourself moving, and keep your heart rate up. Circuit training and boot camp classes are great for this.

Tiger Is Back

Reports are saying that Tiger plans to return to golf at this year's Masters. Not terribly surprising given his love of the majors. I am a little surprised that he is not playing a warm up event first but as I thought about it more it makes sense.

Remember Martha Burke? You probably don't because the grand poo-pas at Augusta squashed her like a bug. She was the last person to try to create a media frenzy around The Masters that didn't involve golf. It didn't work. The head honchos there are like accutane for reporters.

So given that, it would seem that starting at The Masters will help cushion Tiger's landing a bit. It will be interesting to observe his and Steve Williams' behavior now that they are not demigods anymore though.

So what is the difference between a personalized gift and a regular gift? If you are buying the same thing for multiple people then I get the difference but what if you are buying one thing for one person? Doesn't it then qualify as both.

As usual this is one of the great questions of the universe that flood my brain for, literally, nanoseconds before I move on to the next one.

Clearly a great thinker of my caliber should spend my time solving the world's great problems like this. It's my way of giving back.

The Theory of Mass

I don't think Einstein discovered it but there is a pretty easy to remember weight loss formula.

if(calories_in < calories_out) then weight will decrease!

I'm not saying that eating less is easy. I have only been able to count for a few months at a time in my life, but I can say that it is effective. I lost 20 pounds in about 3 months. It was hard and no fun but it worked.

Now I combine exercise and eating healthy to maintain my weight. I can have the bad days but I try to eat well most of the time. My weight stays the same and I feel a lot better. You have to keep that ultimate goal in mind when you are starting because it is really hard to restrict when you aren't used to doing it.

Captain Obvious

You heard it here first folks! The best diet aid is still ......drum roll........

EXERCISE!!

Yes you do still have to exercise. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. In other news, junk food will not help you lose weight. Neither will eating more calories than you burn.

Next week we will examine a new found phenomenon called "gravity". Why you should learn about it and how it affects you.

Also, in a related story, humans can't live without oxygen. It turns out that you in fact do have to breath even if you have bad breath. Hard to believe I know.

That's all for this week folks. Keep tuning in for my nuggets of little known facts!

Worry

We all have things to worry about. To some the worries of others seem totally pointless. Others can relate but don't share the same concerns. Empathy plays a big part in how we see each other and how much of it you have can go a long way toward making you seem interested in other people's lives.

I don't need to worry about hair loss prevention for instance so I don't spend a lot of time thinking about how that affects people. I don't even notice half the time, but someone who is losing their hair might spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about it. One persons blip is another persons boulder.

Who Threw?

Cleveland in the last two days has released Derek Anderson, signed Seneca Wallace(why?), and put Brady Quinn on the shopping channel. I guess I should be happy that they are at least doing SOMETHING, but what is all this?

So who do they propose is going to throw the ball next year? Quinn needs more time but I think he still has some promise. Drafting a rookie means that next season will be about as exciting as tretinoin gel.

So what is the plan? As usual, I have no idea.

Shopping

I am one of the few guys that really enjoys Black Friday. Probably because my wife's family has always made a tradition of going out that day and it has usually been a really good time.

We tend to go to places that I don't normally shop so it feels special. Some years have been more fun than others but I always find myself looking forward to it.

On top of that, you really can find some good deals. Plus, the crowds aren't really as bad as people will tell you. I have rarely felt crowded out, because the people are pretty spread out among the different stores.

Economy

Things are still not that great out there. I have a friend who is painfully aware of this and until he can find a job, I'm going to have a hard time believing that things are really on the way up.

I really hope that it turns around for good soon because it is going to continue to affect people in a bad way. I really want to see things getting better again, and prices coming down. We have been working to get some of our debt paid off but we also really want to finish our basement.

It's tough to decide when the best time to do things like that is.

Figures

It seems that every time that I do an oil change and remember to put my safety glasses on, all goes smoothly. I only seem to get oil on my face/eyes when I forget. Does this register right up there with the idiom about buttered toast? I think so.

Now don't worry I'm not going to start throwing my cat around to see how often she lands on her feet but it's these kind of things that make some people feel like the world is out to get them.

So where your glasses and keep and keep looking over your shoulder.