Once upon a time I thought I could swim pretty well. Thinking back, I was young and strong, and was powering through the water. Then I didn't swim for a long time. Then I started again. It took a long time to come back. Then November 2009 I got a chance to get my swim stroke video taped at a Mercury Rising swim camp. Here's the story. Part 1. Part 2. Followup. Then January 2011 there was another camp. That blog has some video of the bike session.
I am completely serious in saying these camps were key to my swimming faster. Sara, Clint, and Carrie put on a super camp, and I highly recommend it if you want to improve your swim. Something about actually seeing your stroke, warts and all, has an enormously motivating effect. Here's a link to check out the details.
We're waiting for the snow here. Rain, turning to freezing rain, followed by 10 cm of snow, winds gusting to 70Kph tonight and tomorrow morning. The drive into work ought to be entertaining, crossed with terror.
While waiting for the snow I got on the bike.
30 minute warm up, with some speed work and technique focus.
45 minutes 2.0 watts per goal Kg at 88 rpm. Standing every now and then to give my butt a break. Sweating like a stuck pig, breathing pretty good, heart rate about 132 to 135 bpm. Toward the end it was getting harder, and really had to focus to maintain the output, but I ended strong, with the last 3 minutes picking up the rpm, and for the last minute going one gear harder and picking up the rpm. It felt really good.
15 minutes cool down and easy spin. Stretched a bit after.
I think I'm at a place where I need to stay for a little while, pushing these watts till it gets a bit more comfortable and I can go a bit longer. Then up it a bit. Some of the sets will be more intense, to start getting my legs ready for it. Really pleased with the bike progress.
Ironman Canada - DONE! What next?
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
peaceful swim groove
Once again it was a quiet Monday at the pool. Maybe because people were busy picking up after the windstorm yesterday that qualifies as a hurricane. The LRT wasn't running through downtown, which turns the whole LRT system into something that starts with cluster and rhythms with truck. It is very, very good at doing this, much better than moving people, which is the ostensible purpose of the system.
Meanwhile, I was having a peaceful swim. I wasn't thinking about time or pace or stroke count or any of that. I was thinking about renewing my friendship with the water. Learning to feel it again. Working on my body position, and trying to get streamlined again. Trying to make my flip turns elegant and tight, rather than a frothing sloshy sloppy mess. It all went pretty well. Warmed up. Did some dolphin kick with fins, and did lots of pull. This really helped get the feel of my stroke back. I think I've been letting my legs droop a bit. Only a half hour.
Much as I'd like to go for an hour or so, I'm not quite there yet. Soon. Maybe. Which is something I'd better work on, if I want to start swimming at Talisman. That's much more convenient to downtown, but as always, there's a problem. I always swim in the fast lane at Renfrew, and I can count on the fingers of one hand the regulars that swim faster than me. That will sooooo not be the case at Talisman.
That darned Facebook! One of my buddies posted a video of my favourite band, which I hadn't seen, so I had to watch it. And then a few more, then some faves from the late 70's, and a few more from fairly recently. They're still so good. I wish I'd gone to see their Sgt. Pepper show in Vegas when it was on. I am speaking of Cheap Trick, of course.
Once I got that out of my system, for now, I went down for a brief, but intense core session. Included plank and pushups and other stuff. I decline to state how long, or how many. Let's just say that some of my lower core muscles weren't quite with the program the way I'd like them to be. And sadly, that's not because I ate too much over the weekend. It's because I've been a slacker.
Meanwhile, I was having a peaceful swim. I wasn't thinking about time or pace or stroke count or any of that. I was thinking about renewing my friendship with the water. Learning to feel it again. Working on my body position, and trying to get streamlined again. Trying to make my flip turns elegant and tight, rather than a frothing sloshy sloppy mess. It all went pretty well. Warmed up. Did some dolphin kick with fins, and did lots of pull. This really helped get the feel of my stroke back. I think I've been letting my legs droop a bit. Only a half hour.
Much as I'd like to go for an hour or so, I'm not quite there yet. Soon. Maybe. Which is something I'd better work on, if I want to start swimming at Talisman. That's much more convenient to downtown, but as always, there's a problem. I always swim in the fast lane at Renfrew, and I can count on the fingers of one hand the regulars that swim faster than me. That will sooooo not be the case at Talisman.
That darned Facebook! One of my buddies posted a video of my favourite band, which I hadn't seen, so I had to watch it. And then a few more, then some faves from the late 70's, and a few more from fairly recently. They're still so good. I wish I'd gone to see their Sgt. Pepper show in Vegas when it was on. I am speaking of Cheap Trick, of course.
Once I got that out of my system, for now, I went down for a brief, but intense core session. Included plank and pushups and other stuff. I decline to state how long, or how many. Let's just say that some of my lower core muscles weren't quite with the program the way I'd like them to be. And sadly, that's not because I ate too much over the weekend. It's because I've been a slacker.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Genetic consequences
Balancing personal and collective rights has never been easy, and it's about to get a lot harder. Up till now we've struggled with the limits of free speech against hate/slanderous/rebellious speech. Religious freedom vs freedom from religion. Privacy vs sharing information to plan social spending. It goes on and on.
Recently we cracked the human genome, though we're still working on actually understanding exactly how much of a role genes have in determining what diseases we will get, our lifespan, our intelligence, and even our behaviours. Costs for sequencing a genome are falling at a rate that makes Moore's Law look like a slowpoke. Even now, anybody that really wants it can get their DNA sequenced. There are some useful things they can learn from this. Soon, I suspect every newborn will have their DNA sequenced at birth. (Child support laws will never be the same.)
We already suspect that we might be able to prevent the onset of some diseases, and may be able to mitigate or delay the effects of others, and we'll only get better at it. We will be able to better match tissue sample for organ transplants, and we are on the verge of growing new organs on demand. It may be that a full understanding of our genetic code may dramatically increase our lifespan.
However, there is a downside. Lets look at alcoholism for example. There is much research trying to determine of much our genetic heritage contributes to alcoholism, how it contributes to the vulnerability of of our organs to alcoholism, and how much is learned behaviour from our parents or other adults. So far, research indicates there is no one "alcoholic gene", but rather a complex mix of genetic factors that appear to be contributing to the disease.
Let's imagine for a moment that researchers figure it out, and come to understand that a particular genetic make up contributes in a certain way to a person becoming an alcoholic. Maybe not with certainty, but a strong understanding. Now what do we do with that information? From sequencing a newborn's genome we find out that they have this genetic vulnerability. Do we tell them or their parents? I would assume so, but then how much control do we put on that kid when they become a teenager and want to start drinking, just like their buddies?
One alcoholic told me he became an alcoholic the afternoon he took his first drink. One drink. He couldn't stop. If someone knew they had say, a 75% chance of becoming an alcoholic on that first drink, based on a genetic test, would they take that drink? (Yeah, I know. Teenagers. Duh.) Given the consequences of alcoholism to themselves and their families, to say nothing of the innocent people in the oncoming car, do we have the right to stop them from taking that first drink? And if so, how?
Now that you've digested that, lets go onto a hard one. Lets assume that the cost of sequencing DNA becomes so cheap that it's a routine test as part of an annual physical. You and your sweetie want to get married and have children. Some research tech somewhere takes a look at both your DNA structures, and starts testing for genetic defects in the combinations of your DNA. (It's only computer time, after all, and if we don't set computers to tasks like this they start thinking about taking over the world.) Then they find that your children will almost certainly have a genetic disorder. Maybe it's something trivial, like colour blindness. Or maybe it's something much more serious, like Hemophilia, or Sickle-Cell disease. Maybe it's something quickly fatal, like Tay-Sachs disease.
Where do you draw the line? Is a 25% chance of your child having Tay-Sachs enough to prevent you from having children altogether? Should society prevent you? Is a 50% chance that they will carry the genes to potentially pass to your grandchildren enough? Who decides? Does it matter if the family is wealthy and lives in the USA where you can have all the health care you can pay for? Does it matter if the family lives in a socialized medical system where we all share the costs? Does that give the rest of us a say in what genetic conditions are brought into the world?
Suppose we find the medical techniques to prevent or cure Tay-Sachs, is it then right to cure all those with the condition? A few years ago I would have said yes, without question, but then I discovered Deaf Culture, and the debate about Cochlear Implants. I was astonished to learn that some parents of deaf children saw that implant as an assault on their culture, and did not allow the operation. It taught me that things are more complicated than we think.
That hypothetical cure for Tay-Sachs, what if that knowledge also enabled us to "cure" other genetic "disorders". Who gets to define which genetic issues are "disorders" and get treated. Suppose that that person or committee has a thing for blue eyes, and decides that everyone should have blue eyes? Or that red hair is the mark of Satan? Or that everybody should be 1.75 m tall, plus or minus a few cm?
Who would have thought that sound waves would have led to a huge population imbalance? I'm talking about ultrasound. A medical technique designed for any number of legitimate purposes is now often used to determine gender. In some parts of the world that leads to daughters being aborted. I can't imagine what they think they are doing; if everybody is wanting sons, who are those boys going to marry and how will you have grandchildren? If we knew this would happen, should we have restricted the medical technology to places where it would be used for a benign purposes? Alas, that genie is out of the bottle.
What will it do for human society if we can fairly easily learn that having children with one particular partner leads to them having a shorter lifespan than having them with a different partner? What happens when the insurance companies get their money mongering paws on your genetic information, and know more about what diseases you'll get than you do? What if part of getting life insurance involves submitting a genetic sample? What happens to the whole concept of medical insurance?
Many people think that having more information is better than having less. Maybe so, in some cases, but until we learn how to evaluate that flood of information, it's a mixed blessing at best. A little while ago I listened to a breast cancer specialist talking about preventing breast cancer. For years they thought that better images was the solution. Then they realized that better images gave them more information than they could cope with. Those two tumors that are almost, but not quite identical have very different pathologies, but it takes an expert to determine which is which. And there are all the new things the image finds, someone has to determine if those tiny irregularities are cancerous or what. With more detail it takes longer to make an assessment. Meanwhile, some poor woman who felt a lump is walking around wondering when they will call her with the results. Very recently, medical associations have announced that at least some of the screening that is happening now shouldn't be done anymore, and the screaming about this has only begun.
Our growth in knowledge is outstripping our ability to cope with it. Any doctor working full time, and they count themselves lucky if that's all they work, simply cannot keep up with advances in their field. Yet someone with Multiple Sclerosis goes to see them and wants that surgery they heard about. Odds are the doctor may have heard of Dr. Zamboni, since he's been in the news, but probably doesn't know the details. Multiply that by the advances in the research on innumerable diseases and conditions.
It's certainly clear to me that our medical system cannot go on the way it is now. I've no real idea what it needs to look like, but one thing I do know for certain. Hang onto your hats, it's going to be a wild ride. I hope within my lifetime to read the headline, "Everything we know about medicine is wrong."
Would you get your DNA sequenced, why, and what would you do with that knowledge?
Recently we cracked the human genome, though we're still working on actually understanding exactly how much of a role genes have in determining what diseases we will get, our lifespan, our intelligence, and even our behaviours. Costs for sequencing a genome are falling at a rate that makes Moore's Law look like a slowpoke. Even now, anybody that really wants it can get their DNA sequenced. There are some useful things they can learn from this. Soon, I suspect every newborn will have their DNA sequenced at birth. (Child support laws will never be the same.)
We already suspect that we might be able to prevent the onset of some diseases, and may be able to mitigate or delay the effects of others, and we'll only get better at it. We will be able to better match tissue sample for organ transplants, and we are on the verge of growing new organs on demand. It may be that a full understanding of our genetic code may dramatically increase our lifespan.
However, there is a downside. Lets look at alcoholism for example. There is much research trying to determine of much our genetic heritage contributes to alcoholism, how it contributes to the vulnerability of of our organs to alcoholism, and how much is learned behaviour from our parents or other adults. So far, research indicates there is no one "alcoholic gene", but rather a complex mix of genetic factors that appear to be contributing to the disease.
Let's imagine for a moment that researchers figure it out, and come to understand that a particular genetic make up contributes in a certain way to a person becoming an alcoholic. Maybe not with certainty, but a strong understanding. Now what do we do with that information? From sequencing a newborn's genome we find out that they have this genetic vulnerability. Do we tell them or their parents? I would assume so, but then how much control do we put on that kid when they become a teenager and want to start drinking, just like their buddies?
One alcoholic told me he became an alcoholic the afternoon he took his first drink. One drink. He couldn't stop. If someone knew they had say, a 75% chance of becoming an alcoholic on that first drink, based on a genetic test, would they take that drink? (Yeah, I know. Teenagers. Duh.) Given the consequences of alcoholism to themselves and their families, to say nothing of the innocent people in the oncoming car, do we have the right to stop them from taking that first drink? And if so, how?
Now that you've digested that, lets go onto a hard one. Lets assume that the cost of sequencing DNA becomes so cheap that it's a routine test as part of an annual physical. You and your sweetie want to get married and have children. Some research tech somewhere takes a look at both your DNA structures, and starts testing for genetic defects in the combinations of your DNA. (It's only computer time, after all, and if we don't set computers to tasks like this they start thinking about taking over the world.) Then they find that your children will almost certainly have a genetic disorder. Maybe it's something trivial, like colour blindness. Or maybe it's something much more serious, like Hemophilia, or Sickle-Cell disease. Maybe it's something quickly fatal, like Tay-Sachs disease.
Where do you draw the line? Is a 25% chance of your child having Tay-Sachs enough to prevent you from having children altogether? Should society prevent you? Is a 50% chance that they will carry the genes to potentially pass to your grandchildren enough? Who decides? Does it matter if the family is wealthy and lives in the USA where you can have all the health care you can pay for? Does it matter if the family lives in a socialized medical system where we all share the costs? Does that give the rest of us a say in what genetic conditions are brought into the world?
Suppose we find the medical techniques to prevent or cure Tay-Sachs, is it then right to cure all those with the condition? A few years ago I would have said yes, without question, but then I discovered Deaf Culture, and the debate about Cochlear Implants. I was astonished to learn that some parents of deaf children saw that implant as an assault on their culture, and did not allow the operation. It taught me that things are more complicated than we think.
That hypothetical cure for Tay-Sachs, what if that knowledge also enabled us to "cure" other genetic "disorders". Who gets to define which genetic issues are "disorders" and get treated. Suppose that that person or committee has a thing for blue eyes, and decides that everyone should have blue eyes? Or that red hair is the mark of Satan? Or that everybody should be 1.75 m tall, plus or minus a few cm?
Who would have thought that sound waves would have led to a huge population imbalance? I'm talking about ultrasound. A medical technique designed for any number of legitimate purposes is now often used to determine gender. In some parts of the world that leads to daughters being aborted. I can't imagine what they think they are doing; if everybody is wanting sons, who are those boys going to marry and how will you have grandchildren? If we knew this would happen, should we have restricted the medical technology to places where it would be used for a benign purposes? Alas, that genie is out of the bottle.
What will it do for human society if we can fairly easily learn that having children with one particular partner leads to them having a shorter lifespan than having them with a different partner? What happens when the insurance companies get their money mongering paws on your genetic information, and know more about what diseases you'll get than you do? What if part of getting life insurance involves submitting a genetic sample? What happens to the whole concept of medical insurance?
Many people think that having more information is better than having less. Maybe so, in some cases, but until we learn how to evaluate that flood of information, it's a mixed blessing at best. A little while ago I listened to a breast cancer specialist talking about preventing breast cancer. For years they thought that better images was the solution. Then they realized that better images gave them more information than they could cope with. Those two tumors that are almost, but not quite identical have very different pathologies, but it takes an expert to determine which is which. And there are all the new things the image finds, someone has to determine if those tiny irregularities are cancerous or what. With more detail it takes longer to make an assessment. Meanwhile, some poor woman who felt a lump is walking around wondering when they will call her with the results. Very recently, medical associations have announced that at least some of the screening that is happening now shouldn't be done anymore, and the screaming about this has only begun.
Our growth in knowledge is outstripping our ability to cope with it. Any doctor working full time, and they count themselves lucky if that's all they work, simply cannot keep up with advances in their field. Yet someone with Multiple Sclerosis goes to see them and wants that surgery they heard about. Odds are the doctor may have heard of Dr. Zamboni, since he's been in the news, but probably doesn't know the details. Multiply that by the advances in the research on innumerable diseases and conditions.
It's certainly clear to me that our medical system cannot go on the way it is now. I've no real idea what it needs to look like, but one thing I do know for certain. Hang onto your hats, it's going to be a wild ride. I hope within my lifetime to read the headline, "Everything we know about medicine is wrong."
Would you get your DNA sequenced, why, and what would you do with that knowledge?
Saturday, November 26, 2011
movie and good bike
Actually, the movie isn't of a good bike ride. When I got up the dawn was looking really nice so I set up my phone for a time lapse. This one isn't what you'd call dramatic, though the colours of the sunrise are pretty good. The clouds are ok, but there is lots of other stuff happening. The shadow of the streetlamp makes a great hour glass. There are interesting reflections, some of which I understand, and some I don't. There is snow melting, and people walking by. At one point a city truck pulls up, and a couple people cover over some graffiti on the street lamps. Enjoy
While it was going I was on my bike, pedaling hard. This was one of the best bike workouts I've ever had. You have no idea how good this feels after the many crappy workouts last year. Here's the highlights:
45 minutes at 1.8 w per goal kg, at 85 rpm. Breathing good and steady. Mid zone 3 or so.
15 minutes at 2.0 wat 83 rpm. This is working a little harder, but still aerobic. I'm not sure how much more I could have gone.
5 minutes at 2.3 w at 90 rpm. This is getting into zone 4 and I was beginning to feel the burn a little.
In between all that was some speed work and focus on smoothing out the jiggles at 120 rpm. Total of 2.5 hrs.
I've looked at the video a couple of times more. I really should wash the outside of that window, and tilt the camera up and face a bit more south.
Now, before the sunlight goes entirely, it's BBQ time! And wine, though not sure which one.
While it was going I was on my bike, pedaling hard. This was one of the best bike workouts I've ever had. You have no idea how good this feels after the many crappy workouts last year. Here's the highlights:
45 minutes at 1.8 w per goal kg, at 85 rpm. Breathing good and steady. Mid zone 3 or so.
15 minutes at 2.0 wat 83 rpm. This is working a little harder, but still aerobic. I'm not sure how much more I could have gone.
5 minutes at 2.3 w at 90 rpm. This is getting into zone 4 and I was beginning to feel the burn a little.
In between all that was some speed work and focus on smoothing out the jiggles at 120 rpm. Total of 2.5 hrs.
I've looked at the video a couple of times more. I really should wash the outside of that window, and tilt the camera up and face a bit more south.
Now, before the sunlight goes entirely, it's BBQ time! And wine, though not sure which one.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
I think that's single longest blogging break for me
Monday since I last blogged. That's a long time for me. On average, over 1489 days, I've blogged every 1.4 days. Well, 1.41271347 days, if you want to get picky. Don't make me go to hours, minutes, and seconds. I've got a calculator and know how to use it.
Tuesday was a wipe out. I came home. I ate. I went to bed. I snored, or so I'm told. I am dubious.
Wednesday was yoga, and I was looking forward to it. Often we are dragging our tails before class, but we go because we've paid in advance, and we know we'll feel better after. And we usually do. About half way through class I totally lost focus. It was right in the middle of this long asana. Not hard, but it just went on forever. Personally, I think our teacher put an extra loop in there. I went from doing yoga, and working the poses, to just looking like I was doing the poses. If you've done yoga for a while you know what I mean.
Thursday I did a bit of stretching and got on my bike.
30 minutes warmup with some fast spin, and focus pedaling drill.
30 minutes at 1.9 w @88 rpm, quite steady, focussing on smooth and steady pedaling, trying to keep my upper body still, and my breathing quiet. It mostly worked, though towards the end I was starting to breath harder. It was never out of control although I was sweating like mad. There was a steady drip off my face.
10 minutes easy and some fast spin
5 minutes at 2.1 w @85 rpm, and that was starting to get out of hand right at the very end, so I picked it up for the last 15 seconds.
15 minutes cool down and easy spin. Stretched after.
I'm really happy with that. Since I got the power meter I've been a lot more focussed about the effort I'm putting in, and I think I've made some improvement even in the short time I've had it.
Not that I talk about work much, but holy cow. It's really hitting the fan. The end of the year is coming fast. Many people that have been head down shoveling for all they are worth for a while now are beginning to surface. (I'm one of them. I actually had time today to tidy my desk, in anticipation of another flurry of stuff.) Others have made some terrible discoveries, and I hope it all works out ok.
And speaking of terrible discoveries, I found out today there are still people so rude and ignorant as to smoke a cigar on a public street. I got a lung full and nearly spewed right then and there. Cigarette smoke and smokers are bad, but this was horrible.
I didn't hear all of it, but CBC sent a 17 year old girl into various convenience stores to buy cigarettes. At 5 out of 10 places they didn't even checked her ID, and at another 2 places checked her ID (her real ID), and then sold her the cigarettes anyways. Grrrr!!!!!!
The only way we are going to stop this scourge is to prevent kids from starting. I'd like to see it made uneconomic to sell tobacco products in anything but a specialty store. This should be easy with business tax regulation. Want to sell tobacco? Pay the current tax. Want to sell any of the other many other products and services on the market? Pay the current business taxes. Want to sell tobacco AND any of the other non-tobacco related stuff? Pay double, or more. Make the specialty store check the ages of purchasers. Register purchasers with the government and tie our health care benefits to smoking or the lack thereof.
I see no reason why it shouldn't be made a restricted product, and made considerably harder to get. In fact, the same rules about selling booze should apply to selling cigarettes. After an educational period to publicize the rules, whacking huge fines should go into effect, for both the clerk and the store owner.
I worked in a Mac's Milk store when I was in high school, and remember a pack of cigarettes costing much less than a dollar. People used to say they'd quit if they got to a dollar, then 2 dollars. I've no real idea what they cost now, but there are still lots of people smoking. I suspect the price has already weeded out everyone that it's going to weed out.
I'm not sure why people start smoking. Maybe it's the cool, or rebellious thing to do. Or they do it because their parents do it. There needs to be a campaign to tell kids not just that it's stupid to smoke, but THEY are stupid to be smoking. People need to point and laugh at smokers. Just like they sometimes put a smashed up bloody car in front of the high school to warn about the dangers of drunk driving, they ought to be plopping a cancer ridden lung on the desk for the kids to look at. Show them video of medical operations dealing with cancerous growths. If the kids aren't throwing up, we need to find more graphic videos. I'd like to see the little camera in the fiber optic cable going down the airway of these kids, and showing them the difference between the kid that doesn't smoke, and the one that has just started.
Land that will grow tobacco can probably grow other crops. I wonder what incentives would be required to encourage land owners to plant those other crops? That has to be cheaper than medical care for all the smokers.
Tuesday was a wipe out. I came home. I ate. I went to bed. I snored, or so I'm told. I am dubious.
Wednesday was yoga, and I was looking forward to it. Often we are dragging our tails before class, but we go because we've paid in advance, and we know we'll feel better after. And we usually do. About half way through class I totally lost focus. It was right in the middle of this long asana. Not hard, but it just went on forever. Personally, I think our teacher put an extra loop in there. I went from doing yoga, and working the poses, to just looking like I was doing the poses. If you've done yoga for a while you know what I mean.
Thursday I did a bit of stretching and got on my bike.
30 minutes warmup with some fast spin, and focus pedaling drill.
30 minutes at 1.9 w @88 rpm, quite steady, focussing on smooth and steady pedaling, trying to keep my upper body still, and my breathing quiet. It mostly worked, though towards the end I was starting to breath harder. It was never out of control although I was sweating like mad. There was a steady drip off my face.
10 minutes easy and some fast spin
5 minutes at 2.1 w @85 rpm, and that was starting to get out of hand right at the very end, so I picked it up for the last 15 seconds.
15 minutes cool down and easy spin. Stretched after.
I'm really happy with that. Since I got the power meter I've been a lot more focussed about the effort I'm putting in, and I think I've made some improvement even in the short time I've had it.
Not that I talk about work much, but holy cow. It's really hitting the fan. The end of the year is coming fast. Many people that have been head down shoveling for all they are worth for a while now are beginning to surface. (I'm one of them. I actually had time today to tidy my desk, in anticipation of another flurry of stuff.) Others have made some terrible discoveries, and I hope it all works out ok.
And speaking of terrible discoveries, I found out today there are still people so rude and ignorant as to smoke a cigar on a public street. I got a lung full and nearly spewed right then and there. Cigarette smoke and smokers are bad, but this was horrible.
I didn't hear all of it, but CBC sent a 17 year old girl into various convenience stores to buy cigarettes. At 5 out of 10 places they didn't even checked her ID, and at another 2 places checked her ID (her real ID), and then sold her the cigarettes anyways. Grrrr!!!!!!
The only way we are going to stop this scourge is to prevent kids from starting. I'd like to see it made uneconomic to sell tobacco products in anything but a specialty store. This should be easy with business tax regulation. Want to sell tobacco? Pay the current tax. Want to sell any of the other many other products and services on the market? Pay the current business taxes. Want to sell tobacco AND any of the other non-tobacco related stuff? Pay double, or more. Make the specialty store check the ages of purchasers. Register purchasers with the government and tie our health care benefits to smoking or the lack thereof.
I see no reason why it shouldn't be made a restricted product, and made considerably harder to get. In fact, the same rules about selling booze should apply to selling cigarettes. After an educational period to publicize the rules, whacking huge fines should go into effect, for both the clerk and the store owner.
I worked in a Mac's Milk store when I was in high school, and remember a pack of cigarettes costing much less than a dollar. People used to say they'd quit if they got to a dollar, then 2 dollars. I've no real idea what they cost now, but there are still lots of people smoking. I suspect the price has already weeded out everyone that it's going to weed out.
I'm not sure why people start smoking. Maybe it's the cool, or rebellious thing to do. Or they do it because their parents do it. There needs to be a campaign to tell kids not just that it's stupid to smoke, but THEY are stupid to be smoking. People need to point and laugh at smokers. Just like they sometimes put a smashed up bloody car in front of the high school to warn about the dangers of drunk driving, they ought to be plopping a cancer ridden lung on the desk for the kids to look at. Show them video of medical operations dealing with cancerous growths. If the kids aren't throwing up, we need to find more graphic videos. I'd like to see the little camera in the fiber optic cable going down the airway of these kids, and showing them the difference between the kid that doesn't smoke, and the one that has just started.
Land that will grow tobacco can probably grow other crops. I wonder what incentives would be required to encourage land owners to plant those other crops? That has to be cheaper than medical care for all the smokers.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Ineffectual fluke waving
That was me in the pool today. I'm glad it was almost empty, so nobody could see how slow I was swimming. If that's what you want to call it. Or how little of it I did before hitting the hot tub. That's what I get for not swimming for almost two months. Still, the first time is always the hardest. I love the hot tub at Renfrew.
Spin this evening for 1.5 hrs. Mainly working on 90 rpm or so, trying for a reasonable watt output, but not trying to kill my legs. Stretched after, and did a little bit of core.
I was a total slacker yesterday, with IMAZ on in the background I mainly read and surfed all day. After sleeping in, and before going to bed early.
Spin this evening for 1.5 hrs. Mainly working on 90 rpm or so, trying for a reasonable watt output, but not trying to kill my legs. Stretched after, and did a little bit of core.
I was a total slacker yesterday, with IMAZ on in the background I mainly read and surfed all day. After sleeping in, and before going to bed early.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
It was easier to keep going
Some of you may have noticed my comments are looking a bit different. I had always liked how Wordpress did comments, with the ability to reply. Then Leana found Disqus. There was a brief moment of panic during installation, in that I thought my existing comments had all gone to Never-Never Land. But all was well.
Mostly I'm liking it, especially being able to reply to comments. Most of the time the indenting shows which is a reply. When I reply on the computer, I show as Keithcartmell since that's what I gave as my ID. But when I reply on my iPad, even if I'm logged in, I have to use my email address, so I show up as keith. Or as Disqus. I have to put in my name and password for each comment. I'll have to work on that a bit more. Maybe Disqus isn't as iPad friendly as it could be.
There have been a couple of times where the indenting hasn't worked, but that could have been my bad in replying. It offers lots of choices about comment controls, profile management, and letting you know who is commenting. There's probably other things it will do that I haven't discovered yet.
I was feeling a little bit creaky this morning. Not sure why I didn't sleep well. We had a lazy Saturday morning, though it was a bit frosty getting the morning papers. I wasn't sure what I was going to do for a spin session, even as I was getting on the bike.
It turned out to be:
20 minutes warmup, including one leg drill and a bit of speed work
10 minutes 1.7+ w @ 85 rpm, getting a nice sweat and completing my warmup
3 minutes easy
25 minutes 1.9 w @ 85 rpm. This was one gear harder, and I got totally into the groove.
7 minutes easy, mopping off all the sweat
5 minutes 2.2 to 2.3 w @ 85, one gear harder.
5 minutes easy
15 minutes 1.8 to 1.9 w at 90 rpm
15 easy spin and cool down.
That 25 minute segment? It went by in a flash. I've had this swimming, where I'm in the groove, and it's easier to keep going than to stop. That's what it was like here. I didn't know how long I could maintain that power output, but was hoping for 10 to 15 minutes. But at that point I was wondering why I should stop, so I didn't. This is a first for being on the bike. Sweating hard, standing every now and then, breathing good. Legs felt great. Progress is happening. Love it.
Mostly I'm liking it, especially being able to reply to comments. Most of the time the indenting shows which is a reply. When I reply on the computer, I show as Keithcartmell since that's what I gave as my ID. But when I reply on my iPad, even if I'm logged in, I have to use my email address, so I show up as keith. Or as Disqus. I have to put in my name and password for each comment. I'll have to work on that a bit more. Maybe Disqus isn't as iPad friendly as it could be.
There have been a couple of times where the indenting hasn't worked, but that could have been my bad in replying. It offers lots of choices about comment controls, profile management, and letting you know who is commenting. There's probably other things it will do that I haven't discovered yet.
I was feeling a little bit creaky this morning. Not sure why I didn't sleep well. We had a lazy Saturday morning, though it was a bit frosty getting the morning papers. I wasn't sure what I was going to do for a spin session, even as I was getting on the bike.
It turned out to be:
20 minutes warmup, including one leg drill and a bit of speed work
10 minutes 1.7+ w @ 85 rpm, getting a nice sweat and completing my warmup
3 minutes easy
25 minutes 1.9 w @ 85 rpm. This was one gear harder, and I got totally into the groove.
7 minutes easy, mopping off all the sweat
5 minutes 2.2 to 2.3 w @ 85, one gear harder.
5 minutes easy
15 minutes 1.8 to 1.9 w at 90 rpm
15 easy spin and cool down.
That 25 minute segment? It went by in a flash. I've had this swimming, where I'm in the groove, and it's easier to keep going than to stop. That's what it was like here. I didn't know how long I could maintain that power output, but was hoping for 10 to 15 minutes. But at that point I was wondering why I should stop, so I didn't. This is a first for being on the bike. Sweating hard, standing every now and then, breathing good. Legs felt great. Progress is happening. Love it.
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