We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
There is a darn good reason why people avoid heavy lifting, whether they are cardio fitness nuts or just people looking for work. Heavy lifting is stressful, unpleasant - other than facing the challenge.
Many people avoid stress, some to the point of avoiding life itself. The thing is, painful stress, whether emotional, physical, or intellectual, is what builds strength and effectiveness for life.
If you lift enough, at some point that 60 lb. bag of cement mix will feel light as a feather. Same goes for all other stressors.
Does the white Appalachian coal miner in West Virginia really have an innate leg up on the Punjabi immigrant exec in Silicon Valley on the basis of his appearance? Yet somewhere along the line in a supposed racist America, being a white male in Fayette County, W. Va., did not innately trump being a techie immigrant from Mumbai in Menlo Park. Does multibillionaire Oprah Winfrey have less privilege and opportunity than a white cook in Provo, Utah?
Does the recently arrived undocumented immigrant who has lived his entire life in the Mexican state of Oaxaca become eligible for career and job enhancement because he does not superficially look like the out-of-work lathe worker in southern Ohio? Is the theory that the minute the immigrant crosses the border to the U.S. from his formerly racist society, his children will become eligible for federally mandated advantages on the reasoning that from now on, they will face racism as a non-white in the country to which he fled in order to avoid racism in the country of his birth?
Paul Manafort is rotting away in solitary confinement on the flimsiest of specious nothingness while murderers, rapists, pedophiles and other scum of the earth post bail and are out in a heartbeat before the ink on their fingerprints are dry. That is also an abject travesty. It's political terrorism just as bad in its own way as that suffered by Steve Scalise at the hands of a Dick Durbin-linked would-be assassin. The President can put a stop to all of this right now by firing Mueller, ending the kangaroo court and just flat out pardoning Paul Manafort, but the politics of that is dangerous to play with.
“We’re looking at the destruction of the Constitution of the United States” – 2020 front runner for Democrat nomination to the Presidency, Sen Kamala Harris
If so much hangs on the appointment of a single person to the Supreme Court that it matters more than almost anything else in our politics, then maybe the Supreme Court matters too much. In a healthier republic, it would matter less.
Backroads is a bit pricey, but they are excellent. The Dolomites—A Peak Experience in Italy & Austria. We've hiked quite a bit up there, but the bike trip sounds very cool if you're in shape for hill biking.
This has been a banner year for the Eastern Chipmunk around my place and everywhere I go. I love these little buggers.
Sure, they take bites of out my tomatoes (for the water, I suspect). I don't mind much. If you have stone walls, log piles, and brushy areas, they will build their tunnels. It seems like their main enemies are house cats, Black Snakes, and weasels. Since we have no roaming house cats these days (thank goodness), our friendly little chipmunks are having a good year.
At this time of year, there are plenty of young ones too. They are innocent, do not seem careful enough about life.
A friend of mine sits on his front porch in the evening with a whisky and a cigar, and feeds them his walnuts from his hand.
6:1 He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.
6:2 On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, "Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands!
6:3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.
6:4 Then Jesus said to them, "Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house."
6:5 And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them.
6:6 And he was amazed at their unbelief. Then he went about among the villages teaching.
6:7 He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.
6:8 He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts;
6:9 but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics.
6:10 He said to them, "Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place.
6:11 If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them."
6:12 So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent.
London Broil (nothing to do with London, it seems) is a cut of top round. Inexpensive but very tasty hunk of cow. It is often recommended that it be marinated for hours. That's fine, but not really necessary. All you need to do is to coat it heavily with salt and pepper, and maybe a steak rub, and throw it in a full-heat frying pan. Three- five minutes on each side depending on its thickness. A good black crust on it.
Let it rest 5-10 minutes, then slice against the grain, on a very sloping angle, as thin as you can with a good knife.
While the meat is resting, throw some thick onion slices into the grease and oil and brown them. Maybe a few mushrooms too. Toss them on top of your slices, cut up a tomato, and dinner is served.
In the photo, I feel even those slices are too thick- and not on enough of an angle either. When I say thin, I mean thin. Too thick slices can be like chewing gum. Very thin slices are great. Takes a good knife and a good knife-handler.
If America Is So Bad, Why Do They Keep Coming Here? To listen to open-borders advocates, left-wing journalists and Democrats in Congress, the U.S. is a hellhole of misery and bigotry
A song often considered to be a sign of maturity in a young Bob Dylan. "I realized I became my own enemy in the instant that I preached..." The discovery of humility, or something.
Whether you are doing an hour of weights, calis, or HIIT cardio, I think most of us ordinary exercisers reach the point in a given effort when something says "OK, I'm done," but a better voice says (in my case) "Don't be a pussy - push through and do more." I find that self-insults work well for me, as do either insults or encouragement from others.
Distance runners talk about hitting "the wall," but persisting through the wall and finding more energy on the other side. These experiences are both mental and physiological, having to do with the energy sources your muscles or your heart are using and the amount of power your body can enlist.
Yesterday I did elliptical semi-HIIT, semi-long slow on the elliptical (because Wimbledon) on TV. When I do this on elliptical (always using arms too to make it full-body) I do 30-second sprints with 60-second slows, or for variety, I will keep a steady RPM pace while upping the resistance from 1 to 10, increasing every minute and then dropping back down the same way.
After 35 minutes of low-resistance 30-second sprints, I was done. Or thought I was. I called myself a wimp, took a minute slow on level 1, and then got right back in the game to complete the hour going up and down the resistance levels. I have similar experiences in my calis classes.
On the other hand, we all have real limits and it is amusing and educational to confront them in regular life and in physical exertion. Well, depressing too. All we have to do is to check whether it is a real limit or a mental determination speed bump.
On my 5th set of deads this morning (increasing weight and decreasing reps for each set) I found I could not get 3 reps at 245. Genius trainer said "Quick, reset your grip and go again." I think I engaged all my will and force but the goddam thing felt glued to the floor. With a minute's rest, I could have done the third, but that's not the way it works. For you strong guys and gals, this would not be too difficult but I am not you. A fit, skinny, no-bulk gal I know does 3 reps of 300. She is only 35, though.
I think it was a true physical limit at that point in my dead routine, because I engage everything so as not to disappoint my trainer's expectations and demands. However, for that moment, I am fairly confident that I was done. Sucks to disappoint a mentor.
When I think about it, I most frequently encounter genuine limits in jump rope and in pull-ups. Also, the sprints on the combat bike. Even the f-word just doesn't help at all.
I wonder how our readers feel when things go from manageable to tough to hard to painful to walls to breakthoughs to actually confronting real limitations.
Man, was the place packed this morning. The calis classes were packed, the yoga classes, the cycle classes, and the running classes (actually, HIIT sprinting classes). The work-out floor was packed too. Saw people I haven't seen in years.
Wonderful, like a party. I like the place when it's quiet, but when it's full the energy level rises for everybody, like a contagion. Great way for us to spend an hour or two in the morning on a hot holiday, especially with blasting a/c and Wimbledon in the TV. Vanessa is 38!
I think we'll grab a kayak (and a beer) this afternoon to complete a perfect holiday. God bless America.
(For my fellow exercise people, all I did was 5 sets of pull-ups - actually, 1 set of pull-ups and then 5 sets of "hangs." Hangs strengthen your pull-ups. Jump your chest to the bar with overhand grip and your elbows at your side, then hang as long as you can. You get remarkable arm vibration, and watch your lats and arms slowly give way until they give out. Count the seconds. Then I did just 60 mins of elliptical cardio with Wimbledon because I do heavy weight tomorrow morning and because I love tennis.)
Dying Organs Restored to Life in Novel Experiments - 
This has been a banner year for the 
Burgers etc are great on charcoal. Cuts of beef, not so much in my opinion. 
Whether you are doing an hour of weights, calis, or HIIT cardio, I think most of us ordinary exercisers reach the point in a given effort when something says "OK, I'm done," but a better voice says (in my case) "Don't be a pussy - push through and do more." I find that self-insults work well for me, as do either insults or encouragement from others.
