Zoom A Little Zoom

This song never fails to make me smile.

More Praise for the Standing Desk

GTD Times discusses standing desks

I recently reconstructed my workspace in a way that has stepped up my energy and focus to a whole new level. I made this improvement by switching to a stand-up desk. This is an amazing tool that has helped me to be more productive and ergonomically correct; a win for my company and for me. Since I have gotten my stand-up desk, I have noticed the following benefits:

• I am much more inclined to work through a solid block of time without needing an interruption for my energy to explode.

• When I do need to sit, I can do so in smaller increments and stretch my legs out which eliminates the need for me to interrupt my work to stretch or take walks (although I still love taking walks on my break).

• I no longer feel the tightness in my legs when I walk out of the office at the end of the day, nor do I dread sitting down again for my commute home.

• I feel the release of a “constricted” mindset, which inspires creativity and freedom in my work.

• I have quicker access to my surrounding workspace.

I have been rocking my standing desk for over a year now. And during that time my back hasn’t gone out once. I will also agree with the lack of leg pain and increased productivity. Glad to hear my heroes over at the David Allen Company preaching the gospel!

Last Shuttle Launch

One of my earliest memories was of sitting in my grandparents living room, watching the first space shuttle landing of Columbia in April 1981. I was immediately hooked and have remained so for the last 30 years. I wouldn’t consider myself a serious space junkie but I pay more attention than the average person.

Watching Atlantis (my favorite shuttle name) take off today was a bittersweet and goosebump inducing moment for me. I was so proud to see our country’s space program flex its muscles one last time and once again amazed at the sheer awesomeness of the launch. After seeing dozens over the years I am just as impressed today as I was when I was a child.

I’m looking forward to the next chapter in spaceflight. I was disappointed to hear of the funding cuts for the Orion program but I hope the private sector will rise to the challenge. We need to keep reaching outward as a country and as a race.

To the crew of Atlantis, Godspeed and come home safe.

The Revenge of the Jaded Parent

Last year I wrote a self-indulgent and whiny post about how all of our friends have let their kids take over their lives. I paid for it withcomments from some of my parenting colleagues who basically told me that parenting is the most important thing in the world and I am a jerk for not recognizing that. I also got the impression that they thought I was a bit selfish for expecting to have a personal life AND reasonably-adjusted children. My wife, who normally sings the same tune of liberated parenthood that I do,  was also a bit critical about the debate I started. My working theory on this was not so much that she disagreed with me but because she hates conflict and we all fear uber parents just a little bit in much the same way that children fear schoolyard bullies.

But I love a good bit of rabble-rousing so…

It was with great pleasure that a friend pointed me towards the new children’s book-for-adults called Go the F— to Sleep narrated by Samuel L. Jackson (beware audio is NSFW).

This book is not the cry of a horrible parent. It’s the frustration I find more and more common on the parenting landscape that the post-baby boomer generation has created. Elaborate bedtime routines which apparently only work properly with multiple parents involved.  A ‘team’ mentality that has become so persistent that parents feel like they are inflicting harm if they leave their spouse alone with the children for an evening. Parents who seek advice from their fellow parents on how best to reason with their child and gently persuade them to do what mommy wants. Parents who feel like they have wronged their children if the kids aren’t doing three different extra curriculars on any given weeknight.

I’m not an opponent of involved parenting. I’m just an opponent of letting your kids take over your life. I promise that kids can handle the word ‘no’ once in awhile. As one child psychologist said recently in an interview at The Atlantic, “Your children need to hate you once in awhile. It’s good for them to think of you as a real person.” The first battle in this war might start over bedtime.

Hilarious

I don’t watch Parks and Recreation but this clip makes me think I should at least check it out.

Anecdotal Economic News

In my day job I help manage my company’s relationship with certain clients. The seven clients that I personally deal represent a wide-range of products and all of them are major players in their fields. The reason I am mentioning this is because often these companies serve as leading indicators for the overall U.S. economy.

When the ‘Great Recession’ began in the fall of 2008 we had already begun to see a slight drift in some of our clients. Throughout 2009 and 2010 we saw many of them struggling. That’s when they came calling. Our business is to help our customers manage their costs and look for ways to save them money. When times are tough they lean on us considerably because they need us to work our magic. Because we are also a very large and stable company our smarter clients know they can leverage their relationship to smooth out some of the bumps in the economy.

When times are tough we are invited to a lot of meetings, conference calls, etc. Our customers become increasingly demanding and in addition to cost-cutting quality becomes an item of larger importance.  Our managers attend quarterly meetings where they are hammered on the minutiae of our business relationship and threats are often made. It’s stressful but often exciting.

These days all is quiet. Our customers seem to all be doing much better as evidenced by my phone not ringing much, my email staying manageable and the requests for meetings becoming infrequent. Nowadays we feel like the scorned lover that wonders what he did wrong. The good news is that we still have their business but when they are growing all they want from us is stability and status quo.

So that’s my simple observation. Things are picking back up because my business is quiet. Let’s hope it lasts awhile, although it sure does get boring these days.

Delays…

So posting has been light this week despite a LOT of good blog fodder because I have been working like a dog trying to get ahead at work and mentally preparing for the sinus surgery I was supposed to be having tomorrow morning. My plan had been to spend a good deal of my recovery time next week cranking out blog posts because I have sorely neglected my readership. This plan was sunk this afternoon when I was informed that a scheduling error meant my pre-op tests could not be completed in time and the surgery had to be postponed.  Two more weeks…

This surgery was something I put off for a couple of months so I could find the right window in my spring schedule. I had been doing a good job dealing with any nerves I had (this is my first ‘real’ surgery). I accomplished everything I needed to at work. All systems go. And now I wait some more.

Amazing how painful it was to hear the words, “You won’t be having the surgery tomorrow.” I literally felt like I had been punched in the stomach when I walked out of the building. When I was a kid this would have been relief because I hated medical procedure. Now it just seems cruel. Hopefully this delay is for a good reason since I don’t believe in coincidence with things like this.

Weight Cutting in MMA

Weight-cutting is a big part of the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA).  The theory behind it is that if you can cut more weight than the other guy then you have a physical advantage in the fight, either in strength and/or leverage. Personally I have never liked the concept. Everyone is cutting weight these days so it seems any potential advantage is moot. A weight class might be 170 and so both guys cut 20 pounds for weigh-ins and fight at 190 the day of the event. Wouldn’t it be easier to just fight at 190?

A lot of analysts and fans of the sport have speculated on both the short term and long term damage of this practice. You will routinely hear TV commentators wondering aloud if a difficult weight cut might be the reason why a fighter looks fatigued.  A new study shows that the damage done to the fighter may be less physical than previously thought. From Cagewriter:

Cutting weight before fights is a part of MMA. Usually, a fighter who has had a tough weight-cut is assumed to have problems in strength and endurance, but a recent study questions that assumption.

Researchers at Cal State Fullerton took a look at how weight-cutting affects wrestlers, and the results might surprise you. Cutting six pounds or more in a short period of time tends to lead to confusion among the athletes, but their strength is not affected.

The researchers found that wrestlers who lost 4 percent or more of their body mass had significantly higher levels of confusion on the day of the competition. There was no increased confusion for those who lost less than 4 percent of their body mass. Body mass reduction had no effect on other psychological functions or on grip strength or lower body power, said the researchers at California State University, Fullerton.

I want to say that if it was me fighting I would just fight at my natural weight and hope that skill trumps weight. It’s easy for me to claim this though since I will never be walking into a cage. A few fighters out there DO fight at their natural weight, such as current UFC lightweight champ Frankie Edgar and welterweight BJ Penn.  I feel there’s a certain honor in this, but trying to persuade all of the fighters to go in this direction seems an impossible task. The only possible way to enforce it would be to force them to weigh-in the day of the fight so they don’t have time to bulk back up, thereby negating the advantage of  a weight-cut.