Of nostalgia and men.

Close to this time last year, I wrote this: "I enjoyed this article about nostalgia. I think the author keeps a good, level ground when discussing it and its virtues. Here is an excerpt I liked: '… Each generation should take what was best from the generation before it and add it as a brick in the foundation of the culture, discarding the dross and ever stacking together the lessons we’ve learned, the things that have really worked best. This way the culture becomes stronger and stronger over time.'" Upon further reflection, I've realized that, sadly, what our culture is more likely to do is gather the dross, protect it in any way possible, and hand it on to the next generation. These Curators of Crap seem hell-bent on removing what is good about culture (God, civility, etc) and distilling it down to a black, tarry mess. And it's a sad thing to see. Gone are the days of chivalry (I once got in trouble for opening the door for a woman) and grace. True, there are those out there who hold onto these ideals, but the number is dwindling. It is based on that idea that it's easy to see the appeal of the "old ways" when men were men and women were ladies. They *were* good times. Hopefully some of us can preserve these old ideals and hand them down. There may yet be some gentlemen left in another 200 years.

Quite right.

So, I realized today that I didn't make a single post in 2011. And you know what? I'm ok with that. It's a year that I don't mind sweeping under the rug. It wasn't necessarily a bad year (though some who are close to me might say otherwise), but it was a hard year. And, while I learned a lot, I'm glad to have it behind me.

Adventures in Elevatoring

Today, as I was leaving for lunch, I was walking to the elevator and I reached out to press the down button. My hand was still a foot away from the panel when the Up button lit up. Then, a half second later, the Down button lit up. Almost like an unseen hand pressed them both in sequence. "So", I thought, "I guess I'll take the stairs." The end.

My mom rooooocks!

I was on the phone telling my mom about how I found my 1917 Aristocrat in a antiques store, and she said "Oh, I was given an old Gillette razor by your grandma's sister. Her husband worked for Gillette." Needless to say, my ears perked right up. So, she went and rummaged through a drawer for all of a few seconds and pulled out a perfect, brand stinking new British Gillette Aristocrat! As near as I can tell it was a 1953 model, but this remains to be seen once I can look at the date code and find more information on it. I've never seen the likes of the case. So, she's sending it to me! Needless to say I'm more than a little thrilled and can't wait for it to get here!

I'm bringing Saddleback!

Yes, well. I finally pulled the trigger on the last bag I'll ever buy. The last "briefcase" I'll ever buy. The last "briefcase" from Saddleback Leather in Dark Coffee that I'll ever buy... for myself.

I couldn't pass it up. I've been drooling on these things for a while now, and they finally had a sale on one of their bags in the "outlet" (Dave's Deals) that made it impossible to resist. It's this exact, pictured bag, actually. And I'm already in love with it. It's an older model and has a few minor things about it that aren't up to snuff with most of their new bags, so I got it drastically marked down. But, it still has the same 100 year warranty and includes all the awesomeness of their normal bags.

I'm massively stoked for Thursday (the day UPS claims it will be here). Hopefully, all will go as planned and I'll be packing my things in style. And, since I'm looking for work, I'll be packing my things in style when I'm living on the side of the road. :)

Oster? I hardly know her!

I shave my head. It is, therefore, imperative that I have clippers that are up to the task. Up until yesterday I was using a pair of extremely well loved Remington clippers with ceramic blades. By "well loved" I mean they'd been used so much that trying to get them to cut was something akin to taking a butter knife to your hair and just hacking away with it like a madman with a machete. It was that bad. So, I did some looking around. I almost pulled the trigger on two models - another one by Remington - and a $50 Oster set. But, the only fair reviews on the Remington scared me away.

While looking at the Oster set, I stumbled across the Oster Classic 76. At first I freaked out because I couldn't bring myself to spend that kind of money on hair clippers. (And Amazon is CHEAP!) But - get this - it has replaceable blades. Want to adjust the length a bit? Get a different blade set. "But wait!" you cry, "isn't that more expensive than just changing blade guards?" Why, yes! But for someone who just chops off their hair relentlessly it's heaven. No attachments, no adjusting. Just pure chopping pleasure.

And for the shrewd reader, you'll also deduce that this means you can basically get a new set of clippers for a dime. I had to throw out the Remington because replacement blades aren't an option. With this, I can just buy a new blade, pop it on, and I'm off to the races again. Plus there are ample places you can just get your blades sharpened. And *that* is cheap. Like $5 and your clippers can be good as new again. That's thinking ahead.

How does it work? In a word: awesome! After the merciless hacking and pulling and tugging and... (well, you get the idea) that I had to do with my Remington, this thing is just heaven. Took off huge tufts of hair with just a single pass. No bogging, no hesitation or pulling. It is great. The blade tips are very well designed, also, so that you avoid jabbing yourself with the sharp tips. Namely, the tips just aren't sharp. Even on the super short 000 size, you don't feel like you're going to draw blood if you don't maintain just the correct angle.

So, in a nutshell, I'd say that if you do a lot of hair clipping (or you just want a single pair of clippers to last until your kids are out of the house) BUY THESE CLIPPERS. They definitely fall into the category of thrifty when you factor in their lifetime. I'm all for not buying another pair of clippers again. (I've bought 3 clippers in the past decade alone.) The initial cost might seem a bit much, but in the end you'll be glade you did.

Wellness Series: Physical

It's not a very far leap to see that one of the most fundamental elements of an overall sense of well-being is being physically fit. When we feel good physically it carries over into almost every other aspect of our lives. Have you ever noticed how obnoxiously perky those people are that go to the gym at 5 in the morning? Yeah, that's because they feel good, so they let it show.

What is it?
As I sat doing my cardio at the gym yesterday, I took a moment to consider what physical fitness is. I've decided that in large amounts it's not what you see at the gym. Sure, there are plenty of people there that are in awesome shape. Mostly the women, interestingly. The men kinda scare me, though.

I saw lots of men whose necks were bigger than their heads. Then there were the ones whose arms were bigger than their heads and whose legs were bigger than tree trunks. Oddly, on these specimens, a large handful also had an awesome pot-belly to go with it. Now this is just my opinion, but even if I can lift a house, I won't really feel in shape if I can't see my toes.

Which brings another couple points. I don't think a person has to be trim to be physically fit. For some of us, it's just highly unlikely we're ever going to have a v-shaped body without spending 8 hours a day with a personal trainer. But we can all get to the point where we aren't winded getting up out of a chair and crossing the room. I think fit means being able to enjoy a walk or hike or bike ride without feeling like your next step may be your last.

When I was at my physical peak, I could hike up mountains in a day, ride 10 mile roads with steep uphill grades, and was generally "sasquatch" as my friends called me. But, I still wasn't trim. I had my fair share of padding distributed around my body, but I felt good. Incidentally, I did drop nearly 60 pounds to get there.

So, you don't have to have a 28 inch waist or wear a size 0 to be fit. Another point being at the gym pointed out to me is that you don't have to have huge muscles to be fit. If you want them, great. But from my own experience talking to ladies, they prefer a man who has a balanced body mass as opposed to a power lifter. Just something to think about.

I can't afford the gym!
Now, I'm not saying that everybody has to GO to the gym at 5 in the morning to get their daily exercise. Remember the guy in the above picture? That's right - Rocky Balboa. A real American hero if ever there was one. Now, I know he's a fictional character, but bare with me on this one while we take a moment to step into his life.

Rocky Balboa vs Ivan Drago: ready, FIGHT! Rocky IV stands out most to me in this example because Drago has steroids, fancy electrical training machines, a team of trainers, etc, etc, etc. You know what Rocky has? A log cabin, some rocks, and an axe. And, to make a long story short, using nothing but his rudimentary training regime (and a whole lot of heart) he beats down Ivan Drago and continues to be the Rocky we all know and love. What's the point of this, you may ask?

It's simply this: You don't need a gym or fancy machinery to become physically fit. You just need some heart, determination, and maybe a Rocky poster for your garage wall. (I'm kidding about that one. Mostly.) Odds are you have enough stuff kicking around the house to get a good workout. Have you ever felt the weight of a 5 gallon bucket filled to the top with water? Start looking around. Odds are there are quite a few things kicking around that would be great for strength training. Heck, instead of watching the TV, move it back and forth between rooms a few times. I guarantee you that'll get your blood flowing. (You may raise the blood pressure of your significant other substantially, though.)

Drop and give me 100!
You don't even need buckets of water or other heavy objects to get a good workout. You could, for example, drop and give me 100! Yes, 100 pushups. Can't do it? (I can't, either.) Then you best get started! Visit hundredpushups.com to begin an awesome thrice-weekly workout regime. I guarantee you it'll increase your strength and give you a surprisingly good cardio workout.

Burpees: The Other Lean Meat
Heard of Mike Rowe? Well, he was asked once how he stays in shape while on the road eating junk food and fast food at every turn. If you know who Mike is, you've probably noticed that the guy is in pretty good shape. How does he do it? BURPEES! I've tried these, and I can tell you they give you quite a good workout. You will not be disappointed. Odds are you can't even finish a full set of 10,9,8...1. It's tough stuff. And it works every major muscle group. You'll know you got a good workout.

Hopefully this will give you some ideas. I'll probably revisit and add things to the Physical grouping of the Wellness Series, but this should be enough to get you thinking and get you started, if you need it. I know I do.