Thursday, March 20, 2008

On the Road Again

Occasionally I get to travel for work. And by "get to travel" I mean I would rather work a fifteen hour day with no breaks than have to travel to New York for a business meeting.




What I did on my trip:

  • Spent $1100 on a last minute airline ticket to attend last minute meeting
  • Spent six hours on a plane from SFO to JFK
  • Spent four hours looking for a hotel room (not a single room available in Manhattan)
  • Spent two of those four hours in the lobby of a Holiday Inn Express (until 2 a.m.) in a last ditch attempt to put a roof over my head for the night
  • Spent $250 on cab fare over two days
  • Spent $40 on fancy schmancy sushi & sashimi (a $3 In-N-Out Burger would have been just as nice)
  • Spent two full days on the east coast for two 30 minute presentations
  • Spent 8 hours flying home from NJ to SFO

I'm so glad to be back home with Ashley, Charlie and Max now. I missed them.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Hate to Love Him

I've always been a Phil fan, not a Tiger fan, when it comes to golf personalities. That makes days like today difficult, because I really enjoyed watching Tiger win the Arnold Palmer Invitational. In one of the most dramatic finishes you will see in golf, Tiger shows the world how unhuman he is. Unfortunately, this clip just shows 1 putt. It doesn't show the 269 shots that got him there. It also doesn't show the 1600 (or so) shots that have won him 6 tournaments in a row. Who does that? Tiger Woods does that. Unbelievable.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Pain in the Neck...and Back

I had horrible posture in high school and college. The years slouching over text books or slumping into a sofa took their toll on my neck and back. When I finished grad school my neck and upper back pain was almost unbearable at times. It's gotten much better since then, and I'd like to tell you how I did it.

Note: I have mostly upper back and neck problems. My lower back has never really been an issue. I'm not sure the following applies to lower back pain.

Over the year's I have searched high and low for a solution to my neck/back pains. I visited back doctors, physical therapists and massage therapists; bought a back book, a buckwheat pillow and a personal traction device; used posture aids, stretching routines and even put tape on my back to remind me to sit up straight. None of them offered much relief.

However, my life changed 4 years ago, when I got a real job. One of the best things that happened was that I started working at a computer, at a desk, instead of hunched over a textbook. However, that was just the begining. After reading a Wall Street Journal article that suggested that almost all back problems could be traced to bad posture, I changed the focus of my corrective efforts to my posture. It worked.

Here's what did:

  1. 3 1/2 years ago Ashley and I bought new pillows. Apparently spine alignment is important even when you're sleeping. I got one of those memory foam pillows (It's actually half memory foam and half fluff). Surprisingly I it helped keep my neck in place at night and I slept a little better. I have since added a pillow between my knees and another between my elbows. Yes, I use three pillows when I sleep. Effectiveness rating: 3/5
  2. 3 years ago I started sitting on an excercise ball at work. It helped me sit up straighter than all the fancy ergo-chairs my work had to offer. It wasn't perfect, but was perhaps the most significant thing I had done for my back to date. It took most of the stress off my upper back and neck, but I noticed it put more strain on my lower back. For two years I sat on that ball and my neck felt better than it had since my sophomore year in college. Effectiveness rating: 3/5
  3. 2 1/2 years ago I switched up my workout routine at the gym to focus on my back. I had been working out (off and on) for 10 years and had never given any thought to strengthening my back. I started each workout with rowing type excercises and a cantelever back excercise (where your head and torso hang down and you have to straighten up using your back). I've since worked in lat pull-downs, abdominal excercises and dips because a back doctor once said those were all good for my back. When I'm doing these exercises regularly I feel as close to 100% as I think I can feel. Effectiveness rating: 5/5
  4. 2 years ago I ditched the excercise ball I was using as a chair and swapped in a stool that pivots at the base. Functionally it acts much like the ball, which is to say it gives me support for my bum but nothing else, so my back, stomach and legs have to do the rest of the stabalization work. I think it works great. Unfortunately I've learned to slouch sitting on a stool too, but it has been far better for me than any chair. Effectiveness rating 4/5
My neck feels 10 times better now than it did when I graduated from college, but it still bugs me constantly. My next project is to try and fix my posture at home. Until I do this, I don't believe I will be rid of my pains. All my good posture habits stay at work when I come home. Got to do something about that.



Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Big Time

Two days ago my blog got the D-dawg bump. Traffic shot up from a lowly 30 visitors per day to almost 200 visitors per day. How will I possibly entertain and retain these new fans? Answer: I won't. I have no delusions of grandeur. I am a one hit wonder. I got lucky and a blogging superstar like Denae happened to give my post the nod of approval.

I admit it felt great. I loved the attention will always think back to March 10, 2008 as the day I hit blogging pay dirt. But I am no superstar. In fact, I don't even want to be a blogging superstar. Yeah, that's it. I'd rather be a blogging nobody who blogs for me than a sell-out with hundreds of loyal readers.

With that in mind, I must ask you newcomers to leave now and never come back. It is my only hope for keeping this blog true to its roots. If you stay, I will only let you down later, and that fall will be hard for both of us. Get off this band-wagon while you and I still have our dignity.

Monday, March 10, 2008

No Makeup?

I'm a fan of makeup on women. Moderate amounts of makeup applied correctly can do wonders for ones appearance. So why are there so many women out there who don't use it?

Sunday, March 2, 2008

My Boys

Charlie

Max

I love 'em.






Reason Enough

Ashley and I talked about our future this afternoon. Something we haven't done in years. Seriously. Life's just easier when we don't have to talke about stuff like whether or not we think we can afford a home in the Bay Area or when we are going to move to Utah.

But today we did, and it reminded me why I love my wife. She's so easy to reason with (meaning she's rational, not a push-over). She's tough, which means she'll stand her ground any time she thinks her argument holds water (almost always). And she never manipulates, guilts or sulks her way into getting anything. It's very refreshing.

It doesn't change the fact that she sees us moving to Utah within two years and I would prefer something like 10 (or longer), but I think we handle our differing opinions very well. I owe that to her.