Alas, PSC, I knew it

With the arrival of a letter I watched three years of blood, sweat, and tears comes to an end. Well, I never actually bled at the gym, and I might have cried once, but since then I've learned the right way to tie the weight harness around my waist.

Yes, Philly Sports Club in Cherry Hill, NJ will cease to exist on July 31st, 2009. At first, this news bummed me out. I've grown to love the gym for several reasons. One, it's clean. Two, it has great equipment in great condition that's optimal for the workouts I like to do. Three, it is terrifically located about half way between work and home. Four, they give out free towels which contributes greatly to number one, the cleanliness. Five, I can honestly say that in 3 years I never felt crowded, and the crowd that was there was pleasant and curteous. I think I asked to "work in" on a piece of equipment once, and even that caused the person using the equipment to scamper off thinking they had done something wrong.

Number five of the list always caused me concern. Is a gym profiting if the members aren't side-by-sweaty-side in the weight room? If we never enforce the "30 minutes when someone is waiting" rule on the Precor because no one ever needs to wait, then how can we remain solvent? Thus, when the letter arrived I assumed the root cause lied in lack of attendance.

Alas, if only that were true. As it turns out the lease expired on the space that PSC rented when the property changed hands to new owners. The new owners opted not to renew the space because they had a new and far more profitable endeavor in mind.

TEAR DOWN THE BUILDING A PUT UP A CVS.

That's right, my gym is going away so that another CVS can take it's place. If I search the store locator on the CVS website, the next closest CVS is one mile away. There's another one straight down King's Highway in Haddonfield. Factor in the Rite Aid's and Walgreens of the world and you can throw a stone in South Jersey and hit a place that will re-up your Lipitor.

You know what really grinds my gears America? That we need to see more preventive activity to stay healthy. Get exercising and you might not need that blood pressure medication. I see from their annual report in 2008 that $559 Million in CVS revenue comes from filled retail prescriptions. How many of those perscriptions would not be necessary if more Americans led a more active lifestyle. The way I see it CVS treats a symptom. Going to the gym addresses a root cause. Seeing a gym torn down to build a CVS is tragic. Especially when it's my gym.

It looks like I'll be back at Bally Total Fitness come August, an easy fit since I never cancelled my member. That caused me a great deal of anguish to type since most of the 5 points I made above are the exact opposite of your average Ballys condition.

Of course this aggravation all started with my initial question, "Why is PSC going away?" So the lesson learned kids is that ignorance is bliss. Have a great week!

Happy Memorial Day!

Here's the latest awesome video from Blue October!

A Controlled Experiment

Two weeks ago I came upon the pleasant fortune of having tickets to both the Philadelphia and New York City shows of Blue October's Approaching Normal tour. Aside from a great time with my wife and sisters listening to fantastic music from an awesome band putting on a magnificent show not once but twice, I also noticed a unique opportunity to see what differences a change in venue can make.

The show on Wednesday night was by no means a disappointment, however the show on Friday night was 10 times more enjoyable. I literally had my face rocked off. That's right. I picked up my bloody flesh from the floor. It was that awesome. 

Ok ok, figuratively rocked off.

Between both nights there existed several similarities. One: I was there! Two: Rachel was there. Three: Same exact set list (played the CD and followed with a bunch of Foiled music and a scant few older ones). Four: I consumed some tasty beverages. Five: I ended up about the same distance from the stage (about 4 heads away).

There were two major differences. One: Webster Hall in NYC v. TLA in Philly. Two: Friday night versus Wednesday night. 

Results on Friday:

Band, particularly lead singer, much more animated and into it.

Crowd much more animated and into it.

I had much more fun.

Some blond bee-otch didn't yell at me for "cutting" (it's the pit for christsake, stop pulling on my shirt)

A big ogre did not stiffarm a 13 year old trying to see past him.

A kind gentlemen named "Jimmy" offered us the chance to move closer. 

Conclusions:

I like to think the energy of New York City plus Friday night served as the major causes to the increased energy and pleasantnesss of the show. Hopefully we can attribute Hump Day anxiety to why the City of Brotherly Loved seemed quite the misnomer. 

My quasi-analytical analysis aside, BO certainly put on a fantastic show. Justin (lead singer) must have literally lost the 40 lbs he mentions in Say It. He was significantly more animated on stage and it sure as shoot got the crowd going. The new songs are a lot of fun, although I'm not sure I'm a fan of a band just playing an entire CD verbatim to start their show. 

If there's a word for my Blue October experience as of late it would be Cathartic. I think everyone has that band that seems to help them sort out life. They write the songs at just the right time to help you see what you're going through with the correct perspective. 

If you haven't found that band yet, I encourage you to keep searching because you never know where you might find it. For Jackie and I, it happened when a song called Hate Me showed up on almost every single radio station almost every single time we hopped in our Honeymoon convertible. Not exactly the song you'd expect, but as life unfolded the following two years and we unfolded the discography of Blue October, the fit felt snug and right. Now their latest CD speaks of new life, blue skies, and hope. 

How fitting =)

Listen Up

Blue October could possibly be my favorite band, but traditionally they're far from the most uplifting group. Well, I've found them to be a great way to get through rough spots, but we'll save that psychoanalysis for another post.

Steve Lillywhite partnered with Dave Matthews Band at one point to create The Lillywhite Sessions. That album was not initially released because, from what I heard, it was too depressing. 

So when I heard Steve Lillywhite partnered with Blue October for the latest album "Approaching Normal," I expected the CD to come with a free gift card for razor blades, sleeping pills, rope, a belt, reruns of The View, or whatever escape plan enabler works best for the listener. 

After spending two weeks with the CD I could not have been more wrong or more elated by their most recent addition to the Blue October discography. The album certainly has a different and far more up beat sound. If you haven't been a fan in the past, I recommend checking out, "Jump Rope" "Blue Skies" "Been Down" and "Should be Loved". I love the whole frakkin CD, but for someone easing their way into BO, start there.

Stay tuned for more sporadic announcements and vague allusions to song titles in future posts. Oh, and concert on the 1st of May at Webstar Hall in NYC should rock. Correction: Will rock.

Much Ado About Posting

Whenever I sit at this keyboard I should be typing an essay for my application for a Villanova MBA. Thus, I don't blog because once I start I feel like I'm not doing what I should be. In the meantime, here's a delightfully entertaining video of All American Rejects covering "Womanizer". Wooooo!



Oh, right, Thanks to Travis "T-Bag" Weber for the link!

Website of the Week

TED Talks rock. Here's my latest favorite, but I encourage you to peruse and find your top pick!



http://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_on_our_loss_of_wisdom.html

Clip of the Year

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalt!

If you found Michael as annoying as I did in Seasons 1&2, then you'll certainly enjoy this!

Credit Cri$i$

Still trying to figure out the credit crisis? Here's the best explanation I've seen yet, probably because it's done in a visual way my brain can comprehend.



http://vimeo.com/3261363

Out of the Closet

I like to think I'm a different kind of husband. The kind that listens, can dress himself, can do chores around the house that don't involve a gas-powered engine, cooks, and makes a damn fine 5 cheese penne (Barefoot Contessa-Family Style). Then again, when I had to get my wife to put this together for me, I realized I'm slowly devolving. At least I could still pick out the socks on my own :)

Travelin' Man

One of the coolest parts of working for a company is when I have the kind of job that allows me to travel just often enough to enjoy a breath of fresh air at a new location, however, it does not require a constant schlep from place to place that quickly becomes draining.

Right now I find myself in such a pleasant position, especially considering I current tap out this post from Riviera Beach, FL!

Over the years I picked up some of my own traveling best practices for me. Given my "unique" habits of nutrition, fitness, and other rituals, you mileage with these may vary.

1. Packing as little as possible without limiting my activity options. When I first started traveling I figured I should pack work clothes, after work clothes, and workout clothes. This approach resulted in a suitcase (if I actually could fit it in only one) that was not only of backbreaking heft, it elicited sufficient ridicule from co-travelers to cause me to change my approach. I now continue to err on the conservative side and figure in "creative reuse" to my wardrobe planning. This trip I set a new record for decreased weight and decreased ridicule, so I must be figuring something out.

2. Pack GOOD snacks. Off-site meetings are notorious for cookies, crackers, and all kind of break time garbage that does little to satiate and lots to blood sugar spikes (and crashes). I'll stack up on kashi, odwalla, and other low-glycemic index bars to snack on during the breaks. The difference is most noticeable at the end of the day where I used to be antsy for dinner, I can now concentrate to the end.

3. Be realistic about how much spare time will be available. I originally packed books, planned blog posts, and the latest Toastmasters speech book to take on during the oodles of night freedom and travel time. Due to the needs to wind down at night and other pop up activities, I will now just bring a book to read. I travel lighter and with a more focused attack I make great progress through that one book. (Btw, "Art of Deception" is quite interesting right now)

4. I'm liking Southwest. The crew doesn't feel like they're on a forced march, the boarding process works for me, and the prices seem right...especially since they aren't hidden!

And now, up, up, and away!
Jonathan

Building My PC 10 - Deneument

I built this PC nearly one month ago and am happy to report I am extremely happy with the outcome.

Given the original requirements of looks, volume, and speed we excel on all fronts. The Antec case fits beautifully under the desk and you'll only know if it's on if you're sitting right next to it. The only downside there is I have to enter the office to make sure its off, where as before the whir audible from the hallway could answer that question.

Speed-wise the computer feels completely fluid. iTunes, the worst performing application prior to the build, once again responds to our commands. Switching users between Jackie and I takes about 5 seconds which is about the time it takes for us to switch chairs anyway. 

I finally "stress tested" the computer by running Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. (Previously I could only play on the old PC for 5-45 minutes before the computer turned itself off) With the settings on "High" the game runs beautifully. Although my weary RTS patience is a story for another blog.

From here on out I'm going to be a build-my-own kind of geek. I like having the comfort knowing I got the best performance for the price. Plus, if something goes wrong I feel that my familiarity with the parts means I'm freed from any Geek Squads or cross-world Tech Support. 

Here are some final notes:

• The PC transfer functionality that Vista provides to transfer files from an old PC to a new one proved quite useless to me as it quickly hung up on some files (likely due to wonky permission settings I didn't have the patience to look into). I went with just pulling my files across the network or dumping them on the external hard drive (where they should have been in the first place if I wasn't such a lazy bum about backups)
  
• The "Back Up My PC" functionality with Vista proves equally disappointing. I can't seem to tell it exactly what to back up, I can only click vague boxes that say, "Music", "Video" and "Additional Files". The idiot-proof "Back up entire PC" would probably work fine, but I do not yet have a hard drive big enough to handle such a data feast.
• The only DOA part was the Microsoft 2000 Curve keyboard. Then again, for $15 I wasn't exactly going for high end equipment. I returned it to Newegg.com last Monday and by Thursday the new keyboard had arrived. I always felt wary of returning items from online retailers and this effort represented by first attempt. It was quick, painless and from a return-ship on Monday Newegg.com had this new keyboard under my fingers again by Thursday. 

And finally, special thanks to BenM for helping me get Vista up and running!

Sequel, Roll Out!

UPDATE: Looks like the early bird got the worm. I'll repost once I find a link that works.

Well, since this is already online there's really no point in watching the Superbowl anymore...



And yes, I will watch this once a day for the next five months.

Roll here for the rest of the trailers: Dark Horizon's Trailer Summary

I give #2 (the honor, not the excrement) to G.I. Joe, although doesn't that dodge-the-missile-while-flipping move feel suspiciously familiar from Transformers 1?

Newfie 411

See below for Animal Planet’s intro to our dog, a Newfoundland, in only 3 minutes. I can attest to the love. The couch can attest to the drool.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X79931idPZ8

 

Alas, embedding disabled so you’ll have to click through.

My Lost Theory

ABC might get mad at this spoiler, but I have to share with you what is most certainly the point of all this time travel. After several "skips" of the "record" we will find out before the close of the season how Daniel Faraday becomes the front man for Weezer!

Crackle

Those listening to Preston and Steve last week might have heard David Faustino plugging his new show on Crackle.com called "Star-ving". It's my recommended diversion of the week!

From Crackle: Star-ving Ep 4 feat Christina Applegate