01 Feb 2011
Ripped and Righteous

I've always considered the obsession with gyms, abs and weight loss to be a rather ridiculous exercise (pun intended). If you want to stay "fit", no gym is required: just hard work. I frequently listen to my co-workers talk about paying to go to the gym and offer them my own half-price deal: they can come help put up hay, shear sheep or set fence and I'll only charge them half of their current gym fees for the privilege.

So far, there's been no takers.

There’s a bullying strain to the modern fitness ethos, a blurred line between cheerleading and hectoring. And it’s hard not to wonder whether that kind of intimidation — in addition to the social and economic realities of diet and exercise — helps explain the paradox that for all the newfangled aerobic machines and reduced-rate January gym memberships, Americans aren’t noticeably haler and healthier.

(link) [New York Times]

19:12 /Home | 0 comments | permanent link

So far, so good...

Power has been very spotty, but so far we've managed to go without many multiple hour outages. That's good: if the stock tank freezes solid we'll be in deep doo-doo. We have a generator, and gas to power it, so if worst comes to worst we can keep things frost free for a while. But we're hoping that worst doesn't come to worst, and so far that prognosis seems to be holding.

Right now the weather is very strange - it's ice pellets, mostly, with the odd snowflake cast in the mix. I drove to the station earlier and the roads are terrible - consequently there's virtually no traffic at all. The wind is picking up, and with the blowing ice pellets it's kinda like taking a stroll in a sandblaster. Painful.

The large animals are holding their own, but the chickens are very confused. Lights out, they roost. Ten minutes later, it's morning again! The darkness.... wait, morning! It'll be a week before we get eggs again!

The storm is supposed to pass over completely by 7am, so I guess we've only got another twelve hours or so to hang in - shouldn't be a problem. But the aftermath may be very interesting indeed.

17:25 /Home | 0 comments | permanent link