Human fat as fuel? Right or Wrong?

My sister sent me a link to this article about a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon who is currently being investigated for turning human fat (medical waste from 7,000 liposuction procedures he performed) into bio-fuel. Yes, bio-fuel. Supposedly he fueled his Ford Explorer with it and his fiance's car. His clinic has been shut down, as has his internet site "lipodiesel.com." Apparently there is a law on the books in the United States which says that you cannot turn human medical waste into fuel. WOW. Who would have ever thought such a law would be necessary? And is that particular use of human fat a bad thing?

I can understand us never wanting to see life become like Logan's Run where the citizens thought they were eating fish, plankton and protein from the sea but really ended up eating the people who were killed off when their time clocks ran out:

Or Soylent Green where those little green wafers that everyone subsisted on were actually made from people:

Now if someone donates their excess fat to be turned into bio-fuel - what is the wrong in that? Fat *is* meant to provide energy. On your thighs or in your car, where would you rather have it? (Tongue firmly in cheek). As it is human "medical waste" gets appropriated to other uses whether we make that decision ourselves or not. For instance, when you have a baby many hospitals take the umbilical cord and sell it. They don't ask the mother and they certainly don't deduct the profit they receive from her bill. I remember when my daughter, Rhianna, was born - I was laying there during my C-section listening to the doctor and nurses have an interesting conversation about how long, thick and healthy her cord was and it would be "worth a lot." No one asked me!

Some women have to fight to keep their placenta - whether they want it to plant in their yard or to eat (some cultures believe this strengthens the mother). That should be the decision of the mother. It is a product of her body and I don't think anyone has any business making a law about it.

In Canada human aborted fetuses are used for the development of vaccinations. Now THAT is unethical. It is disgusting and horrible - and yet it happens. It is a wonder to me that a law can be on the books preventing excess human fat from being used to propel vehicles or warm houses, but the cells, lungs and other body parts of murdered babies can be used in research and development. Go figure. :(

I read an article the other day about people involved in the "Voluntary Simplicity" movement who felt strongly about using humanure to fertilize their gardens. They received some resistance from those who found it distasteful, but seriously - what is so different about using that as opposed to chicken manure?

So back to Dr. Craig Bittner, the doctor who was "recycling" human fat to run his automobiles... The Auto Blog says: "We’re all for recycling, alternative fuels, and that general green kind of thing — but we draw the line at human waist waste, which is why we wonder whether he really did it. In other words, we’re flabbergasted by his outrageous story." I wonder if they're as shocked by tissue from murdered human babies (we call them aborted fetuses to take some of the shock value off, I think) being used to develop vaccinations and beauty treatments?

What sort of twisted society do we live in, anyhow?

A horrifying piece by Dr. Olga Fairfax, PhD: 101 Uses for a Dead (or Live) Baby. She researched what happens to the bodies of aborted babies and has documentation to back it up. Her organization will supply that documentation upon request.

People donate their bodies "to science" and instead of being used for med students to practice upon, their bodies can wind up plasticized and on circus-like display --- or wind up being used as a crash test dummy.

~o~

Before this stuff weighed heavily on my brain, I did have a very nice Sunday. An excellent Sunday school class, a challenging sermon, leftover turkey-spinach baked zita (gluten-free with homemade tomato sauce that had none of Rhianna's allergens in it), a long, long nap. The beautiful little Layla to cuddle. Movies on the sofa with dh. (We watched "Thunderheart" which is an old favorite of ours). Today was a rest day, but I did catch up blogging my workouts on my sweat blog.

Friday Five - Gym Mistakes

Today's Friday Five is devoted solely to mistakes that people make at the gym - most of which I saw this morning. There is a group of three women that have been coming for a few months. They never improve even though losing weight and "getting in shape" are their professed goals.

1. Not working hard enough. Effort is required. If you lolly-gag from one machine to the next, you are wasting time. If you are counting lolly-gagging time as part of your workout and telling people, "I work out for an hour a day and I get no results!" well then you are deceiving yourself and others.

If you are a young, healthy (although perhaps overweight) adult, there isn't a reason that you should still be having the treadmill on 0% incline and 3.0 mph after several months. 3.0 mph isn't even a brisk walk. It's a stroll. It's a 20 min. mile. Chances are if you aren't breaking a sweat, then guess what? You're not exerting any effort. Don't expect success without effort.

2. Using itty bitty light weights. If it feels too easy, then it IS too easy. 15 reps with a 3 lb dumbbell isn't going to firm up your triceps or biceps. If you are using the thigh machine and it's banging and clanging together because the weight is so light that your thighs are flinging the parts around like you're tossing pancakes, USE MORE WEIGHT.

Using momentum can fit here, too, sort of as a sub-category. I see people using momentum to even lift teensy weensy weights. Lift slower (not that you have to lift at snail's pace) and make sure it is your muscle moving the weight, not just the momentum you've created by swinging it around quickly. (Exception: Many kettlebell exercises are designed with momentum in mind. Know which exercises use momentum and which exercises don't. Hint: Those thigh machines DON'T require momentum).

3. POOR FORM. It doesn't just look funny, it can hurt you. For instance, when doing a front raise, don't lift your arms higher than shoulder level.

When doing squats and lunges, knees should never go over the toes. While you are performing the exercise, look down occasionally and make sure you can still see the tip of your toes. Pressing your heel firmly into the floor can help with this - and also help you maintain balance.

Poor form can happen on cardio equipment, too. Don't lean or slouch over a machine. Stand up tall. Don't hold on too tightly. And really, it's not the place to catch up on your reading. If you can focus on a book or magazine, chances are pretty darn good that you're not exerting the amount of effort that you should be in order to attain your goals.

4. Neglecting body parts. Yes, doing back extensions is boring but you need to make sure all of the muscles are getting a balanced workout. You can do this in a split routine and not have to hit the same muscles in a given workout...but make sure you do even the things you hate doing on a regular basis. Don't pick a part of your body that you think you need to work on and focus on that alone. If you develop strong quadriceps, unless you balance out those hamstrings and glutes to match them, you will wind up with knee injuries.

5. Poor gym etiquette. Wipe down ALL equipment when you're done using it. This means wiping down dumbbells, barbells, mats, benches, medicine balls, bands, cable machine attachments, weight machines, cardio equipment, etc, etc, etc. No one wants your germs and you shouldn't want anyone else's. It is wise to wipe things down before you use them, as well, just in case some clod didn't do it before you.

Don't change the radio station unless you make sure that no one else is listening to that. Don't put it on screamo music unless you've gotten the "okay" from other patrons.

~o~

Bonus peeves: I really hate when people say "I ran on the treadmill for 'X' minutes" - when the truth of the matter is they walked, and even that usually at turtle speed. Running is running; walking is walking. One is high impact, the other low.

I also freak a bit (inside, of course) when people talking about 5ks and 10ks and call them marathons. A marathon is 26.2 miles. Period. Anything else has another name.

Mixed Wednesday Ramble

I needed some Warren Zevon this morning, but I also like Terri Clark's version of this song. I heard Werewolves of London this morning and can't get it out of my head. Since I already put that up a while back, I didn't want to be redundant. However, I am sitting here singing, "I saw Lon Chaney walking with the Queen, doing the werewolves of London again..."

~o~

In the interest of not limiting myself to one topic (insert big grin here), guess what I made for dinner last night?

Bison meatballs (ground buffalo, sweet potato, green onions, flaxseed & one egg white)
Brown rice pasta with peas and a white sauce (fat free sour cream, butter, garlic, black pepper, sea salt)

It was GOOD.

~o~

Dunkin' Donuts Coffee, I am soooooooooo over you! Not only do your employees keep giving me caffeine and aspartame when I specifically say "decaf" and "sweet n' low" or "sugar", but I've found better coffee.

SHEETZ. My sister told me that they had a "made to order" coffee bar and that it was way better than Dunkin'. After the last screw up kept me from sleeping well (and I love my sleep), I was ready to try. Rhianna and I stoppedat a nearby Sheetz after her skating lesson on Monday. WONDERFUL. Jenna and I went to a different Sheetz after Layla's appointment yesterday. PERFECT. I called Pat and told him to bring me a decaf skim milk latte home when he passed yet another Sheetz last night. SUPERB. Yep, I don't think I'll be darkening Dunkin's drive through anymore. :D

You can also order smoothies with a shot of protein and meal-replacement shakes. They use whey protein shots. I was very happy. The employee handed me the bottle and let me read it.

~o~

This morning as I was putting on moisturizer, I was thinking about words of advice and wisdom my mother had given me. I was thinking of this because last night I was making Erin take her selenium and chewable vitamin and she was dragging it out, turning it into a torture session. I said, "Buck up! Get it over with, NOW! Don't prolong the agony!" And I realized that is something I say ALL THE TIME whenever someone has to do something unpleasant. (I've been told that I can say this with a very mean and stern voice, making Erin want to cry). The kids also informed me that I always say, "Just do it because it is GOOD FOR YOU." I've been also known to say, "Life is full of things you don't like. Tough. Get used to it."

I'm sure I repeat things to them that my mother told me. Here are some of her gems which I know I have passed on:

Always make sure you are wearing nice underwear in case you are in an accident. (Think they don't care? My friend, Jim, is an EMT and they *do* notice underwear, maybe not in the thick of the emergency, but at some point it registers).

Moisturize. You're never too young to moisturize.

Never sleep with make up on. Always wash your face well with Noxzema before bed. It's just as good as expensive cleansers. (I totally agree).

If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.

Don't ever let anyone feel left out. If you see someone alone, include them. Period. It doesn't matter if you want to hang out with your friends or your friends don't like them.

Rapists should be castrated and have their parts jammed down their throats so they choke to death on them.

Never wear a black bra with a light colored shirt or a white bra under a black shirt.

Corn is *not* a vegetable it is a starch. A proper meal has a main dish (protein), a starch and a vegetable.

Don't go outside with a snack unless you have enough to share with everyone.

One of Mom's which I don't use: Men think with their zipper. I always hated this one because I don't like limited or boxing anyone into some stereotypical existence.

~o~

I think I might be done walking to the gym for the winter. The icy sidewalks have become treacherous. I like my head to be in the clouds, thinking away about "stuff" but I've been forced to watch my steps very carefully. On the way home there was a bitter wind that was freezing my forehead. Thanks to the glassy texture of the terrain, it took me far longer to get there and back than my usual brisk 6 minute walk. There is no "brisk" when you're in danger of wiping out.

I've got to go blog my workout at my: Sweat Report

Tuesday Ten - vaccinations & health care

1. We took Layla to her 2 mos check up today. She is 9 lbs 12 1/2 oz. and 22 inches long.

2. Those idiots have a list of five shots and one oral vaccination that they want to give babies at that appointment. Are they insane? Obviously medical professionals are often in the back pocket of the drug companies. Combining too many vaccinations over too short a period of time can compromise the child's immune system. (A recent court case was won regarding a child who became autistic due to the vaccines).

Dr. Russell Blaylock, a prominent neurosurgeon in the United States is one of the first to warn against the dangers of too many vaccines given simultaneously. He says, “Vaccine complications increase dramatically when given close together. To give the immune system time to settle down, vaccines should be separated by six months in children and perhaps longer in adults.” He continues, “The number of vaccinations that can be given safely in a lifetime is not unlimited. Many of these vaccinations need to be abandoned.”

Autoimmune diseases, asthma and chronic allergies are rising at alarming rates with the increase of the number of childhood vaccinations given. Put two and two together: it's not about the children's health, it's about the money trail.


This is the two month old list: DTP, Polio, HiB, HepB, Pneomoccal, and Rotavirus. Layla's mommy only agreed to the DTP & Polio. The doctor wasn't pushy about it, but he did ask why. He actually has not heard of the horrible reports about the Rotavirus vaccination. We did a little bit of talking about how Merck was using that vaccination and Gardasil to refill their pockets after the lawsuits against them for Fosamax and Vioxx. A good website to check out: NVIC - Vaccination Decisions.

Pushing the rotavirus vaccination is ridiculous in Western civilization where infant diarhhea is readily treated with rehydration therapy and the virus dos not cause widespread death. The vaccine's efficacy is only between 41 - 91%. There is a good chance that you will give your child the vaccination only to have it have little positive effect.

In 1998 Barbara Loe Fisher, NVIC co-founder and president, said, "Yesterday’s announcement concerning rotavirus vaccine and bowel obstruction is a sobering reminder of the need to apply very high standards to licensing new vaccines and making policy for mass vaccination of our children. It also highlights the importance of paying close attention to data coming out of The Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS). The data from VAERS shows persistent reports of vomiting and diarrhea following receipt of rotavirus vaccine and there has been at least one death reported in a premature infant who received rotavirus in combination with other vaccines.

What is the biological mechanism at work to induce the bowel to fold in on itself? Could it be associated with the fact that this vaccine is introducing a newly created monkey-human hybrid live virus into young infants or that there is a negative effect when the vaccine is given in combination with other vaccines to infants with immature immune systems? And what is the justification for universal vaccination for a common infection which most children get and recover from in the US without permanent injury or death?"

3. Don't get me started on the Hep B vaccination. It's not highly contagious. It's not common in childhood. It's low in the US and it's not a killer disease for the most part. The efficacy has been questioned as well - 30 - 50% of the people who develop adequate antibodies after the 3rd dose will lose detectable antibody within 7 years.

4. Shall I mention HiB? Look it up. Too few studies have ever been done on the vaccination to say whether it is carcinogenic, whether it may cause infertility or not. It's efficacy rate isn't great either. In a 1995 study of HiB cases, 41 - 55% of the cases were immunized individuals.

5. People just don't think. They say, "Oh my doctor said we need this shot" or "I read in a pamphlet at the doctor's office that these were the required immunizations at this age." (Yeah, and those are supplied by the pharmaceutical company). And then they just do it.

It's mindless. Mind-numbingly mindless. Why would you inject a potential pathogen into your innocent little child without doing your homework??? Why would you not make certain that there is actually a darned good reason for doing it? Why would you not weigh the potential risks against the potential (or often overrated) benefits?

6. Why do people do anything just because they were told to?

7. It also bugs me when people just take any old pill their doctor prescribes without asking a lot of questions first. Why am I receiving this medication? What led you to prescribe it for me? What will it do in my body (i.e. how does it actually work)? What side effects might there be? Are there alternatives, i.e. lifestyle changes, which would provide similar positive results? How can I proactively work to improve my health?

8. Generally it's because A) people are lazy and B) people like to pass the buck and assume that doctors are god-like. Let the gods make the decisions.

A) Laziness - people just don't like to have to DO anything. Popping a pill seems easy, complaining about the side effects is even easier still because people love, LOVE to complain. We have a society that despises the thought of personal effort.

B) Guess what? Doctors are human. Doctors can be "bought" by pharmaceutical gifts and perks. Doctors don't all read up on everything. I can't even count how many doctors I have met who knew NOTHING about the new TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) guidelines issued by the AACE in 2003. Nor did they know that the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry (governing body over all labs in the US) suggested those guidelines be tightened even further. Nope, these doctors were still looking at lab results and under-diagnosing and under treating patients.

9. Recent situation related to the humanity of doctors and the ease in which they are able to overlook things and treat a symptom or two, but not look at the "whole": My poor niece was recently diagnosed with Graves' Disease. Apparently, she has been sick for a long, long time. (I've been saying for years and years that she needed her thyroid checked, but alas, no one was listening to me). The endocrinologist who saw her was quite stunned by the size of her goiter and the fact that no one had noticed and checked her sooner. She had a whole bunch of symptoms that practically sang and danced "Graves' Disease." Instead, guess what? She was being treated for Bipolar. All that racing heart, excess energy, the mood swings...she was given a big honking dose of Seroquel. Bigger and bigger because it wasn't taking care of the situation. Well, now that she's being treated for Graves', she won't need it. But did anyone tell her clearly that you can't go off of that cold turkey...it can kill you? NO. She's in the hospital right now and thank God she didn't die.

I don't want to dis all doctors here. It's just that these men/women are regular people to. They breath, they eat, they have stress, romance, hunger pangs, headaches, lousy relationships, etc, etc... in short, distractions. They have differing personalities. Some are go-getters, some are laid-back. Some are just like the other lazy people who come to see them and choose the easiest and most convenient treatment.

10. All I can say is "Don't be stupid. Be aggressive about your health." It's your health, your body. Take care of it. Ask questions. Don't be a fool and blindly accept any old direction the media, the drug companies or a doctor tells you. Make certain it is the BEST you can do for yourself.

And if you are the caretaker of another human being - your child, your aged parent - then exercise all caution and all earnestness in any health decisions you make for them. Take that responsibility very seriously.

~o~

I've got to get in some cardio and some yoga today. I slept in which felt wonderful. I guess right now I should be eating lunch and thinking about exercising after I have some fuel to run on.

What's on my mind this Monday morning...

Spit. Researchers at the Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam have concluded that human saliva made into a solution of 30% saliva (to what else, I don't know) helps heal wounds 50% faster. Researcher Menno Oudhoff says that saliva protein may trigger healthy skin to cover damaged areas. They want to develop a medical cream that harnesses these benefits.

My first thought was to remember how hard it was to fill one stinking vile of spit for my saliva test earlier this year. It's going to have to be a high paying job, this spitting for medical cream production. It's frustrating as heck.

Second thought: Whose spit? Would you buy cream with someone else's spit in it? What about the spread of diseases? Would the sterilization of the spit knock out the wound-healing properties?

I think that if I really, REALLY want spit to help speed my wound healing, I'll spit on my own boo-boos, thank you.

~o~

I was cold and having a hard time getting warm, so Pat sent one of the girls upstairs to get his special "when he's sick" sweater for me to wear. It comes down to my knees and I have to roll the sleeves up. It was wonderful. I ended up sleeping in it.

I returned the gesture of thoughtfulness by smearing special heel-crack healing foot balm all over his hands while he was napping. His hands are chapping and cracking badly - probably from fixing our son-in-laws car in the freezing weather - and if this stuff is magical for heels, it should be magical for hands, too. Since he hates to touch slimy stuff himself, I massaged it in while he was asleep. I also put it on him before he left for work this morning. He was like, "Oh, yuk, this stuff is so tacky feeling!" Perhaps I should have spit on his hands and rubbed that in? LOL.

~o~

Icicles are falling and the sound is pretty startling.

~o~

I got stuck in a sports bra dressing in the dark again. This time I put my head and my right arm through one armhole. It was not fun to get out of.

I then went to the bathroom to put on my contact lenses. I put BOTH in one eye.

~o~

Today's workout (and a fine workout it was) is at: Sweat Report

If money were no object...

I had to answer this question when it was put to me by the Avon District Sales Manager during our meeting the other day. She guides you through a cheesy "Say Hello to a New Tomorrow" packet and this is on page 15. She waits and expects you to check off boxes and then dream aloud.

Some boxes to check:

Buy my own home
Financial independence
Send my children to college
Travel abroad
Swim with the dolphins
Go back to school
Make new friends
Buy a red sports car
Learn to ski
Be recognized by others
Retire early
Show my kids the world

I sat there, stumped. I couldn't imagine that I *really* had to go through this. Yet, there was Lisa, the DSM, saying, "Go ahead. Start checking boxes...and tell me about it."

We already own our home. I checked off "Send my kids to college" and "Financial independence" then put my pen down. She looked at me with that "You're not done already" look so I checked off "Make new friends," but seriously...do you make "friends" by selling stuff to them?

Lisa looked at me quizzically and said, "What else? Surely there is more!"

Rhianna was with me because she had to be dropped off for her youth event and this woman had called me for a spur of the moment sort of meeting. I looked at Rhianna with a "Help me out here" plea.

Rhianna: "Well you wouldn't travel abroad but you do want to go to those waterfalls that go backwards.

Me: "Oh, the Reversing Falls of St. John! I also want to go to Lake Okanagan, British Columbia." I checked off "Travel abroad" but then qualified it with, "In continental North America." Flying and big ships don't thrill me.

Rhianna: "You want to cross country ski, remember?"

Me: "Oh, yeah" and so I checked it off.

Lisa waits.

Me: "Actually, I'm really very content. I just want more money for Christmas and to pay for Rhianna's large skating bills. She could use more coaching time."

I realized at that moment: I am content. I don't have major dreams of a life full of material advantages. Those things don't thrill me. While I do have some kettlebell lust going on (and had a moment of fear this week that Butch would say kettlebells were off limits), in all honesty, I don't want much. I like things that come my way - no doubt.

I started to wonder if maybe I'm a bit weird. I don't dream about new cars - but if one came my way, I wouldn't mind it. If someone felt like dropping a Nautilus Treadclimber on my front step, I wouldn't refuse.

Material ambitions/goals must not be my thing. I tend to dream about running a certain distance, amazing grandma things that I can one day do, where I'd like to hike, going to the park for free contra dancing lessons, seeing my kids "do things," stuff like that. I guess that I probably dream about being able to afford the kind of wedding that they want... but I also hope that I've taught them well enough to be practical and not "throw money away" on a one day event when it could be used more wisely for a lifelong endeavor.

When we made the choice that I would stay home with our kids and then stay home longer and homeschool them, we through luxury and cushy sorts of extras out the window. I'm okay with that. I never realized just "how okay" until Lisa was sitting there, expectantly waiting for a lengthy want list that I just didn't have.

"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with such things as you have, because God has said—Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5)

"I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content--—whether well-fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:11-13)

"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we certainly can't carry anything out. But having food and clothing, we will be content with that." (1 Timothy 6:6-8)\

I found this neat definition of contentment by William S. Plummer at gracegems.org:

It is the disposition of mind in which we rest satisfied with the will of God respecting our temporal affairs, without hard thoughts or hard speeches concerning his allotments, and without any sinful desire for a change. It submissively receives what is given.

For the most part, any discontent I have usually arrives with thoughts of things I feel my children need or want. I'm most likely to become stressed about things I want to provide for them. God has never let us down and they have never truly lacked. They have also always understood the difference between what is important and what can be done without.

Truth be told, I still want kettlebells for Christmas. :) And I did ask Pat tonight, "Hey did you ever think about what kind of car you would like to drive when the kids are all on their own and we can afford it?" He was like, "Uh, no." So we both thought and thought for a few minutes, talked about German cars and then decided..."Maybe we should get matching Chevys." End of story.

~o~

On another note entirely, at the gym on Saturday I saw a woman and her husband who I have seen the last two weeks. She was watching me and Rhianna work out, taking quick furtive glances our way whenever we started a new circuit. I found the opportunity to say a few cheery words to her, break the ice and all. She seemed like she didn't know her way around the equipment or machines very well. Her husband tried to show her how to do a triceps press-down and then went about doing his own workout.

She kept sneaking looks our way and then asked me if something we were doing was hard...so I invited her to join us next week. She then told me how she had been noticing our routines, how she wants to lose weight, how clueless she was about it all. Rhianna told her I was a personal trainer. I told her how I had just been doing it for free for some friends and hadn't made my business cards yet - and that's when I offered to help her. For free. That's me - Free n' Breezy. (Bonus points for her: She couldn't believe I was old enough to be Rhianna's mother, she thought we were "friends." Whoo-hoo. It's probably good that I wasn't doing my hunchbacked old woman walk from earlier in the week, that would've been a dead giveaway).

You know what? I still felt really good about it. She was so excited. We made plans to meet next weekend. Her name is Michelle - and I'm looking forward to getting to know her. I can't come the other times she works out - she goes at night when the gym is crowded. I don't like mayhem, plus that's family time for me. I will teach her some things that she could do for her other two workouts so that she doesn't feel lost in the gym.

Maybe it's a ministry of sorts for me. God has given me some skills that I can use to help people - I feel that I'd be negligent if I wasn't giving that help when it was in my power to do so. I'm usually there on Saturdays working on Rhianna's upper body strength, so the more the merrier.

Tuesday Ten November 11

1. I'm trying out Safari as my browser. I think I like it. Firefox kept giving me grief. I hate IE.

2. My back still hurts. My hips have this strange ache. I've been told it is also a symptom of this bug that is going around. I am annoyed. I don't have time for this back ache stuff.

3. Rhianna and Erin were sick all day yesterday. Vomiting, fevers, body aches, weakness. Too sick to even watch TV much. They just laid around, feeling miserable. I think that Pat might possibly come home today and join in the misery. He did *not* sound good this morning.

4. The back ache did help me get out of the dull board meeting early. I had to stay for the fundraising/budget crisis discussion but since everyone saw me hobble in there, they were pretty gracious about letting me leave. There is this one pit-bull woman who is *not* usually nice (to anyone) and she really doesn't like me since the closed-session ice thing. She's the type of person that scares people and no one has ever "taken her on before" except me. (And I won because right is right and her idea was sheer lunacy. So my winning makes her dislike me even more). Any how, I think she was happy to see me leave early.

5. A study done by the University of Hertfordshire revealed that the overall fitness of ballet dancers was great than that of international level swimmers. I think that has to do with the buoyancy situation. Swimming is easier on the joints, which in turn is easier on the ligaments and tendons. Of ten factors considered such as strength, flexibility, balance, endurance, ballet dancers scored 25% higher. Let's all get a pair of slippers and start plieing and pirouetting!

6. This chair is not doing anything good for my back...but I'm talking to a friend on IM right now and I can't get up.

7. Isn't it great the way women multitask? And they can do it while they're in pain.

8. In fact, an Arizona jogger was attacked by a rabid fox. She ran a mile with the beast locked to her arm because she wanted it tested for rabies. She got to her car, yanked it off, shoved it in her trunk and drove to the Prescott, AZ hospital. A commenter on the article said, "Good thing this didn't happen here in California. The woman would be charged with animal abuse and local homeowners would demand that local government do something to protect them from the wildlife."

9. Maybe we should all be like Gretchen Wilson and say about Victoria's Secret "I can buy the same damn stuff on a Walmart shelf half price and still feel sexy, just as sexy, as the models on TV, I don't need designer tags to make my man want me." Why? Because there is a lawsuit against Victoria's Secret. Angels Secret Embrace and Very Sexy Extreme Me Push-up bras contain formaldehyde. Yes, formaldehyde. The company has admitted it and is extremely sorry that some woman are experiencing itching, hives, welts and inflammation.

Now what reason could there be for putting formaldehyde in a bra?

10. If you don't want the "girls" to sag, then do:

dumbbell flys

dumbbell chest presses

--incline varieties of the above

pushups

more pushups (wide stance, narrow, incline, decline, military style)

Actually, studies have shown that letting the twins have some freedom from constricting bras (like Victoria's Secret types that do crazy things) actually helps the ligaments and tendons strengthen

Proper nutrition also helps maintain elasticity of the ligaments and skin.

(Resources: Pierrot L., Evolution du sein après l'arrêt du port du soutien gorge, étude préliminaire longitudinale sur 33 sportives volontaires, Thèse présentée le 19 décembre 2003 devant la Faculté de Médecine et de Pharmacie de Besançon.
[The development of the breasts after discontinuing wearing bras. Preliminary longitudinal study of 33 volunteer sportswomen. Thesis presented December 19th, 2003, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Besancon, France.]

Bonus thought: I am sick of fundraisers. With the economy the way it is, it is ridiculous to keep asking people to sell cookie dough, candy, candles, subscriptions, etc. I don't like the idea of gambling, but I've been asked to check into these big charity poker nights to raise the $26,000 that the club needs to pay for the uncontracted (yet) reserved ice. Ice time is ridiculously expensive. On one hand, I don't like the idea of preying upon someone gambling away their money on card games - on the other hand, if they are going to do it anyway, it does seem slightly 'better' that the money go to a non-profit group that needs a boost. I said I'd research it. :(