Exercise and Fitness: Day 3
I have restarted my fitness programme in earnest. I have been on and off for the past two years but I think I have finally found the resolve to stick to it. To help me to do this I have decided to post daily on my workouts and experiences. I will also talk about some of the interesting characters that I see during my attendance.
Cast
Paul – Paul is my brother and gym partner. He has not exercised in over a year but when he used to he benched over 160. He can’t bench 25 now.
Ricky – Ricky is our trainer. He regulates our diet, ensures we get the right stretches and ensures we exercise properly and safely.
Mr. Bewbs – I am not sure what this guy’s name is but he looks like a body builder. He seems to be a personal trainer as well. My girlfriends usually laugh at me about my chest, but this guy has a rack. I guess body builders get a free pass.
Eugene – I do not know this guys name but he looks like a Eugene. He seems to be a personal trainer as well as the watchman and caretaker of the gym. He sells water and cranwater and ensures the mats are clean. He also lets us in and closes the grill behind us.
T-Leech – This is a guy who doesn’t appear to have a personal trainer but he somehow gets the personal trainers to help him for free. I guess it is either out of the goodness of their heart. They dont go out of their way to help- so that works for me. I know I’m badmind.
BH Girl – She is a hottie who appears to be serious about the gym. She drives a new Camry, has a designer bag but a big forehead. She can’t work that off. She looks fit though and I feel a little squeamish when Ricky asks me to watch her ‘form’.
The Road so Far
I have only been to the gym under Ricky’s guidance for three days. Ricky has gone easy on me so I do not feel like I am dying every day. However, I fractured my finger on day 2 (unseparated fracture). Doctor says I shouldn’t lift weights for about six weeks. I was back at it for Day 3, obviously. Day 2 was actually quite momentus because I nearly passed out from an overly tightened chest. My breathing was wrong and consequently I just could not breathe.
Why move on to Day 3? My aim is to deliver a gift to someone special in April. By April I should be out of build mode and into defining mode.
Other highlights of Day 3
- Mr. Bewbs was in the funniest shorts ever. Not the funny haha.
- I did abs exercises- it wasn’t that bad.
- I did all my exercises in full with extra.
- I spent a bag of money on food after.
- Before exercising my mother made a wickedly awesome energy shake (oats, peanut butter, milk and something else.) I gave her money to do that every exercise day.
- I officially declared my chicken breast diet. From now on it is just chicken and fish.
I will post pictures of my progress along the way.
I close my eyes and visualize success and then I open my eyes and make it happen.
Desktop vs Laptop
I thought that I had completely decided on the direction my technological future was going to take. After the death of my second motherboard, almost a year ago, I had sworn to abandon desktop PCs forever.
I spoke with a friend (Bjyon) who reminded me of how easy it was to upgrade a PC, versus a laptop. The parts are usually easy to replace and if your motherboard is on the bleeding edge it can trade-up it’s parts for several years.
Therefore I present to you my two buying choices. I already have certain parts from my old machine that can be salvaged (case, hard drives) but other parts are too out-dated to stay in my build.
Laptop Winner
Meet the Sony Vaio F Series. I think this laptop is at the bleeding edge of technology. Perhaps to ensure it’s longevity I will want to add memory and a zip-thru bag but they aren’t necessary. The base price for this beauty is $1364.82.
Desktop Winner
I will need a new motherboard and processor as well as faster RAM. I will also need a faster graphics card. Windows 7 Ultimate is necessary because I have a Vista (32bit) now that just won’t do. The added bonus of building a desktop machine is for the DVR capabilities so that I can watch TV on my PC. Finally, the problem that started it all must be resolved with a proper PSU. The combined cost of all these items is $1,603.36. This does not include the cost to get it shipped (it is HEAVY) from Miami or brought through customs.
Laptop Pro
- Portable
- Plays Blu-ray by default
- Excellent for business trips and LAN parties
Desktop Pro
- Upgradeable performance that cannot be matched by a similarly priced laptop
- Can only be stolen from my house.
Feel free to add some more pros and cons. This purchase goes down in May either way.
Screaming Toaster
The Blackberry App World finally works in Jamaica.
Considering how rarely I blog I think it is best to use the two-day trial to get Screaming Toaster’s “Wicked” application that allows WordPress blogging through the blackberry.
The set-up was fairly simple and after entering some pertinent details I am now blogging away.
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I have officially given up on Desktop Computers. On Sunday I will be placing an ad to sell my functioning parts- namely the RAM and the Graphics Card. I think I have fully converted to the mobile lifestyle of the laptop.
Unfortunately I do not see myself owning the preferred laptop for a long time- therefore I may have to apply excess patience with this work laptop I was given.
Hopefully I will blog more often with this application. The fancier blogs would still have to be done on a PC.
PSU Deal from Newegg?
I originally intended to hold out for my ‘dream’ PSU‘ but Newegg posted a wicked deal on a comparable PSU that I had to take. Did I make the right choice taking the deal now instead of being inconvenienced for another couple months?
Okay, so maybe the Antec TruePower New TP-750 Blue is being given away. It came from a high of 190+ and has crept down to 119. They have taken an additional U$20 off (Discount ends July 29, comment if you want the code) with free shipping. They do not want to keep it at all!
I have my fingers crossed that this one will last me a long time. I cannot afford this type of downtime on my super-duper system. I also hope it will work extremely well with a 790fx motherboard.
Product Review: BodyGuardz Clear Protection for BlackBerry Bold
I recently purchased my LIME Bold (3G) and was eager to ensure that it maintained that pristine look until I was ready to sell it and buy another Blackberry in another six months. There are a few ways to achieve this.
Bodyguardz - In Box
1) Get a belt-clip and never-ever drop the phone. Additionally you should never use the belt-clip for fear of it scratching the edges (the horizantal ones are best for not scratching I think.)
2) Get a Blackberry skin and never place it in a pocket with keys or other objects
3) Get a transparent coating/protector for all the shiny parts and the screen.
I chose the third based on my history with Blackberries and the failure of options 1 and 2 in the past. There are two companies that do this type of thing (to my knowledge) but I chose BodyGuardz over Clearcoat based on a review I received in my email from someone from RIM. To be fair to him he just forwards random stuff on Blackberry from the net so I am not sure he personally endorsed it.
I wish I did not choose BODYGUARDZ! I admit, I am not an art-and-craft major so this type of thing doesn’t come naturally. I got the screen protector on- perfectly- but my first attempt at the shiny parts failed miserably.
I didn’t use my phone for 12hrs during that first botched attempt. Thankfully they gave me two in the box so I could try a second round. This time I ensured that I was careful. Everything was well aligned and left to set for about 10hrs. I covered most of the edges. A week afterwards I noticed that the very thin pieces were loose and therefore causing moisture to be caught under the thin plastic skin. The thin pieces I refer to are near the MicroSD card slot, the bottom where the battery is unhooked and the small piece above the volume button.
Once moisture gets under there it becomes unsightly and I decided to remove the entire thing. Just to be clear I cannot remove the screen protector- I read a bad review about someone who tried to remove a bodyguard from his phone’s screen. What a waste! Why build a thin strip that won’t stay on? Why bother telling me to set it for so many hours when in a few days of normal blackberry use (which blackberry user doesn’t use their blackberry?) it is all messy and worthless?
I heard there is a place near me that uses Clearcoat. What is even better is that THEY will apply it for me. I am going to try them out shortly and review them accordingly.
Videos by Bold (3G)
Some videos taken at the staff launch of the LIME 3G service,
