Miscellaneous Miscellany Monday: Should I Get a Mac, Food Myths, and My New Favorite Stretch
The good news? I survived Eric’s bachelor party Saturday night. Barely. The bad? It pretty much zapped any creative thought in my head, so you’re stuck with a pretty lame random Monday. Deal with it.
1. As I typed this blog post (yesterday), I came to the realization that my laptop is quickly approaching its golden years. As it is, I bought it roughly four years ago, and while it’s served me well, it’s definitely starting to show its age. For starters, I keep getting a message every so often that the battery no longer has any “usable life,” which makes doing anything without my adapter non-existent. Secondly, it takes forever to boot up. I swear I can watch Titanic in it’s entirety, and I’m lucky if my computer has reached the part where the “welcome tone” chimes in. Lastly, and probably most important of all, I need something new. Lets be honest, it’s the American way, and what we all have in common*.
To that end, I need a little help from all of you. I’m contemplating getting a Mac. I’ve always had a PC, but given the fact that everyone I know seems to be making the switch, I think I may do it too. I headed down to the Apple store in downtown Boston yesterday to play around for a bit and to see for myself what all the hype was about.
Here’s what I’ve gathered so far:
Advantages
– Superior customer service. The people there make Lord of the RIngs geeks look like Fonzi, and can pretty much fix anything if something goes wrong.
– No threat of viruses. Well, at least viruses are a lot less common with a Mac.
– Unparalleled speed
– And, of course, the sleek design; much like the store itself.
Disadvantages
– For those used to a PC, there is a “window of adaptation.” From what I gathered, it takes about a week to get used to it.
– A lot pricier than a PC, which makes me reluctant to buy one.
Anyhoo, I’d love to get some feedback from any of you on the matter. Should I get a Mac or not?
2. This is currently my new favorite stretch – Deep Squat Hold.
People generally like to stretch what’s easy and what feels good to them. Coincidentally, the stretches that most people tend to emphasize (think: hamstring stretch) are the ones they don’t need to do in the first place. Conversely, we tend to skip the ones that don’t feel good – which, and this should come as no surprise, are the ones we should be focusing on more often.
That said, with the deep squat hold, we get a lot of bang for our buck. The key here is to make sure you keep your chest “tall,” and to push your knees out with your elbows in the bottom position. Yep, those are your adductors. As well, move side-to-side and back and forth to help open up the hips a bit more. I like to do this one sporadically throughout the day for 30 second holds. Use discretion while at work, though. If you’re not careful, you’ll rip your pants and then you’ll miss Hawaiian shirt day
3. If you’re like me, you’ll always wonder why in the hell you never came up with the idea for stuff like the Snuggle Fleece, Netflix, or, I don’t know, the internet. One of my new favorite gadgets – and something I’m kicking myself in the teeth for not thinking of first – is the Tupperware Forget Me Not.
Simply put, it stores your half-used onions, tomatoes, lemons/limes in an easily accessible container that hangs from the inside of your refrigerator door. Absolute genius.
4. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m definitely noticing that the mainstream media is paying more attention to many of the things that we fitness professionals (myself included) have been debunking for years. While it’s inevitable that people are going to be drinking the “dietary fat will make me fat” Kool-Aid for the foreseeable future, it’s still nice to see articles like THIS make the rounds.
5. Hahahahahahaahahahahahahahaha.
* Well, that and our un-canny affinity for John Mayer. Godammit, what is it about him?
