Fitness Story

 Around 1992, while stationed  at Bitburg Air Base, Germany....my squadron appointed me as one of the fitness-test-gurus (3 of us).  This was the year, they went to bike-testing.

So the three of us go over to the base gym, and 'Larry',  the 'guru of gurus' was set to train use for about 90 minutes.

The training game is to orientate us....then we (two testers) would test the 3rd member of the group.

First guy up....'Kenny'.....a 1.5-pack a day smoker.  I'd offer the opinion that he was average in-shape, and  after the  initial pump-up (maybe 2 minutes)....we started the test, and in roughly seven minutes...wrapped it  up.  'Kenny' passed.

I came up....non-smoker....better than average shape. Same story....2 minutes of build-up and in seven to eight minutes....I passed.

Then  'Wanda' comes up.  She was a 20-mile a week runner....zero fat....she did a half-marathon every other month.

We did the initial 'pump-up' with the bike.....probably four times.  Then we stopped and readjusted all the numbers possible with the stupid bike.  We could not get her heart-rate up to what the test required. 

'Larry' did pulled out a cheat-sheet....which  basically said something like 8-percent of all  Air Forces folks could not pass the bike test because they were in over-the-top condition.  So we adjusted the bike values to the harshest level possible....it took maybe four minutes, but we finally got the heart-rate up and started the test.  She marginally passed the test....but by  'Larry' and his cheat-method.....she passed.

A crappy test method?  I probably tested 40 folks the next six weeks.....with four of them in this situation. 

Most everyone who tested via the bike...felt it was a failure.  

It was one of the ten times that I felt the Air  Force did crappy planning and knew the change was crap, but still proceeded on. 

Ten Thoughts

 1.  This NY City mayor primary with Democrat Zohran Mamdani winning?

Look, if you add up the opposition he rant against.....roughly 55 percent of folks voted for someone else from the Dem choices.  Blacks enthusiastic for guy?  No.

Being a former rapper, and media 'click'....doesn't really amount to much experience.  

However....NYers are crazy, and it's possible that they'd go and elect a comedian just to make a point....then watch 500,000 residents up and leave over 2026.

2.  Did Joe Biden really 'pick' KBJ for the Supreme Court, or was she already on a short-list of Barak Obama back in 2015/2016?  

I'm willing to bet Obama personally met her at least once or twice and he pushed Joe's team to select her.

3.  I'm having mute-finger problems.....as much as I try to watch CNN, CBS, MSNBC, and Fox....I average 16 mutes per news-hour.  

4.  If this NY City idea of city-run grocery stores makes sense....why can't city-run bars be next...with no-name beer labels, and 1-dollar  pitchers of beer returning (like the old Air Force NCO clubs used to offer)?

5.  I sat the other day listening to a podcast, and the term....The Great Tribulation....came up.

So for reference, this is a term in Christian eschatology referring to a future period of intense suffering, persecution, and divine judgment, often tied to end-times prophecy.   The suggestion was...since 2020....with the Biden era, the riots, violence and crazy antics going on....we are in the midst of Great Tribulation.

Where did this come from?  Well....biblical texts...Matthew 24:21, where Jesus describes a time of "great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be," and Revelation 7:14, which mentions a "great tribulation" from which a multitude emerges. The concept is rooted in the Greek word thlipsis, meaning affliction, distress, or oppression, often intensified by the adjective "great".

After a fair amount of review....rationally thinking over this.....I just can't describe reality as INTENSE suffering or DIVINE judgement.  McDonalds still sells the rib sandwich....the Braves doing OK....both Alabama and Auburn football seems on track....God intervened to turn Trumps head last summer....and I just can't see myself suffering much.

6.  Based on Diddy's remaining charges....to be honest....of the five possible charges....it's still pretty likely that he gets a minimum of 10 years in prison, but out in 7 years.

7.  If you show the text term of colonizers to guys over 60.....they ID on colon first, and think you are talking about some stool softner.  So a conversation with a 16-year old kid won't go far.

8.   I use the term 'scam' probably five to ten times a week now.  Prior to 1990....I probably used the term three times a year. 

9.  If CNN had covered the Battle of the Alamo (from February 23 to March 6, 1836), in San Antonio, Texas.  They would have said Mexican forces, led by General Antonio López de Santa Anna, had permanently took down the Alamo mission....finally winning the 'war'.

10.  Zohran Mamdani comment on emptying jails:  "Violence is an artificial construct."

Not sure if he's ever been assaulted or beaten up....usually, it's not some artificial feeling.

Three Humble Thoughts

 1.  On the average of twice a year....I'll go and read a Supreme Court opinion piece....to understand how they 'saw' the situation and rendered a decision.

So I read two pieces yesterday....one by KBJ (appointed by Biden) and one by ACB (appointed by Trump).

After finishing up the KBJ piece....I was left with the feeling that neither she, or her clerks wrote the piece....it just seemed to be something that a journalist would have written.  

Then I turned to the ACB piece....which took time to identify KBJ, and 'knock'  down a step that she wasn't capable of doing the 'job'.  Yeah, it was a harsh moment of reality.   

All of this concerns the executive limits of President Trump and the majority of the court said that judges can't really rule over the Executive Branch of the gov't.

Just an odd feeling....maybe some law degrees aren't the same.

2. I watched a 6-minute piece where a CNN analyst went to say....Trump was 'winning'....meaning he was on a roll that we haven't seen in a long time.

I will admit this....I've never seen a situation where you needed two or three updates a day....tracking announcements/changes.   

3.  On my index of weird....maxing at a ten....from NY City, a trans person wearing devil horns....was twerking on a police officer while holding a cross and a sign that reads “Mary Magdalene”.