Still going to gym.

[camwyn]

Went Saturday and Sunday. Usually two days in is the test-point for resolve of this kind with me, so I spent a hefty helping of the time I spent cleaning up after dinner convincing my brain that we would be going to the gym, dammit. Brain was ambivalent about this. Muscles wanted to stay home. I won, in the end, and went to the gym. It was mostly a lower-body day; weight training doesn't work well if you do it two days in a row on the same muscles. They need time to recover from the last round of heavy things. The only real upper-body stuff I did was some pushups, just to remind my arms who was boss. I skipped the extra lower back exercises, though, as I arrived a bit late and did not want to be in the locker room when they started sending people out to yell 'closing time'.

Used the elliptical trainer instead of the treadmill. This is basically a machine that lets you make motions much the same as running, only without that pesky feet-hitting-the-floor action that's hard on some folks' knees. I wanted a change of exercise type. Unfortunately the trainer has two points against it:

1. The hooks to hold reading material in place are designed for a magazine no thicker than your average 'Us' or 'People', and
2. You go up and down a lot more disruptively than the stair climber.

Nevertheless I managed to get several chapters into Shank's Mare. Not sure if it is simply the genre or what, but between this and The Tale of Genji, feudal/medieval Japanese novels appear to be populated with Captain Kirk's direct ancestors. At least in terms of libido and success in implementing same. "We can't stop at THIS inn for the night! There's no girl!"

Now I have to go. Time for our Weapons of Mass Destruction class. You know, anyone who knows me from high school would look at that sentence and ask if I was either teaching it or using it to learn how to make same.

Comments

[skyschemer.livejournal.com]

I've used elliptical trainers for about two years now, and would never go back to a treadmill: you get a much more intense workout without that pesky banging-the-knees problem. However, like you, I found reading while on them to be quite difficult, so I ended up switching to audiobooks and NPR. Works great.

[camwyn]

Normally I'd happily go to audiobooks, but right now I'm interested in reading stuff that isn't available in books-on-tape format. Ah, well, nothing wrong with the stair climber.

[mephron]

Some gyms have extra hooks to use - they tend to look like s-shaped, wide bits of plastic. I haven't had much luck with them on ellipticals, though, I admit.

I fear what you would do with a WMD. (Or a Weapon of Mass Transformation.)

[camwyn]

We-ell, since the major categories of WMD are summed up with the godawful acronym B-NICE - Biological, Nuclear, Incendiary, Chemical, and Explosive - it's worth noting that two and a half of the majors are not really designed for destruction per se, so much as damage. (Chem/biol being the two. Half of nuclear is not actually nuclear kaboom, but distribution of radioactive material to cause mass sickness.) I dunno if transformation is the accurate term either, though. Weapons of Mass Hurting Screaming and Panic doesn't have the same ring...

As for what I'd do? It'd really depend on which of the categories of weapon it was.

[mephron]

"B-NICE"?

Geez. That's got to be the sickest acronym I've heard so far this week....

[camwyn]

Used to be a lot easier. They used to just need NBC - nuclear, biological, chemical. But, you know, fire and kaboom are in there too, so.

[firestrike.livejournal.com]

WMD are amusing to dream about, but when it comes down to it, it's difficult to figure out an actual use. Unless you could rent Dodger stadium* and send invitations to everyone that bugs you. Even then, filling all of the space would be difficult. You'd end up with a list that was much like the one written by Gilbert & Sullivan. "Everyone who lurks outside of the classroom and blows smoke in the faces of those leaving the building."

Smaller, precisely targeted destruction is usually more efficient. "Him, her, and her. -Three shots fired- So, where do we go for lunch?"

Assassination Methods - Ranked in Roughly Decreasing Order of Precision**
Hand
Knife
Close Shot
Long Shot
Poison
Heavy Weapon/Artillery
Explosive Device
WMD

-M

*I use Dodger Stadium because that way it would be in LA, instead of somewhere important.
**Off the top of my head, but generally derived from a similar list in March to Upcountry by John Ringo & David Weber

[camwyn]

No, see, the point of WMD use is not to destroy a particular target or group of targets. The point of WMD use is to scare the !*&(! out of people. The destruction's almost secondary in its importance.

WMD users are like Bond villains. If they really wanted to kill Bond they'd send a large ugly man with a .45 into the room where he's strapped down under the laser and plug him through the temple while he was fumbling with Q's toys. They don't want to kill, they want to make a point, and the point is: we are superior and you can never be safe from us.

Basically, WMDs are what you use when you want to commit an act of rape on an entire population or community.

[lwood.livejournal.com]

You know, anyone who knows me from high school would look at that sentence and ask if I was either teaching it or using it to learn how to make same.

Or from college. ;)

-- Lorrie

[camwyn]

Oh shush. I got a C- in o.chem. How effective could I possibly *be* at making the things?