Such calls are hardly news (or blog) worthy. What is worth a comment was the caller ID description.

Usually such calls display as “Out of Area,” “Unknown,” or something equally undescriptive. The caller ID was more pointed in its description for this call. It announced the call as “Phone Scam.” Perhaps the callers were hoping to disarm natural cynicism regarding unsolicited calls with such brazen honesty.

Notes:

For those interested the alleged source number was 567 248 4400.

I am on (and confirmed my listing) the Do Not Call list.

Perhaps the phone company added the description in the same manner that web browsers and e-mail clients alert you to possible scam/phising attempts.

I was in a supermarket and realized that not only did I recognize the music playing, I liked it. Lest you think this was some hip place that lays food items out in straw and uses artistically hand-drawn signage, I can assure you it was not.
[Indeed such a place would be playing classical music not the classic rock that I recognized.]

This makes me feel almost as old as learning those new CD thingies are thirty years old.

Notes:

Food items in straw, muzak turned to the classical channel, and those artsy signs are probably a good marker that you are overpaying for your groceries. You would not catch Sam Walton merchandising with such foo-foo nonsense.

I can (try to) claim that gray hairs make me look more distinguished, wise, and mature, I can see no such benefit in appreciating supermarket music.

We live in a world that is ever more electronically connected yet personally disconnected. A world where we make deals over the telephone or by e-mail. A world where we may be no more than a price on a screen. A world where people increasingly come together for a single project and then disband to the far corners of the earth.

In such a world does that thing called character still count?  If you can get the job done, does it matter how? If you are only going to be together until this project completes, who cares? I would like to think that not only does character still count, but it counts even more.

In the majority of professional situations it is given that your colleagues are competent (mostly, although not always, true in my experience). But what happens when problems arise, when the schedule is blown, when a major product flaw is discovered? It is at that point that we realize that our colleagues are more than a set of competencies, more than a price on the screen, more than a contact on our e-mail list. It is at that point we realize the importance of character. Some projects succeed and projects fail, that is life. What counts is the manner of their success or failure.  We do not remember Enron because it failed; we remember it because of what happened before it failed. The intellectual brilliance of the characters involved is lost to the utter lack of character of those involved.

In a world of deals by phone and fax news travels faster than ever. So does reputation. Does character still count? I believe that the answer is yes. I hope you do too.

Being a geek I want the most efficient routine possible. If the particular routine has some theory behind it so much the better. The routine is based on evolutionary theory (way cool right now) and takes about 40 minutes once or twice a week. That does not include 5 to 20 minutes each day for walking. This routine is not just for geeks (or philosophers), it should be simple for you to create your own version.

I have no medical training. I have no fitness training. This routine has not killed me (yet), but it might kill you. Check with your physician first.

The Ideology

The real point you should take from this is that your exercise routine should be simple for you to remember and simple for you to perform. You should be able to fit it into your life. The routine should be complete so that it does not matter if you miss a day (some routines rely on targeting groups of muscle or activity – if you miss a day you miss part of the routine). It should take as little time as possible, giving you less excuse to say that “I don’t have the time.” There should be as little technical stuff to remember, making it easy to just drop into the gym and exercise. Just because you miss a few days is not an excuse to give up entirely.

The Theory

Humans were not designed to run marathons nor we designed to lift massive weights.  However the human body is designed to move.  Our hunter-gatherer forbearers did a lot of walking. A lot of their day was spent walking or performing some light lifting.  What running they did was in short but concentrated bursts (escaping predators, bringing down prey). An exercise routine should seek to mimic this pattern, namely: Lots of walking, some lifting, and bursts of intense aerobic activity.

The Routine

Seek to do twenty minutes of walking each day. This does not have to be in one go or even a special activity. You can build up your time with little “tricks” such as parking the car further away, taking the stairs not the elevator, or walking somewhere else to eat your lunch instead of having it your desk (taking a break is a good idea in itself). You can also walk to places you might drive (e.g., dropping off or collecting a video). To reach twenty minutes I usually need to do some walk-for-its-own-sake exercise. But on days where I don’t mange that, the “tricks” give me about ten minutes worth (with no “wasted” time).

I do not use a heart rate monitor to set my exercise level.  I set the levels by how hard I am breathing and how much I want to stop. The first level is moderate. I run at a pace where I can barely carry on a conversation and where I can easily continue but would really prefer to stop.  If you can talk with ease and are moving at a pace you could continue all day then you are not working hard enough. You should feel it, not in an “I am going to die way” but in an “I would rather stop” way. The second level is the “intense” level. At that level I am breathing as hard as I can, my legs are moving as fast as they can, I badly want to stop.  I feel that this method of setting your pace is better than a one-size-fits all heart rate number (I feel under exercised at the correct rate for my age).

I use a mixture of body weight (e.g., pull ups) and machines (e.g., seated row) for the weight lifting part. I don’t target specific muscles but try to cover the broad muscle groups. For weights, I move up the stack. I use a weight where I can just perform about 12 reps. After the 12 reps, I immediately up the weight and try for about 8 reps. After that, I increase the weight again and try for about 4 or 5 reps. When I can easily perform the 12 reps, I increase the weight.

Summary
7 to 10 minutes of moderate aerobic (I use a treadmill)
About 20 minutes of weights
2 to 3 minutes of moderate aerobic (treadmill again).
1 to 2 minutes of intense aerobic
2 to 3 minutes of moderate aerobic and cool down.

Notes:

I deliberately avoided specifics because you should figure out exercises and a routine that you like.  This is probably not the greatest routine but it is simple and does get done.

My resting pulse has fallen from around 72 to around 60. I have increased the running speed needed for “moderate” and “intense” exercise. I have increased the amount of weight I can lift for a given amount of effort (i.e., I am stronger). Although not my primary intent, I have put on some bulk and more definition (more “cut” or “ripped”). My blood pressure remains normal (was before I started). I did not compare before and after triglycerides.

Well there is one small change that will not only increase your happiness but also decrease your dissatisfaction. It will take some effort. You will have to lift a finger. The finger you lift will be the one you use to turn off your television.

Television is the uninvited guest that we no longer notice.  This guest sits there taking our attention with its incessant droning. If it were a child it would have long ago been sent to its room. When the television is on our conversations stop and our attention is drawn to this loud and intrusive guest.  Instead of sharing our stories we listen to this bore repeat the same tired tales he told us yesterday. Sure he is bright, flashy, and can even be entertaining but sometimes he needs to be told to give it a rest.

Television by its nature and design will tend to make us dissatisfied. The shows are filled with characters that are impossibly good looking, unusually smart or funny, and who lead improbably exciting lives. Between these dramas are messages from advertisers that are designed to make us feel like something is missing in our lives (a gap that can be filled by purchasing their product).

I have bad news for you. Purchasing that new BMW will not get you that promotion. Changing your brand of beer will not make you more attractive the opposite sex. [You should also heed Shakespeare's warning that  "Drink provokes the desire but takes away the performance."] That new pair of sneakers will not turn you into an athlete. The latest insta-meal may save you time, but it will not save your family. If you want to do that then turn of the television and try talking.

You do not have to heartlessly throw your old friend out on to the street, but you can let him know that sometimes he should shut up and listen. So lift a finger, hit the off switch, and send this attention-seeking child out into the garden to play. You can always allow him back in later, but only if he promises to be good.

Notes:

I did not mention reality TV, but that is only because it is as fake as the drama shows.

I am not married but here is some advice for married couples. Get the TV out of the bedroom. Leno and Letterman et al. are no doubt good company, but don’t you have other things you could be doing?

Most people if asked to describe extroversion versus introversion would feel they have an understanding of what they mean. Most people do not mention the one thing that really differentiates the two. That difference is how they gather mental energy.

Extroverts

are like a self-winding watch. Self-winding watches are mechanical watches that use the movement of the user’s wrist to keep them energized. [younger readers may need to ask their parents about these] They need motion and action to keep “charged.” Left on the dresser for a day or two they will run down and stop, their energy depleted. The only way to bring them back to life is to shake things up and bring some motion into their lives. Likewise for the extrovert, too little stimulation drains them. They need to seek out activity to recharge their emotional battery.
[To introverts: Tying the extrovert in your life to the dresser may seem like the only way to shut them up, but I recommend you move to a quieter room]

Introverts

are like your cell phone. You can talk on your phone all day but when you get home you need to recharge its battery. If you don’t recharge your phone it may give up in the middle of the next day. On days when you do less talking you may be able to skip the charge that night but will need to watch your usage next day. Introverts are the same; too much activity drains them. They need time alone to gather their thoughts and recharge their emotional energy. Sometimes, the only way to bring them back to life is to stop talking and let them recharge.
[To extroverts: I don't actually recommend plugging the introvert in your life into the mains - even though you might be tempted]

It is this difference in energy flow that really marks the extrovert from the introvert. Introverts are not necessarily shy (afraid of people) or antisocial (dislike people). It is not even a given that they lack social graces. Introverts merely find socializing tiring.

Obviously this is hard for an extrovert to comprehend. “How can all that fun socializing be tiring?” One way for him to imagine it is, going for his customary five-mile jog after working until three AM. He enjoys the exercise. Five miles should be easy. Yet after two miles he is pooped and needs to go home. It is not that he cannot run. It is not that he dislikes running. The thought of five miles does not scare him. Thing is, he is just so dammed tired. A late night of socializing lowers the introvert’s social energy in the same way.

Now if only we could get the extroverts to shut up and the introverts to speak up how much easier things would be.

Notes:

I do not know what the correlation between introversion and shyness is. It is probably fairly high but not perfect. In other words not every introvert is shy (afraid of people) and not every shy person is an introvert (the shy extrovert might recharge themselves with loud music or as an observer at bustling events).

While it may seem that extroverts are more numerous, in the United States about half the population is introverted. A widely quoted figure put extroverts at 75 percent of the population. That figure, based on an unrepresentative sample from the early days of type/ temperament study became the basis for many authors and citations (including this page, at one point). Subsequent measurement showed extroverts and introverts to be closer in number.