Tagged as: Blog, House, Personal, Wedding
Jun
28
If it’s true that the importance that things have wavers according to what else is happening then I guess it just goes to show that this blog didn’t have a really high place in my heart. While I have been making sure that it’s still running and checking on it every now and then, I have not written a new post in quite awhile. But now that I am sitting here in my very own house with this ring on my finger I guess that the blog is rising back up.
I sure am glad because I have not had a public place to air my thoughts. And that means that either I have been keeping it in or even worse I have not been having any interesting thoughts. I enjoy writing posts that act as a running commentary on interesting thoughts that I have rather than those of a personal nature, but I figured that I needed to break back into this whole blog thing with something easy. And what is easier than spilling about what has already happened to you?
So that was my way of saying sorry for not writing, but I was busy buying a house and getting married! But I’m back!
Tagged as: Amusing, Geek, life in code, Personal, Python, Useful
Nov
05
# use_public_toilet.py
#
# Algorithm for using a public toilet. Success will vary based on the
# toilet/situation (obviously). However, this seems to be a generally safe
# way to approach using a toilet.
#
# Handles both male and female needs as well as exceptional cases such as
# no available toilet, getting dirty, and entering the wrong gender's
# bathroom.
#
# Algorithm is roughly:
# 1) Enter bathroom
# 2) Find suitable toilet
# 3) Protect yourself if it's a stall toilet that you sit on
# 4) Do your business
# 5) Finish up
import common_sense
# Sometimes even nature's calling cannot overrule common sense
# Including when you walk into the wrong bathroom
if (bathroom.is_disgusting or bathroom.is_dangerous
or bathroom.gender != you.gender):
you.hold('your waste')
return # (i.e., get out of there!)
my_toilet = None
# Only male urinaters get to use the urinals, at least in the common case
# (Abnormal cases are unhandled here)
if you.need() == 'urinate' and you.gender == 'male':
for urinal in bathroom.urinals:
if not urinal.empty:
continue
my_toilet = urinal
# If you are not a male urinating or there is no urinal available
if my_toilet is None:
# Time to look for the stall
for stall in bathroom.stalls:
# Use an empty toilet that can also be initialized to a clean state
if not stall.empty or (not toilet.clean and not toilet.works):
continue
you.enter('Stall %s' % stall)
my_toilet = stall
break
else:
# You could not find a suitable stall to use
return
you.wipe('toilet seat')
you.put('toilet seat cover')
while not toilet.seat_covered():
you.put('toilet paper')
# Finally the time has come to get down to business
try:
you.sit()
you.do_your_business()
except TouchDirtyException: # Don't touch the toilet!
you.cry()
you.flush(my_toilet)
you.wash_hands()
you.leave()
if you.satisfied: # Be happy, you're done
you.smile()
Tagged as: Exercise, Idea, Learn, Personal, Read-It, Seen-Around
Jul
10
That title probably gets your attention. As is common knowledge, we need shoes in order to run. Running barefoot is impossible to comprehend. Except…it’s not. There are so many reasons that I have found that compel me to run barefoot. And I figured that now would be a good time to post them here.
I have been running barefoot for over 9 months now. I started off running a few blocks, and I have progressed to now run a few miles a couple of times each week. Yes, it will sometimes be briefly uncomfortable when I step on a pebble, but it is usually gone in the next step. However for most people the thought of pain is enough to prevent them from ever trying to run barefoot. On the other hand, just because I run on the street does not mean that everyone has to.
Yep, that's mine
Running on sand or grass would definitely be more comfortable, but it’s really not that bad running on the pavement (in my opinion). I believe that running barefoot is better, and I want my behavior to be in accordance with my beliefs.
- I was not born with shoes. (Of course I also wasn’t born with clothes, but clothes don’t injure me. If they did, I wouldn’t wear those either.)
- Injuries increase with the price of the shoes according to surveys from runners.
- It’s recommended (by pediatricians) that young children be allowed to walk around barefoot so that they can develop their feet. There must be something there, right?
- By the laws of physics the force of each step when running has to be translated and absorved somewhere. Running sure isn’t hurting your feet. Where does that leave? Perhaps the knees and hips?
- Tough and hardened feet are much more useful than soft tender feet. Soft feet are nice to the touch, but they can’t nearly do what used feet can do. If you had to run away from danger, you can’t exactly stop to put on your shoes.
- Without the artificial support of shoes, your feet need to balance and adapt. That is, the muscles and tendons in your feet will get stronger. It’s similar to why it’s excellent to do exercises without artificial support. You need to balance while also performing the task at hand. And that will make you stronger and strengthen the entire structure.
- There sure are a lot of people from other countries that are awesome runners without the need for shoes. Have you ever thought about that? Not only are they awesome, but they have lower incidence of injury. Just because I wasn’t born in a culture like that does not mean that I cannot become like that!
- I stand for freedom!. I always have, I always will. But it is a different kind of freedom that I feel when I’m running barefoot. It kind of makes me feel like a little kid, and I love that.
- The arch is one of the strongest structures known to man. We use it for bridges to hold up amazing amounts of weight. Have you ever seen an arched bridge have something filling the entire arch? No. That’s because the arch is strongest when there is nothing filling that gap. Surprise, surprise guess where we have an arch.
- One of the most important reason to consider running barefoot is that it makes you more conscious of your running form. So while your form might suffer when you’re running with shod feet, you won’t modify your behavior because it doesn’t manifest itself until years of running have beaten your body down. However you will definitely notice the difference with bare feet. You will not strike your heel. You will land on the balls of your feet. You will be careful of where you go. You could learn how to run with better form from someone teaching you. But that doesn’t mean that you’re necessarily going to change. Pain is a much better way to modify your behavior than mere information. It’s a reminder every step that you need to run correctly.
I run barefoot. I enjoy it.
References:
SportSci – Running Barefoot
The Painful Truth About Trainers
Barefoot Rick – I enjoyed reading some of his articles and thoughts about running barefoot.
Tagged as: Exercise, Personal, Seen-Around
Jun
20
After reading The Long Journey From Obesity, I started to realize that I was like the author before she became an obese person. At times I look down on obese people because I think that it is possible for them to lose weight. And while I still do think that it is true for them in a lot of cases, I can easily lose sight of the fact that being skinny is not the most important thing.
There are skinny gluttonous people and there are larger fit people. Size is not of the utmost importance. It would do me well to remember this.
Tagged as: Personal, Poetry
Jun
03
I used to be
One of the few.
Now I am just
One of thousands. Whew!
A big company means big things
Like long processes here and there.
They also block Gmail
Which doesn’t seem smart, but I’m sure that they don’t care.
Other things are great,
Company activities abound.
Is it somewhere that I’ll stay for a long time?
Who knows if that’s what I’ve found.
Changes are sometimes good
And it’s already happened (June first).
So now I’m off and going
For better or for worse!