k3g's posterous

Going Through a Phase

Why is my atheism seen as a phase? 

I've grown tired of my atheism being seen as something I'll grow out of my parents, my (previously referred to as) peers, and others in my community. I can think of few things more insulting that implying that I'm not mature enough to hold my own opinion, and that I'll just grow out of it. I am plenty old enough to have my own worldviews, and it is incredibly belittling to deny them as "just a phase."

Seriously, that shit's annoying. Fuck off.

Back Into Blogging!

Well folks, it's been a bit, and I promise to be more regular now. I'm now in the Marine Corps, and so I'd like to keep you all in the loop with my life.

The last two week's developments:

  • Learned to maneuver in a portashitter while wearing a full combat load. Man that space is CRAMPED with all that gear.
  • Grenades are LOUD, and give you a nice chest thump when they go off. Me likey.
  • The ACOG (a type of RCO, or scope) is a rather nice tool for telling distance. It's also cool to know you can engage a man-sized target from more than 500m.
  • MRE's suck. It's nice to be able to take a crap, and MRE's do not allow you to do so. Real chow is SO much better than field rations.

Hiking here is hell. The hills are MASSIVE, and the pace is much faster than Boot Camp. The only benefit is an incredible view from the top. Camp Pendleton 52 Area is GORGEOUS.

 

More to follow when I get more time.

Day 2: Ow my forearms hurt.

Day two felt good. I woke up sore, did some stretching, and tried to eat well. A simple ham sandwich with cheese, a protein shake, and a banana opened up my day at noon.

I hit the gym around 3:45, and man did it suck in the first few minutes. I opened up the session with a short run, 3/4 of a mile in 7:05.

On to the weight stats!

Workout Weight Reps
Pull Up Max Set NA 8
Bench Press 95/115/125 12/8/6
Seated Free Press 70/70 8/8
Skullcrushers 60/60/60 10/8/8
Standing Draw 60/60 10/8
Pullup 21set 100/120/180 7/7/7
Forearm Rolls 20/20 8/8
Forearm Back Roll 10/10 10/10
Delt Lifts 15/15 8/8
Dead Lifts (Just for the hellofit) 250 8

Today's conclusions:

  1. Deadlifts feel GREAT, and by that I mean they hurt so good.
  2. As a result of the deadlifts, I'm going to work in more core/lower body workouts on odd days (Tues, Thurs, etc)
  3. I was right about moving the pull ups to the beginning. 8 is about my max right now, so we shall see how it changes over the next few weeks.

Tune in tomorrow for that update!

Fitness Blog: Day (night?) 1

Fitness Madness begins! Since I'm shipping to Marine Corps Recruit Training in October (the 12th, to be exact), I'm on a mission to get in as good of shape as possible. This means a rigorous workout schedule, a full battery of supplements to get the most out of my nutrition, and logging all weight/cardio work.

I went out last night (Sunday night), and grabbed myself a membership at the nearest 24hr fitness. It took me about 20 minutes of dicking around to finally figure out that they have a free weight room hidden in the back, but daaaang is it big. I like already!

My goals are the following:

  1. Cut Body Fat. This will be done by running a lot.
  2. Increase my pull up count. Right now I'm at 7, and I want to be at 15 by the time I ship. Most of my weight work is structured around making this happen.
  3. Increase general core fitness. I do a LOT of core work pre/post running for this goal.

Here's my logged weights (and reps):

Workout Weight Reps
Bench Press 95/105/125 12/10/8
Skullcrushers 60/60 10/10
Seated Curl 85lbs (timed) 30 secs, 5 reps
Pulls Ups, Max Set NA 4
Forearm Rolls 25/25 10/8
Forearm Back Rolls 20 8
Standing Shrugs 60/60/60 12/10/8
Delt Lifts 15/15 10/8

I have a few observations about the workout:

  1. I need to do my max set of pull ups first. All the other arm work lowered my count (by half!), so it's not an accurate bench mark.
  2. I'm going to be adding more curling and row workouts next time, as I'd like to work my arms/back a bit more than I did this time. But hey, you can't start full speed!
  3. I've been given a few workout tips from my recruiter, so I'll be putting them to use today, and seeing how it feels.

Looking forward to my next session, but dang am I sore!

Weaponized Microwaves

Techcrunch posted an article regarding the first official deployment of the "Pain Gun," or Active Denial System to Afghanistan, which I found rather interesting. I believe this will be a fairly high value asset to our boys overseas, assuming the use doesn't get out of hand. Also, in the words of user "gaius" on HN:

"The military have a huge issue at checkpoints, if you ask a driver to stop and he doesn't, then you can't take the risk he didn't understand; he could be a suicide bomber. So they open fire. This provides a means to say, in any language, stop. So it will save lives."

I can definitely see the value here when it's phrased this way, especially coming from my Army ROTC experience. Checkpoints and traffic control points were a pain during training, as you never new if the cars didn't understand, or if they were bombing. Having the ability to remotely say "stop" independent of language could be incredibly valuable.

On the other hand, I'm hoping this never becomes portable enough to go the route of the Taser. The taser seems to have become an alternative to civility, as it gives the average police officer the ability to replace diplomacy with "non-lethal forced compliance." The ADS has the same potential, once they figure out how to make it smaller than a Humvee.

Municipal WiFi: Hell Yes.

Municipal WiFi seems to be the problem that everyone wants, yet no one can solve yet. Whether the reasoning for a lack of a solution is capital, politically or technologically based, the result is obvious: We need this crap.

I'm writing this post from the parking lot of a gas station on my laptop, and I couldn't be happier. A meeting was delayed 30 minutes, but since I'm in Mountain View only a few miles from The Google, I can simply pull over and use the web while I wait. For free.

I'd view ads for that (or even pay if it was faster than the cell network!).

My first Posterous

Well, I discovered Posterous on the web about a year ago, and didn't pay it any mind. After all, I already had a Wordpress and a Tumblr, what more could I need? The it hit me today: All that themeing and styling is a barrier to me posting. (I'll admit, someone on News.YC made this point, and I realized it applied to me as well...)

I just can't resist the minimalist allure of this engine, and the ease (and multiple avenues) of posting can't be denied. Here's to a new blag adventure!