The Redskins Rule

Today I learned about something called the Redskins Rule.  The Redskins Rule states that if the Washington Redskins win their last home game prior to the US presidential election then the political party who won the popular vote in the last presidential election will win the election in the current year.  This rule has accurately predicted the winner of the presidency in 17 of the last 18 elections since the Redskins moved to Washington in 1940.  The one time that it didn't work?  When Bush beat Kerry in 2004.

This weekend happens to be a Washington home game so this would be the one that determines the Redskin Rule.  Washington plays Carolina.  Both teams are not great but Washington is most likely the favorite to win.  If this happens then Obama would be the Redskin Rule winner.

Recovery Day

I thought I was in reasonable shape, then I tried to do burpees.  I should have recorded myself doing those.  It would have been pretty funny or sad by the time it was over.  I warmed up by running an easy mile on the treadmill.  Then I took a good 5 minutes to get my heart rate back down.  I didn't have a workout plan to follow so I decided to pick a nice round number of 60.  I'll just do 60 and see how that feels.  Reality kicked in at about 10 or 12.  By the time I got to 20 I was sucking wind hard and had to stop for a 15-20 second pause.  The final 20 burpees were absolutely brutal.  Today I am sore in places I never expected to be.  I've seen videos of guys doing 1000 burpees in about an hour.  I can't imagine doing that.  However, this is what usually happens when I discover a new exercise.  I had the same reaction to reverse crunches or body weight squats.  I look forward to doing more burpees in the workouts to come.

Downtime

My last project delivered about 3 weeks ago.  Since then, I have essentially been keeping myself busy by doing some things to improve our look development system.  A worthy cause to be sure.  However, it has been a while.  The entire department is thinking the same thing: when is the next show coming in.  I wouldn't say that I am nervous, just concerned and ready to work.

Yesterday, I left an online gaming group that I had been a part of for over 5 years.  It was surprising to me how hard this was for me to do.  I have never met any of the people in this group which now boasts over 80 members.  I can't even say that I have had a long or meaningful conversation with any of them.  Yet, I still felt a huge sense of loyalty towards this group.  I felt really bad about leaving.  It was like telling a friend that I don't want to be their friend any more.  This probably seems trivial to anybody who hasn't been in an online gaming group like the one I was in.  It's hard to explain I guess.  What it came down to was that I didn't feel that I could relate to any of them in or outside of the gaming world.

There is an exercise that most people do not know about.  It is called the Burpee.  It's the kind of evil exercise that needs to be done in large quantities.  You can't just do 10 of them.  You have to do 50 or 150.  I plan on incorporating these into my workouts.  Yay.

CrossFit

I think I may be inadvertently becoming a crossfit athlete/fan/whatever.  Before moving I had a lot of time to run in the mornings.  Those days are gone but I still want to stay fit so I have to jam as much exercise as I can into a small amount of time.  That is pretty much what crossfit is.  I've been watching some youtube videos on the kinds of workouts they do.  It's pretty intense.  Probably more intense than what I do.  It has peaked my interest though.  I would love to join a crossfit gym.  I just don't have the time or the money.

I found an exercise that I can't do right now.  It's called the V Situp.  They are awkward to do.  It doesn't help that I have horrible flexibility.

I saw a very interesting series of videos on youtube today about Mitt Romney's extended family in Mexico.  Basically, his relatives left the US because they wanted to keep being polygamists.  I guess Mexico didn't have a problem with that.  So there is a huge sect or clan or something of Mormans living in Northern Mexico.  What else do they have in Norther Mexico?  Drug cartels.  It is an interesting documentary.  Somewhat graphic at times, but interesting.

Dylan the Considerate

Everyday I get up a little earlier than everybody else so I can come down and get breakfast going.  About 25 minutes later I usually see Sydney or Dylan strolling in.  I am never sure what I am going to get.  Today Sydney was not in a very good mood.  It happens.  A few minutes later Dylan joins us.  Soon after, I put breakfast on the table.  Sydney then declared that she was "really cold".  Without saying a word, Dylan got up from the table and found his Thomas blanket.  He brought it over and wrapped it around her.  Then sat back down.  It was just about the sweetest thing I've ever seen.

Good boy, Dylan Patrick.  Good boy.

Sold!

Digital Domain was sold at auction on Friday to a wonderful company named Galloping Horse.  Apparently it is a large Chinese company with many connections in the film, tv, and advertising business in China and the US.  I feel like the worst of DD's troubles are finally behind it.  I look forward to the coming period of decreasing tension.

I finally have a goal.  I will build a table this weekend.  I found a very simple plan to follow.  The only caveat being that I will have to modify it to be an office desktop not a picnic table.  The main thing that I am worried about is that I will spend a bunch of money and the table will end up being not level for some reason.  Hopefully I don't screw it up.

Goals

I've been having a pretty darn good run of following a solid exercise plan.  My problem is I don't have any kind of goal to work towards.  I suppose I can say that I am building up a good base of fitness.  While I figure out what race or event I want to do, it feels pretty good.

I really wish I could find the time to make a stand up desk.  I hate sitting all day.

I saw this video today.  Everybody sort of suspects that the presidential debates are biased towards the major two parties.  This video shows just how much a sham they are:

I still haven't decided what candidate I'm going to go with.  It is looking more and more likely that it will be neither of the two majors though.