I started the P90X fitness program this past Monday. I used to be in shape but I am a worthless slug of a lump of quivering jelly flesh. After two workouts all the muscles I can feel in my body are in severe shock and feel as if they have been tenderized with a sledgehammer. I had great difficulty lifting my hands to wash my hair this morning.
I can do all of the exercises but certainly not to the quantity they ask. Like the chin ups... there must be seven or eight different chin up exercises on the leg day. What the fuck? They ask you to do 15. I can't even do ten without using my leg on a chair to give me some help.
This reminds me of how out of shape I am. I will power through it.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
U.S. Citizens. Get some perspective
My 15 hour flight from Shanghai to Newark was delayed for unknown reasons by two hours. As a result I missed my connection in Newark. Continental was kind enough to comp me a room at the Ramada a short 5 minute shuttle ride away from the airport. Well, apparently the Ramada was full so the shuttle bus driver from the Radisson informed me and my fellow travelers that we were now going to the Radisson.
What he didn't tell us was that the Radisson was a 30 minute ride away from the airport. It was all the way in Somerset, NJ. By the time I got to the hotel it was about 11:00 PM.
After I got settled in I went downstairs for dinner and drinks. Over a few beers, I started talking with two other guys who were in the same situation as me. They had sat on an airplane in Cleveland on the ground for four hours and missed their flight to Beirut via Geneva.
One of the men named Lee was born in Lebanon and when he was six years old his mother sent him to live with his Aunt in Cleveland. He looks like he is in his mid 20s and is a respiratory therapist. He was returning home to see his family. His parents brother and sister all live in Lebanon. He makes the journey once every two years and he stays for two weeks. He says two weeks is plenty for him.
His mother has issues (understandably so) that she sent her son to live on the other side of the world but Lee is very thankful that his mother gave him that opportunity. He feels fortunate to have two families- his aunt raised him like her own son so he feels that in effect he has two mothers.
Sam, the other Lebanese man was older- maybe my age about 40. He was traveling with his wife and two children and were on the same flight from Cleveland. He was obviously a business man but I did not find out what his profession is. He too was born in Lebanon and moved at a young age to Cleveland where his family owned several Love's convenience stores.
The conversation turned from China to politics. They shared with me their perspective on the Israel/Palestinian situation. From what they told me, most of the Arab world would be satisfied if Israel simply gave back the land they captured during the 1967 war. According to Sam it is that simple- the majority of the Arab population is moderate and will accept a two-state solution to the problem as long as Israel relinquishes the land they won in that war.
It is so important for us as U.S. citizens to realize that the world is not like us. We are so fortunate yet most of us don't realize it. Everyone should be required to travel the world to a developing country to understand and gain a perspective on the rest of the world. We as Americans are boxed in what becomes a unrealistic representation of the rest of the globe. We are enclosed in this box by our everyday miles and the media. We are subjected to the political pandering and infighting that makes us think that the flaws of our country are beyond what we should live with.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. Go live in a developing world. Deal with their culture and government. Wake up! We have it beyond good. The sad part about it all is that collectively as a country we don't realize this. We go on living our daily lives and nothing changes. If we don't wake up and realize that our way of life is so far removed from most of the rest of the population of the world we risk losing everything our forefathers worked so hard to build. We are in danger of losing our way of life.
Wake up Americans. Wake up Congress. Get investment pouring back into the United States. Lower corporate tax rates so multinational companies keep profits in the USA instead of sheltering them where the taxes are less.
I am so afraid for my children and my grandchildren. Because of the way we are living today their world will be much more difficult. I feel that one of the most important ways for us as a nation to get a grasp on this and start changes is to travel. Get out experience what the other cultures are doing- how they live and why they do what they do.
What he didn't tell us was that the Radisson was a 30 minute ride away from the airport. It was all the way in Somerset, NJ. By the time I got to the hotel it was about 11:00 PM.
After I got settled in I went downstairs for dinner and drinks. Over a few beers, I started talking with two other guys who were in the same situation as me. They had sat on an airplane in Cleveland on the ground for four hours and missed their flight to Beirut via Geneva.
One of the men named Lee was born in Lebanon and when he was six years old his mother sent him to live with his Aunt in Cleveland. He looks like he is in his mid 20s and is a respiratory therapist. He was returning home to see his family. His parents brother and sister all live in Lebanon. He makes the journey once every two years and he stays for two weeks. He says two weeks is plenty for him.
His mother has issues (understandably so) that she sent her son to live on the other side of the world but Lee is very thankful that his mother gave him that opportunity. He feels fortunate to have two families- his aunt raised him like her own son so he feels that in effect he has two mothers.
Sam, the other Lebanese man was older- maybe my age about 40. He was traveling with his wife and two children and were on the same flight from Cleveland. He was obviously a business man but I did not find out what his profession is. He too was born in Lebanon and moved at a young age to Cleveland where his family owned several Love's convenience stores.
The conversation turned from China to politics. They shared with me their perspective on the Israel/Palestinian situation. From what they told me, most of the Arab world would be satisfied if Israel simply gave back the land they captured during the 1967 war. According to Sam it is that simple- the majority of the Arab population is moderate and will accept a two-state solution to the problem as long as Israel relinquishes the land they won in that war.
It is so important for us as U.S. citizens to realize that the world is not like us. We are so fortunate yet most of us don't realize it. Everyone should be required to travel the world to a developing country to understand and gain a perspective on the rest of the world. We as Americans are boxed in what becomes a unrealistic representation of the rest of the globe. We are enclosed in this box by our everyday miles and the media. We are subjected to the political pandering and infighting that makes us think that the flaws of our country are beyond what we should live with.
Nothing could be farther from the truth. Go live in a developing world. Deal with their culture and government. Wake up! We have it beyond good. The sad part about it all is that collectively as a country we don't realize this. We go on living our daily lives and nothing changes. If we don't wake up and realize that our way of life is so far removed from most of the rest of the population of the world we risk losing everything our forefathers worked so hard to build. We are in danger of losing our way of life.
Wake up Americans. Wake up Congress. Get investment pouring back into the United States. Lower corporate tax rates so multinational companies keep profits in the USA instead of sheltering them where the taxes are less.
I am so afraid for my children and my grandchildren. Because of the way we are living today their world will be much more difficult. I feel that one of the most important ways for us as a nation to get a grasp on this and start changes is to travel. Get out experience what the other cultures are doing- how they live and why they do what they do.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Jetlagged in Japan
13 hour flight from Houston to Narita Japan. It has been almost 24 hours since I have slept. I have another 6 hour flight to Ho Chi Minh city. It is going to be 10:00 tonight before I meet the people in Vietnam.
It is not doing any good for me go be sitting here blogging. I am just about to fall asleep.
It is not doing any good for me go be sitting here blogging. I am just about to fall asleep.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)