Well yeah, so that was Memorial Day

Memorial Day Weekend. Thursday night went over to a friend to watch a
movie and enjoy each other's company :) Friday drove back to New York
via Brooklyn, where my brother and I spent several hours shopping for
glasses, ties, pants, trinkets, and whatnot.

When you shop for eyeglasses, usually the salesperson (tell me if
you've had the same experience) will ask you a few questions, show you
some frames, you pick something out - and then you get The Spiel: OK
those frames are $___. I can show you something a little cheaper
(picks up something horrible), but I think those (points to the ones
you picked out) look really good on you. That's what they're buying
these days. And I can give you 15% off that price. You'll want to go
with a scratch-resistant coating for just $45 extra, but I can do it
for you for $25. And we'll put on the special new glare-free coating,
you're lenses will look much nicer and you won't notice a glare, it's
only $65 more. And with your prescription, I can offer you a higher
index lens, it will be much thinner and lighter, if you want that, for
an extra $100.

Then we came to this little hole in the wall shop, and the prices are
really as marked! Pick something out, and the storekeeper says here's
the price. I can deliver it next Tuesday. And we can't believe it.
"But next door they wanted $650?! How could you sell it for $225?" "I
want to see what they were selling for $650. It doesn't make sense."

"Ok, great. So can you give me the scratch-resistant?"
"Let me find out. [makes phone call] Yup, they're scratch resistant.
It's included."
"And do I want the glare coating?"
"Also included."
"But they told me they had a new super duper glare coating that's
baked, not fried. You give me that?"
[Makes another phone call] "Okay, so there are 2 brands of glare
coating they use. They're both the same except they charge $100 more
for the other one. I'm giving you the same thing I have in my own
glasses [points to own gorgeous glasses]."

And you know what? The 5 stores that tried to earn an extra few bucks
lost the sale altogether and got nothing. But I assume they're doing
alright. 300% markups can make up for a lot of missed opportunities.

Anyway, so Saturday night house party in Manhattan Beach, Sunday gym,
spa with C, and then to a club. Monday, slept, read, walked through
the park with barbecues and then came home and ate pizza.

Rant About Google

I usually like Google's new features, but this latest design change is an exception. Google says it wants its new features to feel like they were there all along. They believe this will make the feature more comfortable to use, but in fact the opposite is true. It generates this eerie feeling of something being not right. Humans are optimized to adapt to change while preserving a sense of history. When things just appear and pretend they were always there, it's unnerving. But more importantly, the new "search options" feature is just plain bad. It's unhelpful because it makes you push more buttons to do what you want to do, whereas before it was better at predicting which option you might want. And that Wonder Wheel: It's a wonder Google would release anything so absurd and useless.

Not too late to kick-start your health and reach for your fitness goals

Omg been ich mechaven gevuren ([Expletive] my god I co-conceived of the idea? Some things just don't translate well.) The President's Council is running a similar program to my Every Day in May Challenge.

"The National President's Challenge is a nationwide call to action for a healthier America. It's fun and it's free! All you have to do is be active five days a week for six out of eight weeks, and log your activity." (link) So get involved!

Challenge Days 7-11

I'm happy to report that we're on track. Been logging 2 to 4 miles a day and some weights, which is a good start, good foundation to build on. Details to come. Maybe.

Challenge: Day 7

So I had to work late yesterday, and didn't have time for the gym. But Every Day in May doesn't stop just because I missed one day. Here's hoping today's workout will be even better because of yesterday's rest!

Hot Pic

Challenge: Day 6

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The Every Day In May Challenge

Let's try to exercise every day this month. Today is the 5th, so far so good: At least 30 minutes a day so far each day this month. Lots of treadmill, some weights. Maybe I'll try to get the log up here. Be great if someone tries to outdo me - I love competition!

Justice Souter announced plans to retire

Souter retiring, Obama choosing new nominee. I wish I could freeze-frame this and spend a semester delving into this.

Barack Obama's pretty cool. Even though I disagree with many of the things he's been doing, he seems to have things reasoned out pretty well. He might come to the wrong conclusions, but at least he thought it through. It would be great to  spend some time with him.