Capitol Hill Blue Forums Science and Technology Health, Medicine & the healing Sciences Weight Lifting

Ouch! I am sure that a little sugar water is far better for your health than subjecting yourself to the deleterious artificial chemicals which are in diet sodas! Diet sodas are just another way to provide fodder for the medical-industrial complex!

when I was young there was a clear soft drink which was lightly carbonated and very lightly sugared. It was the most refreshing soda which I have ever had.

Does anyone remember what those sodas were called?

Isn't it curious that in our "wonderful free-enterprise system" with its wonderful "freedom of choice" that this obvious niche market is no longer filled?

when I was young, the Russkies were derided for being unable to produce a toilet that worked. Ironically, the only toilets which I have found that work tolerably well are those that were produced when I was young!

By the way, the only decent underwear which I have been able to purchase recently were from Russia. Almost all the underwear which I see in stores here have scratchy elastic bands which are intolerable to wear!

-

I am seriously impressed Cousin It!
Cycling around here is a big deal. We even have annual international bike races coming up soon...Twilight Criterium...where they close off downtown and they race through.

I have belonged to a gym off and on most of my adult life. I quit for a few years in late 90s as life stuff got particularly busy but when quit the old cigs made me gain a little, I hightailed it back a few years ago.
I'm as dedicated as ever. I do workout with weights and machines every other day.
I've never been one for running (boring) but don't really know why I didn't do more biking. I think I would enjoy that.

I LOVE walking though and can walk forever.

Numan, is a plain old early coca cola what you're trying to think of?
RC cola?

itstarted:
Exciting! It's good to hear that you are so active. 30 miles is a good length for a trip. Myself and one of the other Americorps members (my roommate) ride from our town to the little town over and back pretty often - weather permitting. It's right at 40 round trip. I always enjoy the ride so much. I am in the market for a mountain bike; I have been looking at Gary Fishers. I just bought a new road bike a couple years ago. I'm a really short lady (5'2") so I have a teeny weenie Specialized Dolce Comp XS (http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/dolce-comp-2008-womens-road-bike-ec001405 Mine is a '06, but this is the newest equivalent). Roommate has a early 80s Bridgestone that sound similar to yours. All steel, says it's heavy but he LOVES it. We're going to do our first century ride this spring.

numan:
"I am sure that a little sugar water is far better for your health than subjecting yourself to the deleterious artificial chemicals which are in diet sodas!"
Yeah, and that was partially my point. More importantly, soda - of any stripe - doesn't need to be the first thing you put in your body after lifting.

Olyve:
I'm so proud of you for staying active and kicking the cigs!!

Open invitation to anyone that wants to join in (although technically it's kinda sorta against the rules):

We have the annual RAGBRAI ([Des Moines] Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa)... it's also known as "Iowa's Movable Feast" - because 500 miles and 15,000 ft of climb (yes, Iowa DOES have some hills!) requires a goodly amount of food, and let me tell you most are not vegetarians!

There's also another aspect to it - it's a movable 'county fair', with small towns across Iowa selected specifically for their 'small-town-ness', both to showcase Iowa, and also to help keep small towns invigorated - can you imagine what a group of 20,000 bike riders going through a town of 1000-10000 does for the local economy? (And, yes we are mostly all environmentally conscious and don't leave tons of litter)

So, anyway, as a result we (the riders) are appreciated very much, and treated like rock stars - or maybe circus stars? - in every town we ride through.

I've only done it 3 times, but it's in its 37th year now, here's the link:
http://www.ragbrai.org/

Anyway, the one problem is, they cap the 'official' ridership at 16,000 or so; and that is easily filled in the first few hours of registration, which has already passed... registration continues, but only for the lottery where you may or may not get in. Having said that, there are alternatives:
1) Day-rider only - every day there are passes for just that day; not sure how many or where you get them or how much they cost.
2) Just ride. It's a free country, you can ride your bike on the road anyway, just join in. Everything costs less as an 'official' rider (and free breakdown rides into town; non-official riders would have to pay $20) like showers for $3 instead of $5, t-shirts for $12 instead of $15, etc, but I'd say each day there are probably at least 5-10,000 additional riders 'just riding'.

Let me know if anyone wants more info!

That one can be attributed to a 1994 Federal law. Gubmint! Ain't it bootiful?;-)
Yours,
Issodhos

No, it wasn't a cola at all. It was quite clear and transparent --- like water.

And it was before RC cola, anyway. Think late forties or early fifties.

I have been thinking of starting a thread about all the things that were better in the old days. No, I don't mean a nostalgia thread; rather I am thinking about how things were when they were built to last, before planned obsolescence speeded up the velocity of money, much to the delight of the economists and other enemies of humankind.

Also, things tend to start out as relatively high quality. Then the penny-parers get involved, they try to lower the quality of products and make them cheaper, hoping that consumers won't notice the deterioration. Unfortunately, people are so zombified they usually don't notice the deterioration. This process is repeated and repeated until eveyone is buying trash which they are convinced is a great improvement on what went before!

An example is audio equipment, and electronics in general. In many areas, the highest quality electrical and electronic equipment was produced from the 30's to the 60's. The many iterations of cheapening the products have led to the present situation: wherever you go, your ears are assaulted by horrible, unnatural, monstrously distorted sound reproduction. Everyone, particularly the young, has been addicted to having what is incorrectly referred to as music as an ambient environment, and they have been so conditioned to distorting, resonating boom-boxes that they cannot even distinguish good sound reproduction from bad, anymore!

When I was young, I was puzzled at how the inhabitants of the late Roman Empire could endure seeing the horrible, crude "artistic" works of their time (think of the barbaric giant head ot the emperor Constantine) when they were still surrounded on all sides by the exquisite art of the Greek and Roman classical periods. I wonder no longer. In my own lifetime I have seen the deterioration of so many things, and I can see before my eyes that most people have lost the ability to distinguish quality from crap.

-

Reality, that is awesome. I looked at the photos.
My 'claimed' son (he claimed us as his surrogate parents) is heavily involved in the alternative transportation organization here, Bike Athens. I bet sometime in the future he would like to participate in that. In fact I bet he'd like to be in touch with the organizers. I'll email him the link.

Numan, I'd be interested in you starting a thread on that theme. It's a particular gripe of mine too.
My beat up but in great shape old car comes to mind. I dread when I have to buy a new one. Then I'm in the disposable world of cars like appliances have become.
And that would give Isso a chance to explain what he means by his comments.

Thank you, Tiger.
I'm very proud of getting rid of that old demon too.

So I went to the gym today and did a new alternative routine they gave me (because you're not supposed to do the same thing each time).
I'm in with the big boys now!
LOL, my old workout was a good workout but this one went up a notch.
My hands shook when I was trying to write a check at Target immediately afterward.

And what comments would those be, Olyve?:-)
Yours,
Issodhos

Naughty! You should've gone to Target first so you could then eat as soon as possible after your workout.

that one, Isso


Meaning, we could get into that whole how the government has affected (or their role in) the quality of products these day and then.