The Vent and Rant Thread

[desertblues]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

I didn't know about the icing in cycles, will try that. I regularly twist my ankle so taping/bandaging is almost second nature by now. About a year ago I got MBT shoes and when I twisted my ankle this summer I found out the rounded sole made walking a lot less painful. Most painful is walking down the stairs. Bending downwards is nearly impossible so I first have to put my hurt foot on the next step, then my good foot, then to the next step with my hurt foot, etc. This sucks since our house seems to be made up out of stairs (24 including several 3/4 step stairs).

Got a good excuse to take it easy in the store next week, it's still incredibly busy and I hadn't have enough time for my usual January/start of the month chores so I might get those finally done.

Take care with your ankle, as it seems already a weak point for you. January is always a crazy month I think. In the stores it must be chaos after the holidays , the sales and all that. Just pamper yourself a bit!

[Rumpelteazer]

Originally Posted by desertblues

Take care with your ankle, as it seems already a weak point for you. January is always a crazy month I think. In the stores it must be chaos after the holidays , the sales and all that. Just pamper yourself a bit!

Usually January is quiet, probably because we have a little store and we don't do seasonal sales. Last year it wasn't but we thought that was because everyone was stocking up on old fashion incandescent lightbulbs because the first phase of the ban had started. This year it's also busy, might be because of the bad weather before Christmas but it was only a little more quiet than usual then.

Sat on the couch all day, reading, with my leg up. Tomorrow I am going to Amsterdam with a tightly bandaged and taped ankle, I'll just use public transport instead of walking everywhere.

[Exer]

OK here is another rant, I'm tired of my family always using the ol' "big boned" theory to excuse their unhealthiness. Seriously. You aren't 60/80/100 pounds overweight because of the dreaded BIG BONES. You're carrying around those pounds because you stop at McDonalds for a sweet tea and a double cheeseburger after work 3 days a week. And you go to Starbucks every morning for your latte. And your idea of exercise is walking to the mailbox instead of driving to it. And your idea of a light snack is a bowl of ice cream at midnight. And you consider a six-pack of beer your appetizer. And at dinner you don't stop piling food onto your plate until you can't actually SEE the plate anymore.

That is my family in a nutshell, and it drives me crazy.

I recently heard one of my relatives say this: "I sure wish I could wear something like that ... but I can't. I just wouldn't ever look as good in it, since I have big bones." I saw this same person eat an entire 14" pizza earlier that same day.

GRR. I'm not denying that some folks have bigger bones than some others, but there is a huge difference between big bones and simple fat. You can have big bones and still be in shape. You can have big bones and still be healthy. Big bones don't make you eat takeout every night. Big bones don't make you watch 8 hours of TV instead of taking a walk.

There is just no talking to them about it though. The big bones are their "get out of jail free card" for any and all situations. They never have to own up to their poor exercise and diet choices because those big bones have complete control over every decision they make ...

[kennyc]

It's not just your family....it's all of the U.S.A.!!!!

eeeeekkk!!!

[Stitchawl]

Wrist watches. There oughta be a law...

My watch needs to be sent to a service center to have the battery changed. Not just a local watch shop, but the manufaturer's distribution service center. Usually there is one or two per country. They change the battery, clean and lubricate the mechanism, install a new gasket, then pressure test the unit to 200m of water. (It's a dive watch with built in computer.) This process takes a few weeks and costs a couple of hundred dollars. That's almost as much as the watch cost new! I think I'm going to go back to using pocket sundials.

Stitchawl

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Wrist watches. There oughta be a law...

My watch needs to be sent to a service center to have the battery changed. Not just a local watch shop, but the manufaturer's distribution service center. Usually there is one or two per country. They change the battery, clean and lubricate the mechanism, install a new gasket, then pressure test the unit to 200m of water. (It's a dive watch with built in computer.) This process takes a few weeks and costs a couple of hundred dollars. That's almost as much as the watch cost new! I think I'm going to go back to using pocket sundials.

Stitchawl

ha! tell me about it! I'm dealing with an inherited Rolex that needs 1200 dollars in repairs just to set the date correctly. I'm only keeping it long enough to pass onto my son

[SneakySnake]

I am not sure I would cope with a watch that cost $1200 to repair! I could buy 3 x very good watches new for that price!

Is that how the other half lives?

[bjones6416]

We were talking the other day about how scrupulously my father had to keep his watch synchronized -- he was a railroad engineer. There was exactly one place in Atlanta they were required to take their pocket watches in for cleaning and service. Now a $9.99 quartz watch from Walmart keeps more accurate time than it did. Of course, those are throw-aways, and my father's watch has been passed down to the oldest grandson as an heirloom...

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by SneakySnake

I am not sure I would cope with a watch that cost $1200 to repair! I could buy 3 x very good watches new for that price!

Is that how the other half lives?

I could buy 120 of the one I have on right now just for that repair price. And those would last about 600 years at the rate I use them up.

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by SneakySnake

I am not sure I would cope with a watch that cost $1200 to repair! I could buy 3 x very good watches new for that price!

Is that how the other half lives?

like I said, it is inherited

[happy_terd]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

ha! tell me about it! I'm dealing with an inherited Rolex that needs 1200 dollars in repairs just to set the date correctly. I'm only keeping it long enough to pass onto my son

If you guys keep passing it along sooner or later someone in your clan will be a watch repairman.

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by Exer

...

There is just no talking to them about it though. The big bones are their "get out of jail free card" for any and all situations. They never have to own up to their poor exercise and diet choices because those big bones have complete control over every decision they make ...

I know the kind of person you're talking about, mostly because I have tended to be one a lot of my life (I'm 40). Like you say, there are "big boned" people who don't fit into things like BMI very well [holds up hand], but even as a guideline you know that if you're slipping past BMI "Overweight" into "Obese", then your bones aren't entirely to blame.

Not that you can necessarily do it, but find other measurements than weight to go by. Waist is a good one, seeing as unless your spine is a thick as a tree trunk, blaming "bones" is not going to cut it. Another is scales that measure body fat. Their margin for error isn't as small as the weight measurement, but if you're measuring high there you can't blame it on the bones either. Of course, there is the old "if you get puffed walking up a flight of stairs" measure too.

For myself, strictly via BMI, I think I will be "thin" (in bodyfat percentages) at the high end of "Normal", and at the moment that's what I'm aiming for. People tell me recently how "healthy" I'm looking, and here I am knowing, and seeing in the mirror, that I've a good 9kg/20lbs to go, being most of the "Overweight" range to slog through. It's going well mostly, but a realistic view is certainly helpful (I'll review my estimation when I reach my goal...maybe I'm not as "big boned" as I think). A couple of months should put me there, going by the rate of weight loss over the last three months.

Denial is a hard one to break, as you know. It takes self-realisation more than external comment. Mine was driven somewhat by strained vanity (the beach, my love, is a spot-lit stage for body image), and getting past the knowledge that even when I do become "thin", my being "big-boned" will not make it obvious to many (even, when younger, when I was a very fit cyclist and swimmer, I was still occasionally referred to as "chunky" due to my stumpy stature ). But it was also somewhat driven by knowing that The Loved One had a heart attack 20 years ago partly caused by weight, and my failing and self-denial was not helping him keep the change of lifestyle that brought him back to right in the middle of "Normal", with good fitness to match.

I don't know how you break through with others. Honest self-appraisal is hard to do, and hard to encourage. I suspect that any judgemental negativity hardens denial (at least initially. Later...?). Sorry. But the thing is, I think, if you break through with one, and they succeed, then "comparative anatomy" at your average family gathering will certainly put a large chink in the armour of the others (and enormous pride into the psyche of the successful one).

Cheers,
Marc (just back from a bike ride)

[Katti's Cat]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

ha! tell me about it! I'm dealing with an inherited Rolex that needs 1200 dollars in repairs just to set the date correctly. I'm only keeping it long enough to pass onto my son

Let him inherit it now - that way you can see the joy in his face and he won't have to pay inheritance tax

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by Katti's Cat

Let him inherit it now - that way you can see the joy in his face and he won't have to pay inheritance tax

he'll get it as soon as it's fixed. he already got my Grandfathers pocket watch

[Katti's Cat]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

he'll get it as soon as it's fixed. he already got my Grandfathers pocket watch

Hand it down the way it was handed to you and get yourself another kitty :-)