Archive for February, 2006
Monday, February 27th, 2006
Meet Clyde
Clyde showed up at our doorstep on sunday morning. It was very cold. He was very loud. Stephanie insisted on feeding him and then bringing him in.
We already have 3 cats. So he is uh…just visiting for the time being. He’s young, maybe 9-12 months old, very talkative and very sweet.
Anyone want a cat?
Saturday, February 25th, 2006
5 lbs, thats all water weight
I should point out that all of my teen and adult experience with ‘organized’ athletics have involved an element of weight control. I was on the wrestling squad for one year…well… several years if you count the 3 years before I was a freshmen at the Prep, as my brothers would come and try out their new skills on their little brother…one year though when I had to weigh in before matches. Then I moved over to rowing, right into boats with weight restrictions.
Everyone says the first 10lbs are always the easist. And the first 5 are basically water weight. Except that I’ve only had time to cycle two nights this week.
Perhaps there is something to these ‘not eating crap’ rules.
Saturday, February 25th, 2006
I’m not sure how…
…this relates to the Stossel piece I was whining about before, but its interesting how some simple numbers can de-map a myth right quick.
Here are some facts:
In 2004 American colleges and universities awarded a record 233,492 undergraduate S&E degrees, reports the National Science Foundation (NSF). That was up 38 percent from 169,726 in 1990. Within that total, some fields have expanded rapidly. Computer science degrees have doubled since 1990, to 57,405. Other fields have stagnated. Engineering degrees, 64,675 in 2004, have been roughly the same since 1990. (Note: These figures exclude psychology and social sciences, such as economics, that are often counted in S&E totals.)
Graduate science and engineering enrollments hit 327,352 in 2003, another record. They’ve jumped 22 percent since their recent low in 1998. Computer science graduate students have increased 60 percent, to 56,678, since their low point in 1995, and engineering graduate students are up 27 percent, to 127,375, since their low in 1998. It’s true that for these higher degrees, especially doctorates, foreign-born students have represented a growing share of the total. But that’s also changing because—after years of declines—enrollment of native-born Americans and permanent residents for graduate work has increased 13 percent since 2000.
Judged realistically, China and India aren’t yet out-producing the United States in engineers. Widely publicized figures have them graduating 600,000 and 350,000 engineers a year respectively, from six to 10 times the U.S. level. But researchers at Duke University found the Chinese and Indian figures misleading. They include graduates with two- or three-year degrees—similar to “associate degrees” from U.S. community colleges. And the American figures excluded computer science graduates. Adjusted for these differences, the U.S. degrees jump to 222,335. Per million people, the United States graduates slightly more engineers with four-year degrees than China and three times as many as India. The U.S. leads are greater for lesser degrees.
From MSN
Tuesday, February 21st, 2006
RICK AND MY WIFE TAGGED ME
Four jobs I’ve had :
(all before I was 20)
Landscaper
Sledgehammer swinger on demolition crew
chamber maid at a hotel in OC NJ
Baker’s assistant
Four movies I can watch over and over
Good Will Hunting
Chariots of Fire
The Conversation
Rashamon
Four TV shows I love(d) to watch
Lost
Entourage
BattleStar Galactica
America’s Next Top Model
Four places I’ve been on vacation
Ireland
Mexico City
Seattle, WA
Augusta, GA
Four favorite dishes
Sushi Tuna Roll
Chicken Burritos
Pho Ga
Bagel bites
Four websites I visit daily
BoingBoing
Bike Forums
Philebrity
skatenerd
Four places I’d rather be
ON MY BIKE
Home with my wife
Inis Meainn
right now, someplace in Southern California
Four I’m tagging
I’ll get back to you….
Monday, February 20th, 2006
On Being Less Fat
I started out the year 5′8″ and 188lbs. My BMI is like 29. So one of my goals this year is to decrease the number you see above. 20lbs.
The rules are simple:
No snacks after lunch. Non-trivial when you work in an office where someone is always sending us free chocolates. Or even worse, chocolate covered pretzels. Mmmmmmm. chocolate covered pretzels.
Wine, not beer.
Fruits or nuts instead of tastykakes or pretzels, popcorn or chips.
Big brekfast. Small Dinner. Lunch size stays the same.
Oh and cycling everyday.
I’ll be humiliating myself with pictures like todays over the next coming weeks.