Urgan Shows Up, Does the Thing

[Urgan]

7/27/2017 - 7/30/2017--WEEK 4 DEBRIEF

Almost

 

Lift

 

 

Recover

Calorie AVG: 2165 / 2158 + 2054 + 2081 + 2296 + 2009 + 2497 + 2062

Iron Maiden: 25/28

Recovery Summer: 8/8

 

Week 4 Averages:

          Cals   /   Carbs   /   Fats    /  Protein /  Sugar

AVG    2165        221         87          129             48

TGT    2500        281         97          125             50

 

 

 

Aikido

Technique review: 5/6

 

Weekly To-Do

Buy flea meds for the cats

Schedule doc appointment 

Buy frame for green belt cert

MAIL REVISED TAX RETURN - 50%

 

In case you're wondering, this is what happens when you try to cut out extraneous dairy from a dairy-filled diet. Sigh. I did manage a full week of lifting like normal and did well enough with stretching and Aikido review, not so great with iron, and downright bad at my To Do list. Oh well. I will keep this list because they still need to get done, but I am committed to making it happen this week.

 

Mini-story time: deadlifting on Saturday, I got through with my second workset of 171lbs and an old guy came up and asked me to deadlift more quietly, due to the noise. Needless to say, I kept going as usual. Somebody noticed this and commented on how crazy this was. The building we are in is neither spa nor library. Ugh.

 

12 hours ago, ixaera said:

 

If the only cookies in the world that existed were Girl Scout cookies, I would choose Trefoils rather than give up cookies entirely

so that's something?

 

I would not commit feats of heroism for a Girl Scout cookie, that is for sure.

 

10 hours ago, shaar said:

One year we bought a case of Thin Mints.  Whoops.  This was a while ago.......... 

 

But yeah everyone is always selling SOMETHIN'.  Facebook posts are the worst offenders.

 

TOTAL. ANNIHILATION. 

 

Instagram is horrible now. 

 

5 hours ago, ixaera said:

 

Ugh yep. My boyfriend's mom got into posting these beauty products. She only invited me to her little sell things group and doesn't actively push it on me THANKFULLY (I don't use a lot and already like what I use, no thanks)

I had to unfriend someone who got mad at me for declining to host an Avon party. Um
The obvious basic humanity problems with this ASIDE, it's like... even if for some wild reason I were willing to do this, I literally know 0 people (besides this lady I guess) who even likes Avon so no one would show up and a bunch of time would be wasted. WHY

 

This is me. I know nobody. Do not ask me for referrals. I am a dead end. 

[CourtnieMarie]

WTF on the deadlift quietly?! HUMANS

[Urgan]

14 minutes ago, CourtnieMarie said:

WTF on the deadlift quietly?! HUMANS

 

There is a -.1% chance he would have approached a man to tell them his ears can't handle their workset. Not a chance in the seven Hells. 

[Urgan]

August 2017 Goals!

Yeah, me too

 

Alright, some Real Talk time. I got moved to another department recently. A department with a strong, well-defined mission, actually. I'm still doing the same thing, but I am no longer living in the fridge. So I anticipate the stress situation improving * ducks in anticipation of lightning strike * 

 

Now maybe I will have more time to post actual content here. I've been scarse in part due to the whip-cracking that went on in the fridge. Now if I was out of sight before, I am totally in another galaxy now. 

 

I am glad that I resisted the temptation to chuck my current program completely. I did tweak it a teensy bit, but not exactly an overhaul. Changing programs right now would have been a biiig mistake.

 

Lift

Just keep doing that 5/3/1 thing.

 

The mission: log workouts. Brag or b*tch as necessary.

 

Recover

Ermmkay, I have been trying to lower dairy, but my calories are suffering as a result. I finally ditched frozen treats for the moment while trying protein powder again (at least my protein doesn't suck ATM!). I think I'm going to take @shaar up on that Carnivor stuff. I can drink Dymatize, it tastes alright, but if I lick a piece of cheese I get bloated and feel gross. Not okay. So if you can have dairy, then Dymatize will serve you well. Can vouch for Double Rich Chocolate flavor. I did also om nom me some 3lbs of cherries last week, so I am NOT overlooking the potential complications this might introduce.

 

Can't stop, won't stop, but I will slow the beep down some. Maybe.

 

And drink the rest of this powder, because Waste Not. Only got enough for another week-ish anyway. 

 

This will hopefully allow me to make protein more on the regular and reevaluate tweaking my macro targets just a bit. If even necessary. 

 

Gotta keep up with those supplements AND get to bed on time. Hardest things ever.

 

Still interested in tracking my strength cycle. Week 2 is shaping up to be rather strong, if today is any indication. 

 

Log rolling calorie AVG: 7/wk

Iron Maiden: 7/wk

Curfew: 5/wk

The Ides: beware

 

Aikido

Keep those new techniques fresh in mind.

 

Review techniques - 2/wk

 

Weekly To-Do

Already got carryover from July to make happen. Do the Thing, Urgan.

 

Buy flea meds for the cats

Schedule doc appointment 

Buy frame for green belt cert

MAIL REVISED TAX RETURN

 

Weekly Debriefs: 

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

[Mike Wazowski]

Hooray for less work stress! I've been in some toxic work environments in the past, and they definitely had negative spillover into other parts of my life. Hope you see a lot of positive benefit from the work change!

 

[Sam Ashen]

2 hours ago, Urgan said:

 

There is a -.1% chance he would have approached a man to tell them his ears can't handle their workset. Not a chance in the seven Hells. 

 

A few months ago or so, I dropped a 185 pound clean and jerk and the noise startled the lady squatting next to me.  Walking behind me on the way to a calf machine, she said, "That was a loud drop!"

 

There was enough time between sets and stuff so that I could talk about it later.  By that time, she said it just startled her.  I think I said something to the effect that I have to drop it from overhead because the weight is often too heavy (if it is too heavy to push-press) to let down any other way and I will make sure she is not facing away when I do my rep.

 

I know we discussed what kind of place I work out in.  No chalk.  No dropping weights.  The sign still says no dropping weights.  The official policy is dropping weights is allowed on the platforms -obviously- because that is what the platforms are for.  It varies from location to location, so I suppose managers are not clear.

[Urgan]

4 minutes ago, Sam Ashen said:

 

A few months ago or so, I dropped a 185 pound clean and jerk and the noise startled the lady squatting next to me.  Walking behind me on the way to a calf machine, she said, "That was a loud drop!"

 

There was enough time between sets and stuff so that I could talk about it later.  By that time, she said it just startled her.  I think I said something to the effect that I have to drop it from overhead because the weight is often too heavy (if it is too heavy to push-press) to let down any other way and I will make sure she is not facing away when I do my rep.

 

I know we discussed what kind of place I work out in.  No chalk.  No dropping weights.  The sign still says no dropping weights.  The official policy is dropping weights is allowed on the platforms -obviously- because that is what the platforms are for.  It varies from location to location, so I suppose managers are not clear.

 

In the nearly 3 years of lifting heavy and noisy this is the first guy to ever dare complain. He wasn't an employee and there has been no bitching from the gym or in general about this at all ever. This isn't a "real gym," per say, but bars are dropped by men and women all the time. 

[Sam Ashen]

1 minute ago, Urgan said:

 

In the nearly 3 years of lifting heavy and noisy this is the first guy to ever dare complain. He wasn't an employee and there has been no bitching from the gym or in general about this at all ever. This isn't a "real gym," per say, but bars are dropped by men and women all the time. 

 

You already described the issue.  He is a b*tch.  What do you expect?

 

Does he use the pad to squat?  No.  He does not squat.

 

Okay.  Does he use the pad to quarter-squat?

[Urgan]

27 minutes ago, Sam Ashen said:

 

You already described the issue.  He is a b*tch.  What do you expect?

 

Does he use the pad to squat?  No.  He does not squat.

 

Okay.  Does he use the pad to quarter-squat?

 

I expected you were looking for clarification about whether there had been prior notice about a policy on dropping weights in my gym. Seemed like the implied purpose of your story.

[shaar]

14 hours ago, Urgan said:

 

Mini-story time: deadlifting on Saturday, I got through with my second workset of 171lbs and an old guy came up and asked me to deadlift more quietly, due to the noise. Needless to say, I kept going as usual. Somebody noticed this and commented on how crazy this was. The building we are in is neither spa nor library. Ugh.

 

 

Hahahahahahahaaaaaa

 

Aaahahhaahhaaha

 

RIGHTO SIR PRITHEE TO FRICK OFF OK

 

People.

 

 

2 hours ago, Urgan said:

 

Ermmkay, I have been trying to lower dairy, but my calories are suffering as a result.

 

This struggle is SO AMAZINGLY REAL.  Many times have I wished to just be able to drink a glass of milk for calories and macros, but nope, try again.  Interestingly enough, cheese isn't a problem for me, but it's the only dairy I can tolerate.  Anything else nope red alert.  S I G H

[CourtnieMarie]

1 hour ago, shaar said:

This struggle is SO AMAZINGLY REAL.  Many times have I wished to just be able to drink a glass of milk for calories and macros, but nope, try again.  Interestingly enough, cheese isn't a problem for me, but it's the only dairy I can tolerate.  Anything else nope red alert.  S I G H

most cheese is lactose free and therefore easier for some with dairy issues to tolerate! YAY CHEESE

[Urgan]

7/31/2017 + 8/1/2017 

Mmkay then

 

Lift

Bench

45    5
65    5
75    3
85    1
90    1
95    2x1

 

OHP

45    2x5
55    3
60    1
65    1
53    3x3

 

Recover

Calorie AVG: 2359 / 2294 + 2419

Iron Maiden: 2/28

Curfew: 0/20

The Ides: 8/7 - 8/12

 

Aikido

Review techniques - 0/8

 

Weekly To-Do

Buy flea meds for the cats

Schedule doc appointment - DONE

Buy frame for green belt cert - DONE

MAIL REVISED TAX RETURN - 50%

 

Holy mixed bag, Batman. I wasn't able to get squats in on Monday because of rest breaks required for Bench. Work is work. Aikido featured yoko sokumen irininage, which was fun. I am aces foe iron and 0-2 on curfew. Oops. This week has been fairly strong, so my concern is mainly for next week. We shall see.

 

I called the doc and found out they don't let people pay for their own appointments, which was slightly upsetting, to say the least. My options as of 2018 are to go to an off branch clinic that takes Medicaid and self-pay (...this just screams quality care), which means I won't be seeing my current doctor anyway and will probably be treated even more like cattle than one already is in a large hospital, find another doctor that is more "self-pay" friendly, or just go off oral birth control entirely. Fantastic.

[Kishi]

That's weird that the doc won't let you pay. Their job is to make money by providing service... why do they care whom it comes from?

[shaar]

22 hours ago, Urgan said:

 

I called the doc and found out they don't let people pay for their own appointments, which was slightly upsetting, to say the least. 

 

Yeah this kind of..... baffles me.  So like who pays for it?  Someone else??

 

Finding a good doctor that isn't in a big corporate cattle-herding system is terribly difficult; although it can be done!  At least you have until the end of the year?

[Urgan]

8/2/2017 

Making do like

 

Lift

 

Recover

Calorie AVG: 2313 / 2294 + 2419 + 2224

Iron Maiden: 3/28

Curfew: 0/20

The Ides: 8/7 - 8/12

 

Aikido

Review techniques - 0/8

 

Weekly To-Do

Buy flea meds for the cats

Schedule doc appointment - DONE

Buy frame for green belt cert - DONE

MAIL REVISED TAX RETURN - DONE

 

So I am getting stuff done, but not at work. Work is slow. Lifting was fairly successful, hence my earlier comment about this week being in the clear. I'm taking Monday off for no reason whatsoever, except to not be here for a change. I have a chiro appointment AND it's dojo tiems, so that is gonna be...interesting. I've been cycling up and down a lb or two for the past few weeks and I'm gonna put it at the feet of the whey. Hopefully getting another protein powder will stabilize everything allow me to keep protein high simultaneously. 

 

18 hours ago, Kishi said:

That's weird that the doc won't let you pay. Their job is to make money by providing service... why do they care whom it comes from?

 

Well, the sad thing is, insurance companies, government institutions, and even hospitals and many doctors don't and can't care about you. Some like the ability to get money upfront/without paperwork and will take your cash, maybe even cutting you a deal. Some want the reliability of insurance and the ability to charge madeup prices, which insurance might or might not pay. Which they can write off later or bill YOU, I guess depending on how close to reality the insurance bill was. It's the crack of subsidy, Medicine edition. 

 

A while back, we had to pay $650 for the labwork associated with my husband's physical, because apparently his little individual insurance that he had before we married didn't include physicals. Huh. Makes you wonder what it did cover aside from checkups.

 

The government doesn't care any more than the "insurance" companies and hospitals do. One only need look at the Charlie Gard case to understand that kid HAD to die without possibility of hope after the hospital pronounced he had no chance, or else it would make them look ridiculous. Nevermind how they treated the family afterward.

 

The process of finding a competent doctor is hard (who hasn't had the experience of being treated like a faceless number or having one's problems dismissed as inconsequential because the doctor cannot provide a good answer?) and finding a way to afford it is even harder because we've gotten SO divorced from what the You and Me market can bear in terms of medical costs. And it is not by accident, ever since people figured out "healthcare"--not medicine, but rather ACCESS thereto--is a really good means of controlling modern human lives. Because at the heart of it, it's always about money and power.

 

11 minutes ago, shaar said:

 

Yeah this kind of..... baffles me.  So like who pays for it?  Someone else??

 

Finding a good doctor that isn't in a big corporate cattle-herding system is terribly difficult; although it can be done!  At least you have until the end of the year?

 

They don't really care, do they? It's abstracted away with the current Western pay models (which was the whole point of the above rant). That's the real problem here. Nobody is a person anymore. 

 

At least I have a couple of names I can try. As much as we societally treat birth control like a requirement, we are very fortunate to not NEED any prescription medicine, at least at this point. I am a fully functioning healthy human without it and far too many people cannot say that. Sure, in this case of birth control meds has its perks, but I know you've found firsthand it can also screw you over, COUGH.

[shaar]

23 minutes ago, Urgan said:

Well, the sad thing is, insurance companies, government institutions, and even hospitals and many doctors don't and can't care about you. Some like the ability to get money upfront/without paperwork and will take your cash, maybe even cutting you a deal. Some want the reliability of insurance and the ability to charge madeup prices, which insurance might or might not pay. Which they can write off later or bill YOU, I guess depending on how close to reality the insurance bill was. It's the crack of subsidy, Medicine edition. 

 

A while back, we had to pay $650 for the labwork associated with my husband's physical, because apparently his little individual insurance that he had before we married didn't include physicals. Huh. Makes you wonder what it did cover aside from checkups.

 

The government doesn't care any more than the "insurance" companies and hospitals do. One only need look at the Charlie Gard case to understand that kid HAD to die without possibility of hope after the hospital pronounced he had no chance, or else it would make them look ridiculous. Nevermind how they treated the family afterward.

 

The process of finding a competent doctor is hard (who hasn't had the experience of being treated like a faceless number or having one's problems dismissed as inconsequential because the doctor cannot provide a good answer?) and finding a way to afford it is even harder because we've gotten SO divorced from what the You and Me market can bear in terms of medical costs. And it is not by accident, ever since people figured out "healthcare"--not medicine, but rather ACCESS thereto--is a really good means of controlling modern human lives. Because at the heart of it, it's always about money and power.

 

ALL

 

OF

 

THIS

 

With all of the insurance marketplace hooly dooly over the past X years, this has become so apparent.  It's interesting (read: kinda sad) to work behind the scenes and have watched this play out over time... and it's not getting any better.  And now a lot of private insurers too are going that route, because the precedent for shit coverage has been established...

 

We have one new psychiatrist in town that works on his own, and does like... a CostCo deal - pay one lump sum at the start of the year and you can get XX sessions over 12 months.  (I think there's like, a sliding scale... pay a small fee for 4 visits, a larger fee to get 12 visits, etc)  He only accepts a certain number of clients and doesn't deal with insurance at all.  It's a fascinating business model to see and when I heard about it I was like "what in the heck" but it's actually working for him and taking a step back to look at Healthcare As A Whole, it makes so much sense.

 

Wew.

[Urgan]

10 minutes ago, shaar said:

We have one new psychiatrist in town that works on his own, and does like... a CostCo deal - pay one lump sum at the start of the year and you can get XX sessions over 12 months.  (I think there's like, a sliding scale... pay a small fee for 4 visits, a larger fee to get 12 visits, etc)  He only accepts a certain number of clients and doesn't deal with insurance at all.  It's a fascinating business model to see and when I heard about it I was like "what in the heck" but it's actually working for him and taking a step back to look at Healthcare As A Whole, it makes so much sense.

 

WANT. 

[Kishi]

32 minutes ago, Urgan said:

Well, the sad thing is, insurance companies, government institutions, and even hospitals and many doctors don't and can't care about you. Some like the ability to get money upfront/without paperwork and will take your cash, maybe even cutting you a deal. Some want the reliability of insurance and the ability to charge madeup prices, which insurance might or might not pay. Which they can write off later or bill YOU, I guess depending on how close to reality the insurance bill was. It's the crack of subsidy, Medicine edition. 

 

A while back, we had to pay $650 for the labwork associated with my husband's physical, because apparently his little individual insurance that he had before we married didn't include physicals. Huh. Makes you wonder what it did cover aside from checkups.

 

The government doesn't care any more than the "insurance" companies and hospitals do. One only need look at the Charlie Gard case to understand that kid HAD to die without possibility of hope after the hospital pronounced he had no chance, or else it would make them look ridiculous. Nevermind how they treated the family afterward.

 

The process of finding a competent doctor is hard (who hasn't had the experience of being treated like a faceless number or having one's problems dismissed as inconsequential because the doctor cannot provide a good answer?) and finding a way to afford it is even harder because we've gotten SO divorced from what the You and Me market can bear in terms of medical costs. And it is not by accident, ever since people figured out "healthcare"--not medicine, but rather ACCESS thereto--is a really good means of controlling modern human lives. Because at the heart of it, it's always about money and power.

 

Ah, I didn't know it was like that. I just always figured I didn't have the money and wouldn't have the insurance, so I pretty much learned to take care of myself. I've actually been outrageously fortunate to have a sound body and good awareness of symptoms and possible etiologies.

 

FWIW, I'd probably attribute financial healthcare woes to the rise of bureaucracy tied to helping insurance companies dodge their claims (when the policies even apply in the first place) as well as manufacturers of medical equipment demanding a cut of the profits. Private medicine, for better or for worse, means that it's on the market, and everyone who can see a way to turn a profit will try to and ultimately will turn a profit off of it. Because, you know. People don't want to die. Inflexible good/service and all that.

 

Not that the government's without fault, though. Between protectionism for American MDs inflating their market value and government control of the patents on medical procedures and devices, it doesn't seem like there's sociopolitical machinery in place to control those costs and bring them down.

 

It's tough.

[Urgan]

42 minutes ago, Kishi said:

Ah, I didn't know it was like that. I just always figured I didn't have the money and wouldn't have the insurance, so I pretty much learned to take care of myself. I've actually been outrageously fortunate to have a sound body and good awareness of symptoms and possible etiologies.

 

We've always had insurance and luckily never really needed it as a lifestyle, but my dad has had a medical incident or two caused by failure to control his diet, pure and simple. I don't "need" it now except for dodging through the bureaucracy maze put in place to justify everything from FDA to docs having a lead pipe cinch guarantee that a lot of women will have to come to them for those pillz. They have this guarantee by way of it being mandated by law. Control and money are the themes.

 

44 minutes ago, Kishi said:

Not that the government's without fault, though. Between protectionism for American MDs inflating their market value and government control of the patents on medical procedures and devices, it doesn't seem like there's sociopolitical machinery in place to control those costs and bring them down.

 

One existing problem is there are a lot of people in positions of power who think you can clamp an external vise of regulation around a problem to fix it and what ends up happening is this never fails to make a bad situation worse.

 

Until we figure out that more government involvement is not a good reflexive response, a real marketplace force can't settle the problems created by the temptation to game the "system". And that's what breeds the cronyism that is so often treated as THE problem rather than one of several that we're dealing with. Can't have cronyism if there's no one to pay off and tilt the board in your favor (and against the competition as well, usually, creating a feedback loop straight from Hell). And that's the big reason why less government control and letting individuals make their own choices can never be allowed to be an option. Too many people make a better than decent living off of this arrangement. 

[Sam Ashen]

1 minute ago, Urgan said:

Control and money are the themes.

 

Wow!  Something about spades and spades.

[Urgan]

3 minutes ago, Sam Ashen said:

 

Wow!  Something about spades and spades.

 

It's almost cliche, I guess. Most of human history could be summed up that way.

[Sam Ashen]

1 minute ago, Urgan said:

 

It's almost cliche, I guess. Most of human history could be summed up that way.

 

How much of human history is about an emperor and his new clothes?

[Urgan]

3 minutes ago, Sam Ashen said:

 

How much of human history is about an emperor and his new clothes?

 

Oh wait. Just about all of it.

[Kishi]

33 minutes ago, Urgan said:

One existing problem is there are a lot of people in positions of power who think you can clamp an external vise of regulation around a problem to fix it and what ends up happening is this never fails to make a bad situation worse.

 

I mean, I don't really disagree. Warning for personal bias and limited perspective informed by media: it seems that most of what's written into law as regulation these days seems less about the common good than it does about scoring political points and serving lobbyist (read: corporate) interests. The free market doesn't seem all that free anymore when you have large enough interests who can dictate the market via governmental puppetry.

 

At least from here, the whole thing seems to be the free market force at work - the concentration of wealth into the hands of people who can use it to tilt the system via government intervention in the name of acquiring further wealth, as the Free Market (not the You and Me Market) demands. It all appears to be very intertwined to me.

 

Anyway, that's all just splitting hairs over the fact that your situation sucks, and you have my sympathy. For serious! I truly do hope your situation resolves.

[Jord]

I kind of skimmed, so I'm not sure if this came up. But I think another part of the problem is that healthcare agencies can charge more to insurance companies than they can to an individual. They have negotiated rates with health insurance companies (i.e. the exorbitant costs on our bills). But for individuals they have to charge less. So there is an incentive to not treat self-pay clients. It's horrible.