A Different Sort of Wargaming Challenge

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

the problem is people dont know what a diet is.  a diet is not something you go on and off of.  a diet is what you do every day and its what its composed of that makes the difference.

Right on Star!

[GDS_Starfury]

It's funny people think physical work is below them, then they go flail around in a gym until they get bored. They even pay big money for the privilege.

Do something real. You get multiple benefits.

I honestly love what I do.

[airboy]

The wife's 500 calorie a day diet is under physician supervision.  She has weekly checkups.  It is working great.

I grew up doing back breaking labor on the farm.  Hard, dirty, dangerous work that paid poorly.  Many of my jobs that I had while going through school were also doing physical labor.  Hard work that paid poorly.  But I understood math and worked hard at school.  I was delighted when I turned 16 and could work outside of the home.  I actually got paid and the work was a lot less dirty and dangerous. 

I now do stuff that the economy values far more highly and get paid a lot more.  Work takes a lot of time and does not involve physical labor.  So due to the lack of physical activity at work, I and many others have to get our physical exercise out of work.

It is idiotic to assume that because someone does not do physical work for a living, that they do not understand, appreciate, value, whatever physical labor.  Your inability to read the mind and motivations of others, and attribute what you think others believe is immature.   

If I'm remembering right, Star has done work in construction.  I paid to have skilled workmen do a wonderful job renovating the house we bought at the end of 2005.  We painted the entire interior (mainly because we can both paint really well and a poorly painted wall irritates both of us).  But all of the HVAC, plumbing, electrical, carpentry, laying ceramic tile, laying other flooring, reworking the foundation, reworking the entire water drainage system of the property, etc..... plus all of the regular lawn work was paid by yours truly to professionals who knew what they were doing and appreciated the work.  Doing it myself would have been getting a much worse end product, taking far more time than I would want to spend, and hammered my income because I would not be doing other consulting work or work on my companies that pays a lot better.  The work was done in phases since 2006 and was completed this Spring. 

You just have to be able to do the math.  My wife persuaded me 17 years ago to never mow the lawn again.  Why?  Well I'm very allergic to grass.  I got at least 2 more sinus infections every year doing the mowing.  I also was sick with a sinus headache for 12 hours every time I mowed the lawn.  She told me to think about the business hours I lost, how much it would take to pay a lawn service, and to do the damn math.  She was right.  I could make in 2-4 hours enough money doing my regular work to pay to get the lawn mown for an entire year.  Pretty dumb for me to continue to do this "exercise" that made me sick and lost me money.

So sure, we go to a gym.  I'm hoping by the end of the week I will be recovered enough from the surgery to resume going to the gym.  I don't intend to get a job doing physical labor, or to do "projects" that would take far more time and cost me money to maintain my physical exercise goals.

[Toonces]

^ I think you may have read Biggs' post more harshly than he intended.

I would certainly agree that in a perfect world it is preferable to get daily exercise in some activity that has some bigger point.  For example, I get far more satisfaction from getting in a long surf session and achieving my day's exercise that way rather than doing 45 minutes on a treadmill watching Fox News. 

Having said that, most days I have to put on a pair of sneakers and figure out how to get a workout in.  I sit behind a desk staring at a computer 8 hours a day, and simply don't get exercise through work. 

I understand what you're saying, Airboy.  I think it applies to many of use working in non-labor oriented professional fields.  I've also worked in a field that involved a lot of physical labor and, at this point in my life, I'm not sure that I would like to do that again.  Too many owwies now.   :-[

[Toonces]

I was going to the gym 3+ days a week from April - July.  Then one weird injury, another chronic condition, surgery, and hopefully back to the gym to at least walk on the indoor track late this week. 

A month and a half without meaningful exercise has sucked.

I hear you.  I had two injuries occur almost simultaneously a few months ago.  I have somehow injured my elbow which made doing P90X (my preferred workout) pretty much impossible.  Then, about a week after my elbow started acting up I strained my right calf stepping off a sidewalk of all things.  For about two weeks I couldn't do P90X, nor could I run, walk, swim...I was truly just unable to do anything physical. 

That totally royally sucked.   

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

I don't consider life a money equation. I can make good money in several fields. To me life is about exploring knowledge, then how you can use it. If I keep doing the same job for more money, climbing the corporate ladder, the cost is I am not expanding my abilities. I am mentally stagnating.

So I like work that combines knowledge with some physical application that will decrease as I get older. How much money am I giving up? I dont care. I am doing something of high economic value that uses all my skills, or at least far more than a repetitive gear-cog job.

Mens et Manus.