GlibFit 4.0 – Coronavirus Edition XLIII: Crossrope Partial Review

by | Jan 10, 2021 | Fitness, GlibFit | 150 comments

Months ago I asked you lot if anyone owned or used a Crossrope to jump rope.  The silence was deafening.  So, I read the reviews, bit the bullet, and ordered their Get Fit Bundle as a birthday gift to myself.  If we’re being honest, no one knows Chafed like Chafed does.  But my daughters get a hat tip for one of my favorite gifts ever.

For those of you too lazy to click the link, Crossrope is a welldesigned, wellbuilt jump rope system.  The ropes are steel cables in varying weights coated in plastic. The handles have some sort of rubberized finished to aid your grip.  The ball bearings are smooth as silk.  The connection between rope and handle is secure and easy to use.  My only complaint is the handles feel too slim.  It may I’m used to the handles on the cheap jump rope I bought from a sporting goods store.  I’ll find out with time.

I put off using Crossrope because I ordered gym flooring from Home Depot in order toprotect the coating on the rope.  Those f***ers still haven’t delivered it after a month.  I gave up on them.

So far, I have only used the ¼ pound rope.  Hence the partial review in the title.  When I first took it out, I thought it would be lighter than my cheap rope.  Nope. I was truly surprised to realize it was heavier.

The CrossRope performed flawlessly.  I’m uncertain why, but initially I had a lot of trouble maintaining a cadence.  I was stepping on the rope far more often than I’m used too.  Getting hit with the Crossrope hurts a hell of lot more than my low rent rope.  Undoubtedly, it’sa function of the weight.  It’s also good motivation to get things right.

The heavier weight does make for a more demanding workout.  I noticed it with the ¼ pound though it isn’t a dramatic difference.  I have a feeling stepping up to ½ pound and heavier will be noticeable.  I was a terrible engineer once upon a time, but if I remember correctly the greater weight will provide greater angular momentum.  I just assume pi, mass, and squaring the radius figures into all of this.  I’ll report back after I’ve tried the large weights too.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This week was full of crazy. The storming of the capitol didn’t exactly turn into the storming of the Bastille.  I don’t know whether to hate, pity, or empathize with the larpers who forced their way in.  Conspiracy theories are a hell of a drug.

What’s not a conspiracy theory is the Great Reset.  Not familiar with it?  Our friends at AIER have a great article on it.  Money quote:

Spelling this out for those too stunned to take it in: this is an open admission that it benefits Schwab and Fauci’s political agenda to continue lockdowns as long as possible. The same people who sell interminable lockdowns — by ignoring great science on pre-existing immunity, lack of asymptomatic spread, and flawed PCR tests — believe the lockdowns are the perfect agent to usher in the changes they desire.

​​Admit it. This is how most of us are feeling.  

 

About The Author

Chafed

Chafed

I'm looking California but feeling Minnesota

150 Comments

  1. Ted S.

    Two walks with the dog this week, in bracing near-freezing temperatures, about 40 minutes yesterday and an hour this morning. It was 27 degrees when I got home after the morning walk today; there’s patches of crunchy snow on the trails, a bit of running water that hasn’t frozen over, and miniature frost heaves in the soil.

    This morning we saw the a group of three deer that’s probably the same set we saw last weekend. The dog, of course, wants to chase after the deer.

    Amazingly, yesterday afternoon, we ran into a pair of mountain bikers on the trails, so I wasn’t the only one out there. We discussed the signs somebody had put up for a missing Jack Russell, and agreed that the coyotes probably already got the dog. 🙁

    • Chafed

      You’ve told us about your weekend walks with your dog. What do you do for yourself during the week?

      • Ted S.

        A lap around the building at work every day, which isn’t much.

        When it gets warmer and stays light later, I can go for a walk after dinner.

  2. westernsloper

    – Do NOT take this into the airport

    Ha! Nice.

  3. The Hyperbole

    My only complaint is the handles feel too slim

    Hockey tape.

    I don’t know whether to hate, pity, or empathize with the larpers who forced their way in

    This I’d have some respect if they were serious as some leftist make them out to be, what’d they do? broke some windows, stole some shit and left, no demands no prolonged occupation, larpers is the perfect word for them.

    • The Other Kevin

      I really think they were as surprised as anyone that they got in. Then they didn’t know what to do when they got there, kind of like a dog that catches a car.

      • Chafed

        I think you are right. There was clearly no plan and no organization once they got in.

  4. Nephilium

    Well, after six days of counting calories, and getting back to at least three workouts a week (that’ll be stepping up as the weeks go on), there is positive progress. Resting heart rate is back in the low 50’s, dropped about 1% body fat, and I’ve fallen to the lowest weight since before Christmas. My plan is to only not count calories on days the Browns are in the playoffs… so go Browns!

    Chafed, a couple years back, I got my dad one of these for Christmas (with the USMC logo on it). The girlfriend didn’t believe that was how large a .50 caliber round was. Unfortunately, it looks like they shifted from supporting veteran charities to Groomsmen gifts.

    • Chafed

      My girls got me the same thing from Bottle Beecher for Father’s Day a few years ago. I love it.

      Good job on getting back to it.

  5. Yusef drives a Kia

    “Schwab and his ideologically-aligned allies think they are saving the world”
    and they just might get their way,

  6. The Late P Brooks

    My only complaint is the handles feel too slim.

    Bicycle handlebar tape, maybe?

    • Chafed

      I’m loathe to monkey with it. I’m going to use it as is. I’ll either get used to it or report back it’s a problem.

  7. DEG

    Conspiracy theories are a hell of a drug.

    I know people that are into the QAnon Millenarian cult/Tom Clancy fanfiction. You know that Trump and family are on the doomsday plane with full communication ability and any moment now, he’s going to lay out all the evidence? Oh boy.

    Music selection is OK.

    I’ve made some dietary tweaks and have cut back on alcohol. Last weigh-in was 280.6 lbs @ 27.9% bodyfat. Weight is unchanged from last weigh-in. Bodyfat percentage dropped.

    I’m bench pressing with a bench block now. I’m building back to full range of motion. The trainer I work with is concerned about pressure on my back with full range of motion, so he wants me to take small steps to get back to full range of motion. I’m still working with him on mobility and form for squats and deadlifts. I’m still using a kettlebell for squats and the trap bar for deadlifts. I’m back to using the Airdyne bike without causing an aggravation of my herniation.

    • R C Dean

      “I’m still working with him on mobility and form for squats and deadlifts.”

      Wise. This Mrs. Dean’s program for me in a nutshell.

      Or she enjoys the suffering mobility and strict form inflicts. Either way.

    • Chafed

      I’m glad you are improving.

      Your lack of enthusiasm for the music is disturbing.

  8. The Late P Brooks

    How long has Schwab known that a pandemic could be used to advance his ideals? A while, if his publications and planning exercises are any indication. His book, COVID-19: The Great Reset contains lengthy discourse on how pandemics are known agents for major societal shifts. He asks, “Why should COVID-19 be any different?”

    Then there is the fact that Schwab’s organization practiced a “high-level pandemic exercise” in October 2019, less than five months before “Covid-19″ came along. The WEF’s co-sponsors for this event were The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, both of which have actively promoted 2020’s unprecedented pandemic response —as Imperial College London’s Neil Ferguson recently explained, lockdowns were not recommended by any government until Xi Jinping “changed what was possible” by proclaiming “this worked for us in China.”

    This extraordinarily fortuitously-timed pandemic planning exercise makes Schwab look like something of an oracle.

    There was an article in Nature a few months ago ( i linked it here at the time- too lazy to hunt for it now) about this very thing; the network of Doomsday LARPers who run models of extinction level pandemics and then try to get politicians to think they’re real. Somehow or other, they hit the jackpot this time.

  9. Gustave Lytton

    Speaking of conspiracies.. this all capitol all the time has sure buried any follow ups from the Nashville bombing. What bombing?

    • Chafed

      Wasn’t the bombing quickly solved? I’m not sure there is much more to report.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Solved as Las Vegas. They have the name of the deceased and are pretty sure they did it. Beyond that, not much.

  10. The Late P Brooks

    Weight is unchanged from last weigh-in. Bodyfat percentage dropped.

    Bueno.

  11. mrfamous

    Got my weight all the down to 176 this morning. Plan is to work my way down into the 160s and then go on a lean bulk see if I can’t add some muscle. Last 12 days:

    179, 180, 181.5, 179, 180, 179, 180, 178, 178.5, 177.5, 177.5, 176

    • IRBE

      Man..those numbers are good. It looks like you have found the secret sauce of weight maintenance. What do you mean by lean bulk? Is that high protein or something else.

      Me, I eat protein and use fat to satiate. I modulate cravings for sweets with fruit and ice cream..but only after protein. I am going to try to control weight to a range of 177 to 172, which is pretty good for my height.

      • mrfamous

        Once you’re past the initial stages of getting into weight lifting, you have to gain weight in order to gain any substantial muscle. That is unless you haven’t been lifting for long, or are on all of the good drugs. Traditionally this means heading to McDonalds and stuffing your face with everything in sight. This is called a “dirty bulk” and works wonders for the roid freaks.

        However if you’re not on roids, it’s a good way to add significant muscle and a whole bunch of fat. Lots and lots of fat. The “lean bulk” is an attempt to gain weight at a much slower pace (maybe a pound or two a month after initial water fluctuation), which theoretically allows that weight gained to be of a significantly higher proportion of muscle to fat.

        So yeah, I’ve been eating at calorie deficits for over eight years now, with any weight gains or lack of weight losses coming from falling off the plan and going to town on booze, donuts and pizza. Still, going from 375 to 176 isn’t a bad scorecard.

        But ultimately _always_ cutting weight isn’t healthy and I’d like to get to the point where I feel like I can afford to gain some weight for a bit. If I stay on course, that should be in only a couple of months.

      • Tundra

        Yes. I got down to a ridiculously low weight over the summer doing my Hard 75 challenge. But I got weak as a kitten.

        I have put on inches and weight since then, but IDGAF. I actually haven’t weighed myself in months. My 32 jeans still fit. I am gonna focus over the next couple months on building strength and keeping my waist reasonable. It seems to be a great indicator of health.

        Good luck!

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        how did the Hard 75 go for you? Wife just started this week, and I’m thinking about joining her.

      • Tundra

        One of the best things I’ve ever done. I dropped 42 pounds and it helped immensely to take my mind off the quarantine bullshit. I look at me before and after pics and can’t believe it.

        Go for it. The discipline of every day accountability cannot be underestimated.

        Good luck to you and the missus.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Good to hear! I’m attracted to it because it attacks the exact weakness that I have… not having the discipline to stick with things long enough to establish them as a habit. Besides the no alcohol rule (and the photos), every component of 75Hard is something that I’ve been trying to incorporate into my life, to greater or lesser success. The allure of forcing myself to do it EVERY day, not just most days, is overwhelming.

      • Tundra

        Fuck yeah. Have fun, trashy!

        I’ll do it again.

    • Chafed

      Well done mrfamous.

  12. The Late P Brooks

    In his book, Schwab poses the rhetorical question, “Is it okay to lie to the public for some greater good?”

    Is it okay to garotte self-proclaimed public health experts who base their policy recommendations on lies?

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      only in the Sacred Chamber, wherein Lay Pelosi’s Lectern, that all may worship, and fear the great God Government,

    • mrfamous

      Looking at his Wikipedia, he’s 82 years old and, as best as I can tell, has never held a real job in his life and has been in academia the entire time. Has been a professor of something or other since 1972:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaus_Schwab

      “recipient of 17 honorary doctorates”

      Of course he is. Meet your new overlord.

    • Aloysious

      Half of me says no, half of me says yes, and the other half says [redacted for disturbingly gruesome bloody violence]

      I think I’m conflicted.

      I’m going for a walk.

      BTW, good choice on the music, Chafed.

      • Chafed

        Thanks Aloysius. I fully share your feelings.

  13. Yusef drives a Kia

    Michigan seems to work, I’m up 8 lbs. so far, to an astonishing 138, hoping for 145 or so by Winters end,

    • ElspethFlashman

      Good !

  14. IRBE

    Thanks for the sedition and greetings from NOCal. Weather here is sublime…yesterday was perfect..ultimate 12 miler with few hikers and all masked up for me…thanks for caring. Afterward, dog was dog-ass tired and loving it. Tried to mask dog “powder meds” in food and treats, but no joy. Bought and implemented capsule fill equipment. Filled 200 capsules using cGMPs. Capsules FTW!

    G-fit update: Sleep was just alright..a little disappointed. Food priority highest quality proteins. No alcohol and limited carbs for the last week. Still not burning cals to goal, but closer. Upped mileage to 38 miles this week. Wim Hoff/meditative “ancient man” techniques, total discipline and have gained some on hold times. Lost a couple of pounds. I am at high goal weight range.

    First “Meatless Monday” fast suxed but whole family participated so that was good. Will do another tomorrow. Did not really do much HIIT because..I am not sure why…maybe it was the “desecration” of the “capital” during the “apocalypse”.

    We are on indefinite lock-down here or until our ICU occupancy drops to 15%. I am not sure that is even possible..so we are in this for perpetuity. Instead of “stay at home orders” I think they are advocating “die at home orders”… I don’t like your jerk-off face, I don’t like your jerk-off behavior….Stay out of hospital Lebowski!

    Read an interesting article about peripheral vision and scanning your eyes back and forth horizontally. Seems there is some evolutionary connection between the horizontal eye movement and putting things behind you. From the gist of the article there is reduction of trauma by thinking of the trauma and moving your eyes side to side to put it behind you… I am sure there is a detailed protocol for maximum benefit but going on a hike while thinking about trauma and then appreciating the beauty of the hike is probably just as good, too…

    De todos modos, ¡tenga una gran semana y sáltese una comida o tres!

    • Nephilium

      Our curfew orders just keep getting extended here in Ohio. With no time off for good behavior (or making the playoffs for the first time in 18 years). I’m seeing some of the restaurants continuing the usual Christmas gift card sales (buy $50, get $5 type of things), and stepping them up. One is currently advertising buy $100 gift card, get a $50 gift card.

      This year is going to be ugly.

      • DEG

        Some restaurants here are hopeful things will turn around in March.

        We’ll see.

        I’d like to see it turn around now, but I’m not Grand High Poobah of the Realm.

      • IRBE

        I have adopted a strict CCP mindset to the virus…after all they invented it.

        In that vain and speaking of the playoffs…did you know that Tom Brady has never beaten the Brown nor Bengals in the playoffs. I think that statistic alone proves the quality of those organizations.

      • Nephilium

        What was done there was seen…

      • IRBE

        I am going to root for the Browns today b/c I hate the Stillers. Best wishes and luck.

      • rhywun

        Tom Brady is vain?

        Oh, the other thing.

      • Viking1865

        Yesterday was the first time he has ever beaten an NFCE team in the playoffs.

      • grrizzly

        Nope, he accomplished that for the first time 16 years ago.

    • Chafed

      Same thing in Socal. I’ll make a prediction based on Farr’s Law. The virus is going to peak in California in the next three weeks. This has nothing to do with the vaccine. The virus numbers will then rapidly decline. It has happened in every other region. It’s going to happen here too.

      That doesn’t mean Newsom will change his mind. But the increasing numbers on the recall petition should make him think.

      • R C Dean

        “The virus numbers will then rapidly decline.”

        And Newsom and Biden will get credit for it.

      • IRBE

        Agreed…this has been know’d since the ’60s for Corona virus in northern climes. What complicates the predictions in Cali is..it so huge that prediction probably follows both northern and southern climate “models” and therefore the decline in spike may linger longer.

        As for recall efforts. It will be fun watching that grease-ball squirm, but nothing will change…we are run by the unions. If he gets replaced it will just be a less greasy union-grifter.

        PS: RCD thanks for the advice on the yogurt. Your advice is always appreciated.

      • Chafed

        I take your point about the regions in CA. But… the recent spike in cases was only about two weeks apart in the north and south. If there is a two week period with widely diverging numbers it will prove the point.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Kevin Faulconer (crony R ex-SD mayor) would be a hell of a lot better. Don’t know who the other contenders are.

      • Akira

        I think that regardless of what happens with the virus, the media will start highlighting the survivability rate and other positive aspects, and governments will suddenly start counting numbers more honestly.

        The abrupt “recovery” will be lauded as a great achievement of Joe Biden, and this will be used as evidence forever that you should never vote for someone who is not a career politician.

      • Viking1865

        They will gradually ease off the number of tests run as well. Raw case numbers will decline because raw testing numbers are also declining. Instead of every neurotic doomer getting tested multiple times a month, people will only be allowed testing upon doctors orders or something like that.

      • prolefeed

        I think that regardless of what happens with the virus, the media will start highlighting the survivability rate and other positive aspects, and governments will suddenly start counting numbers more honestly.

        Look at Mr. Optimistic here. 😉

        Why would they do that? It would decrease their power over our lives. They’re gonna try to find some way to keep people in perpetual panic, and make the masks stay on. Look at how the pols in NY fucked things up royally, and now they’re being lauded for their courageous actions keeping things from being even worse.

      • mrfamous

        One of the issues in both California and Arizona is trying to siphon out the numbers from the states themselves, and the influx numbers they’re getting across the borders. Obviously the states, even if they were to know the real numbers, are unwilling to be upfront about any of that info.

      • Chafed

        I don’t think Mexico has anything in the way of lock downs. If I’m wrong correct me. If there isn’t a lock down then migration isn’t much of a complicating factor.

      • R C Dean

        Oh, they do. Or have, at least, I don’t stay current. At one point, you couldn’t cross provincial borders without a permit.

      • Chafed

        I stand corrected.

      • rhywun

        All we’re getting here in NY is non-stop freak-out over the number of “cases”.

        Not one single word about “deaths” or “hospitalizations” any more.

        And nobody is questioning this shit!

      • DEG

        But the increasing numbers on the recall petition should make him think.

        🙂

      • ElspethFlashman

        Give me some f*k*ng dine-in service ! I’ve had two cold “igloo” meals lately . . .

    • westernsloper

      No alcohol…..

      *shudders*

      • IRBE

        Yeah..I have been pretty religious and have held a strict observance of cocktail hour for most of the last couple years. I figured, I would try something different for a couple months to see if the minor ailments improve. Time will tell.

      • westernsloper

        Good on ya. I am sure it will help but it’s not something I am willing to commit to at the moment. You people with a regular routine are an inspiration. I mean, not enough to make me get off my ass, but an inspiration none the less. I get in about 30 miles a week walking which makes it easy for me to conjure the excuse that I am too tired to do anything on the weekends except cook, eat and drink. My three favorite pastimes.

  15. ElspethFlashman

    Lord H and I discovered a home-delivery place for the adult-use marihuana (as it’s called in our fine state). The prices are really good, there’s a rewards point-system, and my first “taste” of the flower is very good so far.

    And in other news, I have finished 6 weeks of a 10-week work out plan. It’s been really good for me. The one small thing I did is to track my weeks using a dollar-store notebook. Each day has its own page (day 1: day 2: etc) then I went down the page for each week. This way, I can’t skip a set, rep, or so on.

    • ElspethFlashman

      The packaging was lovely. The font and paper used made me feel like we bought a quality beauty product. Small glass jar – with frosted glass – similar to a beauty product – with a burnished silver top. Russian Snow.

      • Tundra

        Nice! So I take it credit cards are cool there?

      • ElspethFlashman

        It was . . . not via paypal, or any other traditional method. Contact me for details.

    • ElspethFlashman

      First time: very small dose. It was a bit cerebral, but mostly relaxed.
      Second time: doubled the amount: also cerebral and still relaxed. I am going to try some drawing and listening to music.

  16. Drake

    A friend at the gym said I’ve felt for a few months – the gym is my refuge. The exercise itself is great, there are normal people there who are too pissed off to even look at the news. And masks are strictly optional with few people wearing them.
    It’s the only place I feel almost normal these days.

    • DEG

      It’s the only place I feel almost normal these days.

      Yep.

      The other day at the gym I ran into a guy who used to work in the training department at my gym. He took another job in the chain.

      He, like me, thinks the gym is the only normal place.

      We have to wear masks in the lobby area. The staff wear masks ever since some asshole ratted out the gym. But anyone else anywhere else? The staff don’t give a shit. So far, no one has ratted out the gym for not making members wear masks past the lobby area. Some folks wear masks while working out, but I’d say about 90% don’t.

    • Chafed

      I’m jealous. Masks are mandatory in CA even though we are outside. It’s the SCIENCE! you know.

      Most people wear one. Some don’t. I haven’t heard a word from anyone when I take mine off.

  17. The Late P Brooks

    A pleasant surprise

    Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is pledging a half-million dollars to help small businesses struggling through the on-going pandemic.

    Rodgers told Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy on Instagram Live on Friday that he’s matching Portnoy’s initial $500,000 donation that started The Barstool Fund, a charitable organization supporting businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    ——-

    Rodgers said he was inspired by the videos of The Barstool Fund helping save small businesses.

    “I’m just in awe of what you guys have done, and I couldn’t sit on the sidelines anymore,” Rodgers said. “This is really making an impact. We’re talking about our people, these are our people. This is the backbone of this country taking it on the chin right now, I want to get involved, I have to get involved.”

    Nice.

    I know just about nothing about the barstool fund, but Portnoy pisses a lot of the usual suspects off. Here’s hoping.

    • Viking1865

      He’ll back down once hes pressured to not join with an Architect of Hate like Portnoy.

  18. Tundra

    I was told to do a media blackout today – and I did – but no way am I missing another GlibFit.

    Your daughters are awesome by the way, Chafed.

    I love my ‘speak gym. The people are interesting, my numbers are going up and masks are what children wear one day per year.

    After whining like a little bitch this morning I went for a walk in the woods, took my daughter to the airport, went and got the truck washed, wandered around Fleet Farm, almost impulse bought a Henry rifle, put away the Christmas lights and looked at some houses. I feel better.

    I am going to do another stint of not abusing the shit out of my body. I’ve reconciled the fact that I can’t live like a monk all the time, so I’m gonna do a few course-corrections during the year. My lifting has been awesome and I haven’t missed a day of 4+ miles walking in forever.

    Thanks for all you do, brother.

    • IRBE

      I would say hiking saved my limited available sanity during these trying times. I try to never miss. When I miss , because of f’ing work, it’s like something is missing and it ain’t right..until the reset with a hike the next day. It is my Cornona beer beach.

      Intrigued about your exp with the 75 day challenge and feeling weak. Do you think it was attributed to rapid loss of weight and working out too much or something else.

      When I dropped weight, due to diet change..I felt raunchy for a bit until my body adapted and I got my electrolytes in balance. I literally was eating salt out the bottle. Now I just liberally salt everything, including coffee.

      • Tundra

        It wasn’t feeling weak, it was full on weak. It was a combo of rapid weight loss and no gym. Oh, and being over 50…

        The 75 is not perfect, but it’s damn close. I loved and hated it.

        I’ll bet almost everyone is sodium deficient. Hammer the electrolytes.

      • IRBE

        Oh…yeah losing 40# in 75 days. I think electro balance is the main reason for hangover. Once you dump your potassium levels all the other salts follow. I wonder if as you age your ability to maintain electros is not a efficient or effective…

        Salt ’em if you got ’em

    • Chafed

      It’s good to see you back here Tundra. I was starting to wonder what happened.

      Funny story about the 50 cal bottle breacher. We were watching Shark Tank. When the founders came on. I couldn’t stop yapping during the episode about what a great idea they had. Oldest daughter has no love for guns but filed away my love for the product. Father’s Day rolled around and I got my gift. I still send her photos when I use it.

  19. Akira

    I’ve been weighing in at around 245, which I’m happy about (down from 260). I don’t have any means of measuring bodyfat, but I look visibly leaner. I’m nowhere near six pack territory (and don’t really care about that) but my obliques and the outer side of the abs are visible. I’m maintaining on all my lifts.

    I’ve been off work since Thursday because the girlfriend tested positive for COVID (she’s fine right now, just can’t taste very well). I unfortunately did some extra drinking with all that time off, so I’m going to jog it out today. Did some sprints yesterday, which felt good and led to some satisfying soreness in my quads today.

    I’ve always just had a weight set at home, even if it means that I have to do things like Zercher squats due to the lack of squat rack. I really feel for all the people whose gyms got shut down – that’s fucking stupid. Fitness is important for emotional health as well.

    • Chafed

      I don’t think any of the shutdown governors understand emotional health. They seem like sociopaths.

      • Q Continuum

        “They seem like sociopaths”

        They are worse: they’re sadists. They seem to get sexual pleasure from others’ suffering.

      • Chafed

        Ewww. You’re probably right.

  20. The Late P Brooks

    All we’re getting here in NY is non-stop freak-out over the number of “cases”.

    A case is 24 cans. Fuck those lying shitbags.

  21. Jerms

    The combo of quitting facebook and all of the big tech censorship and media bullshit has helped my workouts immensely. Facebook was where i would rant and let out my frustration. Now i workout every morning angry—it helps. Been doing the same thing for years—great weekday workouts and diet and then i eat like a pig all weekend.

  22. IRBE

    RE: Covid19. I am surprised the lack of practical knowledge passed on about transmission prevention. The mask wearing is comical and it looks like there is sanitation fatigue is occurring at the limited places I frequent. I would have expected some additional protocols to be devised, real or imagined to limit transmission…just to keep things fresh and zesty.

    I have implemented a strict regime of Co60 water fogging of all materials and people into my house. No one has gotten sick from the virus, but everyone is losing their hair, teeth and they all look a little pasty. Plus, at night we don’t need to use the lights since everyone is glowing a nice blue color. Maybe I should patent.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      You just described my niece and how she is handling COVID

  23. trshmnstr the terrible

    Down 7ish lbs this week. Mostly water weight, of course. Turns out that focusing on cleaning up what I eat results in quick and massive improvements. I’ve been a bit more lax than I’d like over this weekend, but nothing that a good Monday won’t fix. Next week is my last week before my paternity leave, so I just want to continue the momentum from this week and get working out a bit more consistently in order to carry the habit into my leave.

    During the leave, the goal is going to be to continue the diet restrictions (18 meals with no gluten per week, no processed sugars, no snacking except for fresh fruit), increase the working out to 1:30 per day… easy at first, but increasing in intensity over time, and drinking at least 1gal of water per day. I hooked up my old beer CO2 tank to the SodaStream, so I have enough carbonation (for the water) to last a while.

    • westernsloper

      I hooked up my old beer CO2 tank to the SodaStream

      I thought about doing that. (with a new one, I don’t have a beer tap) but store bought soda water is cheap so I can’t be bothered.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Yeah, it would push it well out of the realm of affordable if I had to buy the tank. It still wasn’t cheap to buy the adapter hose, but I’ll break even in a few months, at most.

  24. The Late P Brooks

    RE: Covid19. I am surprised the lack of practical knowledge passed on about transmission prevention. The mask wearing is comical and it looks like there is sanitation fatigue is occurring at the limited places I frequent. I would have expected some additional protocols to be devised, real or imagined to limit transmission…just to keep things fresh and zesty.

    They exhibit no interest at all in efficacy. It’s just a placebo for the observer. “We’re all in this together. I care about my fellow man.”

    Bah!

    • Chafed

      So much this.

  25. grrizzly

    I had a 7-mile walk along the Battle Road trail in the Minute Man park today. It was sunny, not too cold. Many people on the trail. Easily at least 150 people total. The number of pedestrians not wearing a face mask was six. One woman told us to wear face masks. I informed her that she was a moron. It’s impossible to believe that the ancestors of these people started the Revolutionary War right on that road almost 250 years ago.

    • Tundra

      Back in July some desiccated bitch in Maine nagged me – in the middle of nowhere mind you – and I realized that we are never gonna be free of this shit.

    • DEG

      It’s impossible to believe that the ancestors of these people started the Revolutionary War right on that road almost 250 years ago.

      When Boston locked down after the Marathon Bombing, I remember some Bostonian writing a screed about how shutting down the city was actually a show of strength. The beginning of the screed referenced that people in Massachusetts are descended from those that started the American Revolution.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Also Puritan witch triallers.

      • limey

        I like to remind myself how proud they were of Curt Schilling.

    • Semi-Spartan Dad

      I’ve had enough of supporting others’ delusions. I initially tried to be respectful of business owners knowing the tight spot the gov has put them in, but no more unless I have no other option (Dr.’s office or something like that).

      I took the oldest daughter out yesterday for errands. About 10% of customers at Lowes weren’t wearing masks. Not great but at least there are others out there. I try to avoid Kroger ever since they started calling for laws to gut the 2nd A (shifted our family’s weekly grocery run to a different company), but I needed to run in. My daughter and I were the only two people not masked up.

      Our favorite restaurant had new signs on every door and nearby windows that no service would be given without a mask. I was prepared to tell them we would be done patronizing them after so many years but they gladly seated us sans masks. I’m surprised they had such strongly worded signs and didn’t enforce it, but it all worked out.

      • grrizzly

        About 10% of customers at Lowes weren’t wearing masks.
        You must be living in the boonies. I haven’t seen so many people without masks inside a store even in Florida.

      • prolefeed

        If only it was 10%. I’ve yet to spot anyone else at a Lowe’s or an HEB sans mask, and I spend an inordinate amount of time there. It’s weird being the only person visibly not insane in sight, day after day.

  26. LJW

    Capitol police officer dead by suicide after responding to Capitol riot

    “WASHINGTON – A 15-year veteran of the U.S. Capitol Police has taken his life after responding to Wednesday’s deadly riot in the halls of Congress.”

    And the media wonders why people hate them. No connection between the riots and the suicide.

    • hayeksplosives

      A capitol policeman takes own life after eating pepperoni pizza.

      That’s damned incriminating for the pizza.

      • Chafed

        Lol.

  27. KOVIDKristen

    Corollary: do not wear a heated shirt through TSA

    • limey

      Does this mean we all have to take our shirts off going through the TSA check now?

      • blackjack

        If that’s the case, Imma hang out at the TSA booth when all the supermodels go through.

      • Q Continuum

        ^^^ This guy gets it.

    • Chafed

      What about butt plugs? Asking for a friend.

      • Nephilium

        Modern bombs don’t tick…

  28. Neabsco

    First bike rides of the year – about 30 miles total between yesterday & today.

    Would have gone farther, but got tired of dodging all the geese mess and oblivious pedestrians.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      My favorite of the week

    • limey

      #27 has thighs of thunder

      • Q Continuum

        Performing cunny on her could prove fatal depending on her orgasmic response.

      • Chafed

        I wouldn’t mess with 29 either.

  29. deadhead

    I didn’t run on Tuesday (although I did my core exercises) due to minor cold symptoms and a bit if tiredness. Other than that, my week was on target.

    If there are other runners (or running curious) people out there, I’m on Strava. PM me on the forum if you don’t already know my name and where I live; I’m easy to find. My GitHub account also has a log of everything I eat (and drink, including ABV and ounces) as well as the current training plan that I’m about half way through.

    So far this year, I’ve run 124 miles, 40 of which were while wearing a 35 or 40 pound pack. Assuming it’s held this year, my “big” event will be the Hardrock 100.

    • Don escaped Two Corinthians

      I cant’ do that shit, but, in a drunken bout, I promised a bud I’d ride the Hotter N Hell 100 this August with him. I haven’t even attempted it in eight years.

      • deadhead

        Hotter N Hell looks like fun, although I don’t think I’d be able to self-justify the travel. I’ve ridden the Santa Fe Century the last few years. It’s a Sunday ride and often the day after the Jemez Mountain 50 mile run, which I also do, so SFC makes a great recovery ride.

        Of course both JMTR50M & SFC were canceled in 2020 due to the ‘vid, and in 2021 SFC will be in October, conflicting with the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, so I’ll miss it two years in a row.

    • IRBE

      The altitude..oh the altitude. I did a Spartan race in the Breck and my standing HR was like 110. At the first obstacle it was like 160 and stayed there. After I was done, I drank 2 Monsters and stayed up all nite. Oh the altitude. I must have burned 100K cals that day.

      That race looks elite. How many deaths occur annually at that race…it is probably more than the capitol events this week.

      • deadhead

        Yeah, it’s semi elite in that it’s very hard to get into. I had an 8% chance of getting in through the lottery after several years of applying, but I got lucky, … and then they canceled it due to excessive snow and the resultant avalanches in 2019, and canceled it again in 2020 due to covid. So I’m rolled over.

        No deaths on the course. There was a gentleman who died of a cerebral hemorrhage. IIRC, half marathons are where people die, because it’s a short enough distance that it’s very accessible, so you can have people with undiagnosed conditions pushing themselves really hard on race day.

        So, other than Joel, I know of no deaths associated with the race, although a runner and his pacer got minorly hig by lightning one year.

    • westernsloper

      Holy moly. If it happens this year let me know. I will buy you a beer or two.

  30. hayeksplosives

    Glibfit report for Hayeksplosives:

    Round is a shape, right?

    I need to get in gear mentally. That includes stoically accepting the fact that half of our country is ignorant, hateful socialists, and only a fraction of the remainder are libertarian.

    Taking my own advice to Tundra and sticking to focusing on the things I can observe and experience in my immediate surroundings, which can’t be spun.

    I can affect my physical condition so I am going to apply the cattle prod to my own backside (figuratively) and resume healthier eating habits.

    • deadhead

      Round is certainly a shape. It may even be funny.

      • hayeksplosives

        I heart that movie. Knew it before I clicked.you did Not disappoint!

    • prolefeed

      Round is a good shape, IMO. 😉

      • hayeksplosives

        ~blush~

        I do have some rounds right where they should be…

    • cyto

      I have been to TOS.

      There are no libertarians left.

      They have been scared into submission. If you cannot muster enough libertarian brain power to condemn the digital purge, you ain’t a libertarian. And looking at the reality around them, I understand where they are coming from. They are burning everything down. Nobody is going to stand up and cheer for you if you stand on principle on freedom of speech and the exchange of ideas. But they would be happy to hammer you down.

      So nobody at the original site is writing in defensive free expression.

      This is such an obvious no-brainer, it is kind of hard to stomach. But I get it. Everybody’s got to eat. The purges are underway, and if you don’t want to be among the purged, you better shut the hell up.

      • Q Continuum

        TOS is has become a shameful dumpster fire with no redeeming qualities.

    • trshmnstr the terrible

      Ive been spending more time in the forum rather than over here in the articles, and it helps. I feel like the last 8 months has been an exercise in detaching from the irrelevancies that suck the positive energy out of the room. To me, the forum is a great way to keep plugged into this site’s camaraderie without getting sucked into the TMITE crisis of the day or the Twitter outrage of the hour.

      • hayeksplosives

        Is that the forum that SP added here or is it something else? I don’t keep up on all the posts.

    • Tundra

      Taking my own advice to Tundra and sticking to focusing on the things I can observe and experience in my immediate surroundings, which can’t be spun.

      I love you, man.

      I will get my shit together.

  31. grrizzly

    Apparently, every Australian state and city has to go through the retardation of repeated lockdowns.
    Brisbane locks down as new strains put Australia on high alert

    Australia’s third-largest city of Brisbane was in its first day of a snap lockdown on Saturday, with officials elsewhere on “high alert” over the emergence of more contagious strains of COVID-19.

    The usually bustling shopping strip in the city centre was eerily quiet Saturday, with only a small number of masked locals venturing out for essential reasons after officials announced a three-day lockdown from Friday evening.

    “Quite surreal, like something from a movie set,” local man Scott told AFP, in an empty city street.

    “It’s necessary—hopefully we will get through the next few days without any cases, that will allow us just to start to get back to normal.”

    Highways into the city—which is usually a popular destination for Australian holidaymakers—were deserted as tourists were told to stay away until the lockdown ends.

    The stay-at-home order for Brisbane’s more than two million residents was triggered after the UK strain of the virus spread from a returned traveller to a cleaner at a quarantine hotel—Australia’s first recorded local case of the variant.

    • Akira

      the emergence of more contagious strains of COVID-19.

      If it’s even more contagious than this one (which is portrayed as the most contagious disease in history) then why wouldn’t the conclusion be “learn to live with it”? By all means, work on a vaccine and take precautions if you’re actually sick, but we can’t keep doing this shit for eternity.

  32. The Late P Brooks

    More scalps for the social justice lodgepole

    The father and son behind one of the Big Apple’s most popular pizza shops — Prince Street Pizza — are stepping down after being accused of making racist comments, mocking the Black Lives Matter movement and telling disgruntled customers to “sh-t in a hat,” reports said Friday.

    Frank Morano, who opened the shop in 2012, and his son Dominic Morano will continue to own the restaurant but will no longer be involved in day-to-day operations, won’t have interactions with customers and won’t be involved in management, Eater reported.

    The fall-from-grace comes after food blogger Joe Rosenthal started posting screenshots of the vitriolic comments on his Instagram on Dec. 24 — leading people to flood the business’s Yelp page with negative reviews, the outlet reported.

    ——-

    Prince Street Pizza released a two-page statement about the comments; they promised to do better.

    “We care deeply about our customers’ feedback and take it very seriously when a customer has a negative experience in one of our shops,” the statement said.

    “Our actions in the past in addressing negative customer concerns have fallen short and were extremely inappropriate.

    “What we said and how we behaved was wrong then, is wrong today, and will always be wrong. We truly apologize and empathize for the hurt we caused in these incidents and apologize to all of our Prince Street Pizza customers,” the statement said.

    “We believe that good food brings people together and that is our goal, to bring people together.

    “We hope that we can continue being good stewards of the communities we serve and dedicate our business to ensuring that.

    “We hope our customers will forgive us and allow us the opportunity to serve them as we are grateful for the opportunity to do better. Our customers deserve better.”

    They should have stuck with “Go shit in a hat.’

    • cyto

      I like this logic. Disagreeing with BLM is racist.

      That really was genius marketing. The CWPA is much less palatable as a name.

    • Q Continuum

      Never. Apologize.

  33. Certified Public Asshat

    I added jump rope in to my routine just before new years, 10 minutes a day or 1k jumps, whichever takes longer. I play drop in soccer on Sundays for two hours, a league game midweek, and lift 3 days a week, so I thought I was fairly fit.

    I’m doing better now, but I was not prepared for the horror that is starting a jump rope routine.

    • Chafed

      A convert! Welcome to my tribe.

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      Actual adult Women, Thank you!

  34. I'm Here To Help

    When I was playing football in high school, one of the conditioning exercises they had us doing was jumping heavy ropes. These were the old school rubber tubes filled with sand, and they weighed a ton. I was in the gym alone finishing up my circuit on it, and I was getting pretty tired. Girl that I had my eye on walked into the gym, and was walking over to talk to me when it happened – didn’t quite get the rope to clear my head, and it caught on my neck. The two sides of the rope continued on their trajectory, and met on either sides of my groin, sandwiching my testicles between two sand filled tubes traveling at a decent speed. Needless to say I did not make a good impression on her.

    Haven’t touched a jump rope since…

    • Akira

      Gah! That’s sounds horrid…

      I do like jumprope now and then. Gets me winded FAST. I usually do it Tabata style.

      • Akira

        Haha damn, I thought that was an actual workout routine. I needed a laugh today.

    • Chafed

      Ouch! I can’t even….

  35. IRBE

    Just saw a commercial. Cali solar panels, windmills, Prius’…and a reminder to limit electrical use from 4 to 9pm. So I say to my wife…WTF and she says: Oh yeah, we are on a plan where electricity is most expensive from 4-9 pm and that is why she does the laundry in the morning. Great!

    Anyway, I gotta go and turn off some lights and sit in the dark for the next couple of hours. I’ll show those assholes.

    I am beginning to think there is a coordinated effort to harsh my mellow…this aggression will not stand.

    • Chafed

      I wish it was a concerted effort. Instead we get hubris and incompetence.