Wait Until the Political Correct Police Hear About This

At a cardiologist’s convention in New Orleans, a study was reported that showed a heart medication "BiDil" is more effective in African Americans than it is in white people. Full Story.



This is what I call poetic justice. The PC police usually put form over substance. Yet here we have a seeming politically incorrect idea that is backed up scientifically. For some reason, a drug is more effective on black people than whites. Why? Who knows? What difference does it make? It just works better on blacks.

What do you think would have happened if the study were reversed and said the drug better benefits whites than blacks? You can bet the study would have been discredited without examination. The researchers would have been condemned for even thinking in such ways. Racism charges would be hurled about and Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson would be on all the news shows playing the victim.



A dangerous fallout of political correctness is to move through life with a closed mind. To learn we must be open to ideas and possibilities, which may not make sense to us at first. Natural laws are not always PC.



Here's to openness and objectivity.



Until the next time

John Strain

Closing In On A Goal

In September of O3 I decided to get serious about my running again and lose the weight that resulted from inactivity and over indulgence. I signed up for the Napa Valley Marathon in March and ran it, but in 3:57 minutes - my worst marathon time ever. It only served to piss me off. I continued running after Napa, but gained back 5 lbs. In May 03 I weighed 200 lbs. and I was still running too slow for my liking, then I got a coach and a fresh dose of recommitment.



It is important I practice what I preach. Where goals are concerned, I tell people to make their goal public and build in accountability. Making it public is no problem. Just ask any of my friends, I talk about my goal all the time. Something about running, I do a lot of talking about my weight, daily runs, upcoming long runs, etc. I am sure my friends are sick of hearing about my goals, but they usually ask me how it is going. Retaining coaching services covered the accountability angle. I recommend this guy no matter what you want to do. He is a fitness coach. Now in his 60's, he has good credentials and only charges $100 for 12 weeks. Everything is done by email. You can check out his website here: Training2run.com I like his name, Dr. (Mad Dog Mike) Schreiber. You can email him questions and he will answer them for free. This service functions as a test drive. Soon you will want him designing a plan for you. I have sent him two referrals and they both like him – My sister Becky is toiling under his direction.



Once I got the coach and a new revised goal in May, I have not looked back. My goal is to qualify for the Boston Marathon. At my age (47) I have to run a marathon in 3:30 or less - that is an 8:01 per mile pace. I have done this before. When I was 40 in 1997, I ran a marathon in 3:24. So, with the help of my coach and a renewed inspiration, I lost 30 lbs. and now weigh 170 lbs. My times have improved substantially. I have been running under 7 minute miles on shorter runs and 7:50 or so on the longer ones. This past Sunday, I ran 18 miles at a 7:49 pace. My last mile was a 7:24.



It has not been a cakewalk. The first Saturday in October, I pulled my left hamstring. I was doing so well then I could not run at all. My coach sent me into the gym to keep up my conditioning on the elliptical / orbital trainer. I worked hard on it to simulate running until I could gradually run again. Now, I think the leg is completely healed and my times have returned.



I have four weeks before my marathon in Baton Rouge - December 4. Two more hard weeks of training, then the taper down phase begins. If I do not make the time, I will run the Mardi Gras Marathon in New Orleans February 27. Shoot, I will run it anyway. I intend to run marathons every chance I get. They are a mental and physical challenge. The training for them helps my overall mental attitude and my clothes fitting nicely.



Someday I will run in the most prestigious marathon in existence - The Boston Marathon. It is only a matter of time.



Until the next time

John Strain

Bad Joke on a Friend

This is the kind of stuff I like to do, hehehe.







I love the look of shock on the banana guy's face.



Now, who will be my next victim, muahahahaha.

John Strain

Percolating Thoughts

I am still digesting some of my thoughts and feelings about the election and its aftermath. I will soon comment on the continued finger pointing, sour grapes, gloom and doom, name calling, over reacting, and awfulizing. Today, however, I thought I would try to make you laugh by exposing you to a poor SOB who was having problems with his computer. You may have heard this before, if so, it is worth a repeat because it is so funny.



Be forewarned, there are frequent uses of expletives, if that sort of thing offends you. We have all been there; we have all felt the initial panic when we realized our hard drive is toast and we did not have the foresight to back it up.



So put behind you for a minute the backbiting / stabbing of the election and contemplating the demise of life in the United States as we know it and laugh at someone else’s misery. You will come out feeling better, if only for a moment.



Here it is folks, Mr. Steven Thrasher's call to the Canon Help Desk:









Until the next time

John Strain

The Friday Oldie

There is nothing like a positive attitude to get the day started and there is nothing like music to create a positive attitude. Here is one of my favorite oldies



A Beautiful Morning, Young Rascals







I bet you can't tell I just learned how to use the "embed" element in HTML. Let me know if the page loads extra slow. I don't want to bog down browsers.



Have a great weekend folks.



Until the next time

John Strain