Good ol' America

National Strategy Needed To Fight Fat

Ok, so America is a large country with a large population. And it also has a lot of land area and a lot of people. The numbers presented in this article are simply unbelievable. I'm rather skinny and often have trouble gaining weight because of my metabolism and insanity (running). Maybe that is partly why I don't understand how people can let this be such a problem. I understand that some people can't help it (genetics, bones, etc), and there are people who try really hard, but come on (some) people! Ditch Mickey D's and walk to Subway. Or just be smarter. That works too. Or, like my dad says - running cures everything!

Apparently 30% of adults in Mississippi are obese. Yikes. The article goes on to say that Mississippi also is the state with the highest rates of adult hypertension and physical inactivity, is tied with DC for poverty, and is second in adult diabetes. Somehow I don't think some of these (I'm not too sure about the whole poverty issue there) are coincidence.

If I read this right, 60% of American adults in 32 of the 50 states are either overweight or obese... A little overweight is fine, but this number is WAY too high. This results in an increase in health care costs and work inefficiency (184 work days lost per 100 to 14 for healthy weight people).

The environment we live in sure doesn't help. Some places aren't conducive to exercise (think certain parts of inner cities where it's not safe to walk, etc). Fast food, soft drinks and junk food are quite prevalent. I don't really know if the government can do anything about it. I think it's more the person's choice - BUT - if people had more opportunities to choose healthier options, it seems like it sure wouldn't hurt.

On the other hand, if people start being all healthier, might that create an overpopulation problem?

In all seriousness, though, be healthy!

There's A Hole in the Universe

I came across this while taking a quick break (of course it was quick...wink) at work:
Astronomers Find Enormous Hole in the Universe
So what does this mean? Who knows - a bunch of stuff I'm too lazy to understand right now... I just find it such an amazing concept that there's a hole in the universe that is a billion light-years across! That's a whole lot of nothing (pun intended)! Just imagine how many condos and strip malls we could build in that space...

Working Before Another Work Week

Today I actually got some things done. I cleaned some stuff up in my room and did a few things I've been meaning to do for a while now. Why do I always cram things into one day or a few hours before I leave somewhere or Sunday before the week starts? Who knows. Time management... yeah... Tomorrow starts another week of work. Hope it was a good weekend for everyone!

Pei Wei

We went out for dinner tonight at a place that just opened down at 12 & Mound. It's a Chinese restaurant called Pei Wei, run by the people who run P.F. Chang's. It was pretty good.

It's a small restaurant fashioned with modern decorations, some like those you would see in a coffee shop or bistro. I guess it is a bistro in a sort of way, just an Asian bistro. The grill is out in the open, rather than behind closed doors and in the back. That's always kind of nice, though sometimes noisy (seemed like they dropped several things back there, though probably just putting them down). Other than the grill, the rest of the kitchen was in back. It was a little chilly in there, but lots of places seem to have the air cranked up during the summer. I'm sure they keep the temperature down for the chefs too - it probably gets quite hot working at those grills all day/night.

One of the coolest things at Pei Wei was the menu. It doesn't have a whole lot of variety, but the food itself was good and there were enough choices at least to satisfy. You basically order when you walk in and before you sit down. They have these three tall...I don't know what you would really call them...screens with the menus. Never seen that before. Once you've decided what you want, you go to the counter to order, take a numbered disc and go sit down. You put the disc in a little clip and they find you and bring out your food when it's ready. The staff is pretty friendly as well, but I guess that could vary, so who really knows?

I had the Honey Seared w/Crispy Chicken entrée. It was sort of similar to almond chicken, which is what I had a little craving for when we were deciding where to eat tonight. It comes on rice sticks, which were like those fried noodles, except white and not quite as crunchy.

So, that's my little review of Pei Wei. It was pretty good! And definitely a good deal, as I got a decent-sized dinner for $7.50 - the prices are rather affordable for a dinner. It's hard to judge a restaurant on one meal, but I'd say this would be a recommendation to try it out.

Talk About A Rain Delay

Surprisingly, there is a decent crowd at the Tiger game tonight against the Yankees. Why is that surprising? Well, the game was originally scheduled for 7:05 pm, and it started at 11:05 pm. Apparently, they couldn't have done the usual thing and played a doubleheader one of the next three days. The severe thunderstorms created a 4-hour rain delay. I don't know why they just didn't cancel it. Maggs hit a 2-run homer in the first and the Tigers lead 2-1 so far, so I can't complain yet. Maybe it's past Rocket's bedtime?

Introducing...

Here I am! I would like to figure out a cool template for this thing. Learning some scripting will probably help, which I'm working on doing. So, until I figure it out, it's going to look like this, I guess.

I suppose I will be writing quite random things on here. Enjoy!