If you follow anyone for a long enough time period, you will notice the same content be repeated every now and again. Your favorite authors, the news, musical genres, and long running tv series do this. Eventually, I'll start repeating old stuff that I've written before.
Why does this happen? Well, I guess that new content is always demanded to make more money and creative thoughts can't really be produced on demand. Being creative doesn't work like that. And, like the Call of Duty series, if something is making money, keep doing it to safely make more money rather than try something new. If people keep demanding the same stuff, that stuff is probably still good.
There is also the concept of cyclical audiences. The best example of this is, that I can think of, is the anime Pokemon. The series has gone on for several hundred episodes and shows no real sign of stopping. I remember first watching it on tv every Saturday as a little kid and I stuck with it loyally for a few years. But then, it started getting really stale and repetitive and I started watching something else. A few months ago, I watched a youtube video by a girl named Tamoshii explaining why the phenomena occurs.
The cartoon's main demographic is kids 8 to 14 years old and when a current batch of children get sick of watching Pokemon, the children that were 4 to 6 years old are now 8 to 14 years old and Nintendo has a constant audience to make money off of. It is for this reason that Ash Ketchum is always in some new region collecting 8 gym badges to challenge the Elite 4 and become a champion. It is for this reason that Ash and his partners will always acquire the 3 starter pokemon of each generation so young kids will always identify with Ash no matter which starter they chose. It is for this reason that Ash will forever remain 10 years old and never age.
It is for this reason that almost every form of media will eventually repeat itself and recycle the same content. Just think about how many times the most popular movies get squeals or remakes. One reason I'll never go out of my way to see a superhero movie is that it is just the hero's journey retold.
Recycled content isn't necessarily bad. If it feels like something is starting to get stale, that is just a sign to try something new or explore something else.
Monday, February 16, 2015
Sunday, February 15, 2015
Week 6 results
Week 6 was a very important week. Unfortunately, this is the point where I started failing at the work out.
The work out starts with lifting 265 pounds 3 times. I've never done this before as my max bench press was 265 or 270. The first lift is okay. The second lift needed a little spotter assist. The third lift was mostly dependent on the spotter. I would not have been able to lift the third rep without a spotter.
This was a pretty big downer but I had to keep going in order to see how effective this plan is. Even if I can't lift the 300 pounds, the plan is somewhat effective if my bench increases past 270. By the end of the week, I could lift 265 twice but still needed spotter assist with the third rep. Week 6, 7, and 9 has you lifting 265 3 times so I still have time to get it right.
The rest of the routine is easy. I was able to complete 235 at 4, 205 at 6, and 175 at 8.
Incline was 155 at 7, 145 at 5, 135 at 4.
Bar Dips was 50 pounds attached at 9, 25 pounds attached at 8, and body weight at 3.
Dumbbell flies 60 at 5, 45 at 7, 30 at 10.
Tomorrow starts week 7. Week 7 is mostly the same as week 6. The only notable change is some of the weight for incline increases.
The work out starts with lifting 265 pounds 3 times. I've never done this before as my max bench press was 265 or 270. The first lift is okay. The second lift needed a little spotter assist. The third lift was mostly dependent on the spotter. I would not have been able to lift the third rep without a spotter.
This was a pretty big downer but I had to keep going in order to see how effective this plan is. Even if I can't lift the 300 pounds, the plan is somewhat effective if my bench increases past 270. By the end of the week, I could lift 265 twice but still needed spotter assist with the third rep. Week 6, 7, and 9 has you lifting 265 3 times so I still have time to get it right.
The rest of the routine is easy. I was able to complete 235 at 4, 205 at 6, and 175 at 8.
Incline was 155 at 7, 145 at 5, 135 at 4.
Bar Dips was 50 pounds attached at 9, 25 pounds attached at 8, and body weight at 3.
Dumbbell flies 60 at 5, 45 at 7, 30 at 10.
Tomorrow starts week 7. Week 7 is mostly the same as week 6. The only notable change is some of the weight for incline increases.
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Misconception of federal spending (mandatory vs discretionary spending).
As a man that really likes to look at numbers, every so often I'll take a look at a few specific numbers regarding our economy (GDP, total debt, largest budget items, unfunded liabilities, etc). I've talked with my father before about how much money our government spends and how our country runs deficits year after year since about the year 2001 or 2002.
After looking at the country's track record, I'm very pessimistic about our future. Our country is being mismanaged. In the middle of these conversations, my dad has stated that the government has to just cut back the military and everything will be fine. For the longest time, he believed the military is the biggest source of government spending.
I've had to repeatedly tell him that the military is not the biggest budget item on the United States budget. It is not even close to being the biggest item. The easiest way to check this is just to click this link.
As of today, the federal government spends $600 billion (per year) on the military. The largest budget item is medicare/medicaid at $900 billion (per year) and the second largest budget item is social security at $850 billion (per year). Social security and medicare/medicaid total to $1.75 trillion (per year). That amount is almost three times amount of military spending.
By simply looking up the budget items of the United States, you know the truth of what we spend money on. By knowing this, you know that anyone who makes the claim that the military is the biggest budget item doesn't know what he is talking about. For fun, if you hear anyone make this claim, ask him the following questions.
How much money does the federal government spend per year on the military?
Most likely, he won't know the answer but you know the answer is $600 billion.
How much money does the federal government spend on social security and medicare/medicaid per year?
Use Cappy's betting method if you want to.
My dad's perspective is quite common. There are a lot of people that believe that the military is the biggest budget item. I guess they watch the news a lot. Maybe they get that opinion there. Since I don't watch the news at all, I can't confirm or verify that.
So, where to people get this misconception? I didn't know for the longest time until I saw this video from flinging monkey. This video Monkeynomics 101. Please don't disregard the video on the sheer basis that it is narrated by a monkey hand puppet.
The big take away from the video is mandatory vs discretionary spending. Medicare/Medicaid and social security is mandatory. Those items are untouchable so I guess media leaders take the point of view that these items can't or shouldn't be reformed. Military and the other stuff is discretionary.
Either way, all this stuff requires our tax dollars.
After looking at the country's track record, I'm very pessimistic about our future. Our country is being mismanaged. In the middle of these conversations, my dad has stated that the government has to just cut back the military and everything will be fine. For the longest time, he believed the military is the biggest source of government spending.
I've had to repeatedly tell him that the military is not the biggest budget item on the United States budget. It is not even close to being the biggest item. The easiest way to check this is just to click this link.
As of today, the federal government spends $600 billion (per year) on the military. The largest budget item is medicare/medicaid at $900 billion (per year) and the second largest budget item is social security at $850 billion (per year). Social security and medicare/medicaid total to $1.75 trillion (per year). That amount is almost three times amount of military spending.
By simply looking up the budget items of the United States, you know the truth of what we spend money on. By knowing this, you know that anyone who makes the claim that the military is the biggest budget item doesn't know what he is talking about. For fun, if you hear anyone make this claim, ask him the following questions.
How much money does the federal government spend per year on the military?
Most likely, he won't know the answer but you know the answer is $600 billion.
How much money does the federal government spend on social security and medicare/medicaid per year?
Use Cappy's betting method if you want to.
My dad's perspective is quite common. There are a lot of people that believe that the military is the biggest budget item. I guess they watch the news a lot. Maybe they get that opinion there. Since I don't watch the news at all, I can't confirm or verify that.
So, where to people get this misconception? I didn't know for the longest time until I saw this video from flinging monkey. This video Monkeynomics 101. Please don't disregard the video on the sheer basis that it is narrated by a monkey hand puppet.
The big take away from the video is mandatory vs discretionary spending. Medicare/Medicaid and social security is mandatory. Those items are untouchable so I guess media leaders take the point of view that these items can't or shouldn't be reformed. Military and the other stuff is discretionary.
Either way, all this stuff requires our tax dollars.
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Americans are slowly disappearing.
For fun, I like to look up different economic data and demographics for the United States. One number I was curious about is America's birth rate. A quick Google search gave the the answer of 1.88 babies per woman (according to the world bank). This figure suggests that the American population will eventually stagnate then start to decline (absent immigration).
I've heard any birth rate below 2.1 is unsustainable for a population. Each woman has to produce at least 2 children to replace herself and the man. The extra .1 is probably for unexpected deaths. Granted, at the birth rate of 1.88, it will take a long time to see the effects of the American population stagnating. In order to prevent this, I could see the government continue to loosen the restrictions for immigration.
A stagnation of the population doesn't really seem like such a big problem. After all, there are more than 300 million Americans. However, a big economic consequence that will result from a slowing, stagnating, or shrinking population will be the funding for social security and medicare. Recently, I've heard that the social security trust fund is facing more pressure. Previous estimates showed the trust fund exhausting by the year 2033, however the estimates were revised to put the date closer to 2020.
Young people work, and the government steals part of their life and labor to give it to pay for social security and medicare. With a slowing, stagnating, or shrinking population, less babies are being born and grow up to pay for the old. This will put pressure on government to print more money in order to pay for entitlements. An increase in the money supply indirectly leads to increased prices resulting to a higher cost of living. And a higher cost of living makes life much more difficult to live which will put even more pressure to prevent people from procreating.
What we see today is similar to a man who spends more than he makes year after year and needs to borrow money each year. Interest becomes a killer the longer the problem goes on. Of course, the first couple of years don't look bad. It looks like the very beginning of an exponential curve.
I've heard any birth rate below 2.1 is unsustainable for a population. Each woman has to produce at least 2 children to replace herself and the man. The extra .1 is probably for unexpected deaths. Granted, at the birth rate of 1.88, it will take a long time to see the effects of the American population stagnating. In order to prevent this, I could see the government continue to loosen the restrictions for immigration.
A stagnation of the population doesn't really seem like such a big problem. After all, there are more than 300 million Americans. However, a big economic consequence that will result from a slowing, stagnating, or shrinking population will be the funding for social security and medicare. Recently, I've heard that the social security trust fund is facing more pressure. Previous estimates showed the trust fund exhausting by the year 2033, however the estimates were revised to put the date closer to 2020.
Young people work, and the government steals part of their life and labor to give it to pay for social security and medicare. With a slowing, stagnating, or shrinking population, less babies are being born and grow up to pay for the old. This will put pressure on government to print more money in order to pay for entitlements. An increase in the money supply indirectly leads to increased prices resulting to a higher cost of living. And a higher cost of living makes life much more difficult to live which will put even more pressure to prevent people from procreating.
What we see today is similar to a man who spends more than he makes year after year and needs to borrow money each year. Interest becomes a killer the longer the problem goes on. Of course, the first couple of years don't look bad. It looks like the very beginning of an exponential curve.
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
There is one downside to far long term planning.
Men who live in the here and now, those who live in the moment are them men who live paycheck to paycheck and have no real plans for the future. These men may accumulate incredible amounts of debt without any sort of plan or idea how to pay it back.
In contrast, smarter men will live frugally. It is not that they don't spend money, they just make sure to only spend money on the things that count. They know how to get the most amount of value and enjoyment out of every dollar spent. This is a more effective way to enrich a man's life.
Men who are capable of long term planning can plan out the next 5, 10, or 20 years. Some men will even go as far to plan out an entire life on spreadsheets.
This is the kind of man that will make estimates for his life. How long he will live, how much he estimates his salary will be, how cheap he can keep his living expenses, and he might even plan out multiple scenarios for his future.
However, no matter how it will end, it will end. This life will be all over. All of our experiences. Everything we've seen, heard, and felt. Anger, joy, and sorrow; it will end.
The men who plan nothing and live in the moment; chances are they hardly ever think about their own mortality.
But if you have the ability to see into the future, you know it is coming. Just think about where you were one year ago from today. In retrospect, it can seem like the whole thing passed by in a few minutes.
Don't believe me? Tomorrow, when you arrive at your office, read this post and then think about the 8 to 12 hours you have ahead of you. Think about how much of an eternity it will feel like to get through the drudgery of the day. Then go about your day as per usual. Clean up your station and drive home and read this post again. The second time you read this article, think to the point earlier in the day where you just arrived at your desk and was dreading the 12 hours ahead of you. When you think about it now, it will feel like the whole thing passed by in minutes.
The thing that I fear the most is when I'm in my late eighties and I'm dying with only a few minutes left to live. I'll think back to the time I was 8, 12, 16, 21, 24, 32, so on and so forth and thinking about how many years of my life passed by in mere minutes.
Men who know how to plan and see into the future probably contemplate their own mortality much more than men who live in the moment.
This is the reason we try to plan out our future. Your time is a limited resource. Try not to waste it and try to get the best value of what time you have left.
In contrast, smarter men will live frugally. It is not that they don't spend money, they just make sure to only spend money on the things that count. They know how to get the most amount of value and enjoyment out of every dollar spent. This is a more effective way to enrich a man's life.
Men who are capable of long term planning can plan out the next 5, 10, or 20 years. Some men will even go as far to plan out an entire life on spreadsheets.
This is the kind of man that will make estimates for his life. How long he will live, how much he estimates his salary will be, how cheap he can keep his living expenses, and he might even plan out multiple scenarios for his future.
However, no matter how it will end, it will end. This life will be all over. All of our experiences. Everything we've seen, heard, and felt. Anger, joy, and sorrow; it will end.
The men who plan nothing and live in the moment; chances are they hardly ever think about their own mortality.
But if you have the ability to see into the future, you know it is coming. Just think about where you were one year ago from today. In retrospect, it can seem like the whole thing passed by in a few minutes.
Don't believe me? Tomorrow, when you arrive at your office, read this post and then think about the 8 to 12 hours you have ahead of you. Think about how much of an eternity it will feel like to get through the drudgery of the day. Then go about your day as per usual. Clean up your station and drive home and read this post again. The second time you read this article, think to the point earlier in the day where you just arrived at your desk and was dreading the 12 hours ahead of you. When you think about it now, it will feel like the whole thing passed by in minutes.
The thing that I fear the most is when I'm in my late eighties and I'm dying with only a few minutes left to live. I'll think back to the time I was 8, 12, 16, 21, 24, 32, so on and so forth and thinking about how many years of my life passed by in mere minutes.
Men who know how to plan and see into the future probably contemplate their own mortality much more than men who live in the moment.
This is the reason we try to plan out our future. Your time is a limited resource. Try not to waste it and try to get the best value of what time you have left.
Monday, February 9, 2015
Without discipline, things take more time to get done.
What I mean by this is that things don't take longer to do. Without discipline, it takes longer to get around to doing things. Lets take a look at a really easy example how a man can improve his life. Getting into shape.
Losing weight and building endurance is one of the cheapest things to do. You don't need to spend money on a gym membership or buy heavy expensive equipment. You just need to head out the door and start running. A distance of 5k (3.1 miles) only takes 30 to 40 minutes to run. Even a man who spends 12 hours a day working plus 2 hours commuting can spare 30 to 40 minutes of time when he gets home. 40 minutes is roughly one episode of whatever on netflix and a couple cat videos on youtube. A man easily has enough time to dedicate 40 minutes 3 times a week to running 15 kilometers.
What makes it so difficult to do this?
The obvious response is that a man feels completely drained after working a tedious job all day that when he gets home, he would rather play Call of Duty than go running a 5k. And that is the pitfall.
Netflix, video games, and the internet are very cheap immediate forms of entertainment. All they require is a walk over to the computer. It is much easier than heading out the door and running for 30 to 40 minutes.
Now think about this? How much easier is it to find the time to run 5k over a weekend. Its much easier. You can play Assassin's Creed, watch a few episodes of The Walking Dead, get bored then feel like going out for a run.
On a weekend, you have a greater abundance of time, considering you are a bachelor without kids or work on the weekend. On days off of work, you have more than 14 or 16 hours to play with. On a normal work day, you could find yourself with only 4 to 6 hours of time to work with.
With much less time to work with, a man wants to relax and unwind from a tedious day rather than struggle with something to make progress or improvement in his life.
To strive for greatness and achievement, a man has to do at least one of two things. Find the discipline to sacrifice cheap easy entertainment/leisure, or free up much more time.
Losing weight and building endurance is one of the cheapest things to do. You don't need to spend money on a gym membership or buy heavy expensive equipment. You just need to head out the door and start running. A distance of 5k (3.1 miles) only takes 30 to 40 minutes to run. Even a man who spends 12 hours a day working plus 2 hours commuting can spare 30 to 40 minutes of time when he gets home. 40 minutes is roughly one episode of whatever on netflix and a couple cat videos on youtube. A man easily has enough time to dedicate 40 minutes 3 times a week to running 15 kilometers.
What makes it so difficult to do this?
The obvious response is that a man feels completely drained after working a tedious job all day that when he gets home, he would rather play Call of Duty than go running a 5k. And that is the pitfall.
Netflix, video games, and the internet are very cheap immediate forms of entertainment. All they require is a walk over to the computer. It is much easier than heading out the door and running for 30 to 40 minutes.
Now think about this? How much easier is it to find the time to run 5k over a weekend. Its much easier. You can play Assassin's Creed, watch a few episodes of The Walking Dead, get bored then feel like going out for a run.
On a weekend, you have a greater abundance of time, considering you are a bachelor without kids or work on the weekend. On days off of work, you have more than 14 or 16 hours to play with. On a normal work day, you could find yourself with only 4 to 6 hours of time to work with.
With much less time to work with, a man wants to relax and unwind from a tedious day rather than struggle with something to make progress or improvement in his life.
To strive for greatness and achievement, a man has to do at least one of two things. Find the discipline to sacrifice cheap easy entertainment/leisure, or free up much more time.
Saturday, February 7, 2015
Day 13 and 14 results
Week 5 is the easy week. The heaviest weight I had to lift was 205. There isn't any struggle or strain to lift something sort of heavy like 245.
Once again, while I'm writing this, I'm listening to The Black Brigade's latest podcast. Go ahead and listen to them if you don't already. They put out a great podcast each Thursday.
The workout schedule for week 5 is as follows.
Incline Bench: 185 at 3 reps, 165 at 5 reps, 145 at 6 reps
Bench Press: 205 at 5 reps, 185 at 6 reps, 165 at 7 reps
Bar Dips: 50 lbs attached at 6 reps, 25 lbs attached at 6 reps, body weight at 6 reps
Dumbbell Flyes: 50 at 6 reps, 40 at 8 reps, 30 at 10 reps
Once again, this 12 week plan to get you to bench 300 lbs can be found at bodybuilding.com.
Week 6 is a rest week. I feel a sort of challenge when lifting 185 at the incline because its tough to get the initial lift up when the bar is only a foot away from your chest. According to this program, I'm pretty close to the maximum amount for the incline bench press. The max amount for incline bench press is on 205 at 3 reps.
Speaking of maximum weights, I know this program gets you up to bench 300 max. It shows that on week 12 you lift 305 for a one rep max. My whole goal is just to lift 300 so I only have to do one day out of week 12. I'm already half way through the program.
For the bar dips, the maximum weight is 105 lbs attached to your body weight for 3 reps. Bar dips was something I never really did that much before this program. Before this program, the go to excessive I went to after the bench was pull ups. Even then, the most weight I attached to my body was 60 lbs.
Dumbbell flies is something else I didn't really do before this program but the max weight I'll have to do is 65 at 6 reps. These are hard. I can feel my tendons and joints pain when I'm doing 60 at 4 reps.
Today is the last day of week 5 then week 6 gets hard.
On Monday, I'll see if I can lift 265 3 times. I hope this works.
Once again, while I'm writing this, I'm listening to The Black Brigade's latest podcast. Go ahead and listen to them if you don't already. They put out a great podcast each Thursday.
The workout schedule for week 5 is as follows.
Incline Bench: 185 at 3 reps, 165 at 5 reps, 145 at 6 reps
Bench Press: 205 at 5 reps, 185 at 6 reps, 165 at 7 reps
Bar Dips: 50 lbs attached at 6 reps, 25 lbs attached at 6 reps, body weight at 6 reps
Dumbbell Flyes: 50 at 6 reps, 40 at 8 reps, 30 at 10 reps
Once again, this 12 week plan to get you to bench 300 lbs can be found at bodybuilding.com.
Week 6 is a rest week. I feel a sort of challenge when lifting 185 at the incline because its tough to get the initial lift up when the bar is only a foot away from your chest. According to this program, I'm pretty close to the maximum amount for the incline bench press. The max amount for incline bench press is on 205 at 3 reps.
Speaking of maximum weights, I know this program gets you up to bench 300 max. It shows that on week 12 you lift 305 for a one rep max. My whole goal is just to lift 300 so I only have to do one day out of week 12. I'm already half way through the program.
For the bar dips, the maximum weight is 105 lbs attached to your body weight for 3 reps. Bar dips was something I never really did that much before this program. Before this program, the go to excessive I went to after the bench was pull ups. Even then, the most weight I attached to my body was 60 lbs.
Dumbbell flies is something else I didn't really do before this program but the max weight I'll have to do is 65 at 6 reps. These are hard. I can feel my tendons and joints pain when I'm doing 60 at 4 reps.
Today is the last day of week 5 then week 6 gets hard.
On Monday, I'll see if I can lift 265 3 times. I hope this works.
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