Fit in 15 at 60+! - Short Overview

I rarely review books. I am writing about this book though. I have no relationship with the Author, and am receiving no compensation for this article. It is a valuable book if you are a Senior.

This book is a wise investment. On the surface, it is simplistic. The basis is the Author was over sixty and was having issues while trying to get in shape. Exercise was painful and was not producing results. How many people over 60 are not starting to have real issues with common tasks and simple exercise?

If you are over sixty, you and I both know exactly what the Author faced, and this is where his book shines! Are the books basic exercises simple? Yes they are. They start in a chair, it is difficult to get much simpler with exercise than sitting in a chair. 

I read complaints these exercises are too simplistic. I do them, and they are simple, yet effective. If you want to know how limber you are not, do some of the exercises. I found out I was not as limber as I thought I was. Now, I'm getting better and more limber. I now think, what else do I have to do, and what do I have to lose? Everything?

The fascinating thing about people over sixty is we are limber enough, most of the time to do those things we do every day. Completing new or rarely used movements more than a few times, and we know about it the next day, the day after, and the day after. I grew sick and tired of the muscle aches and the frustrations of exercising. There was pain and no gain.

This book is helping me to learn how to manage 'exercise' without waking up sore the next day, and bring satisfaction back to basic exercise. I hope the pep talks and the basic exercises in the book stick with me. They take little time and feel good, so I think they will. I am fairly limber, but if I do out of the usual type of yard work or my even preferred exercise routine, I wake up to spend a few days being very sore.

After modifying my exercise routine as Mr. Jenner suggests, most of my pain  and exercising frustration are now mostly in my past. I wake up knowing I used my muscles, but it is not painful as it used to be. I now look forward to exercising. I am happy to do the simple stretches as they help me feel even better.

The second fact I learned is what happens in our muscles when we get sore, and how to make it better. I scoffed at the suggestion that eating differently would make most of the pain of exercise go away. With nothing to lose I followed the authors suggestions. It is a miracle! I wonder how many years I thought I had Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness (DOMS), only to realize some exercise pain is diet related.

After reading the book cover to cover, which is recommended before starting the exercises, I found these two insights about exercise and eating alone make the book worth it's asking price. I am sure Mr. Jenner, the author, experienced the exact same issues I have experienced. He dug around and researched until he found the answers. Exercise hurts more when you are over 60! But he found a fix!

His program is simple, it is intended for older adults, not twenty somethings. It is comprehensive. Give the simplest exercises a chance, what do you have to lose? I find the book is more than worth the asking price.

Almost Indestructible - My Echo Dot

 

We all have bought items that after purchase we found were under-engineered. That pretty 'cheap' bicycle that started falling apart before the summer was over. The greatest frying pan ever that started peeling after a few months. The 'budget' car that over time costs more to keep on the road than a luxury car would have. The list is unending.

I found what I think is the most over-engineered $20.00 (at the time) item on the planet! Welcome to my Echo Dot. When I first bought it, I heard the stories about how it spies on you and records everything it hears? I have a commercial router system in the house, and my Echo Dot used little bandwidth when I was using to to play music, etc. Bandwidth when idle was minimal. I wrote it off to updates, etc.

Then one week I received an email from my Internet service provider telling me, I was at the limit of my bandwidth for the week. How could that be? Our bandwidth usage is almost the same week to week, month to month. I was sure there was a mistake, what happened?

Checking my usage on an app that works with my router, I found our bandwidth usage was boringly normal. I was ready to get on the phone and find out what the problem was. Then I checked the usage specifically for my Echo Dot. Wow! It was like being hit with a water balloon! The bandwidth usage for four days  was higher than was used by all other devices in the house combined! And it sat mostly idle for these day as the thrill was gone.

I performed an instant unplug. The excessive bandwidth usage never returned.  Perhaps the Echo Dot thought it was told to play a silent radio channel, was somehow hacked, or was indeed listening and uploading conversation. It had been sitting in the corner for about a year, with me wondering what to do with it.

This afternoon, I decided to look inside the Echo Dot and see why it was so heavy. The Pictures are the result of about ten minutes attacking my Echo Dot with a pry bar and a sixteen ounce (one pound head) hammer. As you can see, I really did not do near the damage I would have with any other electronics I own. With the rest, one or two blows would have shattered the electronics.

There is no obvious reason for the beyond industrial strength build of my Echo Dot. As for why my Echo Dot is so over-engineered is left up to the imagination. However I can not think of any kid's toy or street legal vehicle built to the beyond tough standards of my Echo Dot.

What's Wrong With Michael Today?

 

All too often lately, I find if I disagree with another person's viewpoint I spend the next minutes listening to, "What's wrong with Michael", rather than why my opinion is wrong, the other person is right, or we simply have a difference of opinion.

Today, I experienced what I think is an extreme example of, "What's wrong with Michael" or perhaps I was in conversation with someone from the "Abraham" Cult? We are out and about and stop at a coffee shop. A person next the sugar/cream/stir sticks, has an Esther and Jerry Hicks book.

I ask if they like the book. They nod yes.

I say, "I really liked their first book. Lots of good stuff. When I bought and listened to the four CD set, it did not sound believable."

"What do you mean?"

me: "It sounded like when Esther Hicks was channeling "Abraham", she sounded as if she was talking through a script, where occasionally she would pause, like she forgot the next line. Then she would continue".

"That's because of the difficulty of communication with Abraham, they had to pause to get the meaning exactly right."

me: "Okay. I guess we share a difference of opinion".

For the next minute, I listen to and mostly agree with comments about there being different planes of existence, different beings on these different planes, communication with these beings, etc. I do not agree about Esther Hicks channeling 'Abraham'.

I may as well have standing there making funny faces and laughing. This person is now visibly angry after their diatribe. I end the  'conversation' with, "You are correct".

I'm think, we have a difference of opinion, to each his own. I wonder, where in the Hick's books and channeling dialogue (?) is behavior like this person's behavior promoted? Nowhere of course.

I walk to my table, sit, chat and finish my tea, giving little thought to the conversation. We all have differing opinions. This exchange had been a little out of the ordinary, but stuff happens.

Leaving the coffee shop, I hold the door open for other Patrons who are coming in and leaving behind me. The fourth person coming out surprisingly, is the person with the Hick's book.

Standing in front of the door, blocking my exit and others entry, they launch into another tirade. The first ten seconds or so is on my poor thinking about the Hick's in general. The next seconds follow about how bad it is I do not believe the Hicks channeling is real. Followed up with - what is wrong with me, my thinking, my approach, my comments, etc, etc.

I spend my part listening and agreeing at times. I want an end to this inane ranting. It is an uncalled for over-reaction, and pointless. Customers are waiting at the blocked door, wanting to go inside and out.

The person becomes even more angry. This has become very, very personal for them. I can see the anger in their eyes. I listen again to why I am not only wrong about Esther Hicks, but how practically everything about me is flawed.

They finally run out of steam, turn and storm away. I am left with the impression they did not hear more than the first seconds of I did not believe Esther and Jerry Hicks were the real deal. They obviously are so angry, nothing I said was heard or matters.

I am not sure why my opinion of Jerry & Esther Hicks channeling Abraham - turned into this very personal and bitter rant. It is in the end, opinion. Maybe they are a member of the infamous Abraham Cult? 

About a year ago, I would write it off to the idea we were isolated for so long we forgot how to be civil in public. Now I wonder, I am attracting crazy for some reason? If this idea seems silly, listen to (read) this. This happened about six weeks ago. 

There is a man with his parked bicycle next to a store front door. As I walk by him to enter the store, I greet him (white man about 50) saying, "What's up Boss?"

He explodes into an immediate and very loud tirade with extreme gesturing and angry overtones. His abrupt verbal direction changes lose me as what he is so angry about. His ranting ends with the statement, the Government is controlling everything and every person in the Country. 

As he stops for a breath, I say, "You are probably right, have a good day". This leads to another immediate angry verbal tirade with gesturing about how can he possibly have a good day when he is being controlled? How can I have a good day as I am controlled too? I say once again, "Have a good day", and walk on.

Some days I wonder, am I attracting this behavior?

Striped Bed Sheets Save You Time

Colorful flower patterned sheets can really brighten up a bedroom. Flower patterns and solid colors reign when it comes to sheet patterns. For me, I prefer to spend as little time changing sheets and making the bed as possible. I use sheets having a striped pattern.

A striped pattern makes putting fresh sheets on the bed really simple. Stripes either go vertical or horizontal, so either way it is easy to align the fitted sheet and top sheet to the mattress. No thinking, no putting, pulling up and turning ninety degrees because you were not paying attention to the little tag, if you are lucky enough to have one to tell the long side from the short side.

Putting sheets on a bed is not a time consuming project. Putting striped on takes little or no thought about which way they fit the bed, and saves a minute to two each time the bed is made and the sheets are changed. In this day and age when many of us are going without sleep to squeeze in a few more minutes, saving a few minutes a day is saving a lot. 

Add all those saved minutes up over a year, add in the lack of frustration over having to pull up, rotate, and pull the sheet [again] down over the box spring, striped sheets make changing sheets a painless task.

During non sleep hours, no one I know goes into their bedroom to admire their sheets. When the lights are out, your sheets could be the most garish colors you can imagine, and it doesn't matter, you do not see them. Consider for the most part, you and perhaps one other person see your sheets, and then for only a few minutes, so why not stripes?

For those few minutes in between, considering the time and frustration of patterned sheets, stripes make sense. Broad stripes, pin stripes, multicolored stripes. The idea is to make one little task a little faster and simpler. Save those beautiful sheets for when company is coming. Too bad all tasks can not be so easily simplified.

For the curious, the sheets in the picture are, "breathable microfiber". The most comfortable sheets I have found to date, and the price is reasonable too.