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Weighing In

Weighing When I am on a roll, I have been known to get on the scale multiple times. That would be multiple times within 2 minutes, not multiple times over the course of the week.
“Could that be?” I say aloud, to no one in ear shot.  And yup, that is right there with my observations about my mutterings.
So I move the scale to another spot. And another. And another. Desperately seeking the place where I can find a number I find more satisfying. Usually I do. “See, knew I didn’t gain anything…phew.” One would think that once I have found the perfect place to weigh myself I’d put the scale there the next time I step on.

Doesn’t work. I’ve tried that.

Another thing. Browsing in a unisex clothing store the other day, I made this observation. We, as in women, can’t decide if we like a garment that we have just tried on, without tilting our head to one side. Tilt head and turn. Gaze over our own shoulder to see the rear view. Delighted or critical, I might add, depending on expectations.  Men, emerge from the fitting room, double check that the fly is zipped up, no tilts, turns or twirls. If you have seen a male doing the head tilting, twirling, or turning, I stand corrected.

Wanna weigh in?

 

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Better Late Than Never

I actually was going to call this post "early adopter" which, by definition ( or some variation of a definition) means someone who " is an early
customer of a given company, product, or technology; in politics,
fashion, art, and other fields, this person would be referred to as a trendsetter. The term originates from Everett M. Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations (1962)[1]."

But if you are reading this and never heard of the expression "early adopter" (which would, I suppose, suggest you…like me….aren't) you might have thought I was referring to a non biological addition to a family.

Anyway, I am, for example, circling the concept of buying a Kindle. I think that Kindles made their entry into the marketplace in 2007.  Two years later and I am still debating whether I should have bought one. Of course, I hadn't purchased an iPhone until 2 months ago and the iPhone had made its entry into the marketplace in 2007. So, it appears that I am geared up and ready to go after 2 years time.

But, I like the feel of a book in my hands, turning pages, even underlining a passage I find particularly compelling. I never return to that passage, reread or even think about it, but the concept of knowing that I could reread the passage, if I wanted to, compels me to do it.

Now I read that Barnes and Noble has made their move to be the latest entry into e-books.

This is a good thing. I need to do my research, ask friends their opinions, perhaps even wait for some other manufacturer to enter the fray and then I can make a decision about what I should purchase.

I'll let you know, hmmm, sometime in the year 2011, if I did and if I like it.

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“I’m going for a run to clear my head”.

Words I’ve never said.

If I need to clear my head, I blow my nose.

Road to hell Best intentions. The gym membership, the diet, renewing old friendships, keeping up correspondences, rereading the classics, make that reading the classics, and the list goes on. We sincerely, honestly, unquestioningly want to do these things. So, how come then, we don’t?

In one study Good Intentions Versus Bad Behavior “the researchers sought to take a new look at why old
habits seem to prevail over our attempts to change our behavior. Their
findings suggest that even though the strength of an old habit may fade
over time, our memory for it will be stronger then any new good
intentions that succeed it.”

Aha, so that explains it. If I haven’t done the “good for me” stuff my memory of NOT doing it supersedes my desire to DO it.  That works for me.

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A Starbucks by any other name…

Yup, it appears that the ubiquitous Starbucks is rethinking what to call a few of its new stores. Recession, tastes, anti establishment, McDonald's McCafe, are perhaps a few of the reasons cited to explain the rationale behind this maneuver.

So it got me thinking.

How many name changes have occurred that actually changed the product, or the public's perception of the product?

So, I did a little research to see who had changed their name. You can make your own calls as to whether this altered your sensibilities. I might just give an editorial comment or two…

We've got Anderson Consulting that changed its name to Accenture. Turns out this was a fortuitous manuever after Anderson's accounting scandals.

Cosmair became L'Oreal. It did? Why?

Google, believe it or not, was called Backrub…go figure

Healthy Choice was called Diet Deluxe. A masterful name change, don't you think?

Jerry's Guide to the World WIde Web is now Yahoo. Which, purportedly is an acronym for "Yet Another
Hierarchical Officious Oracle".

Prince, who I am sure had yet another name (which I don't know) became a symbol (which I also don't know.)

You could also be a child of George Forman, have many siblings, all of which are called George, which makes it really easy to not get into trouble by blaming one of the other Georges.

I think I will wait and see what happens to the newly named Starbucks, rue the day I didn't buy into the heretofore Backrub now Google offering and be content that I know that a (whatever) by any other name (whatever) is still a (whatever) as long as it has lots of advertising dollars to spend to support it.

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Schadenfreude

Schandenfreude I know I spelled it correctly because I looked it up.
Not sure if I can pronounce it…however.
Nonetheless, I think it’s a great word. Of course, most of us don’t/won’t/can’t admit to the feeling of schadenfreude, let alone to try to use it in a sentence.

But, it seems to me if we have a little recap of the past couple of months we can agree that even if we don’t derive enjoyment (it does feel wrong, doesn’t it?) from others troubles, there is a tad bit of snarkiness…when thinking about the following individuals, isn’t there?

Sarah Palin, Dick Cheney, George W, Mark Sanford, to name a few, in the political arena

Bernie Madoff, Weizhen Tang, Clelia Flores, Jeffrey Guidi, Gary Armitage, James Koenig in the financial world.

And, I am sure that you have your own lists, which I would personally and no doubt gleefully love to hear about.

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Back hurt?

Too bad.

It seems that the FDA is rethinking our pain medications.

Apparently, acetaminophen, taken at the current dosage levels, can cause irreversible liver damage. So, the FDA is currently looking at reducing the daily dosages while still maintaining the drug's effectiveness. Death, as a side effect, does not sell product.

Needless to say, Johnson & Johnson, makers of Tylenol, strongly disagree. Wyeth Consumer Healthcare, makers of Advil, as you can imagine, are beyond deliriously happy…

But it got me thinking as to what does the FDA really do and what drugs have been, after the fact I might add, rethought, re prescribed, or removed from our drug store shelves.

How FDA approves drugs is a fairly interesting read. Part of the explanation is as follows"

"If the FDA gives the green light, the "investigative" drug will then enter three phases of clinical trials:

   Phase 1 uses 20-80 healthy volunteers to establish a drug's safety and profile. (about 1 year)
   Phase 2 employs 100-300 patient volunteers to assess the drug's effectiveness. (about 2 years)
   Phase 3 involves 1000-3000 patients in clinics and hospitals who are monitored carefully to determine     effectiveness and identify adverse reactions. (about 3 years)."

Here's the big question.  Who ARE these people that volunteer? What's the motivation? For the good of humankind…? It's all very altruistic, I suppose, but really….

And then, years later, when it appears that the drug has been effective in treating what ails, an announcement is made that states, hmmm, not. Sorry. Cease and desist usage.

I suspect, at the end of the day, there is no other way to go about this. So, carefully read the warning label, ask your doctor if he/she is sure about this, and then hope that you don't see a press release, or a story on the 11 o'clock news recalling your drug of choice.

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about me and other stuff…

I’m Liz Gerson Glatzer.

Richard a and liz1  Having recently turned 60 (how long can one use the word recently, do you think?) I have the dubious distinction of being part of the first generation of Baby Boomers.

I went to Wikipedia, not exactly the arbiter of always accurate information (gotta love alliteration) to see, nonetheless, what the conventional wisdom might be about us.
We were born in the 40’s, came of age in the 60’s. Spent the next 20 years either marrying and having children, building careers, or both. Now, reported Wikipedia “they are in a state of denial regarding their own aging and death and are leaving an undue economic burden on their children for their retirement and care.”

Yup, all the above applies. I’m a Boomer.

And then I thought that the 30, 40 and 50 year olds that I know are also wrestling with the same issues us 60 somethings are…Dating, for some of us;  sustaining a terrific marriage, or grappling with marriage, for others of us;  the effects of gravity, for all of us.

Having said that, it seemed to me if we could share our thoughts we could chuckle our way into the next decade, or two, and beyond.

The comment link is to share your stories, which I really invite you to do.

Hope that you enjoy my streams of consciousness.

So, let’s begin.

 

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