Caffeine is not the real solution to being wide awake and perky. Sleep and exercise is. Apparently. Who has time to exercise everyday? Not me, cause I'm fucking lazy. When I was exercising, I never felt really good afterwards. I was tired and sweaty and was in need of a shower. I didn't get to the end of exercising and felt good. I didn't like it. And who has it planned out to sleep for eight hours a night? I try to, but end up staying awake until ten thirty or eleven and wake up at five thirty in the morning. Not exactly eight hours of sleep. So what do we do as people when we need more energy? We drink caffeine.
I bring a thermos of coffee to work each day and people look at me like I'm some kind of nut for bringing that much coffee. I make half a pot of coffee each day, drink a cup before work and bring the rest. Drink a cup for my first break and usually have the rest at lunch time. I say usually because there are days when I don't, but for the most part I do. It saves on spending money on water or pop or whatever, but I also drink it because I enjoy coffee. I enjoy the taste of it. The caffeine is just an added bonus. And it's a natural. It comes from the coffee beans that the young children of Latin or South American slave over so I can enjoy it. So it's natural and is proven to be good for you, but why don't more people drink it?
Why are more people turning towards drinks like 5 hour energy, Monster, Red Bull, etc.? Is it the marketing? I know I see ads for energy drinks more often than for coffee and they advertise that they are better at keeping energy up than coffee. I have a problem with it because it doesn't seem natural. Here is a list of ingredients. You'll notice some asterisk next to some of their claims to helping to keep the person taking it stay awake and energized. And when you look at drinks like Red Bull and Monster, the majority of the ingredients are sugar or sugar-like products.
Now, I know that sugar is a naturally occurring ingredient, but it is processed so much that it gets away from being natural. Coffee beans are just roasted and ground. That's it. That's all. And that's why coffee is better than energy drinks.
Plus, douche bags sponsor energy drinks. You don't want to be a douche, do you?
28 September 2011
25 September 2011
Not a good win
Now, don't get me wrong, this week's win against the Vikings was excellent. It was exasperating, it was inspiring, it was stress inducing, it was only possible against the Vikings. This is the pattern for the Vikings so far this year, and you know what, I'm not gonna complain. The Vikings are 0-3 after blowing three straight games when leading big time at halftime.
However, if the Lions were down by twenty to the world champion Green Bay Packers, they would have just poured it on and the Lions could have lost by thirty or more. If they were playing the Pats and were down by twenty at the half, it could have been worse. But it wasn't, thankfully. I know that the Vikings are fast starters so far this year and can't close the game even against a college team, but the fact that the Lions had that many problems against a team that is so much worse than them, it's scary to think about what is gong to happen when they play good teams.
The big factor from what I saw was their inability to stop the running game. I know it was against the best back in the game right now, but it was hard to watch what little bit I could when I was on lunch at work today. I don't think Jim Schwartz will be happy with the way the team performed today, but a win's a win.
And I'll take them any way they come.
However, if the Lions were down by twenty to the world champion Green Bay Packers, they would have just poured it on and the Lions could have lost by thirty or more. If they were playing the Pats and were down by twenty at the half, it could have been worse. But it wasn't, thankfully. I know that the Vikings are fast starters so far this year and can't close the game even against a college team, but the fact that the Lions had that many problems against a team that is so much worse than them, it's scary to think about what is gong to happen when they play good teams.
The big factor from what I saw was their inability to stop the running game. I know it was against the best back in the game right now, but it was hard to watch what little bit I could when I was on lunch at work today. I don't think Jim Schwartz will be happy with the way the team performed today, but a win's a win.
And I'll take them any way they come.
22 September 2011
A little letter
Dear NBA:
Please don't reach an agreement. The sports world is better without you and your spoiled whiny players.
Sincerely yours,
Litzner
Please don't reach an agreement. The sports world is better without you and your spoiled whiny players.
Sincerely yours,
Litzner
21 September 2011
Life without cable
We went about a month without cable television. And you know what? I didn't really miss it. Well, there were some aspects of it that I missed, but all in all, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would have been. It's not like I sat in the corner in the fetal position because I was missing a show or a sporting event, but I was also looking forward to watching some stuff and then had an 'oh wait' moment.
It wasn't that big of a deal when we were down in Wichita because it just came with the apartment (one of the benefits of living in a nicer place) and it was always there. We got accustom to having it and the shows we found and loved. Up here in Woodbury, we're in a cheaper place and one thing that we have to pay for is the cable. One of the problems you come to realize when you try to save money on a place you live is that you give up some nicer things. Such as having a washer and dryer. So instead of having a washer and dryer in the apartment, we have to pay through the nose for the cleaning of our clothes. Thanks cheap apartment complex! Maybe we should look into a laundromat. Don't know if it would be cheaper, but what could it hurt?
We debated on whether or not to get the cable, but in the end we found a cheapish deal for internet and cable so we went with it. Once again, it's not like we needed it, it's just nice to have because you can only watch so many PBS specials before you start to need something mind numbing like a sporting event. So it's nice to have again just to feel connected to the world again. There is a little part of me that just wants to get rid of it all together, but what would be the point? Maybe it would lead to reading more books? Doubtful. I think I would still flip through the channels looking for something to watch.
It would just take less time because there would be less channels.
It wasn't that big of a deal when we were down in Wichita because it just came with the apartment (one of the benefits of living in a nicer place) and it was always there. We got accustom to having it and the shows we found and loved. Up here in Woodbury, we're in a cheaper place and one thing that we have to pay for is the cable. One of the problems you come to realize when you try to save money on a place you live is that you give up some nicer things. Such as having a washer and dryer. So instead of having a washer and dryer in the apartment, we have to pay through the nose for the cleaning of our clothes. Thanks cheap apartment complex! Maybe we should look into a laundromat. Don't know if it would be cheaper, but what could it hurt?
We debated on whether or not to get the cable, but in the end we found a cheapish deal for internet and cable so we went with it. Once again, it's not like we needed it, it's just nice to have because you can only watch so many PBS specials before you start to need something mind numbing like a sporting event. So it's nice to have again just to feel connected to the world again. There is a little part of me that just wants to get rid of it all together, but what would be the point? Maybe it would lead to reading more books? Doubtful. I think I would still flip through the channels looking for something to watch.
It would just take less time because there would be less channels.
20 September 2011
What about books?
While we were getting the cable hooked up last week, we were talking with the cable guy about shows and movies. Our movies are on display in our living room because, well, it makes sense that's where the television is. We were waiting for the cable channels to update or whatever and just started talking about movies like we were long lost friends. Movies are always the way to break ice amongst people who don't know each other very well. People who like the same movies have a tendency to get along. That's all well and good, but what about books?
If people take a look at your book collection, shouldn't there be something there that can spark a conversation? For example, a very good friend of ours hates The Catcher in the Rye which happens to be my favorite book. I connected with it in high school because I enjoyed the writing style and the main character that was disinterested in the world around him. She didn't like it because the main character is a self absorbed, rich, shallow person who whines about his privileged life. I am well aware of his privileged life, but wasn't focused on it. And that is perfectly alright. Everyone has the right to their opinion, especially if they are well thought out opinions like she has. Totally respect that. At the end of these discussions, I always feel mentally better because the discussion revolves around literature, not around the latest Michael Bay explosion-fest.
But that is the world we live in now. The majority of people want to spend just two hours watching overpaid actors and actresses as opposed to taking some time to read a book. For me, it takes weeks and weeks to read a book. I'm a slow reader. It always feels like an accomplishment finishing a book. It's great to get to that last page and close the back cover and go find a new book to read. With a movie, you feel a little bit of satisfaction when the end credits roll, but you never sit through them all. And I guess at the end of it all it took one person pouring their heart and soul into a book as opposed to a movie.....
Which employes more than a local hospital.
If people take a look at your book collection, shouldn't there be something there that can spark a conversation? For example, a very good friend of ours hates The Catcher in the Rye which happens to be my favorite book. I connected with it in high school because I enjoyed the writing style and the main character that was disinterested in the world around him. She didn't like it because the main character is a self absorbed, rich, shallow person who whines about his privileged life. I am well aware of his privileged life, but wasn't focused on it. And that is perfectly alright. Everyone has the right to their opinion, especially if they are well thought out opinions like she has. Totally respect that. At the end of these discussions, I always feel mentally better because the discussion revolves around literature, not around the latest Michael Bay explosion-fest.
But that is the world we live in now. The majority of people want to spend just two hours watching overpaid actors and actresses as opposed to taking some time to read a book. For me, it takes weeks and weeks to read a book. I'm a slow reader. It always feels like an accomplishment finishing a book. It's great to get to that last page and close the back cover and go find a new book to read. With a movie, you feel a little bit of satisfaction when the end credits roll, but you never sit through them all. And I guess at the end of it all it took one person pouring their heart and soul into a book as opposed to a movie.....
Which employes more than a local hospital.
13 September 2011
As Luck would have it
While watching Michigan pull off an unbelievable comeback after giving the game to Notre Dame last Saturday, I had a discussion with a friend about Andrew Luck. Andrew Luck is the quarterback for the Stanford football team and he is a senior this year. He had the opportunity to leave college and enter the NFL draft last year. He was the projected number one overall pick worth millions upon millions of dollars. However, he decided to return to school for his senior year to complete his architecture degree.
The debate was intense on all the sports shows at the end of the college football season earlier this year when he made this decision. The majority of people were talking about how bad of a decision he made because he was the number one overall pick. Guaranteed millions and millions of dollars. And it makes sense. Why not forgo your last year of school and make all that cash money? However, I like what he did. I liked that he said 'nope, I want my education.' And why not? It's free for him. He's got a full ride scholarship to a great institution in Stanford. It can't be cheap. And it's not like he is going to school for a business degree or a sports recreation degree. It's architecture. He wants to design buildings for a living. I don't know anything about architecture degrees or the type of classes that you have to take to get that type of degree, but it can't be easy.
So the discussion with my friend was all about how if he left school for the NFL he could make millions of dollars and even if he only last for four year (roughly the average length of an NFL career) he will have that money and he can just go back. This is my friend's statement/argument. A very valid argument. And it's true. If he went into the NFL, made millions of dollar for four years, maybe didn't get hurt, and retired, he could roll onto the Stanford like nobody's business and re-enroll in the classes. Hell, they may let him coach the football team too. But he would have to pay for it. It would be a drop in the bucket for sure just because of all the money he made the previous four years. So let's say he finishes up his degree after football, goes into the real professional world, and bombs. He can't get a job or he just flat out fails as an architect. He still has his millions of dollars, but he is a twenty five year old out of work millionaire. Is that going to be the case? No. If he has the financial resources, he can keep himself afloat.
But that is where our society is at right now. Get the money, get the money, get the money. Who cares about your immediate education? I think he is role model for education. He is getting it for free, sure. He gets to do what he loves on Saturday afternoon and can probably get away with more than you or I could in college. But he is still there. He is putting that degree, that education, ahead of making money in the NFL. The NFL is going to be there when he graduates. A very strong argument against his staying in school is what if he gets hurt this year? A crazy random play where he lands wrong on his shoulder and is out for the year. Two words: Sam Bradford. Bradford pulled the same move as Luck and in that year suffered a few injuries that cost him a good portion of the season. After his junior year, he was projected number one overall pick (like Luck) and even after missing most of the senior season was still the number one overall pick and he is doing just fine in St. Louis. Or what if he has a bad statistical senior year much like Jack Locker. Another projected number one overall pick. He had a bad senior year and went from being the number one projected pick to number eight when he was drafted. He has a four year, twelve million dollar contract. Poor guy missed out on all those millions.
Either way, he is going to get his millions of dollars playing the sport that he loves. Why not take advantage of getting a free education in the process?
The debate was intense on all the sports shows at the end of the college football season earlier this year when he made this decision. The majority of people were talking about how bad of a decision he made because he was the number one overall pick. Guaranteed millions and millions of dollars. And it makes sense. Why not forgo your last year of school and make all that cash money? However, I like what he did. I liked that he said 'nope, I want my education.' And why not? It's free for him. He's got a full ride scholarship to a great institution in Stanford. It can't be cheap. And it's not like he is going to school for a business degree or a sports recreation degree. It's architecture. He wants to design buildings for a living. I don't know anything about architecture degrees or the type of classes that you have to take to get that type of degree, but it can't be easy.
So the discussion with my friend was all about how if he left school for the NFL he could make millions of dollars and even if he only last for four year (roughly the average length of an NFL career) he will have that money and he can just go back. This is my friend's statement/argument. A very valid argument. And it's true. If he went into the NFL, made millions of dollar for four years, maybe didn't get hurt, and retired, he could roll onto the Stanford like nobody's business and re-enroll in the classes. Hell, they may let him coach the football team too. But he would have to pay for it. It would be a drop in the bucket for sure just because of all the money he made the previous four years. So let's say he finishes up his degree after football, goes into the real professional world, and bombs. He can't get a job or he just flat out fails as an architect. He still has his millions of dollars, but he is a twenty five year old out of work millionaire. Is that going to be the case? No. If he has the financial resources, he can keep himself afloat.
But that is where our society is at right now. Get the money, get the money, get the money. Who cares about your immediate education? I think he is role model for education. He is getting it for free, sure. He gets to do what he loves on Saturday afternoon and can probably get away with more than you or I could in college. But he is still there. He is putting that degree, that education, ahead of making money in the NFL. The NFL is going to be there when he graduates. A very strong argument against his staying in school is what if he gets hurt this year? A crazy random play where he lands wrong on his shoulder and is out for the year. Two words: Sam Bradford. Bradford pulled the same move as Luck and in that year suffered a few injuries that cost him a good portion of the season. After his junior year, he was projected number one overall pick (like Luck) and even after missing most of the senior season was still the number one overall pick and he is doing just fine in St. Louis. Or what if he has a bad statistical senior year much like Jack Locker. Another projected number one overall pick. He had a bad senior year and went from being the number one projected pick to number eight when he was drafted. He has a four year, twelve million dollar contract. Poor guy missed out on all those millions.
Either way, he is going to get his millions of dollars playing the sport that he loves. Why not take advantage of getting a free education in the process?
10 September 2011
Playoff push
The Detroit Tigers are twenty games over five hundred right now. They are nine and a half games up on the Chicago White Sox. Their magic number before tonight's game is ten. They have gone nine and one in their last ten games. They are playing out of their minds right now.
All truths that everyone knows right now. All truths I am scared of. I have been scared this entire season until recently just because teams like the Sox and the Indians were so close, but now the Tigers are pulling away as the season winds down. I don't want them to have such a large lead in the division that they really stop playing, and they could coast the rest of the way if they wanted to. I want Jim Leyland to keep in the players' ear and keep them going through the next month. The last time I saw the Tigers play in the month of October, they were throwing the ball all over the place as they were rolled by the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. Since then, I have wanted them to get back in the playoffs to redeem themselves.
The moment ESPN analysts started talking about how good the Tigers are playing right now, I tensed up. ESPN is a curse on my Tigers. I want them to leave my Tigers alone and stay focused on the Yankees and the Red Sox. They are going to get either the Yanks or Sox in the first round and it is going to be tense. Both of those teams are neck and neck and I hope they burn themselves out trying to win their division because the Tigers are playing so loose and relaxed right now and everything is going right for them that I know the Yanks and Sox don't want to play Detroit.
I think that boasting about how great your team is playing is a jinx and I don't like to do so especially around playoff time.
Not until the game is in hand anyway. Then it is on.
All truths that everyone knows right now. All truths I am scared of. I have been scared this entire season until recently just because teams like the Sox and the Indians were so close, but now the Tigers are pulling away as the season winds down. I don't want them to have such a large lead in the division that they really stop playing, and they could coast the rest of the way if they wanted to. I want Jim Leyland to keep in the players' ear and keep them going through the next month. The last time I saw the Tigers play in the month of October, they were throwing the ball all over the place as they were rolled by the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. Since then, I have wanted them to get back in the playoffs to redeem themselves.
The moment ESPN analysts started talking about how good the Tigers are playing right now, I tensed up. ESPN is a curse on my Tigers. I want them to leave my Tigers alone and stay focused on the Yankees and the Red Sox. They are going to get either the Yanks or Sox in the first round and it is going to be tense. Both of those teams are neck and neck and I hope they burn themselves out trying to win their division because the Tigers are playing so loose and relaxed right now and everything is going right for them that I know the Yanks and Sox don't want to play Detroit.
I think that boasting about how great your team is playing is a jinx and I don't like to do so especially around playoff time.
Not until the game is in hand anyway. Then it is on.
09 September 2011
Lake rage
While I was at the beer store tonight (cause that's what I do), I saw beer brewed by the company 'Great Lakes Brewing Company'. I thought ;that's awesome, where in Michigan is it brewed?' And you want to know why? It's not because I'm from the greatest state in this country, but because the state touches four out of five of the great lakes. And seriously, who cares about Lake Ontario?
Lo and behold, the beer is brewed in Ohio. To make it even worse, it's brewed in Cleveland. Cleveland! Where do they get off? They're Ohio. The only great lake they touch is Lake Erie. Seriously. Lake Erie sucks. It's the Ohio of the great lakes. They don't deserve the company name.
Even if the beer is great, I won't touch it because the last good thing that came out of Ohio was....well....
I guess that ends this conversation.
Lo and behold, the beer is brewed in Ohio. To make it even worse, it's brewed in Cleveland. Cleveland! Where do they get off? They're Ohio. The only great lake they touch is Lake Erie. Seriously. Lake Erie sucks. It's the Ohio of the great lakes. They don't deserve the company name.
Even if the beer is great, I won't touch it because the last good thing that came out of Ohio was....well....
I guess that ends this conversation.
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