Corona virus, what's different for you.

Good idea with the nicotine as going without does lower immune response and you don't want to give your body that kind of jolt if it needs to fight the virus. Do realize the patch may be better as the tissues of the mouth and throat are somewhat weakened and irritated by nicotine itself. This is why there is a burning sensation with oral application. Epidermal application of nicotine would be best as the skin does provide a barrier against the virus.

Comics industry in general is likely to take a hell of a hit from this. Marvel's not helping much with their recent new titles . . . New New Mutants looks absolutely dreadful and Children of the Atom is probably the most unoriginal thing I've seen from the "House of Ideas" in thirty years.

In other news, I just completed a phone screening with my agency's clinic and I'm cleared to return to the office tomorrow.

I think the comics industry is an animate corpse that is rotting by stages at this point. It's a shame, I have loved comics for most of my life, but I noticed that in 90s the industry started doing things to kill itself and in 2010 when I stopped collecting I predicted that the medium would be essentially extinct by 2020. I am glad I was wrong, but I think the trajectory is still bad.

I came back from Phoenix to find my gym closed. I do all my resistance training at home anyway, but I did my cardio at the gym.
Now my cardio will consist of rucksack walks/runs on relatively safe side roads & streets carrying a golf club for aggressive dogs.
If you have to do strength training at home and don't want to spend a fortune, I would suggest two kettlebells: a 50 pound for goblet squats and farmer's carry and other mass building exercises and a 35 pound for snatches and overhead presses. Seriously, if you youtube or google it with these two kettlebells there is a wide variety of safe....let me reiterate SAFE exercises you can do with a kettlebell or two.

Seriously, if you are genuinely interested I can give you links to specific exercises that are simple, safe and effective that I personally perform myself. I'm no athlete and lack coordination - so if I can do them anyone can do them.

That said the snatch is something you might need somebody to teach you in person unless you want a bruised forearm until you get your timing right when it the kettlebell flips over. But again I'm a slow learner and had to learn from youtube and a few bruises aren't that big of a deal because it's a great "full body" exercise.

what in the living hell is a "heart of palm"?

Thank you. I may take you up on that. I very much appreciate it. So far, planks and push ups and some other leg work are on the agenda.

Heart of a young palm tree. Usually preserved in brine. Crunchy so you could use it like water chestnuts but it tastes like artichoke. I'm not keen but they're supposedly high protein and fibre so probably good for you.

I am not exactly sure, but it is white and in some sort of liquid. I am not yet at the point where I will eat random things in a can because I am hungry. which is weird because I would probably eat at the wuhan wet market for a kick. It is more that it looks bland and tasteless.

yeah... I've tried them before.
brand name ones are the only ones that stay on worth a damn. and they really irritate the fuck out of my skin (usually put'em on my back).

the nicorette lozenges are great... about the size of a tic tac. The other ones (Thrive) are more candy sized and the texture is like sucking on a gauze pad. Still, better than gum.
dug out my vape pens but need to go find some juice for them.

really need to shave... been a week

lol-if you're ever here, I can take you to the next best thing

I'm going to go out on a limb here but this looks just like a food that would be left over after all the good stuff is gone from the store.
Hearts of palm should be called "oldfella in gym class" from now on!

They're actually pretty good in a salad.

yes to pushups (incredibly versatile by changing angles and hand positioning) no to planks - here's why: planks don't provide a full range of motion. Not saying they are easy to do, but you just don't get a lot of "bang for your buck" from that exercise versus other exercises.

Planks are recommended by my chief instructor to maintain core strength. Knocking planks is really trendy these days!

Idaho's governor just issued a 21 day mandatory stay-at-home.

Grocery stores and other essential businesses can stay open; restaurants limited to drive-thru/takeout/delivery. Outside exercise is okay as long as you do the social distancing thing. Schools were already closed through APR 20 so this changes nothing for them. State website will have the details on what constitutes 'essential.' Honestly, given what people have been doing already, we don't expect to see that much of a change. Our big stop was PETCO, because we're fostering cats right now, so we stocked up on kitten food like mofos.

Someone on the radio asked about liquor stores and that tripped up ol' Governor Brad a bit. My wife and I were LOL as he tried to decide then and there if the liquor store counted as the grocery store. Best be careful about separating rednecks from their whiskey!!

Sounds like what Virginia is doing, which itself seems modeled after what California is doing.

State governors are providing a lot more leadership than the orange moron is, that's for sure.

That was never a question here and, in fact, the governor lifted the restriction on to-go alcohol sales as long as the order includes food.

Many bars I know are counting cocktail garnishes as the food.

You guys turning into Utah down there? $1 chips and salsa for everyone!

Hopefully a positive result of all this shit is that it'll stay legal to sell that way.

Main issue for me is running out of decent mixers for the booze - Master of Malt website sorted the vodka/whiskey situation. Whiskey neat or with ice is OK once in a while but not for a heavy session.

Haircut? I think it's been 6 months. Haven't even thought of it since I retired. My hair is returning to its 1973 look.

Well, the good news is I can still get my roadwork in. My big concern is that over the past two years I've built going to the gym and doing cardio work into my routine. I'm hoping I won't lose the habit. I worked too damn hard to get myself into the best shape I've been in since ... whenever...

My company just started furloughing people (presumably I'm safe because I'm payroll...and we're considered "business critical"), but we're going to keep everybody's benefits going...so that's good...and we were just about to roll out a mobile platform to switch people from one cost center to another as needed for extra hours, so we've pushed that out early to get furloughed people to places that can use the manpower.

Youtube is your friend. You can find a multitude of coaches who are putting workouts up for free. Whatever you need, HIIT, bodyweight, flexibiity, yoga etc.

As I type this my wife is on the patio doing a Camp Gladiator workout via Skype/Facetime.



I'm having a whisky.

that's why I avoid them...it's trendy! Pushups have been around since the Greek & Roman armies and they also build core strength along with other benefits. Plus I read some articles about planks of course, always trying to stay on top of things in the fitness/nutrition area.

why not both? It would make the workout quite entertaining! Also you can film your crazy antics and put it on youtube - everybody wins!

yes I saw this on the news in my motel. Martial artists, coaches, music instructors, a lot of people are doing free online instruction for their folks - that's awesome!

yep! As we speak I'm brainstorming ideas to keep my cardio going factoring in weather and safety and showering and whatnot. Tomorrow as I said earlier is rucksack walk/run for sure, the next day if it's not to hot I'll do hill sprints right after work. As luck would have it my office is spitting distance from a 30 degree or so hill about 200 meters long on a well maintained sidewalk area in the woods. If the soldiers aren't using it when I get off work I can run sprints. Okay if you can call them "sprints" because by the time I get to the top I'm gassed and barely running!

So I'm turning my no gym cardio into a positive and making the best of it. I feel sorry though for the dedicated lifters at the gym who no doubt do not have the wide variety of equipment they are used to at the gym. Those people must be really in a tizzy!