b.reclaim

Ggain some (more) weight America

2006-07-25T20:56:00.000+02:00

I could start in with obesity bashing but really, what's the point? (plenty of time for that later)

Instead, lets look at something more entertaining.

Go to theDaily Nutrition Calculator, enter your info. and go see where you need to be as far as caloric intake goes.

Currently, as a 6'3", 190lb active male...

You'll need at least 4,645 calories to maintain your current weight and activity level.
1. From fat: Only up to 30 percent, which is 1,394 calories or 155 grams.
2. From protein: About 15 percent, which is 697 calories or 174 grams.
3. From carbohydrate: About 55 percent, which is 2,555 calories or 639 grams
...Don't forget fiber: At least 53 grams.

Unless you don't mind stuffing yourself constantly, much of this increase will have to come from extra fat, which provides more than twice as many calories (9 per gram) as protein or carbohydrates (4 per gram)

Isn't that just great!? That means I get to eat 5 Big Mac's (a total of 2800 calories, 150g of fat, 235g of carbs, 125g of protein) for lunch and still have plenty of calories to waste on a huge steak dinner.

Now, on the other hand, say a 30 year old male of average height who is lightly active wants to maintain weight at 180lbs. He would have to consume 2,895 calories per day to do so.

Stop the clock... Isn't that still the 5 Big Mac's worth of calories? But wait, this is America, we don't maintain, we're still on the path to uber obesity... that means, somehow, some way, most americans are stuffing their faces with MORE than 5 Big Mac's worth of food per day. In-f*cking credible isn't it?

--Symple

Corpse Bride Themed Lappy

2005-10-04T17:00:00.000+02:00

Studying gets old. Sometimes you have to crack open P-shop and express yourself. In this case, I redid the desktop theme on the lappy. Nabbing various icons that were Googled I threw together a little tribute to Mr. Tim Burton and stop motion animation.

The background was one of those five minute deals... just for fun. However, if you would like a copy, you can pick one up here. Note: that's the Corpse Bride skinned winamp tactfully placed in the middle of the screen. (Please refrain from being amazed.)

--Symple

Holy crap am I old. . .

2005-08-29T21:47:00.000+02:00

The final year at USD begins tomorrow. . . It will be my 3rd official year of studying in the business admin program here at the U. The returning freshmen are as dumb as ever, and everything else is about the same too. I'm ready to be done, but it will be hard to give up the slack college life and step out into le real world.
This year will definitely be full of crazy experiences now that everyone I know is 21+ (that '+' is for all us old bastards.)
Who knows, maybe the MBA will get put on the 'to-do' list before the year is over.

--Symple

Going, going, already gone...

2005-07-26T00:12:00.000+02:00

Good day all you happy people who happen to read this. This is the offical last post from Germany. Stopped by Silber Quelle with One Cool Cat this evenin' and pounded down 2 Mai Tai's, followed up by a Planters Punch a little bit later at Knochenhauer. It was a fitting end to the almost year-long stay in the land of good food, great beer, sauerkraut, kartoffeln, usw.

I'll be missin' the place, that's for sure. Honerable mentions of the year (this is off the top of my head, so don't kill me if you're not on this list!):

Mike, Nora, Livi, Raul, Sandra, Ignatio, Orsi, Abel, Monkia, Atilla, Aleksandra, Rafa, Evangelia, Martin, Britta, Carsten, Eulalie, Joaquin, Fazilet, Matthias, Connie, Mirco, Marianna, Timo, Raymundo, Alenka, Sherritt, Amrol, Gary and everyone I forgot.

Ciao everyone,
Symple

Hell, I laughed.

2005-07-23T11:20:00.000+02:00

It's not much, but reading an article about how-to-get-eaten-by-sharks is a nice break from the 'Terrorist Threat' crap everywhere else.

If you dont want to read the full article here are a few excerpts:

2. STICK TO MURKY WATER The Australian government, which ought to know, claims sharks favor “turbid” or “silt-laden” water. When 14-year-old Lydia Paulk danced the incisor tango off the coast of Texas recently, she was picking up beer bottles from the ocean floor, which kicked up sand. If you’re not in Texas—and, thus, the water is beer-bottle free—small shells and loose rocks make an acceptable, albeit less classy, substitute.

6. COORDINATE YOUR WARDROBE Bright, contrasting colors are to the ocean what tube tops and belly rings are to the dance floor. “I’m easy, please eat me,” they telegraph to sharks, as if they were overly fragrant men from New Jersey.

Have fun kids.

--Symple

Shady Happenings in the WF

2005-07-08T12:58:00.000+02:00

So this guy rings the doorbell yesterday, I answer the door... There stands a mid 30's unshaven lad with pinstriped slacks, a tacky shirt, large gold earring, wallet-on-a-chain, and oldschool Benz still running behind him.
Needless to say, the WTF alarm in my head had been going off before I even opened the door.

So I open the door a bit and he immediately starts running his mouth 100 miles an hour about some "Staubsaugmachine." *raise eyebrow* "Sure." I say, "And what exactly is a 'Staubsaugmachine'."
He then tries to explain what this thing is and why he was there using as much technical jargon as possible. Trying to sound imporant no doubt.
Apparantly the thick American accent and the Wyoming T-shirt weren't enough to clue this genius in that I wasn't German.

A few minutes later, I figured out he was talking about a vacuum, and that apparantly he was a vacuum repair technician and or door-to-door salesman. (Again, this cat looked like the slimy used car salesman from hell.) At about the time this guy was getting fed up with my obvious lack of technical expertise relating to Vacuums, Brigitte walks in and gives the guy the same 'WTF' look that I did. Imagine a 76 year old lady giving the 'WTF' look, it was priceless.

After a few short words, she had this guy heading for his benz with a disgruntled look on his face. Later that afternoon, I see the same Benz parked across the street, and this guy is busy unloading what looked like exactly like suitcases. . . Vacuum salseman my ass.

Moral of the story: Don't be some shady piece of crap and try to pull one over on a 76 year old German lady.

--Symple

How deep? Too deep.

2005-05-13T19:11:00.000+02:00

It's Friday. Finally we can all wind down from the long work week, sit back, kick our feet up, and enjoy the weekend. We can grill with friends, go to our favorite weekend hangout, and enjoy a nice tall glass of:

Ok, stop. That was all just a lie. Put the beer down and come back to reality. Its the weekend, and you're still just a poor college kid who doesnt own a coffee table to kick your feet up on (other than the upside down beer case with a slab of plywood on top).

Yes, yes, sometimes I think we get a little ahead of ourselves. Just when we think we've made it and its all just desserts
... we realize that there are still a lot of things to finish before its possible to move on. Sometimes we need to take a step back and have a look at the big picture. Its very easy to take everything for granted, to just assume what you have now is great and it will stay that way. If we don't realize that it's possible to lose the grip on everything we have, then we have already lost.

However, if we do realise that what's there might change, we have a second chance.Within that chance, we may or may not have any clue which direction to follow but the fact that it exists is enough.

Sometimes life presents up with lots of great opportunities, and it's really hard to decide which route to take. Sometimes life makes the route selection a littler easier by giving us milestones, or allowing us to set goals for the future. It's more comfortable knowing where we are going and where we may end up.

Occasionally however, we are constantly jumping back and forth and it is very overwhelming. We have no idea what the future will bring, what lies around the next corner.
In the end I guess that's the fun of it all: Not knowing. If our lives were already planned out, all of our goals, dreams, longings, heart-breaks, and experiences were already defined... the point of living, being a part of the human race, would no longer exist.

..Symple

Who's responsible? (R.I.P. little girl.)

2005-05-07T13:45:00.000+02:00

A tragedy occured last week here in the peaceful town of Wolfenbuettel. An 11 year old girl was killed in an intersection when she was litterally run over by a semi. Apparantly, the intersection where the accident took place is well known for being dangerous. The intersection consists of a two lane street that crosses another main two lane street. All incoming lanes have turning lanes.
The southbound truck driver was making a right hand turn, heading westward. The incident occured when the light turned green for both the semi and the persons wanting to cross the street. The driver failed to see the girl and her friend(s) as he rounded the corner. Now the intersection is well known for:

(flowers at the site of the accident)

There has been much discussion over the accident. As usual, they are attempting to determine who is at fault. Some say the driver is at fault, some say the girl. Here's where I have a problem. I say society is at fault.
If you have ever driven a car here in Germany, one of the first things you will notice is that even though the drivers over here pay in excess of 1500 euros for driving school, they drive how they want, virtually unregulated by the police. The second thing you will probably notice is that hardly any of the pedestrians bother looking when they cross the street. The crossing light turns green and they start walking/riding without looking. When I say "they" I mean everyone, young and old alike.
What kind of example does it set for the children when the parents and grandparents don't bother to look for oncoming traffic? As of last week, I think we know what kind of example.
At intersections all across Niedersachsen, you can see signs discouraging crossing the street when the light is red because it sets a bad example for the children. That's real nice. But... does it do a whole lot of good when the light turns green and there are still cars coming?
The preception of the little green man protecting me as I cross the street is one of the most irritating (and deadly) things that I have ever seen. It's a good thing that children are taught to cross when the light is green, however that is only half of the story, and in this case, 50% informed is 100% dead.

..Symple

Photoshop and the car wash

2005-05-05T15:05:00.000+02:00

Once again I have started down the path of P-Shop addiction. This time I'm attempting to learn all about making interfaces. You might have already noticed a couple attempts, here at the top and a couple in the picture gallery. Who knows, maybe I will someday end up with something decent and a skill that I can sell! >_<

Until I find something better to write about, how about another rant about Germany!?

For exmple, attempting to wash a car...
Nomally in the land of the capitalist this involves two things: a.) driving to the car wash, and b.) $5.

However, in 'Everything is closed all the time' land (ie: Germany) things just aren't all that simple. The first thing you have to do is find some place you can wash the car. If you're lucky, your favorite gas station will have some sort of automatic car wash. Next you cant't just walk up and feed the machine money... oh no, you need to go inside and get a special little card for the machine from the cashier.

Steps 3-5 involve getting your car into the automatic car wash, using the card machine, and waiting outside the vehicle. That means driving in, parking, and then stepping out to go activate the machine. Apparantly automatic car washes are either to traumatizing to sit though, to dangerous, or both. In any case, you are required to be outside the vehicle while the machine does its thing. (And if you ask why, they look at you funny and tell you in a very serious tone that it is for insurance purposes.)

The actual washing of the car is somewhat normal, other than the fact that you get to stand outside and freeze while waiting.

The worst part of the whole ordeal is finding a carwash that is open. Apparantly, the gas station being open has absolutely nothing to do with the carwash (that is physically attached to the gast station) being open. I don't get it, it's an "automatic car wash." To me, automatic means that no one will be assisting you in the car washing process. If it's not necessary for someone to help you, other than to sell you the carwash card, and the gas station is open to fulfill this function, then why in the bejeesus can't the carwash be open too???

Sometimes capitalism is a good thing.

..Symple

Just a Quickie

2005-05-02T06:25:00.000+02:00

Hello boys and girls. Its been a busy couple of weeks. As you'll notice, the pictures have been updated. One Cool Cat had his b-day activities this week / weekend. That was a pretty good time, all of it that I can remember anyways. (I exchanged my blood for Barcadi on Friday.)
Saturday we went to Braunschweig for a little "Bringing in the May" deal. I didnt stay all that long, but got to talk to a few people that I hadn't seen in a while.

Hopefully I'll have the ambition to post something a little more interesting later this week.

..Symple

19 Cigarettes and bicycles with no brakes...

2005-04-11T17:39:00.000+02:00

Yeah, it's monday and they sells cigarettes in packs of 19. Now, I'm no smoker, but if I were one of the fun-loving, chain-smoking bastages, I would probably be pretty pissed off that some sonofabitch who is already screwing me out of $4 a pack and sizeable amount of well-being decided to turn around and screw me out of the one thing in life that I enjoy. "I don't wanna get off on a rant here..." <---- How fucking cliche is that?

Anyways, from the other side of the street, its pretty funny. I can just picture some smoker crusin' down the road, getting into an accident and counting on that 20th cig being there. *Surprise* You were sold a pack of 19. Have a nice Monday.

Oh, and this morning, while waiting for yet another bus I saw some old dude on a bicycle with no brakes. Yeah, I know where they're supposed to be, and they had been removed. Fuck people are dumb. Ahh well, he was like 80... I'm sure insurance in this country pays more if you're somehow killed by public transport and I guess he WAS riding around the bus station.

..Symple

I got nothin'...

2005-03-28T19:04:00.000+02:00

Well, except for that new VW eating up some curves in the Harz Mountains.

Today started at 4:15 am: Hannover, back to BS, chill, drive to Braunschweig, and then we ('One Cool Cat' and yours truly), went and tore up some asphalt in the Harz. The trip started off well when we merged onto the A2 on the way to Braunschweig. Some jackass in a passat thought I was driving too slow in the left lane og the Autobahn (as if!). Anyways, his wife was kind enough to give me the *wave hand in front of face* German symbol for "WTF were you thinking?" in return, she got the international sign for 'suck my dick.' I have to say, that despite the language barrier, we understood one another.

So, after a couple of hours in the sun in BS, we burned some gas exploring the area that we should have explored oh... 6 months ago. >_<

Random Rant of the Day: People over here do not drive for fun. Gunter can buy himself a new Benz or 5 series beamer, but the bastard is too cheap to drive the thing on weekends for fun. Yeah, wtf. . read more here.

..Symple

Easter is here... burn.. EVERYTHING!

2005-03-26T22:47:00.000+01:00

Ok, so that's a little more extreme than it sounds, but they do make one big ass bonfire.

Whats better than chasing the winter away with a gigantic bonfire you ask? Why, getting drunk next to the gigantic bonfire and encouraging your 6-8 yr old children to play with and run around near the thing, that's what!

On a more... philosophical note: Making a huge bonfire in a really small town and inviting everyone too the thing makes you feel really small. It is as if we need something to cling to, something to make us feel not so all alone. For a moment, it makes you realize that we ARE, for all practical purposes, all alone in the galaxy. We need to cling to one other, or we have no reason to exist at all . . .

..Symple

Stardate 3294.7

2005-03-22T21:07:00.000+01:00

Captain's log . . .I made a new friend today. However, I have yet to decide weather or not to let him live. There seems to be some sort of.... infestation. He took up residence in my room today, probably too scared to sleep anywhere else in the house.
When the 4 legged devil hunts you wherever you go, it's probably a good idea to hide as best you can.
If he behaves, I may let him out at night. Can't...control thoughts....of...destruction. If not, it looks like i will have to break his back with a steel bar instead. C'est la vive.

..Symple

Yep, Its monday.

2005-03-21T18:08:00.000+01:00

If that doesnt sum it up for you, then I guess its time to go get a job isn't it? Oh, and while on the topic of Jobs, I had better say a few things about the Euro system. Over here in Euro-land it's normal to attend school until you are 25. It is also seemingly normal to not have a job until you are finished with school. That translates to not having to work until you are 25.

Are we seeing the advantages and disadvantages yet? I am seeing mostly the latter.

What's the American way of life again? Putting in 66 hours a week and learning the value of a dollar when you're 14 if my memory serves me correctly. I am truly greatful for the financial help my family provides me, but damn... I have a hard time respecting anyone who is 25 and has never had a job.

..Symple

My liver hates me.

2005-03-20T18:31:00.000+01:00

Just like it says.

Anyways, I went to Hannover again yesterday and had a good time. I got off cheap this weekend, only spent 30 Euros. My ears are still rining from the music last night. As usual, there were about 200 people over capacity packed into every club. *sigh* Sometimes a few bucks for a cover charge is a good thing. Oh well.

On Wednsday I'll be having a little get together to celebrate the arrival of Mr. Golf. I guess you're supposed to drink a bunch of beer with the neighbors and friends to ensure a safe driving experience with your new vehicle. Umm... yeah.

Mark it in your calendars.

..Symple

So there i was, playing guitar...

2005-03-19T14:36:00.000+01:00

So yesterday we played a few songs for Jorgen. It was his 70th b-day party. You would think the guy just turend 50. We had a pretty good time. Raul, Mike, Rudi, and myself met twice during the week to practice a few songs. It turned out better than i had expected.

I ditched Mike and Raul at the party (sorry fellas) at around 11:30. I guess they stayed till like 3:30. Crazy bastards. Met some people that i work with in BS and had a good time there too.

I suppose I should go do something creative for a while... other than destroying my liver.

Oh, and the pick-up date for my car is now on the 23rd. I could have built my own damn car by now. Grrr.

..Symple

Well isn't that just somethin...

2005-03-15T19:33:00.000+01:00

It's looking like I may be spending a lot more time in Germany than originally planned. At work, we discussed extending my contract until December. If that happens, I will have to figure something out for USD as I'm not sure if they're OK with me staying for that long.

In other news, my car was delayed for another week. Apparantly it takes a week to ship it here from the factory. To me this makes no sense whatsoever. You would think that a Golf being shipped within 50km of Wolfsburg would also be produced in Wolfsburg. Efficiency...? Logic...?
Right.

..Symple

Wow...if only it was really this easy.

2005-03-15T06:53:00.000+01:00

Oh well, it will make the people happy. That's what it's really all about, right? Satisfying the general public, conforming to their rules, accepting that for 40 years you too will have to be able to grab your ankles?
..Symple