Whack-A-Mole

Today's post is a brief critique of President Trump's decision to lift US Sanctions on Russian oil.

Let's start with a little back story:  A couple of weeks ago, the US and Israel started a bombing campaign in Iran.  The rationale is beyond the scope of today's post, but that's primarily because the message has been so inconsistent, other than to say we're "winning," that determining the real reason is an unrealistic expectation.

Part of Iran's response to the attack has been to blockade the Straits of Hormuz.  For those of you unfamiliar with the Straits, it's a very narrow body of water that connects the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea.  Roughly 25% of the world's crude oil passes through this waterway, meaning that Iran's blockade carries a serious, immediate and widespread impact to the rest of the world.

The economic impact has been ... noticeable.  Gas prices in the US have increased by about 20% in the two weeks since Trump took us on this little escapade.  In my neck of the woods, the price of gas has increased by roughly 75 cents per gallon.  In response to this crisis, POTUS has announced that the US will 'temporarily lift sanctions on Russian oil stranded at sea' in order to stabilize energy prices.  In my opinion, this is a game of whack-a-mole.  Let me explain...

The original reason we imposed sanctions on Russia is because Russia invaded Ukraine, and we couldn't let this aggression go unanswered.  Oil is one of Russia's major national resources.  If nobody buys Russian oil, it's harder for them to fund their war efforts against Ukraine.

Fast forward to now... we attacked Iran, and they stopped the flow of oil from the Middle East.  As a result, approximately 35% of the world's oil is unavailable at the moment.  (Russia can produce about 10% of the world's oil.  Combine that with the 25% that flows through the Straits of Hormuz, and you see how I reached that 35%.)  Prices skyrocketed, Americans screamed, and Trump responded by allowing the world to purchase Russian oil.

Now, let me wrap this in a nice pretty bow so everyone can see how this is a giant game of strategic Whack-A-Mole.  Russia invades Ukraine. (Whack!) America doesn't like that, so we impose sanctions on Russian oil. (Whack!) We attack Iran. (Whack!) Iran blocks the Straits of Hormuz, cutting oil supplies further. (Whack!)  We lift the Russian oil sanctions. (Whack!) {Introduce my next prediction for the next whack.  Russia now has money to press their attack on Ukraine.}

This is definitely the behavior of a stable genius.

Kicking Tobacco

Today's post is inspired by Sunny. 

I started smoking when I was 17.  I loved it and was up to a pack a day within a week.  We were not allowed to smoke in boot camp, but someone from my platoon got their hands on a pack and shared with me.  I hated how congested I was for the next couple of days, but loved the nicotine.  The habit stuck with me for over 35 years.

I did quit for a couple of years in my thirties, but {wife} 1.0 and I split up and I started smoking again, despite the fact that it was a horrible financial decision.  I couldn't make my mortgage payment without a roommate, but I somehow {afforded} smoking.

Over the years I've quit multiple times.  I tried cold turkey, Zyban, nicotine patches, gum, and hypnosis, but nothing stuck.  I followed the Uncle Buck program.  I went from cigarettes to dip to cigars.  The last several years I smoked Swisher Sweets.  And when I say I smoked them, I mean I inhaled.  It wasn't that deep inhale of a cigarette, but the smoke definitely hit my lungs.

To me, a nicotine fit felt like my lungs were hungry, and a cigarette always made me full.  I suspect that's part of why cigars worked.  Inhaling cigar smoke was like a punch in the lungs, and at the end, it was similar to eating a steak dinner, because I was satisfied for hours.  That allowed me to break the ritual of going out every hour or so for a smoke break.

I finally kicked the habit a couple of years ago.  I'm thinking it's been three or four years, but I don't recall exactly when I quit.  I know it was in May sometime.  I could look it up, but it's not that important to me.  Besides, I'm tobacco free, but I'm not nicotine free.  I still get my nicotine fix with lozenges.

Lozenges work for me because they mimic some of the sensory input a cigarette provides.  Smokers can no doubt relate to that slightly spicy, peppery not-quite-burning sensation in the palate, or that slightly pasty feeling that's not quite dry mouth that comes with and immediately after a smoke.  Lozenges leave a mouth feel that's similar to a cigarette, without the inconvenient shortness of breath and other health consequences.

What finally got me to quit?  I hit a fitness plateau.  I was one of those idiots who would go to the gym, and then fire up a cancer stick on the drive home.  One random day, I was dissatisfied with my run time, and understood that while it was partially due to the ravages of time, tobacco was the biggest blocker to my fitness goals.  I'd love to say that I spontaneously threw my pack out the window and never looked back, but that's not exactly what happened.  I looked into nicotine replacement therapy and decided to try the lozenges because that's one thing I hadn't tried.  I bought a box and switched when I killed the last cigar.

As I said earlier, I still do lozenges years later, even though it's designed to be a temporary solution.  From my perspective, it's a reasonable compromise.  I'd say I'm still semi-addicted to nicotine.  I occasionally go a couple of days without a lozenge and it doesn't impact my lifestyle.  I don't get nicotine fits.  However, I made a promise to myself that I will not use tobacco again, and I will not inhale my nicotine.

One other thing I'd like to note.  Every single time I {quit} smoking cigarettes, I would hack up phlegm for a solid week or two.  When I'd quit cigars, the coughing would only last a couple of days.  I'm not an expert, but I suspect this is because cigarettes have more chemicals, which to my understanding are specifically designed to deliver the nicotine to your system faster, and I believe these chemicals are missing from cigars.  I also suspect that I didn't inhale the cigar smoke as deeply, because it was so dense.  I'm not advocating that anyone switch from cigarettes to cigars, I'm just making an observation.  By the same token, I'm not standing on my soap box and telling anyone to quit.  I'm just telling a story.

{Note: Edited to fix a couple of typos I missed the first time around.}

I'm Back (in Shape) Baby!

I believe I shared in an earlier post that after my car accident in early November, I had lost a lot of strength.  For a frame of reference, I ran a physical fitness test in October and was able to crank out 10 pull-ups, plank for 3:45, and run 1.5 miles in 13:00, or run 3 miles in about 29:00.  By contrast, around this time last month, I was plateaued at 7 pull-ups and a 2:00 plank time.  My run time was back to normal.

I'm happy to share that I did a fitness test last week and I'm back up to speed.  In fact, I was just shy of hitting that ever-elusive 11th pull-up.  (My eyes were over the bar, but I couldn't quite get my chin there.)  I held my plank for the full 3:45, and I hit a personal best of 1.5 miles in 12:50.

I'm going to give some of the credit to creatine.  People have been telling me for years that it's worth looking into, but I may or may not have a bit of a stubborn streak.  I've gone my entire life without using fitness supplements, but I finally caved.  From my perspective, it came down to the (possibly false) choice of acknowledging that I might not be able to rebuild my strength after the accident, or agreeing to try a performance enhancer that's clinically proven safe and effective.

Creatine is everything the pundits claim.  Physically, I have more energy and stamina, and I seem to recover more quickly.  At the gym, I usually do three sets of a given exercise, and I find that I occasionally have the energy to do a fourth set.  I can usually crank out an extra rep or two in each set, and I'm ready to go more quickly between sets.  I've also noticed that I'm more mentally alert.  I take my creatine in the morning, and it provides about the same pep as a cup of coffee.

This time last month, I was resigning myself to the possibility that I'd never get back to pre-accident fitness.  Now I'm looking forward to achieving some of the fitness goals that have eluded me for years.  My stretch goals are to do 12 pull-ups, to run 1.5 miles in 12:30, and to run 3 miles in 28 minutes or less.

In Support of Ozempic Face

We are a superficial, critical society, and we spend far too much time worrying about how people look.  This one's too fat.  That one's too skinny.  Oh, look at the splotchy skin on this one!

I'd like to clarify that I'm not immune to this.  I'm not a fan of the collagen lip injection trend.  In fact, I'm not a big fan of cosmetic surgery in general.  But I'm not going to take to social media and shame people for their appearance.  Hence today's post.

Imagine being overweight your entire life.  You try diligently to lose weight, but can't keep it off.  Then a drug comes along that could help you lose weight and make you healthier.  You take the drug and start to feel better.  Next thing you know, people are saying you look too skinny.  It's almost like they prefer you fat and unhealthy.

Sorry, I'd like to opt out of this game.  Yes, I do have my own preferences when it comes to personal appearance and healthy choices.  Heck, I just did a post about healthy eating.  But you know what?  It's not my place to share my unsolicited opinion on someone else's appearances or lifestyle choices.  Do you want to try the new wonder drug and lose a lot of weight?  Great!  Don't trust the science yet?  Awesome!  Collagen injections?  Like I said, it's not my thing, you do you!

Noem is Out!

I read an article reporting that Trump has fired Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.  I support this decision.

Trump also said that she's going to become "Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas," whatever that is.  It sounds like a made-up position, but if it keeps her out of any real position of power I can live with it.

Markwayne Mullin has been selected to take her place.  I don't know anything about the guy, so I don't have any real thoughts on the choice, other than to say it's interesting that Trump would pull anyone from the House or Senate, considering how small their majority is at the moment.  (Mullin is a Republican Senator from Oklahoma.)

Taking Their Ball and Going Home

I'm a life member of a couple of Veteran Service Organizations.  I'm active in one.  Veteran Service Organizations in general are suffering from declining membership.  The old guard is dying off, and the younger generation isn't interested in joining up.

My group has a younger local head honcho who is trying diligently to attract younger people.  The thing is, the old guard doesn't like it.  We had our elections a couple of days ago, to determine who would run things for the next year, and it sucked.  During my time with this group,  we've never had actual elections, because we struggle to get one person to serve in these elected jobs.  This year, the old guard got together and put up a second candidate in an attempt to get the current honcho voted out.  They failed.  Things got heated, and I think a lot of the old guys are going to quit.

I'm disheartened and disappointed.  While I don't see eye to eye with their perspectives, I respected them up to last night.  These guys are my brothers in arms.  If their guy would have won, I would have been disappointed, but I would have respected the outcome of the election.  Unfortunately, it looks like they're taking their ball and going home.  One of the old guys actually asked me to go outside and fight him.  I was dumbfounded!  I hope I never get that old and set in my ways.

Not Quite What I Expected

 When I made the conscious decision to take up my blog again, I said early on that I planned to focus on political stuff.  I was looking for a place where I could share my perspective on the issue of the day without the partisan bickering of Facebook.  This is my little corner of the interwebs, so I can generally say what I want.  Nobody can comment on this blog without my consent, meaning that I don't need to worry about the trolls.  And with a readership of almost zero, that's not an issue anyway.

You may also notice in the earlier post that I expressed the hope I would one day return to mundane blather.  Oddly enough, I'm already sick of the politics and have indeed returned to sharing my thoughts on uneventful occurrences.  I expected this would turn into a virtual version of me screaming, ranting and raging in an empty room.  Instead, it's a virtual version of me spewing a relatively disjointed and unfocused stream of consciousness in an empty room.  I'm good with this, it's just not quite what I expected.