It Pays to be a Woman

S got a flat at the grocery store, and before she could even think, one stranger handed her fix-a-flat and another did all the work. It pays to be a woman. Plus some hard-won thoughts on how kids murder your exercise habits, and why keeping any habit alive beats rebuilding it later.

King of the Mountain

Trail running got me back on Strava, where it turns out I still hold one lone KOM on a stretch of road I can't even picture. Plus why 3 Body Problem scratches the same itch as The Martian (smart people who actually sound smart), and J's improvised Mandarin talent-show act.

$10 Per Push-up or $1 million

Reddit asks: $10 per push-up for life, or $1 million now? The top answer caps out at 200 push-ups a day and calls that unsustainable. But $730k a year, for life, is the lazy minimum, and the million is long gone. A fun thought experiment, perfectly timed with my humbling DEXA scan.

The Perseverance of the Saints

Our bedtime reading went from Little Pilgrim's Progress to the Westminster Confession on the perseverance of the saints, and the kids tracked it beautifully. I ain't raisin' no Catholics. Also: asphalt running misery, and a pile of free health-tracking toys.

Fat by Default

Setting up health insurance, I was greeted by an infographic of pudgy, frumpy avatars for taking your waist measurement. Were fit avatars too offensive? Then there's the ICHRA scam: I have to buy a plan I'll never use just to unlock my employer's contributions. What a disaster.

European Car Mechanic Drives a Chevy

My European-car mechanic rolls up in a beat-up Chevy Silverado with 300,000 problem-free miles. Between brake jobs, a turtle cake, K's pavilion birthday party, and watching Survivorman, I find myself genuinely worried about the smell Les Stroud's rescue crews must endure.

Waterfalls, Hiking, Dinner, Etc.

An evening of waterfalls, an inevitable soaking, a challenging hike home, and pork tenderloin. Plus why I love concrete personal projects but distrust the nebulous, vague goals of current work, and why America's problem is health insurance, not healthcare.

Blinded by My Refrigerator; My Mom's Silver Service

Why does my refrigerator blind me every time I open it, sun or pre-dawn dark? A small rant about obvious missing features, my endless war against owning too much, and how S accidentally donating my mom's silver service years ago turned out to be a strange relief.

The Lime Wire Sardine Can

At Lime Wire in SoHo, the spacious developer pod gave way to a shiny new sardine can of an office, which never benefits the rank-and-file. Then they lost the giant lawsuit and the whole thing vanished. Now I see the name resurfacing online and wonder who bought it.

Don't Give Up and Get Fat

I stepped out of the car at a kid's birthday party and my first thought was how many very heavy people were there, probably just a representative sample of the country. A reflection on living in a bubble of fit retirees, and a plea: do what it takes to not give up and get fat.