josh

This has been a poorly maintained, backed up family blog for a while - unlike the genealogy side of things, which has been robust.  The family news business has died off, so we will be 'taking back the blog'.  Carol and I are microbiologists, though in very different sub-disciplines.  We will start (trying) to post about 2 pieces a week from our disciplines or that we feel are of interest to microbioloigists, proteomisists, astrobiologists. The family stuff will still be around - familytree.turse.org and photos.turse.org

Finally, the popular press has begun to realize the state of US science, the cost to our economy. From CNN:

I started going to the gym on September, 2007, so it's been a little more than a year of time and expense - even more so since I pay for personal training.  Below, I'll detail some of the changes.  Mainly, I am doing this as an academic exercise to publicly renew my vows to myself. Weight has not gone as well as I would have liked. I am not any lighter than I was - despite looser jeans.  I attribute the lack of weight loss to a lack of movement.  My days are spent largely in front of the computer.  I notice that when I go on business travel and am up and moving more throughout the day, I actually lose weight! In terms of cardiovascular endurance, I am vastly improved.  I can maintain regular 160-170bpm heart rate on a machine without feeling winded.  Don't ask me to carry on a conversation with you, but not ready to have a heart attack either. I have been focused on muscle development, so am noticeably stronger.  In fact, I walked into Ace last week, grabbed a 50 lb bag of salt and didn't even realize it was 50 lbs.  I am still hoping further muscle development will make me a little more "attractive".  Yeah, I'm vain.  Mostly - the biggest improvement is no more back pain.

Long Term

With my iPhone, the gym becomes a place of solitude, as long as my trainer isn't yelling at me.  I tend to just let my mind zone out, listening to some crazy hard rock.  It's one of two experiences that I get to be 'alone' each week. If you go to the gym every day, you will eventually run into people and make their acquaintance. I am happy to say that the staff at my gym, Broadmoor Fitness is great and always fun to see. I love my trainer.

Next Challenges

To lose weight!  This is going to take some work on food, and I have found sparkpeople.com, which despite the annoying ads does a great job at tracking my food and fitness.  The trick will be sticking with it. I am also thinking about buying a bike to do my commute to work (3 miles).  Anyone recommend a good basic commuter mountain bike?

I know my students probably aren't feeling it - but I like teaching.  It's entirely selfish - I am able to feed off the students' energy and that keeps me energized, excited about my science.  It was a rough, uncomfortable beginning to the semester - first time I have taught via a remote system. Our school, WSU, is married to Blackboard for dissemination of materials to students.  I'm not really sure what they are using for video, but it was clear that my slides were not visible to my remote students. Do you have recommendation for remote learning?