Editing

There's something so sweet about hardcore editing.  This is where I feel closer to what I did in school...from personal papers and projects to working in the Writing Center.

There's no task so daunting and yet exciting as getting a hugely outdated document sans standards and being able to completely rip it to shreds, scrap things, move things, and rewrite things.

I have a picture to share, but I'm a little busy with the carnage of a massive doc!

At-work exercises?

Okay, so if you are like a ton of office workers, you spend about 8 hours a day in your chair. I don't care how ergonomic your set-up is, you're immobile and settling into a groove. Weight gain happens just from the lack of daily non-strenuous exercise (walking at UMass). I've looked at a bunch of different at-work exercise tips (this meaning at my desk and not in the at-work gyms).

I disagree with some of these and I truly believe that the people who write these have never worked in an office. Unless you have an office with no windows and a closed door, you can't run in place or jump rope or do constant sit-stand-sit-stand while on a phone call without looking like a total nut case.

• Exercise ball (yoga ball) - this would be great! I brought one to work which I thought would help with back pain from sitting in a chair and help tighten up some muscles. Unfortunately, this was a hand-me-down so I didn't have the air pump. It had let out a little air over the years and caused more pain than the chair. It disappeared into an empty cube, only to appear at the new building when a coworker "saved" it for me. Now it sits in my home office taking up space.
• As cool as it would be, it's highly impractical to have a treadmill at work. You've probably seen pictures of it on stumbleupon, and some sites will tell you it's the best! but let's be real. How do you get the treadmill to your desk? I don't know about you, but my cube isn't big enough for one. I would also be standing higher than the cubes. It would be so loud that no one could work. Uhm, eventually you'll get sweaty or tired. I'd feel gross or like I was being judged based on how long I was on it. Also, why wouldn't I just do that when I got home instead?
• Stretching - YES. This I totally agree with. It won't cause weight loss, but it will keep you from walking like an old man at age 22. I frequently crack my back (sometimes without trying) and stretch regularly (and subtly).

Stretch your neck by rolling it in a circle and then moving side to side.

When you yawn, stretch your arms out in front of you (and above your head if you're feeling risky).

Lift your feet off the floor and rotate your ankles.

Move your torso so it's facing the back of your chair as if you're cracking your back.

Push one shoulder forward and then switch.

Upon standing, arch your back and put your arms out at your sides.

You can even do some stretching in the bathroom stall.

• Walk at lunch. A lot of offices have walking trails or at least nice sidewalks around the property. Admittedly, I don't do this often at all. I usually do what nearly everyone else does, walk to the very close kitchen, heat up my lunch, and sit back at my cube surfing the web.
• Drink tons of water. Bring a nalgene or similar water bottle and fill it often. It'll help flush your system and will force you to get up more often to walk to the bathroom. If possible, take a roundabout way to and from the bathroom.
• Bring healthy snacks. Sitting in the same spot will make you tired so your body will tell you you're hungry so you can gain more energy from food even though you're sitting idly. Bring fruits and veggies or graham crackers, trail mix, etc to much on instead of pop tarts, cookies, etc.

That's it for now!

Solar Slowdown Season

Tis the season for solar slowdowns. ...if you drive east in the morning and west in the evening. Due to the time change and rotation of the earth, there are four times a year that one can encounter the solar slowdown, assuming you keep the same schedule. For days before the onset, you see the sun creeping up, nearer and nearer to the horizon directly in front of you in the morning. Currently, this is the time when I encounter the fiery, blinding beast that halts traffic. Sunglasses don't help.

Similar to the onset of the blinding sun, you can see the cars slowing down and stopping a half mile away. You near them and start to see the culprit: sun shrapnel bouncing off of cars. You watch as people try to get behind big trucks or tailgate vehicles taller than their own to use the other person as a shield. You are often left in the desert and surrounded only by other vehicles your size. Vast gaps emerge between cars without shields because it's so hard to see if the person in front of them has stopped, so the more room, the less likely an accident will happen. It feels like years that you're driving blind, creeping at a slow pace. And suddenly, a break! The sun goes behind a patch of trees or a building. Everyone speeds up, trying to get as far as they can before the inevitable sun reappears.

When there is no solar slowdown in the morning, there is often a time of solar slowdown after work. When this happens at the beginning of your commute, you long for the sun to go down so that you don't have to creep all the way home, however you realize it will be dark when you get home. Bittersweet.

During the winter, there is about two weeks where you find yourself driving into the sun both on the way into work and on the way home. This is an all-out war on your corneas. You may find yourself adjusting the seat higher up so that you are shaded by your visor, though you lose a lot of visibility and in reality, the visor creates more glare.

Beware of the solar slowdown season, but know that it won't last long. Within a week or two, you'll be driving either in already sunny skies (after sunrise and before sunset) or darkness.