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walkjogrun.net

What do you do when you want to get back in shape but do feel like running in the local park, due to the boring scenery? Simple: you open up WalkJogRun and start planning your routes, then you convince your roomie to gear up and start doing so on a regular basis.

When I started jogging in Brooklyn, I managed to go for about a mile, before I was too exhausted to go on which is a true testament to the fact that I have not done any real exercise in a (too) long time.

WalkJogRun has been essential in making running / jogging a more fun experience, mostly because it tells you how far your route is, what kind of effect it will have on you and what’s more: the site makes it very easy to plan new route or alter existing once to better fit your profile if you want to increase the difficulty / length of a jog.

Tabata

What do you do when you are pressed for time but still want to do a short workout every day? Simple: you start working out the Tabata way and utilize what little time you have in the best possible way. Tabata is a form of high intensity interval training that takes anywhere from four to sixteen (!) minutes for a full cycle.

The basic idea is that, when you give your body adequate time to recover (10 seconds each), you can do a number of evolutions (20 seconds each) at least eight times in a row (4 minutes in total) and depending on your stamina, continue the cycle for up to four times.

I have been doing Tabata for a couple of weeks now and I like the fact that you can basically do it whenever and wherever you are (at least in theory). I started out with ordinary push-ups, which takes its toll rather quickly but soon moved on to rope jumping to have at least some variety and finally added sit-ups to the package.

All in all, Tabata makes you feel great and helps you work out even when you are busy most of the time. It is also a very nice way to burn calories and get back in shape.

For those (like myself) that have trouble counting down the seconds while working out, here is an MP3 file that will take you through one evolution. Put it on your iPod, make a playlist with this track in there eight times and start your Tabata session!

Yes, I could not be arsed to create a really nice looking cover and went for the first image that I could find on iStockPhoto. The actual sound clips are CC-licensed files from SoundSnap.

taking the Scenic Route

What do you do on a Saturday evening when you do not feel like going out to get drunk or party all night long? Simple: you open up WalkJogRun and plan a route that (most certainly) less than 1% of all New Yorkers will ever walk, then you convince your other roomie to gear up and leave.

Three hours and eight minutes later, you finally arrive at your destination: a subway stop, 7 miles (11.3 km) from your starting point … and you are glad you finally get to sit down.

This is what Becca and me did yesterday, we started out in front of our apartment and walked the whole way from our place to the Williamsburg Bridge, then onto and across the Brooklyn Bridge. We started out at 11:30 pm on Saturday and reached our end point at 02:30 am on Sunday.

You can follow the route visually or have a stab at it yourself.

Witness Protection

A fresh start. Isn’t that what many people long for? Just being able to leave everything behind: enemies, ex-partners, problems and start out fresh: a new name, a new job, enough money to get by for the first few months.

The USA Network makes it all possible, with their new summer hit In Plain Sight.

In Plain Sight deals with the professional and personal life of Mary Shannon, a United States marshal who works in the Federal witness protection program. The mix includes a “dysfunctional” family, insanely loyal friends and funny assignments, with the occasional dilemma coming around roughly every episode.

On a side note: while going through my RSS feeds, I discovered this nice picture on Matthew Rosenberg’s blog and looking at how networks have treated good shows lately, I would actually be surprised if In Plain Sight ever made it to a third season.

Hidden Genius

United States marshal’s seem to be hotter than any other kind of law enforcement officers right now: once again, SciFi treats viewers to a new season of Eureka. This time around, however, the season is supposed to last a full twenty one episodes, courtesy of the 2007-2008 Writer’s Guild strike - guess that something good came of that after all.

Starting on July 29th, Jack Carter and friends return for another season of witty quotes, difficult relationships and a whole lot of I-want-that-too-gadgetry and of course: the never-ending quest to find the true purpose of The Artifact.

The other side of being a secret agent

James Bond has got it easy. He gets one mission every 18 to 24 months, then does his thing and gets out again, all accompanied by a plethora of gadgets, a stylish car and a few, good-looking women.

Michael Westen, main character of USA Network’s sophomore show Burn Notice leads quite a different life. Burned by his agency over a year ago, during the first season, Westen, tonight, returns to figure out who burned him and for what reason.

Season one focused on the actual burn notice, the mystery surrounding it and ways to get by when you get burned and Westen did everything from body guarding, to P.I. work, to stealing things and blackmailing criminals.

In the end, the season concluded by leaving many things open for interpretation, some of which will hopefully be answered in tonight’s premiere.

Close to a year ago, I jotted down some thoughts on how companies treat their customers and what makes me come back to them.

Paypal:

First up is Paypal. Most people know Paypal from eBay, some use it in conjunction with Skype, another eBay property and many people downright hate the service. There is a myriad sites available that deal with how sucky Paypal is and how wrong they treat you.

For me, however, Paypal, means ease of use and I am so comfortable with the service that a month ago, I decided to pay a four-digit sum with it and although the payment initially went through, my account was quickly locked down, pending a number of steps, two of which I could complete (change password, fax / email official document stating my name and address) and one which Paypal would have to do: review my transactions.

Up to this date, I have not found out why they locked my account, but to be honest, I am very happy that they did. For one, my usual transactions range in the single to double digit area, hardly ever peaking $50, now, all of a sudden, I transfer a four digit amount of money to someone and that from a country from which my Paypal account has never been used before. I can see how that would trigger a few security checks along the line.

The problem with having your account locked down is that not only does Paypal hold the current transaction, they also change old, already completed transactions from the last couple of days to “pending review”.

One of the payments that was held, was for Namecheap, my preferred supplier for domains and they quickly informed me that their system noticed a “chargeback” and that I had to pay an administrative fee of approximately $60, as well as the money I, technically, owed them (due to the fact that Paypal had reversed the transaction).

After a few mails to Paypal’s customer service, their Dutch division still was not able to assist me and provided me with nothing but canned responses - not the kind of thing that puts your mind at ease when somebody took a four digit amount of money from you and is now keeping it.

Luckily, after some searching on the web though, I found two community managers and sent off my story in email form. Only a couple of hours later, I got a few suggestions from Jason Miner and was also informed that my case was upgraded to the next level.

One of the suggestions included calling the Paypal customer center, which I promptly did. I had to prove that I am indeed who I am, I got apologies aplenty and the issue was very quickly taken care off, in the most professional manner I could even think of.

With my account returned to me and all my transactions unlocked, Namecheap still was not too happy with me as a customer, so I fired off another email to Jason, who ensured me that his team would take care of the issue and lo’ and behold, they did: the next business day, I got an email from Namecheap stating that any issues were resolved and that they were sorry for the inconvenience.

As for my happiness level: Paypal did not only pick up the ball in this, they ensured that everything was solved and assisted me with anything I needed. Yes, technically, that is to be expected, but looking at the state of the current customer service industry, this certainly deserves a mention.

STM Bags:

Back in the beginning of 2005, I got myself a bag from STM, which I love and use to this day. This bag has accompanied me to every conference I have been to, it has met the forces of nature and clumsy waitresses and through all that time, has kept my laptop safe and sound.

On my trip to New York, however, I managed to break one of the plastic clamps that keeps the bag attached to your shoulders. While it was still technically possible to use the bag, I felt that it would be safer (and better looking) to get myself a new strap.

After drafting a quick email to STM Bags North America, outlining my problem and trying to find out the price for one of the straps, a friendly CSR, Yvonne Studebaker, confirmed which strap I had / needed and also asked for my address.

Three days later, USPS delivered a brand new strap to me, for a product that I bought more than three years ago, that was way beyond any warranty and what is more: the broken strap was normal wear and tear.

The commitment STM has shown in this case not only won my heart, it also made sure that STM will keep my business in the future, because if a company can take care of its customers like that, I believe that they deserve my money.

One thing I always enjoyed back when I still lived in Austria was the interaction I had with my mail carrier; usually a woman between the age of thirty-five and fifty, they always took the time for a small chat, maybe one, two minutes at most, but nonetheless: that time they invested always made me eager to go out and meet them out the street.

In the Netherlands, the mail carriers I have met so far are straightforward, so much so that they do not even take the time to say anything more than “here’s your mail”, which is a pity, so imagine my surprise when I met two very friendly and outgoing mail carriers here in Brooklyn.

The first one, yesterday, started singing while I went down the stairs and did not feel the need to stop when I was standing right next to him. For one reason or another, African Americans that sing always sound great and that guy truly had an awesome voice.

Today, I met another African American mail carrier and this lady really had a great sense of humor:

Kerim: Sweet, lots of mail for us.
Mail Carrier: Which one is you?
Kerim: Two dash one?
Mail Carrier: Oh son, you ain’t loved, look at that, only four letters today.
Kerim (laughing): Yeah, that’s about the same as yesterday
Mail Carrier: Son, you gotta get famous, ya know?
Kerim: Yeah, maybe…
Mail Carrier: Put your address on the web or sum, get that junkmail, ya know?
Kerim: Yeah, I’m not sure I would want that.
Mail Carrier: well, at least you’d get some more letters!
Kerim: True, true and I’d get to see you more often!
Mail Carrier: damn right, now sign here, cause this package is for you too!
Kerim: See, I’m getting plenty of love!
Mail Carrier: We’ll see, see you tomorrow!
Kerim: Have a good un’!

All in all, two random encounters that made my day just a bit better.

When I left Austria, a couple of years ago, I left behind a number of contacts and a few friends; I did not break down camp without saying anything at all, but the way I left was rather … abrupt.

Back then, I knew that those I wanted to stay in contact with, I would somehow manage to stay in contact, even if it would come down to me having to write (actual) letters. Luckily, at the time, Skype emerged, a great tool which made things so much easier.

A couple of days ago, one of the contacts from my past got back in touch with me: we had a little chat about how things were going in our respective lives, but soon stopped talking again, knowing full well that our sense of curiosity was satisfied and neither of us really intended this to be a Hollywood-style reunion.

Be that as it may, the incident got me thinking and piqued my interest as to what my former classmates and roommates (I attended a boarding school for a couple of years) were doing.

Turns out that just about everyone I had a good relationship with did (or: does) something interesting and worthwhile: one has become a(n) (in)famous painter, the other keeps winning competition after competition, yet another one has gone on to help people in Africa and then there is a girl who turned model.

Interestingly enough, everybody I did not have a good relationship with, ended up doing nothing “big” (note that I judge this by my own standards and the amount of information that is available on the ‘net) or worth mentioning: some went into retail and some went into the hospitality sector, but all in all they all seem to be leading a pretty uneventful life.

Please note that there is, of course, nothing wrong with that and I am in no way looking down on those people or judging them in a negative way, but I, myself, crave for a more interesting life.

One of my close friends mentioned that I seem to be very selective as far as my friends go; that I only choose to invest time and friendship into those (few) individuals where the relationship would be a mutual giving and taking, a system where both parties can contribute to the other person’s life.

Looking back, looking at the things that my “good” friends did and do, looking at my current friends, I think that it is safe to say that there is a certain truth to me being selective, yet, at the same time, I find that all my (past) relationships have been very rewarding, in one way or another and I would not want to miss any of them.