Sports on TV at the Gym

Whenever I go to the gym to get a bit of cardio in I try to grab a machine that is near a TV that does not have sports on it. I find watching "the game" on TV extremely boring. Watching that is the equivalent of watching nothing at all to me. I don't like running for an hour and it makes the time go by so much faster if I have some type of distraction. Unfortunately, most of the TVs, if not all of them, always have some type of baseball game or something on them. Boring! The gym is filled by an equal number of men and women on the cardio machines and I don't know many women who enjoy watching sports. In fact, I think that most cannot tolerate it. So why are the TVs normally turned to sports channels? Beats me. If I had my way, I'd ban it except for one solitary TV that can have sports just so that I can appease those guys who must watch their sports games. Hell, many guys I know don't even like watching sports. I think that a mere 1% (of not less) of the people on cardio machines at any point in time actually care about sports. The rest of the 99% of people would be happier if it was some sitcom re-run or CNN that was on the TV

Scarves

I bought bf's mom a scarf for her birthday. I never thought much about scarves until I started looking for scarves suitable for her. I never realized how cute scarves are and how cute and chic they make an outfit. ^_^ I'm going to start looking for scarves for myself next. Unfortunately, all the ones I like happen to be in the range of 100+ dollars for a little square of silk. *sigh*

Pet Peeve with Kids

One of my biggest pet peeves is adults who think their kids are oh-so-precious that you want to see them when the kid is sick. eww. No way do I want to be near a contagious child. It's bad enough being near a kid when the kid is being 'fussy' so why on earthy do I want to be near this kid when the kid is sick? Ugh. I will definitley not impose my sick child on anyone else and if my kid starts making a scene in a public place, I'll spare everyone the embarrassment and take the misbehaving kid away.

Women on Cars

CNN had an article on cars that women want to buy versus what men want to buy. I am so not the typical female compared to these women. All the cars the women chose are, imo, heinous and I'd never even consider getting behind the wheel of any of them. I think I lean decidedly male for this study.

Top cars: men vs. women

When it comes to cars, it's easy to figure out what men are after. It's women who are complicated

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - A look at marketing data showing which cars men prefer and which ones women like revealed something I'd long suspected.

While men may, indeed, be from Mars, women are from someplace much more complex and difficult to figure out. Maybe Boston.

The figures, supplied by NOP World, a market research firm, show specific car models and an index number representing how many men -- or women -- intend to buy that car and no other compared to the percentage of their gender-mates who intend to buy the average car.

In other words, these are cars that seem to sell most disproportionately to just one sex or the other.

The most striking thing about NOP's data is how easy it is to figure out what guys want.

The Porsche 911 -- the most overwhelmingly male passenger car -- has an "Index Male to Total" of 214.3, for example. That's more than double the average. The car's "Index Female to Total," on the other hand, is just 14.3.

It's surprising the 911 doesn't grow hair on its hood and eat Krispy Kreme for breakfast.

Other cars at the top of the masculinity dial include the exotic Ford GT supercar, Maserati Spyder, Jaguar XK8 sports car and the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution.

You get the idea: If it's very fast, awfully fast, terribly fast or way, way too fast, guys like it. Also, they tend to be expensive.

The one common trait among cars that women like is that they are not expensive.

The most womanly car, with a "Female" index of 200, is the yet-unreleased Pontiac G6 convertible. (You go, Oprah! Plus, it's a convertible.)

Actually, the G6 has a wide lead in the "girl car" category. The closest other passenger cars are the Suzuki Forenza with an index of 150 and the Volkswagen New Beetle with an index of 147.6.

How do women decide which cars to buy?

"If you picture a fraction with cost as the numerator then, as the denominator, you have things like reliability, performance..." said Doug Scott, NOP World's automotive analyst.

He went on with a long list of factors.

To sum it up, women add up the good things, subtract the bad things, then compare the result with the cost of the car. Then they think carefully about the result.

Men, it seems, just add stuff up then wonder if they can afford it without having to switch to domestic beer.

If a typical male mind -- take mine, since I'm evidently not doing much with it -- were expanded to the size of the United States of America, that portion of the mind dedicated to responding to the word "enough" would be the size of a bumper pool table in a New Jersey bar.

That portion of the brain dedicated to responding to the word "more," on the other hand, would occupy everything west of the Rockies, including Hawaii and the territories of American Samoa and Guam.

That is why the Mustang GT has four headlights. Not because men want more headlights, but because those two extra headlights -- Ford calls them "fog lights" but, really, they're headlights -- are only available on the V8-powered Mustang GT.

The male driver of a V6-powered Mustang, with its 210-horsepower engine, clearly has "enough" power. Probably more than enough.

But when stopped at a red light next to a four-lighted 300-horsepower Mustang GT it is immediately obvious to everyone that the other driver has "more."

This is the same reason that Dodge has greatly increased the size of the "Hemi" badge on its cars for the 2006 model year. The larger badge makes it very easy to see, at some distance, who has "more."

Dodge has stated outright that it designs and markets cars for men. So it has given us the Dodge Magnum, a muscle-car station wagon. It has also given us the new Dodge Charger, a muscle-car family sedan with four doors, roomy back seats and a nice trunk.

Clever, those Dodge boys. Clearly, they understand that, even though they are marketing cars to men, most men don't just go out and buy cars on their own. They still have to get the thumbs-up from someone else. Someone who knows what a "numerator" is and how to use it.

Women. Always making stuff complicated.

Hamburger Buns Lead to America's Obesity

Bf and I wanted to have hamburgers for dinner tonight. Given that it is only two of us we didn't want to buy too many hamburger buns. We plan to only make 2 burgers, one for each of us. I have searched high and low and have not been able to find a grocery store which will sell the hamburger buns by the piece; buns are only sold in packs of 4, 6, or 8. O.o There is no way we could finish that many buns between the two of us. *sigh* My search had to end with me settling on a sourdough round where we'll have to cut our own slices off of it to serve as our hamburger buns. What does everyone else do? I can't be the only one who's had this dilemma. I know there are tons of couples out there who must grapple with this problem. What's the solution? I am sure most people end up buying the 4 (6, 8) pack of buns and reconciling it to themselves with "oh, we'll just have a few extra meals of hamburgers to finish up these buns." What does that lead to? Fat Americans. Let's face it: hamburgers aren't exactly the healthiest thing in the world for you. An occassional one is ok and your body can tolerate it without exploding on you. Many servings of hamburgers, however, will cause you to grow love handles. The extra buns we were forced to buy caused us to eat the unplanned hamburgers, thereby causing my little, now large, love handles to sprout up .. er, out. What's the solution? Find a local baker (aka Mom or some nice neighbor) to make you 2 homemade buns at a time so that you don't overindulge on hamburger buns.

Getting Old and Settling Down

I know that bf and I are definitely in a comfortable relationship because all I feel like doing when we go on vacation is sitting and relaxing. Any idea of going to check out the clubs and bars is not that appealing to me. I'd much rather see the sights of the town and spend the evening relaxing and soaking in the city's culture. Prior to meeting the bf I'd always be ready to check out the night scene and stay up late looking for various local "watering holes." Now I'm content to spend time with bf and not do anything except stay put.