Author: Mike

If I’m a little grumpy and/or goofy lately, this is why.

BAM! WOXY is back online! The free aacPlus 32kbps stream sounds even better than the MP3 64kpbs stream.

In the ever continuous quest for improvement with as little effort as possible, I’m trying a new supplement stack:

Before breakfast

500mg Acetyl-L-Carintine (Nature’s Way)

3000mg Glucosamine Sulfate (Jarrow)

2400mg Chondroitin Sulfate (Jarrow)

600mg Methyl-Sulfonyl-Methane (Jarrow)

250mg Rhodiola Rosea (Nature’s Way)

500mg Aniracetam (Bulk Nutrition)

1 Multivitamin (Kirkland/Costco)

Breakfast

1000mg Vitamin C (Nature’s Way)

500mg Fish oil / 25mg GLA / 100mg CLA (Jarrow)

2400mg Lechtin (Jarrow)

Before lunch

500mg Acetyl-L-Carintine (Nature’s Way)

250mg Rhodiola Rosea (Nature’s Way)

500mg Aniracetam (Bulk Nutrition)

Lunch

1000mg Vitamin C (Nature’s Way)

500mg Fish oil / 25mg GLA / 100mg CLA (Jarrow)

2400mg Lecithin (Jarrow)

Before dinner

500mg Acetyl-L-Carintine (Nature’s Way)

500mg Aniracetam (Bulk Nutrition)

Dinner

1000mg Vitamin C (Nature’s Way)

2400mg Lecithin (Jarrow)

Post workout

Jarrow BCAAs / Creatine Surge:

900mg L-Leucine

450mg L-Isoleucine

450mg L-Valine

3500mg L-Glutamine

6g Creatine Monohydrate

1g Ribose

1g Taurine

35g Dextrose

25mg Alpha-lipoic Acid (haha, why even bother…)

24g Whey protein (Optimum Nutrition)

Before bed

3000mg Glucosamine Sulfate (Jarrow)

2400mg Chondroitin Sulfate (Jarrow)

600mg Methyl-Sulfonyl-Methane (Jarrow)

Effects:

I’ve slowly built this stack up over the last 6 weeks, trying to give ample time per supplement to make sure I’m seeing a positive effect. Most notably, the ALCAR has removed any tip-of-the-tongue verbal issues and allows me to remember at least one dream per night. The Rhodiola has brought about a definite boost in energy and a noticably improved mood (I don’t quite feel like a Greek fucking god, but I’m getting there).

I originally started taking the two lecithin caps as a single dose and noticed the lovely negative affect of a clenched jaw roughly 40 minutes post dose. Actually the first time it happened, I was balls-deep in studying a telephony spec and didn’t notice I had been clenching my jaw for probably an hour straight. The subsequent soreness and mild headache was enough to tell me something was wrong, but I continued to take the 4800mg dose of lecithin until I had pin-pointed it was the cause.

Aniracetam is the most recently added supplement and I will withold judgement until later. I do notice my heartrate is roughly 20% elevated for an hour post-dose so the stimulant claims for this drug are well-warranted.

Proposed Changes:

As my goals are generalized health improvement, muscle development and cognition assistance, this stack is quite varied. Everyone touts that ALCAR and nootropics must be paired with a free-radical scavenger for optimal effect so it looks like I need (more) lipoic acid. Why Jarrow even bothered to included 25mg of the stuff in their Creatine/Carb mix is beyond me, especially when their smallest recommended dose when taken individually is 100-600mg. The AOR / Geronova wank-off over ALA stereoisomers is cute, but I’m not sure I want to pay $35/month for the stuff. Maybe I could switch over to Ortho Mind since it has R-lipoic, ALCAR and a host of other fun mental amplifiers. What’s the logical fallacy called when someone tries to prove a point by showing facts about a related item to the item in question? AOR explains the various positive effects of the nootropics and how L-Pyroglutamic Acid is the core molecule behind the various “-racetam” nootropics, but Ortho Mind doesn’t actually contain a true racetam. I’m sure L-Pyro has a great effect on it’s own, I just dislike the spiel.

As for muscle development, I’ll probably add specific zinc and magnesium supplements to be taken before bed, along with a slow-acting protein (maybe just a late night snack of the cottage cheese I already eat at a rate of 5 pounds a week).

…and yes, I’m already eating clean, spread out among 4-6 meals a day, concentrating slow carbs in the morning and moving toward protein/fat based meals as the day progresses, little to no alcohol, and very few processed food sources. If you try to take away my Diet Coke, I will cry.

I apologize that this post is not about cars, detailing or cameras.

Most of you know, I have terrible knees. It all started when I was still recovering from surgery and decided to try out for the high school football team. All was well until one morning, a 200 lb dude fell on my left leg, bending my knee inwards. One partially-torn MCL and a stretched ACL later, my knees have never been the same. A subsequent MCL/ACL injury from racquetball on the left knee didn’t help either! I’ve been in more and more pain, especially in the right knee which is a bit odd since all of the injuries were to the left knee. Turns out, a separate issue is at work here. Just due to genetics, my knee caps simply do not stay in place. Instead of sitting in a bone groove where it should, both knee caps sit toward the outside of the knee. This is causing grinding and wearing down of cartilage throughout the knee. This explains why anti-inflammatories help out to such an intense degree and why I’m in so much pain if I forget them a few days in a row.

I just got back from a consultation with an orthopedic surgeon. Physical therapy on my knees has failed and the next step in treatment would be to strengthen the inner muscle of the thigh (medialis). Both the physicians assistant and the doc said my medialis is well-developed so that wouldn’t help. Barring anything odd found in my MRI next week, I get to schedule surgery! Depending on a few factors, there are two procedures that may be used. The first is called a lateral release and the recovery time could be as short as two weeks. The second is much more involved, requires a slight fracture of the femur and implant of an artificial bone splint and the minimum recovery time is 8 weeks.

Honestly, I’m looking forward to surgery. I’ve been to four doctors about this and now they finally realize that this isn’t going to heal itself. I’d almost rather have the more advanced procedure since it has a higher success rate. This isn’t happening for at least a couple months, so I’m going to start counting the days until my knee problems are fixed for good…. hopefully.

A bit of a sensationalist title, but Instant Messaging and Trashing Google exposes some very interesting numbers. I have used AIM as my IM client since it overtook ICQ in popularity. If people don’t have AIM, I talk to them though email. I’ve tried MSN, but since my core group of people uses AIM, I have no need for it! The numbers are eye-opening, showing that MSN has the largest userbase by far, 203 million. If I had a userbase of 33 million, I’d feel pretty proud, but AIM has but 16.6% the userbase of the class leader!

Since MSN and Yahoo recently joined forces, does that mean MSN is now a 280 million user juggernaught?

Frogger? No thanks; the graphical update is pretty weak and it’s still Frogger. We actually liked those games? God, the next generation is going to make fun of us for liking Halo.

WOXY has been playing a local band, Smoosh, for awhile now and I’d been meaning to look them up. To my total shock, the band is comprised of 12 and 14 year old sisters! They have been a band and making music since 2000… a six year old musician? That’s just f’ing cool.

Oh, what a great history!

  1. AT&T is forced by the US DOJ to split into seven baby bells:
    1. Ameritech
    2. Bell Atlantic
    3. BellSouth
    4. NYNEX
    5. Pacific Telesis
    6. Southwestern Bell
    7. US West
  2. Original parent company AT&T spins off AT&T Wireless
  3. Southwestern Bell and Pacific Telesis merge to form SBC
  4. SBC and BellSouth partner to start Cingular
  5. SBC purchases Ameritech
  6. Cingular purchases AT&T Wireless
  7. SBC purchases AT&T
  8. SBC renames itself at&t (lowercase)
  9. at&t rebrands Cingular to AT&T Wireless
  10. at&t will soon merge with BellSouth

Customers of the old AT&T Wireless sevice were often referrenced as Cingular Blue while other customers were Cingular Orange. Someone suggested the new color should be based on the beating the customers have taken, Black and Blue.