Being up early today has its advantages. I was able to write the first post in my series, draft the 2nd, and also get 5 miles in before 7am. Dave Gildea was somehow commenting on my posts at 5:30am which I’ll write about in a bit.

I first want to address not exercising for 9 days. I need to go to the gym for some menial lifting and active cardio because it’s become a part of my ethos. Not sure if I used that word correctly. I decided not to bring my work out clothes to Europe for 2 reasons: 1) It was cold 2) Carrying around sweaty clothes in a suit case is nasty. It was a tough decision but I made the right one.

That being said, I returned to the gym today for the first time in 9 days and felt out of shape. I managed 5 miles in 30 minutes (sick brag) which is good for the normal human being but off from the sub 29 that I was doing 9 days ago. I don’t doubt that I can get back to where I was quickly, but this was one part I missed about being away. I’ll add that I would have thoroughly enjoyed going for runs throughout some of the parts of Europe I was in.

Addressing Dave Gildea’s comment, “this picture, anti-click bait” on my blog link where I posted my ugly mug (not the one to the right). I know that Dave works for a Fortune 500 company and probably has vast experience in marketing, so I’m sure I’m not telling him any info he isn’t acutely aware of. During my trip I posted about 10 pictures on Instagram. Most were of pictures I thought would be nice seeing to someone who has never seen the area. I have about 135 followers and my most liked picture was a selfie I took in the mountains. Actually the most liked was a picture I took of Zurich but the selfie to the right was the 2nd most. Which leads me to believe a few thoughts on what people like:

• People like people. We all know everyone is selfish and only cares about themselves. When you post a picture of yourself, people who know you are genuinely interested to see how you’ve aged. They take notice if you’re fat, balding, uglier, and all the worse qualities to make themselves feel better.
• They don’t like boring. If a picture is a beautiful picture of nature, they won’t care. There has to be wild colors, a magical effect, or some unique attribute to make it worth “liking”.

So, Dave, there you go. The anti-click bait is once again…click bait.

Who doesn’t have an Uber story that they want to share? Uber is the collaboration of a billion dollar app and the common man who is looking to make a buck. The experience of getting into a car with someone you’ve never met before is both exhilarating and terrifying.

For people who read this blog who have never used Uber, it’s a service where regular Joe’s drive you from point A to point B. It’s about 50% cheaper than a taxi. Amazingly every Uber driver I talk to says how easy it is to make money and I’m not sure they consider wear and tear on their vehicle, gas, and taxes for the revenue they are bringing in. Here is an actual example:

For 12 minutes this driver made $6.69. To get an hourly rate we’ll multiply by 5 and we’ll see that Adrian is making upwards of $30 dollars an hour. That’s about 60k a year. He’s going to be rich!

Of course this is not the case as Uber take 25% of the fare. So now our $30 dollars an hour is down to $22.5. There is also a $1.65 rider fee which goes to Uber. Now we’re closer to $20 an hour before expenses. Gas and mileage probably reduce this number a bit further but it appears the typical UBER driver can make around 20 dollars and hour BEFORE taxes. Here’s a good website if you’re curious for more details.

How much Uber drivers make was not the main part of my post but I got caught up in it because I was curious myself. What inspired me to write this post is that, from my experience, Uber drivers are flat out bad drivers. This one white woman was telling me how good of a driver she was as she proceeded to make a right turn on red, WHILE AN ONCOMING CAR WAS GOING THROUGH THE GREEN LIGHT. My guy last night almost clipped his mirror by an inch as he tried to sneak in this tiny lane to make a turn. I have to say that cab drivers are flat our better drivers.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Uber. That same 6.69 fare was $15 in a cab when the driver didn’t have change for my $20. I’ll also say you’ll get a range of drivers who take being an Uber driver seriously (clean car would be my main thought to taking it seriously) and guys who have a jalopy just trying to make a buck. Here’s a quick pro con list:

Pro

• Cheaper
• GPS App that picks you up where you want
• The driver rating system seems to work well

Con

• Ordering the Uber and watching the driver drive to you in the worst way possible
• Moronic people who shouldn’t be drivers
• Some drivers flat out aren’t professional and will talk on their Bluetooth, through the speakers, to their friends (this has happened to me multiple times) using absurd language
• No one has any idea if tipping is appropriate

What’s everyone’s experience?

Rob Kelly, get ready to like this post on Twitter.

Steve McQueen, the Cincinnati Kid

The NFL Playoffs begin in a bit over and hour and I’m locked and loaded. After praising Adam’s sports betting prowess, he fed me two picks and bankrupted my account. Fortunately it must have been for a reason as I’m back today feeling more confident than ever, ready to turn 200 into 2k by the final whistle of the Super Bowl. Everyone needs a goal.

To do this I need to get off to a hot start. This means betting the first game which is the Raiders vs the Texans. The Texans have home field advantage and are laying 4 points to Connor Cook’s Oakland Raiders. I don’t like over-thinking these types of games. Looking through the Raiders schedule, you’d see that they have 3 losses with Derek Carr at QB and 2 of those were against the Chiefs, and the other against the Falcons. Both premiere teams (and my Super Bowl picks FWIW). They beat the Texans 27-20, in Mexico, on some questionable calls, in one of Brock Osweiler’s best performances of the season (243 yrds, 1 TD and 1 INT).

In this game, I intend to summon my inner Brian Hoyer and cast that on Brock Osweiler. What am I referring to? Just the 15 for 34 performance against the Chiefs last year that ended 30-0 while the Texans were home. This is not a new storyline for them. Do I expect it to be a close game? Of course. The O / U is 37 which means that not a lot of points will be scored. I think having the 4 will be the deal breaker and I wouldn’t call you a fool for taking the ML. I do like the over as well.

If, I cover the Raiders, I’ll be taking the winnings + my principal of the 100 and making a 2nd wager on the Seahawks. It’s 8 points. 8 is a lot in close games but Matthew Stafford is hurt and as much as I like Zach Zenner’s potential (I truly do), they aren’t going to roll into Seattle and issue a beat down. In fact, I think they get beat down. The Seahawks may not be the intimidating Seahawks of old, but it’s still the same CenturyLink field where they were 7-1 this year. It’s still 8 points you say. I’m not saying this is a absolutely, sure lock but I think you have to be crazy to bet on the Lions who lost by 21 to the Cowboys, and then by 7 to the Packers, in subsequent weeks.

The reward for solving puzzles, acting clever in interviews, and penning up a good essay is meeting with ?. He interviewed almost everyone of ?’s first one thousand hires, including the janitors and technicians, and has continued to interview engineers as the company’s workforce swelled. Each employee receives a warning before going to meet with ? The interview, he or she is told, could last anywhere from 30 seconds to 15 minutes. ? will likely keep on writing emails and working during the initial part of the interview and not speak much. Don’t panic. That’s normal. Eventually, he will turn around in his chair to face you, even then, though, he might not make actual eye contact with you or fully acknowledge your presence. Don’t panic. That’s normal. In due course, he will speak to you. From that point, the tales of engineers who have interviewed with ? run the gamut from torturous experience to the sublime. He might ask one question or he might several. You can be sure, though, that he will roll out The Riddle: “You’re standing on the surface of the Earth. You walk one mile south, one mile west, and one mile north. You end up exactly where you started. Where are you?” One answer to that is the North Pole, and most of the engineers get it right away. That’s when ?  will follow with “Where else could you be?” The other answer is somewhere close to the South Pole where, if you walk one mile south, the circumference of the Earth becomes one mile. Fewer engineers get this answer, and ? will happily walk them through that riddle and others and cite any relevant equations during his explanations. He tends to care less about whether or not the person gets the answer than about how they describe the problem and their approach to solving it.

No, the answer is not Softerware.

This article was posted by a friend of mine who likes to go against the grain. I’m actually sorry to see that he used the smiley face after his comment because I’m sure he doesn’t mean it. He just doesn’t want to offend any sheeple.

Before you start saying, “why should I trust this article over one that says it’s good?” I have to point out that I don’t care about coconut oil. My point is strictly that most people in our age have no idea what they’re talking about. This coconut oil article relates to doctor’s smoking cigarettes in the 50’s. People in that age didn’t know that smoking cigarettes lead to lung cancer. This could easily be the case that using coconut oil could lead to instant death.

“Some background info: Coconut oil is 92% saturated fat. Yes, that kind of fat—the kind that the USDA and the American Heart Association say to limit because it can raise your levels of LDL, or “bad” cholesterol, and therefore, up your risk of heart disease and stroke. But despite its nutritional makeup, coconut oil has been touted online as good for your health. Why?

“Got me,” says Walter Willett, MD, DrPH, chairman of the department of nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who admits he’s confused by the notion that coconut oil is a health food.

So Walter Willett disagrees with people who claim it “slows aging, helps your heart and thyroid, protect against illnesses like Alzheimer’s, arthritis and diabetes, and even helps you lose weight.” 

This reminds me of a post I saw on Facebook of a new mom asking people on Facebook whether she should listen to her dentist or her doctor regarding a type of toothpaste. People on Facebook!!! There is an unbelievable amount of misinformation on this planet that I belong to the idea that if it doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger.

Everything in life is adapting. If you try a new idea and it doesn’t work, stop doing it and try something else. It’s fair to think that 99% of the people on Earth have no idea what the hell they are doing. If your name isn’t Elon Musk, you are probably one of them. I know I’m one of them. The difference is that I don’t consume myself with this misinformation. I don’t read an article by some quack and immediately turn it to gospel. I go through my life with trial and error and whatever works best for me. Other people can chime in but I’m not a follower to what people tell me. People are idiots.

I saw this girl walking today and thought she was pretty sexy in her skirt and boots.

In the least creepy way possible I snapped a shot of her with the intent to use her as blog fodder. My first thought was that she has to be cold. Bare legs in 30 degree weather can’t be fun. When Matt Barkley, the QB of the Bears, was asked if he was going to wear long sleeves last week, he answered, “I’m not a polar bear.” Maybe this girl is.

So this brought me to, “why would she suffer in the cold to look hot?” Perhaps I misjudge how cold she actually is. Maybe she has 20 layers on top and that keeps her body temperature up. I have no doubt that men are checking her out because of those legs though. Is it worth it? Let me work it.

I’m aware that Barstool doesn’t hire journalists, or even qualified talent, but this hyperbole has to stop because it loses all meaning once its used too often. Some Chernin exec must have come in the office and said “the sheeple don’t care if your title is accurate, make it grandiose”. You can click on the image to be taken to their post.

Example 1

Nate is easily the lamest writer of the entire crew. I can spot a Nate title from a mile away because they all have the same shitty Nate feel. I pushed play on the trailer and there was more Zac Efron & the Rock than hot girls which makes me wonder how it could possibly be the “best trailer he’s ever seen.”

Example 2

I’m not going to go out of my way and rip an old war veteran playing the harmonica to the National Anthem but it’s not the best ever. Pres is the King of over-exaggeration which must have been taught to him at a young age. Everything has to be sold as better than it actually is. Eye Herpes. His moon shot off of Hank. Being a Mogul.

Example 3

Dear Jordie, what the fuck are you thinking? I’ve played Crash Bandicoot on PS1 when it first came out. Great game. Maybe top 20 in 1996. No way is this the best news of 2016.

Example 4

Back to back Jordie’s. Pretty sure this isn’t the greatest invention of the day, let alone the year, let alone all of history.

Example 5

Has Rone not heard of 2nd Round Ti.K.O by KFC? I respect Rone’s opinion in Battle Raps, so maybe he could be right that you’re a mean one Mr Grinch is the greatest in history, but I still think you have to consider Rise Pageviews Rise.

Example 6

Once again I haven’t seen that many sitting down bitch slaps so maybe it is. However, the video looks completely fake. Fake content does not equal the greatest in history.

Here’s a thought from Elon Musk:

Here’s a thought from Tom Stortz:

“Naughty….Or Nice.”

Skip to about 20 minutes for the finale. Him climbing the ladder also haunted me. Me and Elon have a lot in common.