Irony Is Wasted On The Stupid

Since the start of the year, states have been grappling with the procurement and end-user delivery of COVID-19 vaccines.  (States are doing this because there was no national plan, thanks to the incredible collection of dumbasses in the prior presidential administration.)  It's very similar to how the entire pandemic has been handled, which I've compared to the Wild West.  There are no laws, only unenforced guidelines that many people simply choose not to follow.

Most states / governors have tried to establish sensible vaccine distribution guidelines that seek to inoculate frontline healthcare workers and older-aged Americans.  However, some states have now decided to open vaccine eligibility to those under age 65 if they have an underlying health condition that heightens the risk of severe illness from COVID-19.  This seems benign enough until you look at what is considered (by our Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) to be a qualifying health condition.....

The most objectionable condition has to be those who currently or previously smoked cigarettes.  Those who choose to pollute their lungs, not not mention the air that we all breathe, get bumped up in this line.  What a travesty, spending a life-saving vaccine on people who are willingly shortening their lives every day of the week -- plus increasing everyone's health care costs while they're at it.  Bravo, CDC.

Another questionable condition has to be obesity.  Yes, I realize there are illness-based and genetically-based reasons why some people may become clinically obese. Even conceding that, this means many others who became obese simply by eating too much of the wrong things and not exercising, will be able to get a vaccination before others who made healthier choices.

Leave it to the government to nudge people away from living a healthy lifestyle by rewarding those who don't.  They should call it the 'anti-survival of the fittest' policy.

The bigger irony is, this pandemic would have hospitalized and killed many fewer Americans to begin with if its citizens had healthier diets / lifestyles. Now to add insult to injury, anyone who has spent a lifetime staying fit by eating right, not smoking, and being active, is going to pay a price for that by being made to wait to be vaccinated against a deadly virus.  Who knew that being healthy could be such a vice?

In the words of the great playwright Oscar Wilde, “Irony is wasted on the stupid.”

Apple Watch Watch

I bought myself an Apple Watch for Christmas.  At least that's what I told myself and others, I really didn't need a reason other than I've wanted one for a while.

When wear-able technology first became available to consumers, I wasn't a fan.  I couldn't get past what people were doing with their Fitbits, something I thought was a fad (mostly correctly) and an intrusion on others' lives, namely mine.

Over the past couple of years, I've noticed how my kids have used their Apple Watches.  There did seem to be a definite convenience to getting a digital notification by a simple vibration on the arm, and being able to disseminate its importance with a quick turn of the wrist.  Plus, it was so much more than a Fitbit, since it integrates with Apple Store apps.

Of course, for those who feel they must use it for health reasons, it includes a fitness monitor that lets the wearer know if they're being active enough.  While I don't use that feature, it's fine for others who need the motivation.  More importantly, it lets the the owner share that information with other Apple Watch users upon request and acceptance, which lessens the chance anyone will share that unneeded info with me!

One of the more recent concerns I had about the Apple Watch was the unusual feeling of having something on my wrist.  I hadn't worn a watch regularly for a couple of years, and saw little future reason to do so during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Turns out that wearing a watch is like riding a bike, and I picked it up again without even thinking about it.

So thumbs up for the Apple Watch.....another technology product I didn't know I needed until Apple invented it and told me I needed it.

Compliance Versus Defiance

In the midst of the enormous health crisis that is the coronavirus pandemic, it’s sad there is so much political fire being exchanged.  It’s actually necessary due to the disgraceful way the executive branch has denied the pandemic and mismanaged the response, but it’s still sad.

Not to pile on the sadness, but at the 30,000 foot level, there is a least one new political truth that has been brought into sharp focus.  That is, that Democrats have become the party of compliance, while Republicans have become the party of defiance.

It hasn’t been like this since, well, ever.  Democrats are supposed to be the liberal ones, fighting against the status quo.  Does anybody around here remember the battles (both real and figurative) of the 1960s and 1970s, not to mention the progressive, Medicare-for-all movements of the now?  And Republicans have always been the party of don’t-change conservatism, supposedly more obedient to the law.

The pandemic changed that.  When it came time to follow the advice of the medical experts, to take precautions, to stay home, to avoid people…..it was Democrats who were quick to comply.  Meanwhile, led by the misinformation of their chief executive and conservative media, the Republicans were slow to act.  They thought they were smarter than the experts, who weren’t going to tell them what to do.

Only three or so weeks into this thing, we know compliance saves lives, while defiance costs lives.  While it’s been awful to have watched this happening in real time, there may be one very small consolation – defiance is more likely to thin the herd of the defiant ones, at least for the future.

Fitbit(e) Me Again

The warm weather and longer daylight of summertime encourages people to increase their level of physical activity.  It might be something big, like long range running / cycling / swimming, or something simple like gardening, or walking the dog.  (Alas, many people don't walk their dogs much in colder weather, and yes, that makes them terrible pet owners.)

Regardless, this is a net good thing for those people's health, and to a lesser extent, a society that may not have to bear a cost to care for more unhealthy people.  Unfortunately, some of those who fall into the 'simple' category also fall into a net bad category.  Specifically, the category of people who feel it's necessary to brag to others about their new, extraordinarily minor activity.

This is the scourge of the Fitbit, a fitness tracking device introduced several years ago.  I blogged about it in 2015, and it's only been made worse (meaning even more ubiquitous) by the very popular Apple Watch.  Here is the key paragraph:

Hey Fitbit users:  The rest of us are happy that a consumer product has made you more fitness-aware.  We just don’t want to hear about it every damn time you’re around us.  You might want to assume that some of us are doing a lot more than you are to stay fit, we simply aren’t publicizing it.  Also, I would caution Fitbit users to remember the importance of diet in overall health – but please, you don’t have to tell the rest of us your daily fresh vegetable or yogurt intake, either.

Bragging about a slow walk or slow bike ride only incriminates the bragger.  Those who wear fitness tracking devices should not confuse activity with cardiovascular-improving, weight-loss inducing exercise.  Movement is good, but movement without elevating your heart rate, or burning substantial calories, is a big health nothing-burger.

I suggest that before these folks brag about their activity, they think about whether their audience cares, or whether anyone is seeing any actual results.  If the answer is no, don't brag about it.

Fitbit(e) Me

Some consumer product fads are harmless.  Pet rocks.  Rubik’s cubes.  Bottled water.  Wait, check that, I’m being told that bottled water is still a multi-billion dollar industry…..go figure.

Regardless, I’ve been waiting in the weeds to complain about a new product fad that began as harmless, but has morphed into an annoying pastime for some.  It involves the Fitbit.

For the un-indoctrinated, a Fitbit is a wearable product (basically like a wristwatch) that uses sensors and wireless technology to calculate how much a person moves in a prescribed time.  While there are plenty of competitors (such as the Apple Watch), Fitbit has developed tremendous brand-awareness and loyalty, and has a big lead in this space.

There’s nothing wrong with the Fitbit, nor with the consumer ‘need’ that the Fitbit tries to address for people.  That is, give them motivation to live a more active lifestyle.  If monitoring the number of steps taken daily, along with distance and time does that for people, that’s great.  Fitter human beings benefit not only that person, but society in general.

The problem is not the Fitbit.  The problem is Fitbit users who consistently believe they must tell everyone else how much they’ve moved.  I’m beginning to think the Fitbit user manual carries a warning message claiming the Fitbit will self-destruct if the wearer doesn’t immediately announce their daily (or more frequent) fitness results to those within shouting distance.

Hey Fitbit users:  The rest of us are happy that a consumer product has made you more fitness-aware.  We just don’t want to hear about it every damn time you’re around us.  You might want to assume that some of us are doing a lot more than you are to stay fit, we simply aren’t publicizing it.  Also, I would caution Fitbit users to remember the importance of diet in overall health – but please, you don’t have to tell the rest of us your daily fresh vegetable or yogurt intake, either.

By definition, fads come and go, and that’s especially true with fitness and diet crazes.  Only time will tell whether the Fitbit is a fad.  In the meantime, let’s at least agree not to talk about it.

Coffee And Doughnuts (And Terrorists)

I don't understand coffee and doughnuts.

Oh, I know what they are, I just don't understand the people who are willing to buy and consume them.  Let me explain.

I recently met a colleague at a local Starbucks (his choice, not mine, I don't drink coffee).  I got there around 10am, and during the next hour, I observed a steady stream of customers walk through the door.  There were men and women of all ages, some dressed for work, some clearly not working.  If I had to categorize them under one group, I suppose I'd say they were upper-middle class Caucasians.

These customers all had one other thing in common:  They were perfectly willing to pay several dollars for a cup of heavily sweetened, coffee bean-flavored hot water.  No doubt, this same thing was going on in thousands of other coffee shops in America, and perhaps every other country in the developed world.

This is why the terrorists hate us.  We live in a society where people are willing and able to spend hundreds / thousands of dollars every year on foo-foo coffee.  In the meantime, there is human suffering occurring in the U.S., and especially in the rest of the world.  Make no mistake, the terrorists don't intend to lessen the suffering, they simply want everyone else to suffer like them.  (Oh, and there's that religious thing, too.)

I don't blame Starbucks for any of this.  They are branding geniuses, able to get consumers to not only feel good about paying a lot for something unhealthy, but to also get those folks to waste the equivalent of many hours per year to stand in line for it!  As a capitalist, I say props to them.

I observed this same sort of hypnotic consumer behavior a few days ago at another brand name juggernaut, Krispy Kreme.  They were giving away free doughnuts on National Doughnut Day (yup, that's a thing), and the line reportedly when around the block for hours.  All of this for an unhealthy, warm, super-sugary blob of dough.  At least people weren't paying for it that day, which accounts for why I presume the crowd to have been made up of all economic classes and ethnicity.

So let's recap.  Starbucks and Krisy Kreme = admirable brand name juggernauts.  Their customers = free-spending hypnotized calorie consumers.  Coffee and doughnuts = super-expensive comfort food.  Terrorists = still and always a-holes.

A Fitness Problem

Central Iowa has a fitness problem.  But not like you might think.

In the next few weeks, LifeTime Fitness is going to open a huge franchised health club in suburban Des Moines.  This is the latest of many other large 'full-service' fitness facilities in the metro area, including Prairie Life Fitness, Seven Flags Fitness, Aspen Athletic Club, Fitness World West, plus several newer YMCAs that exist in and around the city.

In the meantime, we have a variety of other not-quite-full service health facilities, such as Planet Fitness or CrossFit Des Moines.  Of course, we also have a bunch of 24-hour self-service options, like Anytime Fitness or Snap Fitness.

We also have all kinds of other wellness entities (some with multiple locations and many locally-owned) that actually exist for various boutique exercise classes, including Farrell's Extreme Bodyshaping or Kosama, to name two of more than 20.

So in a metro area of about 300,000, we are overrun with health clubs.  Unfortunately, we are not overrun with healthy looking people.

This begs the question, how do all of these fitness facilities make enough money to exist?  The only logical conclusion I can come up with is, this is an industry that is given money in return for nothing.  Think about it -- thousands of people pay monthly and/or annual membership fees to partake in the venue and/or classes, and then inevitably many of them never actually show up.

This is clearly a great business model, offering a pre-paid service that is never actually performed, with no guarantee of a better outcome.  As a fee-based financial advisor, the cynical side of me would say this business model is a lot that of a commission-based financial advisor!

In the end, not all of these fitness places are going to make it.  That's good, because later this year I'll be looking to buy some excellent used exercise equipment.