A few months ago I was really worried about my lower back. I sit all. Basically I’m a cyborg, attached to some kind of technology at all times, and often that means in the seated position. My family has a history of lower back pain, not just pain but serious issues. I could face surgery for herniated discs and so on.

I’ve even tried sitting in really nice chairs, ergonomic chairs that claim to be perfectly formed for these troubles, but I’d just end up slouching anyway. So I’d had enough. If I was going to be sitting all the time, I might as well do it as healthy as possible.

First, I went to the broadest source of knowledge ever devised. The Interwebz! And lo and behold I found my answer from Google. Or at least they recommended an answer. Apparently a good chunk of the googlers sit on inflated balls when they’re at work to avoid this lower back pain. There were some other options posed, one being a cool kneeling chair that I’ve actually tested out in Italy, and loved. But it’s expensive and apparently not as solidly back-healthy as the ball.

The results weren’t immediate, it’s been about two months and I can say I have no more back pain after a long day of work. I still have a little bit after I get up in the morning, and for that I’m told I should sleep on the floor. But for now, this is a great solution. Also, make sure to get the biggest ball you can find, you want your knees at right angles. Mine is a 75cm diameter. But you know what the best thing about this is? The balls cost $20 max. Compared to hundreds of dollars for these expensive ergonomic office chairs, it seems too good to be true. But it is true. The only downside, which is probably why most people don’t do it [aside from looking like a goof at work] is the comfort level while you’re sitting down. It’s not great, you can’t lean back and lounge, but I’m fine with that. I’m pain free.

ps. don’t get suckered in with one of these trendy models either. The regular $20 exercise balls are just as good, if not better since they move around more and that’s the action that makes them healthy for your back, the constant adjustment and motion of your lower back. Plus you can’t bounce up and down on this type, not too mention you’ll look like some quasi-fool. If you’re going to go ball-chair, go all the way. Don’t half-ass it with some kind of mediocre compromise that screams “I’m not confident enough to just sit on a ball, I need the traditional tenets of the office chair to align me with the herd.” Ball chairs are for mavericks and cowboys, ride hard!

I like Tuesdays, not only because my webcomic updates on that day of the week, but also because of NYT Science Tuesdays. I got hooked on them back when I attended the UofI in a class called Essays & Assays. To this day, I still remember in detail lessons, discussions and concepts that came of that class. Meme theory, perception of the self, the efficiency of autonomy and other philosophical/science based intersections. That’s not the point though, of this post.

The point is that drugs [antibiotics] solve a short term problem by creating a long term catastrophe. As read in the article from the New York Times. This seems obvious, we’re too quick to solve infection with pills and salves, when in reality the human body will solve most of those things on it’s own. In a book we read during that class [can't find the title just yet] a medical doctor commandeered a chapter on how he rarely sent his family to get treatment, knowing that 90% of the time, smaller type complications with their health would be solved by the body’s natural defenses.

I’m not saying all drugs are bad and unnecessary, but when we’re prescribing handfuls of pills to people that just need a lifestyle change [obesity, depression] or some decent person-to-person help, such as therapy or coaching, the issue is pretty obvious that we take the low road. And how many times did your parents advise you to take the easy way out? It’s never the right decision.

There’s nothing wrong with lifting weights, taking care of your body and whatnot, but why not put it to better use?

Remember the bicycle generators from cartoons and such? You know, some bipedal character pedals furiously to light up a small little light bulb on the front of the bike. That’s a good idea when the bike doesn’t have to go anywhere, and the don’t in a gym. Beyond bikes, there are countless other contraptions like Stairmasters, treadmills, elipticals and beyond. Weight lifting. Why not use pulleys that generate power to provide resistance for body-building and strength training in place of simple free-weights or whatever. Look at something like the Bowflex, it already uses an alternative resistance system that could easily be hooked up to some kind of crank-generator that could at least power the television the person was watching while working out.

This kind of thing would not generate a lot of power, but I’m guessing with some modifications to these huge gyms in the way they are built and what kind of power they are using, the people working out at them could completely power the gym itself. That would be pretty cool.

People are selling bike pedaling generators but I think the big challenge is coming up with an adaptable system that could be hooked up to many different types of apparatuses. Since there are so many. Most likely, it’ll just be picked up as a stand-alone system, so people will have to buy new machines, which I’m not sure would be a good solution anyway, seeing as the amount of energy to produce those machines may just displace the whole thing in the first place. Fred Flintstone car? Now that’s clean energy… Sort of.

No subhead this time, just straight into it. Some quacks over in Pennsylvania claim that cell phones may or may not cause cancer. So the question is…

Is it easier to quit cell-phoning or quit smoking? My vote is on smoking. Maybe this is how my grandparents felt when all the doctors were saying smoking is bad for you. It’s a little late now isn’t it? Well, unless we start communicating those huge viking horns and a specific pattern of smoke signals. Perhaps we’d base it on morse code and depict emotion with war-drums. Or wait, we could just use corded phones. Oh… But that’s so boring!

Good luck to all the crackerberries out there. You know who you are