Book Review: My 9/11-Through inflight Eyes

 

This short book (just under 100 pages) was written about the author's experience on 9/11/01 and how the terrorist attacks affected her in the days, months, and years after the attacks. The author was a member of the ground staff for United Airlines operating out of Newark New Jersey on 9/11. She coordinated the flight staff and helped the flight attendants to get checked in and ready for their flights. As a result, she was one of the last people to see the crew of United 93 before the flight took off.

The book is largely a collection of what look to be journal entries written over the course of about 8-9 years in which the author writes about her experiences. She does not focus much on 9/11 itself, although she does talk about seeing the flight crew as they checked in, and some of the calls she took from family members as well as discussing the calls that flight attendants made from the plane during the hijacking to report what was going on. Most of the book deals with the aftermath, and the author's struggles with PTSD, depression, and substance abuse, and the effect it had on her ability to work, her family, etc. 

As I said, the book is short and is a very quick read. I would not call it something that is easy to read, but it definitely details and exemplifies the toll that the events of 9/11 had on people who were not on the planes or in the buildings yet were deeply affected nevertheless. I would not say that the book is worth the price of the hardcover or paperback versions, but if you subscribe to audible or kindle unlimited (or something comparable in which the book is available) it is worth reading or listening to.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Beginner Pilates Doubles Day 46

Day 46 was Flow 2 in Pilates and a shoulders and arms circuit workout in Lift-4. In the circuit workout (again meaning no HIIT cardio) there are three blocks of three rounds of four exercises, alternating between a shoulder exercise, a biceps exercise, and a triceps exercise.  After you do the third block, you do three burnout rounds doing a shoulder exercise (swimmers), a biceps exercise (full curls), and a triceps exercise (triceps push-ups), each for 30 seconds with no rest between the exercise sets. Then you finish off with three rounds of alternating core-focused exercises. It is another very tough workout, and because you are going so fast from set to set, it does not take much weight at all in order to get you to failure. I had to reduce the amount of weight I was using on the last set or two for a few of the exercises, and I definitely felt like I could not do another rep by the time the third round was over for each exercise. 

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Bones: Season 5

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from prior seasons but does not contain any spoilers from season 5+++

The fifth season of Bones aired during the 2009-2010 TV season and followed the same format that has made the show successful. That is, mostly being a case-of-the-week procedural crime-drama but also including some larger storylines that play out over the course of the season or get carried over from the prior season. In this season, one of the later examples is a continuation of the "gravedigger" storyline with the trial of Heather Taffet (played by Deiredra Lovejoy) and the team having to find concrete evidence to convict her. The season picks up with Booth returning to the FBI trying to figure out if his feelings for Brennan are real, or an after-effect of the brain injury that he suffered at the end of season four. The show does continue the tease of will Booth and Brennan get together, with the writers doing everything they can to keep them apart, which includes a season finale in which a more significant time jump going into season six is teased. This season also has the milestone 100th episode (which David Boreanez directed) that looks back on the history of the team members and allows for a way to incorporate Eric Millegan into the season. 

For those who get the Blu-Ray set, the show looks and sounds very good in HD, getting a nice (but not spectacular) blu-ray transfer. The 22 episodes are spread across four discs, as are the various special features. Those include commentary tracks on two episodes, a featurette on the 100th episode, two behind-the-scenes featurettes, a gag reel, deleted scenes, and extended versions of two episodes.

Overall, the series continues to be strong. By this season it found the formula that works and does not deviate much from that, while still managing to make the shows interesting and fresh. This season includes many good guest and recurring stars including Cyndi Lauper, Ryan O'Neal, Emily's sister Zooey Deschanel, who plays Brennan's cousin in an episode, and Billy Gibbons, who again plays Angela's father. The roles of the various interns are also expanded this season, with the show continuing to rotate the characters of Clark, Daisy, Wendell, Arastoo, Colin, and Vincent throughout the season. So, if you have liked the show (especially from season two forward) then you will probably like this season as well.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Beginner Pilates Doubles Day 45

Day 45 was flow 1 in Pilates and the recovery workouts for Lift-4. I definitely needed the foam rolling workout to work some of the soreness out of my legs today. As far as Pilates goes, I did not feel as flexible this time as I did earlier in the week, but that is the nature of my flexibility level. I take a couple of steps forward, then regress a little, etc. I do think that the Pilates program would have been better to do two weeks of fundamentals, two weeks of flow, and two weeks of burn. The next time I do Lift-4, that is how I am going to set it up. Since I am getting toward the end of Lift-4, I think I am going to do another doubles workout, but this time doing one of the OpenFit yoga programs for the low-intensity, flexibility workout and P90X 3 for the "regular" workout. That will mean one day a week I will be doing yoga twice, and of course, X3 has a Pilates routine too so I will not be dropping that completely. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Beginner Pilates Doubles Day 44

Day 44 was back to flow 2 in Pilates and was a Legs 50/50 day in Lift-4. In the legs workout, there are three rounds of three exercises, with no rest between the exercise sets, and 30 seconds of rest between the rounds. Then, you do three rounds of HIIT, but this time you alternate three exercises all of which are done for 30 seconds. Again, there is no rest between exercises and just 15 seconds of rest between the rounds. So, the workout moves quickly, and then you finish it off with three rounds of core exercises.  I think this is probably the toughest of the 50/50 workouts in the program, and my legs were definitely spent by the time I was finished. 

DVD/TV Series Review: The Gifted Season 1

 

The Gifted is a series that is set in the X-Men universe, but in a timeline (or just at a time) in which the X-Men have disappeared and those with mutant powers are shunned by society and are required to be registered (much like the plot of the original X-Men movies), and those who are not being hunted by an anti-mutant Sentinal Services agency (which is obviously based on the concept of the Nazi SS). The first season consisted of 13 episodes that aired during the 2017-2018 TV season and was set around the Strucker family, played by Stephen Moyer (from True Blood) who plays Reed Strucker, Angel alumn Amy Acker who plays Caitlin Strucker, and their children Lauren (played by Natalie Alyn Lind) and Andy (played by Percy Hynes White). Reed is a district attorney who prosecutes mutant cases and is forced to go on the run when Lauren and Andy both manifest mutant abilities. They are eventually helped (reluctantly) by a group of mutants who avoid Sentinal Services, and the lead agent Jace Turner (played by Burn Notice's Colby Bell) and Garrett Dallahunt's character Roderick Campbell, who wants to weaponize the Strucker Children's powers. The rest of the main cast includes Jamie Chung, Blair Redford, Emma Dumont, and Sean Teale. 

The DVD set is just a standard MOD set that just has the 13 episodes spread across three discs. There are no extras or bonus features. So, unless you really prefer physical media over streaming, you don't get anything extra by getting the DVDs.

Overall, the show is very good. It definitely has ties to the X-Men movies, some subtle and some not. Of course, Bryan Singer who directed many of the movies is a producer on the show and directed the pilot, so that is not surprising. It is not entirely clear, however, if this is set in a different universe from the movies where events played out differently, or is set after the bulk of the movies but before the events of the movie Logan. In a way that is good because it means that it can tell its own story while still having some tie-ins with the overall franchise. 

The acting and writing are both very good and the cast has a good mix of recognizable, established actors and relative newcomers. The show has a serial arc that plays out throughout the season, so you cannot really just jump in partway and get everything that is going on. The season ends on a pretty major cliffhanger that leaves the fate of several characters up in the air going into season two. So, if you are a fan of the X-Men movies, then this is definitely worth checking out.

 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Beginner Pilates Doubles Day 43

Day 43 was flow 1 in Pilates and the first workout of the two "sculpt" weeks of Lift-4. That means switching up the workout order a bit, so the first workout was a chest and back circuit workout. It follows the same three rounds of four exercises, doing 10 reps of each exercise. In each round you do a chest exercise, then a back exercise, then another chest exercise, and a final back exercise, with no rest between the sets and 30 seconds of rest between rounds. After you do the three rounds, then you have three rounds of burnout in which you do regular push-ups, lying back extensions, and then wide push-ups, back-to-back without stopping, with again 30 seconds between each round. Then you finish with three rounds of alternating two core exercises.

This is a tough workout, number one because your body will be used to the chest-triceps, and back-biceps workouts from the first six weeks, so even though it seems like a small tweak, it is not. Plus, Joel is again encouraging people to up their weights, especially for the first round, from the prior week. I would have liked them to do a different workout sheet for the last two weeks because it is harder to keep track of what of things when the chest and triceps and the back and biceps exercises are all bunched together. When I do my workout wrap-up at the end I will explain in more detail. But, overall, it was a good workout.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Beginner Pilates Doubles Day 42

 Day 42 was a rest day from the Lift-4 workouts and then the hips, buns, and thighs workout in Pilates. I actually felt that one went a little better than it did the last time. I had a bit more range of motion in the exercises and in some of the moves in which I had to pause or skip a couple of reps, I could do more of. So, again, I am making progress.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Beginner Pilates Doubles Day 41

For Day 41 I took a rest day from Pilates and did the two Lift-4 recovery workouts. There is nothing really new to say about the recovery workouts. They went the same as they have the past few weeks.

Product Review: Smart RGB Floor Lamp

 

This is a smart lamp that has multiple color and brightness options. It is a tall floor lamp (it stands about six feet tall, give or take) and can be controlled using the provided remote control, via the magic home app, or using a voice assistant like Amazon Alexa. In the app, you can set it up to turn on and off at certain times, including using a sunrise and sunset feature which allows it to light up or dim over the course of time (up to an hour). So, for example, you can set it to turn on at 7AM on the lowest brightness setting and get brighter over the course of five minutes, twenty minutes, etc. It does not have a replaceable bulb. The top is a transparent material and the LED lights shine through it. 

It is a bit of a pain to assemble. Everything screws together and according to the instructions you start at the top and then screw the base on last. The base, however, is the hardest part to get on if you do not have help because the top sections can come apart as you are screwing the base onto the pole, and it is hard to get the base to line up correctly. Once it is assembled, it is pretty much ready to go. If you have used the magic home light bulbs before, which required you to go from the magic home app to the phone settings and back, this is much easier to set up. It is recognized right away in the app, and you can tell it what Wi-Fi network to connect to from the magic home app without having to go into your phone settings (at least when you are using an iPhone). It would be nice if they made a table lamp version of this, but if you are in the market for a smart lamp, this is a good option.

Book Review: Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendency - Chaos Rising

 

Chaos Rising is the first book in a new trilogy of novels (called the Ascendency Trilogy) based on the character of Thrawn, who is probably the most popular character outside of the legacy characters like Luke, Han, and Leia with people who have been reading the Star Wars novels for years. Thrawn was introduced back in the 1990s in a now non-canon or Legends trilogy of novels (widely called the Thrawn Trilogy) written by the same author Timothy Zahn. After Disney's takeover of Lucasfilm, the character of Thrawn was brought into the canon through a new trilogy of books and in the animated series, Rebels.

This book is set at the time of The Clone Wars but the story is mostly constrained to the unknown regions beyond the Outer Rim, where the Chiss Ascendancy rules on the Chiss homeworld. This book jumps in time between the present, in which Thrawn is a commander of a Chiss ship, and his time as a cadet, and establishes his role as a tactical and strategical genius (when it comes to battle and war tactics). He is investigating a threat to the Ascendancy by a race called the Nikardun. The novel basically serves as a backstory and origin story for Thrawn as well as the Chiss as a race. One of the interesting aspects of the story is that the Chiss travel through hyperspace (what they call the Chaos) using child navigators who are force sensitive (what the Chiss call the Third Sight) to get their ships safely through hyperspace. Much like Jedi younglings, the navigators, called sky-walkers, are taken from their families when they are young and act as navigators being raised by caretakers, until they are teenagers when they lose the Third Sight, at which point they are adopted into one of the ruling families of The Ascendency. 

The book has a good blend of action and suspense along with building the characters who will be the main characters in the trilogy. The author does a good job portraying Thrawn as a version of who he becomes when he is a Grand Admiral in the Empire, with traits that he shows later on, but not yet the fully developed character. We also get to see the lead-up to Thrawn's meeting with Anakin Skywalker in the story that was told in the second novel of the first canon Thrawn Trilogy, Thrawn: Alliances in which Thrawn helps Anakin find Padme when she is abducted. Basically, we get to see what Thrawn was doing when Anakin's ship showed up as he was looking for Padme.

Overall, the book tells a good story and does a good job of fleshing out Thrawn's backstory and establishing the new characters. While I am still partial to the original, Legends, Thrawn trilogy, I think this is the first of the new Thrawn novels that really showed that version of the character. It is definitely one of the must-read canon novels.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: I, Tonya

 

I, Tonya is a 2017 movie that is a blend of drama and dark comedy that is a mockumentary-style biography of former Olympic figure skater, Tonya Harding's (played by Margot Robbie as well as McKenna Grace and Maizie Smith playing her as a child) career. The focus of the movie is the events that surrounded the lead-up to the 1994 Winter Olympics in which Harding's main competition, Nancy Kerrigan (played by Caitlin Carver) was attacked in a plan that was hatched by her ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly (played by Sebastian Stan), and executed ineptly by his friend, Shawn Eckhart (played by Paul Walter Hauser). The movie is basically from the point of view of Harding, who has always maintained that she had nothing to do with the plan (but the movie definitely leaves that up to the viewer to decide) and that she was a victim in the whole thing too. Allison Janney plays (wonderfully) Harding's batshit crazy and abusive mother, and pretty much steals every scene she is in. While the events of 1993-1994 were the main focus of the movie, the movie is semi-biographical and details Harding's life from the time she was a kid up to the point at which she retired from skating, and the movie does jump around in time a bit as the story is told.

For those who get the blu-ray, the A/V quality is good, about what you would expect of a non-special-effects-laden or CGI-heavy movie. For extras, there is a commentary track on the movie by the director, almost 20 minutes of deleted scenes, trailers, and 15 minutes of behind-the-scenes material that features clips of the real people involved being interviewed intertwined with cast and crew interviews. What was included was good, but you definitely do not get a ton of bonus features.

The movie is very good and captures the craziness of Harding's life and the absurdity of the attack on Kerrigan perfectly. Janney, Robbie, and Stan are all great with Janney basically owning the movie any time she is on screen. Even if you were not around for the real-life events the movie is based on, it is still a very entertaining movie that is worth watching, but it is definitely better if you know some of the backstory.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Beginner Pilates Doubles Day 40

For Day 40, I did the abs and core workout in Pilates and the Legs workout in Lift-4, which was another pure HIIT workout, meaning three rounds of four exercises that last 1 minute, 45 seconds, 30 seconds, and 15 seconds. Then, you do two burnout rounds in which you do all of the exercises for 30 seconds with no rest between the moves and then finish with three rounds of side planks for the core exercises. It was tough, but thankfully was very short. 

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: House M.D.: Season 7

 

+++Warning this contains spoilers from the end of season six and a minor spoiler of the season seven plotline, but has no major season seven giveaways+++

The seventh season of House aired during the 2011/2012 television season. It would end up being the second to last season of the show and, in my opinion, the last very good to great season of the show. This season is all about the House/Cuddy romantic relationship that was teased (yet again) at the end of season six when Cuddy showed up to stop House from taking drugs. The big serial story arc that runs throughout the season is their relationship, its function, and dysfunction, whether House can be as good of a doctor when he is happy, and whether he will end up sabotaging the relationship. Then, the show also does the case-of-the-week procedural storylines that have been the backbone of the show for the first six seasons. The series undergoes more cast turnover with Olivia Wilde taking a leave of absence from the show to go shoot movies, which allowed the show to bring in former soap opera actress Amber Tamblyn for a multi-episode arc. And of course, Jennifer Morrison had completely left the show after season six. Wilde makes a very short appearance in the season premiere and then returns about 3/4 of the way into the season in what is one of the season's best episodes (and for me, one of the top five episodes of the entire series). The season ends with a relatively big moment that will have a major impact on season 8.

For those who get the blu-ray set, the 23 episodes are spread across five discs. The show looks good, but not great in the HD format. Of course, it does not have a ton of special effects or CGI (although what is in the show does look good), and while the A/V quality is a step up from the DVDs, it is not huge. The extras include commentary tracks on three episodes, features on the characters of Thirteen, Cuddy, and Martha Masters (Tamblyn's character), and featurettes on the episodes Bombshells and The Dig, all of which are carried over from the DVD release. There are also some BD-live and U-Control extras that are specific to the blu-ray set.

Overall, the season is very good. It has a good blend of action, drama, and comedy, the latter mostly at Taub's expense. The storylines are well-written and the medical cases continue to be entertaining and interesting, and the acting is still top-notch. The show also continues to get a good slate of guest stars which this season include Candice Bergen, Cynthia Watros, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Jack Coleman, Jennifer Gray, Donal Louge, and Matthew Lillard. If you have liked the show up to this point, this season is definitely worth watching. In some ways, it is really the payoff to seasons 1-6 much more than season eight is. I definitely recommend it. 

Product Review: PILOT FriXion Gel Ink Refills for Erasable Pens, Fine Point, Black/Blue/Red Inks, 3-Pack

 

This is a pack of refill ink for the Pilot Frixion erasable gel pens, one red, one blue, and one black. The pens write great, and it is very helpful that they erase, but the ink runs out much quicker than the ink in a "regular" gel pen, especially if you are using them to do something like take notes for school in which you are writing with them multiple times per day, almost every day of the week. The refills run out quickly too, but they are much less expensive than getting a new package of pens all the time (which I was doing when I ran out of ink initially). 

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Below Her Mouth

 

Below Her Mouth is an erotic drama from 2016 about a woman named Jasmine (played by Natalie Krill) who cheats on her fiance with another woman named Dallas (played by Erika Linder) while her fiance (played by Sebastian Pigott) is away on business. Jasmine and Dallas originally meet at a lesbian bar when Jasmine agrees to go out with her friend Claire, to be her wing-woman for the night. Dallas and Jasmine make out, much to Jasmine's initial shock and horror and then discover that Dallas (who is a roofer) is working on the house next door to Jasmine, and the two begin a sexual relationship. Of course, the drama comes when Jasmine's fiance returns from his trip.

The movie is basically about a torrid affair and a woman figuring out she is bisexual. If it were made with a male-female affair it would probably not have gotten as much notoriety as it did, but because it was about a woman cheating on her male fiance with another woman, it got more buzz than an indie film would normally get. That said, I do think that, even though the plot is fairly cookie-cutter, the acting is good and the movie does not drag on. The movie looks fine on blu-ray, but because it is low-budget and does not have any special effects, the transfer is not outstanding and would be just fine on DVD. And, there are no extras, just the movie itself.

Certainly, the movie is not going to appeal to everyone. There is a lot of nudity and sex, and of course, because it involves lesbians, some people who would otherwise not care about the nudity and sex will be turned off by that aspect of it. If that does not bother you, it is an okay movie that will help kill an hour and a half, but it is not a must-see movie by any means.

Product Review: AquaOasis™ Cool Mist Humidifier {2.2L Water Tank} Quiet Ultrasonic Humidifier

 

This is a very small, but effective, misting humidifier. It is mostly good, but I do have a couple of observations after using it for part of a day and overnight. First, it is impossible to totally fill the already small tank. Even if you add water to the point where it starts to overflow as you fill it when you turn it over and put it on the base, a significant portion of the water goes into the base so that the tank is about 3/4 of the way full before you even turn it on. Second, you absolutely have to use the cap, otherwise, it just shoots a cloud straight up into the air that then comes back down and gets whatever you have it sitting on wet. The cap allows you to control the direction the mist goes and makes it finer so it is not just a huge cloud of water. Third, if you dial it up to full power, which is pretty much required if you have a large room (especially if you also have vaulted ceilings) it will not run an entire night. I turned it on at about 8:30 PM and it was shut off before I woke up in the morning. Finally, it will shut off even when there is a bit of water left in the tank and there will be water in the base when you take the tank off. Just be aware of that because if you lift the tank without being careful you will get water on the table or shelf you have this on. 

Ultimately, I do think that this is a good deal, but, for $30 it would be nice if the tank was a little bit bigger so that it could run longer. I do like the auto shut-off feature when the water gets low so you are not running the motor when it is not doing anything, which should allow it to last longer. That said, the big plus is that it does not require a filter, so you do not have to keep paying to use it after you buy it. And, you do not have to take it apart and risk breaking it in order to clean the parts that need to be cleaned from time to time. So overall, it is a good deal. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Beginner Pilates Doubles Day 39

Day 39 was Flow 2 in Pilates and Shoulders in Lift-4. The shoulders workout is an interval workout, so three blocks of three rounds of two shoulder exercises followed by a 30-second HIIT exercise.  The Lift-4 workout went fast but was again tough. Two of the cast members had to drop their weights for the last few reps on the last round of in a couple different blocks. One thing to know if you are going to do Lift-4 is that there is very little rest between sets. Unlike say P90x, where you often get 30+ seconds between sets while Tony talks, in the Lift-4 workouts you get 15 seconds, at best, and on some workouts, not even that. Sometimes you get just enough time to put your current weights down, pick up new ones, and that is it. But, you definitely get a burn in the muscle group you work after every workout.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Jumanji - Welcome to the Jungle

 

This is the 2017 movie that is mostly a reboot and quasi-sequel to the 1995 movie, Jumanji, which starred Robin Williams. This version starts out with almost a vibe of the movie The Breakfast Club with four high school students named Spencer (played by Alex Wolff) who is a gaming and science nerd, Fridge (played by Ser'Darius Blain) who is a football star, Bethany (played by Madison Iseman), a self-absorbed hot chick, and Martha (played by Morgan Turner), an introverted loner, are assigned detention and forced to clean the school basement. They find an old video game that sucks them into the game when it boots up, with the twist being that they inhabit the bodies of the game characters, and find out they each have three lives with which to finish the game. Spencer becomes the leader Smolder Bravestone, (played by The Rock), Fridge becomes Smolder's sidekick, Mouse (played by Kevin Hart), Martha becomes Ruby Roundhouse (played by Karen Gillian), and Bethany becomes the cartographer played by Jack Black. 

The movie is about the video game characters playing people who are totally opposite themselves, so the Rock is a sickly nerd who suddenly becomes a 6'5" musclebound tank, Karen Gillian plays an introvert who basically becomes Laura Croft (inappropriate jungle attire included), Kevin Hart plays a football player turned into a 5'3" loudmouth, and Jack Black has to play a hot high school girl turned overweight middle-aged man. The movie is a good blend of action and comedy, and the cast all play off each other very well. There are some very funny moments, including Karen Gillian commenting on the short shorts she is wearing and Kevin Hart's character's inability to eat cake. There are some tie-ins with the original movie, including paying homage to Robin William's character from the original movie. The movie has to walk a fine line between honoring the original with doing its own thing, which it does well. 

For those who get the 4k set, the UHD disc just has the movie and then all of the extras are included on the regular blu-ray disc. The A/V quality of the UHD disc is very good, but it is not what I would call far beyond the a/v quality of the regular blu-ray disc. Both are pretty comparable. The extras include a gag reel, a music video by Nick Jonas (who has a role in the movie), and a handful of making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes that vary in length from about four minutes to just under fifteen minutes. All totaled there are about 40 minutes, give or take, worth of extras if you like going through them.

Overall, the movie is very good. As I said above, it has a good blend of action and comedy, and all of the actors fit their roles very well. The Rock, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillian, and Jack Black all play their parts perfectly, and each of their characters get their moments to shine during the movie. It is definitely a more "adult" movie than the 1995 movie was and does include swearing and sex jokes. So, be aware that it is not as family-friendly as the original movie. That said, it is definitely worth watching. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Beginner Pilates Doubles Day 38

Day 38 was Flow 1 in Pilates and a recovery day in Lift-4. I did both of the Lift-4 recovery workouts in the evening. I continued to improve during Pilates, especially in the side leg lifts, being able to get both legs up on each side a little bit more (although still not nearly as far as Lisa can get them up). It was nice to have a break from the heavy lifting workouts since my chest and arms were still pretty sore. 

Product Review: Pilot FriXion Gel Ink Pen Refills 3 pack

 

This is a pack of 9 black ink refills for the Pilot Frixion pens. They, like the original pens, are kind of a double-edged sword. They work well, but they run out of ink fast. Much faster (in my experience anyway) than regular gel pens. This is especially true if you are using them with the Rocketbook reusable notebooks (they are the only types of pens you can use on them). The good thing is that the refills are relatively inexpensive, especially when compared to getting a pack of new pens, but just know that if you get these you are probably going to run out of ink much faster than you expect to. 

Textbook/Study Guide Review: Fundamentals of Differential Equations : Solutions Manual

 

This is a student solutions manual for the corresponding textbook, Fundamentals of Differential Equations. It has, like most student solution manuals worked-out answers to most (but not all) of the odd problems from the book, and does not go into any explanation of the theory. I found the actual textbook to be a bit harder to read than some other math books that I used, but thankfully my professor did a fairly good job explaining the topics well. But this was definitely helpful to use when I got stuck on something. So, if you have to use the textbook for class, I would definitely recommend picking this up. If you are teaching yourself differential equations, then I would try to find a different textbook in which case you would not need this. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Beginner Pilates Doubles Day 37

Day 37 was Pilates flow 2, which I am not as fond of as I am of the Flow 1 workout, but it is still easier than the last time I did it last month. Then, the  Lift-4 workout as back and biceps, another 50/50 workout and that was hard. I am writing this the next day, and I am very sore. Moving from one exercise to the next without stopping is definitely not easy to do, even when using lighter weights for some of the exercises. The HIIT portion was also tougher and included doing catcher jumps for a minute, then doing wide plank runs for 45 seconds and jump squats for 30 seconds. And, of course, it ended with alternating two core exercises for three rounds. 

Study Aid Review: The Humongous Book of Calculus Problems

 

This book is mostly a problems repository. Like the author's other "humongous" books, from chapter 1 it starts giving you problems with very little setup. It does have a chapter introduction page, but then it just starts in with example problems. But, unlike some of the other guides out there that have just a ton of example problems in them, the author does weave in the explanation of the theory in the form of margin notes that are added to explain how to tackle/solve the problems. Along with the theory, the author gives you tips for solving different problem types, advice on things to look out for, and marks the hardest kinds of problems with a skull and cross bones, which I think are good problems to go over before your exams.

The book is good in that it does not just dive into the calculus material. The first 8 chapters (about 120 pages or so) are a review of algebra and trigonometry, making sure you have the fundamentals down in case you need to brush up on them, and then it gets into the calculus material. The calculus material covers all of the topics that you will be exposed to in the first year of calculus (which in most schools is split up into two semesters, one focusing on derivatives and one focusing on integration), starting with limits and ending with using integration techniques on sequences and series problems.  It also goes over the introduction to differential equations that students usually get in the second semester, and has good examples for solving related rates problems and optimization problems. 

This does not cover multivariable calculus, linear algebra, or the more complicated differential equations problems you will get in later classes if you need to go beyond Calc I and II. This will, however, definitely help you get through the first year of calculus, especially if you have a hard time understanding your textbook and/or your teacher. 

Book Review: Rage

 

This is the second book written by famed journalist Bob Woodward about the 2017-2021 US presidential administration. Woodward covers events from throughout the administration but has a heavy focus on the response to Covid-19 and the relationships between the president and key members of his administration.

Specifically, Woodward talks about the relationship between the orange genital wart and members of the cabinet like Mattis, Tillerson, and Dan Coats (who was the Director of National Intelligence), and how all of their relationships soured with dipshit until they were fired or resigned. Woodward also discusses at length the love-note relationship between it and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Then, towards the end, Woodward goes on to discuss the disastrous Covid response that actually started out promising then went off the rails as t***p became more worried about getting reelected than he was about listening to medical experts. The big deal about this book as opposed to Woodward's first book is that t***p agreed to be interviewed, and taped, so Woodward uses t***p's own words throughout the book. 

The big takeaways from the book for me are, first, just how big a dipshit t***p really is, and two how much of an unjustified overinflated ego he has. For example, thinking he knows everything about science and technology just because his uncle taught electrical engineering at MIT when it is clear if you put any kind of physics or engineering problem in front of t***p and told him to work it out, his brain would explode. Secondly, just how stupid everyone around him found him to be and how frustrating it was to deal with his stream of consciousness jumping from topic to topic while still managing to say (or know) anything of substance. That is really borne out when Woodward reprints the exact questions he asked and exact quotes in response from t***p. 

Woodward does admit that many people he interviewed for the book only agreed to talk to him anonymously, but he also has about 400 endnotes that point to publically available sources for a lot of the material. Woodward is very critical of t***p and is clearly not a fan. But, he does give t***p credit for some things, such as his initial response to Covid, like restricting travel from China and Europe and then instituting the initial lockdowns. Unlike a lot of the journalists who have written books about t***p, Woodward does give his overall impressions and opinions of t**p and does not just stick to reciting facts and quoting sources. Woodward does not go as far as someone like Michael Wolff and actually call t***p batshit crazy, but you can tell that seems to be his impression of t***p. I do think Woodward can be fairly criticized for keeping what t***p truly knew about Covid versus what he was saying in public under wraps until his book came out. 

There is not a ton of new information in the book, especially if you are one who kept up with the news about that administration from reputable news sources. But, Woodward did manage to uncover details that flesh out the events he discusses in the book that I had not heard before. So, I do think that it is worth reading and definitely recommend it.