I have gotten so out of shape that I hardly recogonize myself and so that’s why I stopped in on my way home last night, just minutes before they closed, and signed up. The contract was easy to read and clear about being able to cancel with a month’s notice. So, I did it. I signed up knowing that it was the surest way to get back in there for an actual work out.

And it worked. Although I had a sleepless night (typical of being in business I think), I got to the gym for my introductory tour and first workout.

I started with the 30-minute express workout routine. So, as a small detour in the story, I have to say that I really appreciate the layout of Planet Fitness. And especially the area that is most appropriate for my needs right now – quick routine so I don’t have extra reason to stall; easy to understand sequence of exercises; flashy light that lets you know when to move to next piece of equipment; and done in thirty minutes.

At my stage of fitness, high-reps and low weights with overall body focus is perfect. As I build up strength and discipline, I’ll branch out, but Planet Fitness made it really easy to be there.

The other thing that’s cool is that they have 24 hour access during the week and 7a to 7pm on weekends. Even living at the store , I can make it for just 30 minutes!

I don’t know about you, but I tend to read my books from cover to cover; including the copyright notices. Can you imagine my surprise to see the book was originally published more than 10 years earlier? How come I’m just now hearing about it? (Okay, so I often have that reaction to new information.)

At my store, Neighbors Market, I sell raw milk. Learning about raw milk has been the root of many very interesting conversions and much new information for me. Often the customers buying the raw milk have been the ones to make reference to “Nourishing Traditions”. I read several pages of the opening chapter this afternoon. Most likely, I’m going to buy a copy. More importantly though, I’m going to change my foods.

Tonight, for example, I drank raw milk. Raw milk that’s starting to sour. I added (organic) chocolate sauce to it and had it for dessert. I wouldn’t be able to do that with pasturized milk – drink it past it’s “best by” date, that is. I feel like I’m thumbing my nose at the powers-that-be and it’s a good feeling.

While the team was intentionally working on the Capability Maturity Model processes, we all performed in a manner similar to the principles of the Agile Methods. I haven’t worked on an Agile team yet, since I haven’t worked in software for 10 years, but I know I’m going to love it.

The team I worked with on CMM was very close knit. Because our team was releatively small, even though we had specialists for documentation, testing, quality assurance, database, graphics, systems and so forth, we often moved out of our areas of specialization to do what needed to be done.

Our team also worked on site with the customer and many of us had background experience in the customer activity. This helped us stay close to the customer needs and facilitated successful software. The project didn’t move as fast as what I understand the Agile Development approach delivers, but the projects were phased in and worked from a core product and built outward from there.

The best part of both development approaches are the highlighting of communications. My experience with CMM is the striving for perfection in development practices to create more reliable software. My recollection of the CMM process is the communication between team members and rational review of code. The Agile Method seems to highlight communications with the customer. This is progress.

With a little research (thank you, internet!), I learned more about listeria than I ever knew I needed.  This post isn’t aboout listeria and how it lives but I did uncover a couple of interesting facts.

Listeria is known to have six different types and two of the strains are responsible for illness.  Listeria can be long lived on the equipment in processing plants.  The same strains can behave differently in different animals (for instance, cows or goats or sheep).  The bacteria can live in soil and be spread to animals through the food they eat, if that food is contaminated. Heat kills listeria and cold doesn’t.

The public and government officials want to be afraid of food and identify ways to chemically or radioactively treat the foods.  Some want to put in place (expensive) tracking tools and processes so that when  problem is found, finding the source and destination of contaminated food can be identified.

I think both solutions to the problems are band-aids for a bigger, more urgent issue.  The problem is the way we’re growing our food and the distance between where the food is grown and where it is consumed.  Food, especially “fresh” foods,  shouldn’t be traveling 1500 miles from farm to table.  It just shouldn’t.  You’re probably thinking “Why not”?

And I’m thinking I have to get to bed.  Let’s talk more about food and distance tomorrow.

I’ve read of the holocaust and on an intellectual level realized the oppression the Nazis inflicted on the Jews.  I didn’t give thought to the idea that that type of oppression still exists.  I think somehow I thought those injustices ended with the second world war.

It’s not that I don’t know about the horrible regimes that exist in ‘foreign countries’, I just guess I assumed peaceful (not at war) countries were more enlightened. It disturbs me that I take for granted so much of the important freedoms I actually do enjoy and exercise every day.

Then it struck me that the Jewish cultural has had food rules as long as they’ve had a culture (probably).  I suppose many of the ancient societies have rules I don’t know about.  That would be interesting to learn more about.  It may be true food rules have a long history but are they currently in the consumer’s best interest or in the big, faceless corporation’s best interest?

I might explore that some more, but right now I’m reading about water issues.  Water management is a big deal that isn’t getting enough top-of-mind-awareness in our society.  But, that’s another post.

I don’t know who Kimbal is, but I know several of the people in my own community who are responsible for driving changes in our vicinity. While many people seem to tout ‘buy local’ and act the opposite, hopefully those that are buying local will keep their local businesses afloat long enough for the businesses to survive until the others catch on.

Buying local food is an important aspect of the localism precepts.  I think it can lead to greater understanding of the importance of localism because of the concurrent organic and sustainable farming movements.  As people start taking interest in the enviroment their food is grown in, I would expect that their buying habits would naturally be more localized.  Ultimately, I think it’s the surest path to sustainability – as in, corporations won’t destroy their own backyards and you can’t be faceless in your own community.