Working out at home

I've been finding it very hard to get motivated to go to the gym. It's a 25 minute drive each way and most days I have no other reason to go to town (I work from home). I decided to buy a pull-up bar and some bands and I'll do body-weight and band workouts for a while to see how that goes. We bought a treadmill a couple of months ago and that's been good.

The hardest part will be keeping things interesting, but that's a challenge at the gym too. I've got three routines worked out for now. Day 1 is underhand pullups (biceps), push ups (chest), seated rows (lats), and hanging leg-ups (abs), with a short 15min run. Day 2 is 50 min run/walk. Day 3 is wide-grip pullups (upper back), triceps extensions, shoulder press, band squats, and good mornings (low back), 15 min run. Day 4 is a run/walk day. Day 5 a total body circuit with 15 min run. I'll take a day or two off with maybe a light walk, and then start over again.

Day one and three use an intense pyramid circuit format. For example, I do 1 rep pullups, 2 reps push ups, 2 reps rows, 3 reps leg ups. I do all those right in succession with no break. Rest 1 minute. Round two I do 2, 4, 4, 6. Round 3 is 3, 6, 6, 9 etc. So at round 6 it would be 6 pull-ups, 12 pushups and rows, 18 leg-ups. I'll work up the "scale" 5-7 rounds, then work back down again, for a total of 9-11 rounds. The day 5 circuit is more traditional full-body round where I go through a whole series of 10 exercises with as little rest between exercises as possible. Then I rest about 2-3 minutes and do it again for 2-3 rounds.

 The workouts including the runs should take no longer than 40-50 minutes. I like to get up and do my workouts first thing in the morning before work. That way I have the evenings to mow and do other yard work or just hang out if possible.

Keeping Your Digital World Safe

There's been a lot of news stories lately about security breaches. We've had reports of credit card numbers, personal info, and email addresses stolen. The modern high-tech thief has gotten a lot more sophisticated lately so we're all at higher risk. A few people have asked me what they can do to keep their info more safe. So I thought I'd post some of the tools I use and recommend along with some general tips.

We all spend a lot of time online these days at a number of websites. The best thing you can do to keep your personal info secure is to use complex passwords that are different for each site. But how do you remember all those passwords? I use a tool called Last Pass. It runs in your browser and keeps track of all your passwords. It can generate secure passwords for you, remember them, and automatically log you in to the sites you visit. Once you set up a site you can forget about it. It's cross-platform (Mac, Windows, Linux) and runs as a plug-in or extension for most browsers. The free version works great for most people. For only $1 per month you can add support for smart phones and a few added advanced features. The passwords are stored encrypted on your computer and also encrypted online. The encryption means no one but you can read the info.

So how to you protect all of the important files you have on your computer? Most of us know that we should back up our computers, but the experience is a bit like pulling teeth. Plus we're all pretty busy and tend to forget. Ideally we should have our most important info and files backed up in several locations.

I like to keep a backup of everything on an external hard drive. This protects you if your main hard drive or computer dies. Drives are pretty inexpensive these days and are easy to use. Just plug them in and you're ready to go. External drives can back up everything you need and you can access the backup instantly.

For my most important info such as banking data, contacts, and personal documents, I want to have an off-site backup incase of something more catastrophic such as a fire or natural disaster. You can keep another backup drive with a friend or family member, but unless you encrypt the files they can see all the stuff you have on there. Plus you have to remember to take the drive back every time you want to create a backup. There are several sites online now that offer backup services. The problem is that unless you have a fast internet connection they're really slow. Plus, unless you're encrypting the files before they go online, anyone at that company has access to your data, including hackers.

I've recently begun using a program called Crash Plan. It covers all the bases and is really easy to use. Crash Plan also works on the Mac, Windows, and Linux. The free version lets you make backups to a second hard drive and/or to a friend's computer over the internet. Crash Plan encrypts and compresses the data so it takes less time to transmit, takes up less space, and keeps out prying eyes. The inexpensive paid versions also allow you to backup to their online servers, again keeping your data secure and private. The best part is that both versions allow you to automate the backups. Files get backed up in the background automatically as they change. You never have to remember to back up. As a bonus, you can set it to keep multiple versions of the files. Did you ever make a change to a document, save it, then realize later that you liked the previous version better? With Crash Plan you can go back in time and restore that version.

Here's a few other tips: if you every use web sites such as FaceBook, email, or banking sites in public places such as the coffee shop or library, make sure the browser is set to use SSL or secure mode. Most sites allow you to turn this on as an option, but you may have to dig through your account settings to enable it. Facebook, for example, let's you turn this on so it automatically uses SSL when you log in. Keep in mind that 3rd party sites, such as games, may not be secure though.

If you like to shop online, make sure you use a different password for each site. Plus, check and see if your credit card company lets you generate limited or one-time use card numbers. Many major credit card comanies now offer this for free. Thiis allows you to generate a "fake" credit card number to use for a single purchase or for a single site. You can often also set a maximum credit limit for each fake number. If a hacker breaks into the web site, or an unscrupulous employee (most common scenario) steals credit card info, that number will not work anywhere else they try to use it. You can even make card number that only work once and then become invalid.

Finally, we all know to not open email attachments from people we don't know right? I'd add that you should also be suspicious of attachments from your friends and family unless it's something you are expecting. With all of these security breaches, not to mention computer viruses and worms, it's pretty easy to get a hold of people's address books and send out fake emails so that they look like they're coming from people you know.

I also want to caution you against clicking on any web links in emails. A common attack is to pretend to be a bank or other online service and claim there's been a problem with your account. They ask you to send them your login info or click a link to access your account. What they are really doing is sending you to a site that's set up to look like your bank or online service. You enter your username and password and they've got you. Nearly every online company has a policy where they will never send you emails asking you to provide information or login credentials. If they need you to log in they will ask you to type the address into the browser directly. When in doubt, call the company and verify the issue.

Randy

Benz Beer Fest

For those of you in Eastern Iowa that love beer, come by and see me and the rest of the Cedar Rapids Beer Nuts at Benz Beer Fest this Saturday. The event runs from 1-5pm at Benz Beverage Depot on 7th Ave SE, Cedar Rapids. Admission is $15.

The Beer Nuts will be serving from our new 10 tap portable bar. I'll be bringing my Purple Pepper Eater (Jalapeno-Rasberry Blonde), a Hefewiezen, and Isn't That Special (Special Bitter). These 3 all turned out pretty well. As always, there will be quite a mix of beer styles. Local beer distributors will also have a samplings of around 100 different beers for you to try.

This is a great opportunity to learn more about beer and brewing. The people are always great and it's usually a pretty good time. Michelle always comes to hang out and, of course, drive me home after the event. Isn't she the greatest?

Maifest

I didn't plan it this way, but this weekend ended up being sort of a Maifest Celebration.

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Keeping cool with Schlafly

We had a bit of our own meltdown last weekend when the chest freezer I use for lagering and serving decided to quit cooling. Pretty bad timing, as it's now warm enough in the garage that I can't maintain the right temps without it's assistance. I've got a Munich Helles just starting to lager and I had a couple of brews planned that are now on hold until I get a working solution. I can start the lagering process in my fermentation chamber, but it means that I can't brew anything else until I can move it out of there.

We had planned to upgrade the kitchen fridge down the road as we really don't like the one that came with the house. So it looks like we're going to move that timetable up and do it now. I can move the old fridge out to the garage and it will become my lagering and serving fridge. Eventually I'll outfit it with built-in taps. So all is not lost, but it's money we weren't really planning to spend right now.

I went down to the Saint Louis area this week for business and, as usual, wanted to check out the local micro beer scene. You'd think that with AB right there that would make things difficult, but they have a modest number of breweries in the area. They range from very small scale brewpubs to micro breweries.

I only had one night in town so I decided to stop at the Schlafly Tap Room. Schlafly is one of, if not the oldest, craft brewer in the Saint Louis area, having opened in 1991. They started with a 15bbl brewhouse which is still located on site. They added a second, larger, brewhouse near by in 2003 to handle their growing market for bottled and keg beer.

Schlafly makes a unique range of beers, and have a nice selection of regular and seasonal beers on tap all the time. They have the usual brewpub lineup including a dry-hopped Pale Ale, Oatmeal Stout, and Heffeweizen, but also a selection of lagers and hybrids which you don't see as often, such as Pilsner, Kolsch, Munich Helles, and Altbeir.

The two highlights for this stop were the dry-hopped PA and a one-off beer they generically called "Session Ale". The latter was actually contract brewed for a bar in Washington D.C. but they held back just 2 kegs to serve. I was really impressed. At a mere 4.2% ABV it was crisp, fairly complex, and wonderful. It's pretty hard to make a really flavorful low alcohol beer and they pulled it off very well. Another highlight was the Altbier, though all I had was one short sample of that. I really wanted to try the Munich Helles but the need to be responsible meant I had to be selective.

Overall it was a really good stop and I'd recommend the Schlafly Tap Room or their other location, called the Bottle Works, if you are in the area. They also have a pretty good food menu that is more than the usual pub food. I had a lamb burger that was tasty.

Randy