Paul's Progress

I mentioned in my recent post on New Year's resolutions that I'm planning to run a marathon this year. I'm tentatively looking at a race in Mid-April, the Whidbey Island marathon. However, I'm now considering switching to the Eugene Marathon in Eugene, OR at the end of April. The Eugene course should be much flatter, and thus easier/faster than the Whidbey Island course.

So far the training has been going pretty well. I haven't gotten in quite as many miles as I was hoping this month, but my fitness level still seems to be progressing pretty well. I'm tracking my workouts in a spreadsheet, so if you're curious just how much I've been out pounding the pavement, check it out here. I'll post a new version every few weeks with the latest update.

Note that any reference to "marathon pace" in the log means about 7:15/mile, which works out to around 3:10 for the full race. That is my default goal, since it is the qualifying time required for the Boston Marathon.

Scene at the gym

Is it just me, or is there some wrong with this warning that I read on a piece of exercise equipment:

Stop exercising immediately if you feel faint, experience pain or difficulty breathing.

Things you shouldn't do

In the office building that I work in, there is a men's restroom with several sinks for washing your hands. You should not wash your feet in these sinks. If you need to wash your feet during the day, that's fine, but you should use the showers in locker room instead of the regular sinks.

At the gym that I go to, the locker room has little hooks next to the showers to hang your towel on while you are showering. You should not hang your dirty underwear from these hooks while you are showering.

Seriously.

A small prize will be awarded to the commenter with the best example of a thing you shouldn't do.

Another Top Ten List

Paul's Top Ten New Year's Resolutions

10. Write more top-ten lists for this blog

9. Fwd email from Bill Gates to all my friends so I can finally get that $500 check.

8. Run a marathon (not Boston...yet)

7. Go the entire year without writing "2006" on any checks.

6. Come up with a name for this decade.

5. Entertain my loyal readers with more frequent and more entertaining blog posts, pictures, and website updates.

4. Work smarter, not harder.

3. Travel someplace new.

2. Remember that top-ten lists are supposed to get funnier towards the end and that this doesn't qualify.

1. Find last year's resolutions and see if I ended up doing any of them.

Supersize Me: The economics of going large

My local movie theater offers popcorns in the following sizes:

Small	$4.75
Medium	$5.25
Large	$5.75

Recently, when I ordered a small, the cashier rebuttled with, "Would you like to make that a medium for just 50 cents more?" Sure, why not.
Whoa! Slow down a minute there. How can you possibly offer me twice as much popcorn for only fifty cents more? That doesn't seem to make sense.
Of course, the movie theater isn't the only place where you might encounter seemingly odd pricing schemes. Coldstone Creamery operates a chain of ice cream parlors where the friendly employee behind the counter similarly offers to upgrade you from a "Like It" (small) to a "Love It" (medium) (and don't get me started on companies who need to come up with new words and phrases to replace small/medium/large) for the low low price of only fifty additional cents. And, yup, you guessed it, you'll get about twice as much ice cream. What a steal!?
Full service sit-down restaurants seem to have incorpated this "gimmick" as well. At Maggiano's, you can get an order of Fettucine Alfredo for $15.95, of a half order for $12.95. Or a Roast Chicken for $16.95, half order just $13.95 (exact prices may vary).
Does any of this make sense? It would seem that one of two things is going on here:

1. The "Small" sizes are grossly overpriced.
   
2. Larger sizes are being offered at a discount.
   

But then again, maybe it's not that crazy after all. Let's take a look at the numbers in the Popcorn example.



You'll notice that using these numbers, the profit margin (in terms of percentages) is identical for the Small and Medium is an identical 400%. Of course, an identical percentage yields a higher total profit (and revenue) for the theater. So maybe we're not really getting ripped off by "just" ordering a small after all. Maybe it's just going to the movie theater in the first place that's a rip off. After all, a bag of microwave popcorn will probably only run you 25 cents or so at the grocery store.

Play around with the numbers and see how things changes when you change the assumptions. InstaCalc was built by a friend and former co-worker of mine, it's a cool and useful site.

[Edit: Fixed InstaCalc link, thanks anonymous commenter]

Eagerly Awaited

Some Pictures From Paris