#the player model is 6 foot from what ive seen ?

[vampyrtism]

New loading screen and ohmy god. Who let him be that big

[ahnsael]

Today I learned just how difficult it is to install a TV wall mount when you don’t own a drill.

The securing bolts are about 4″ long.

I went out and bought a stud finder (it beeped as soon as I picked it up).

But before I picked that up, I missed the bit about needing a drill.

You know how hard it is to use an awl to make a pilot hole in a wooden stud? It literally took me an hour and a half to get those four bolts into the wall. And hours later, my arms are still sore from the pressure I had to put on them as I was using a not-very-good socket wrench to get them to start gripping into the wood.

But...I got the job done.

The hard part was then mounting the TV to the bracket (it’s above my dresser, and it was REALLY hard to get a good angle to (a) even see the brackets on the TV that I needed to match up to the wall bracket, and (b) reach it in the first place (over a four-foot tall, three-feet-deep dresser that is FAR too heavy to move by myself), and (c) not drop the TV behind the dresser as I climbed on top of it, holding the TV (which is not as light as I thought it would be), to get a decent angle, and (d) hook up the power cord, which was almost impossible, even though my bracket lets me move the TV about 6″ from the wall.

And it’s a good thing I bought the wall mount as an afterthought. If I didn’t have it, I’d still be watching my old TV. If I had to rely on the legs that were included with the TV, well...those would be 45″ apart. And my dresser is 42″ wide. It wouldn’t have worked.

But now I have a gigantic 55″ TV on the wall of my room, and I’ve angled/tilted it so that I see the actual picture, and not the reflection of my bedroom ceiling lighting fixture.

[insert Read More here because I rambled about both the new and old TV]

Turned out that, even using a laser level, I mounted the wall bracket a little crooked -- when I was done, the right side of the TV was about 1″ lower than the left. But the manufacturer accounted for that possibility and included a way to adjust the TV brackets in order to raise each side of the TV separately without disassembling and starting over (and putting more large holes in the wall).

It was a LOT of work (if I’d known what I was in for, I’d have just had Best Buy do the installation [[ free installation was included, but I ordered my wall mount a day later and wasn’t sure it would have been here, and the 5.1 sound bar still isn’t here yet, and I’m too macho in my head for my own good and say “I can install it myself! but there are things that could have been done better than I did them with the right tools), but...it’s up, and it looks fantastic.Any larger would have been too big (not that I wouldn’t want a full-wall TV, but...with the furniture and the wall decorations, this BARELY fit without blocking anything or being blocked by anything). And don’t get me wrong...if it was just hooking up cables to the TV, I would be golden

But a wall mount? That was VERY new to me. And I screwed it up.

But since I ordered it a day after the TV, I said no to the installation, thinking they’d come to install the TV to my wall only to find that I had no wall mount.

It all worked out (so far -- after about 12 hours, my TV hasn’t fallen off the wall, so I’m thinking I probably did it right (despite the fact that one of the bolts went in at about 30º upper-left instead of going striaght int the wood stud) even though the TV is FAR from centered on the mount  -- bust MOSTLY centered where I need it, and angled to where the reflection of my bedroom light isn’t glaraing back at me via the TV screen -- because of where the studs in my wall are).

But for wood stud installations, the manufacturer says that positioning the TV at ANY POINT along the wall bracket works, so I think I’ll be okay.

I leveled it. I raised it on both sides (I was about 2″ short in where I installed the mount, but the TV portion of the mount had a work-around that I used).

And unlike my old TV (which I have to figure out how to legally get rid of -- see below for how Ive decided to try to get rid of it without paying reycling fees; if someone ffers me $5, I’m gonna take it), the new one hasn’t restarted itself once when I didn’t want it to so far (it did restart when it was first turned on and downloading software updates, but that was just part of the update process).

I had thought about waiting until tomorrow to install the new TV, but when I turned on my old TV earlier, the sound cut out -- and it literally took 15 minutes for the TV to reboot with sound. That was when I decided that today was the day. And I was without a TV in my room for HOURS while I installed the new one.

The only thing -- I went into my parents’ room to get a step stool which I knew was there to help me reach where I needed to install the wall mount (and, later, climb on top of my dresser, which I’m REALLY glad I didn’t end up tipping over as I carefully shifted my weight onto it -- there was one pretty close call). Their bedroom door was closed. They usually leave it open when they’re out of town.

And right by their dresser, there’s a 40″ flat screen TV, brand new in the box.

When my mom asked about birthday gifts, my reply included a new TV. They ended up getting me the Disneyland Spirit Award pin (which I mentioned in the same email), but...they may have decided to save that TV for a Christmas gift (and a very nice one, don’t get me wrong).

So tomorrow I’d better text to say Happy Thanksgiving and also mention that I bought myself something nice for my birthday. That way they can (hopefully) return the TV when they get home (if it is for me -- I don’t know that for sure), and if it will have been too long since they purchased it, maybe use it as an upgrade from their own smaller 32″ TV in their room.

Now I’m just waiting for my 5.1-Channel Sound Bar (with wireless sub-woofer and rear speakers -- which now costs $20 more on Best Buy’s website than it did when I bought it in their “pre-Black Friday sale”).

I ordered it in the same transaction as the wall mount, but while the wall mount arrived a day earlier than promised, the sound bar -- instead of being shipped from California to here in a couple days -- was sent from California to Utah for some reason. Even at 2:00 Wednesday morning, the tracking info from UPS said “on time delivery by the end of the day Tuesday the 21st.” Now it’s expected to arrive on the 24th, while I’m at work (hopefully it won’t get stolen from my front porch). I see on the tracking that it made it earlier tonight to the place in Nevada where it will be put on a truck to my house, but UPS also says that they don’t do deliveries on Thanksgiving (which is fine...just hoping that nobody steals this $170 sound bar as it sits on my porch all day until I get home from work.) Also, I decided to sell my old TV on CraistList rather than try to find a legal way to dispose of it (which might cost me money -- Best Buy wanted $15 to haul it away).

But fear not, my integrity is intact. The following is the ad I submitted (which can be seen at https://reno.craigslist.org/ele/d/flat-screen-smart-tv-works-as/6397825672.html):

I just replaced a 38½" 1080P Insignia flat screen Smart TV and it's yours for a low price. The original box (not included) said 39" Class but official diagonal measurement is 38½" (which my tape measure agrees with). For full product details, see https://www.insigniaproducts.com/pdp/NS-39DR510NA17/4863802 (this is the exact model I am selling -- they are still selling it new for $180, so you can save some money here if you can accept that it's a TV bought in July of 2016 and used daily since then). A couple of caveats, because I want to run an honest ad: The TV has a history of restarting itself at random times. You might be watching a favorite show, and the TV will reset, go to the Insignia/ROKU logo, and start from scratch, so you may miss a part of what you are watching. Sometimes the sound gives out, and a reboot to fix it (large square button on the back left of the TV -- hold it down until it starts the reboot process) can take up to 10-15 minutes before you're back to watching TV. The basic restarts happen, on average, once a day (some days it happens twice, other days it doesn't happen at all), and those generally take a minute or two before you're back to watching TV or playing your video game (I would NOT recommend this TV for a gamer who can't press "pause" when this happens, like if you are playing a multiplayer online game). The 10-15 minute reboots, maybe once every two weeks. If you can handle that, the TV has very good picture quality, and fit very well on top of a tall dresser that is 42" wide. No wall mount included. Legs can be easily removed if you have a wall mount already. Usually these restarts happen within 10-15 minutes of powering it on, but once in a while, you can be watching TV for hours, be really into a sports event, and...suddenly, there's an Insignia logo in place of the great play you were about to see, and now will have to look up on YouTube. This is why I replaced the TV after just 16 months -- it was frustrating to me. But if you're okay with this, or know how to fix it, or have a friend that you like a *little bit* that you feel obligated to get a gift for...this could be the TV for you. Cable box and compact DVD/Blu-Ray player fit comfortably in the space between the TV and the surface -- your experience may vary based on the size of your cable/satellite box and/or DVD/Blu-Ray player (actual under-TV clearance: 2" on the left and right of center, 1½" at the center where the LED light and remote control sensor are located). Has original remote, and the legs are still attached. All settings have been restored to factory default. For inputs, see images. To clarify dimensions: TV itself is 3½" deep (9½" if you include the legs), 34½" wide (if you have limited space on your flat surface, a surface 27" wide would accommodate the legs with the TV hanging just over the sides), and 22" high (with legs -- 20 5/8" high without legs). As far as when this sale (or barter, if you've got something you think I might want -- I'm certainly open to negotiations) can happen -- I work in a local casino, and cannot be seen on camera accepting cash when I'm at work since I'm a manager who is ineligible for tips, and a transaction like this could be seen as taking a tip if it happened while I am at work. I work from 3pm-11pm Friday through Tuesday. I would be available after 11:00pm any of those days (before work, I sleep until it's time to get ready for work -- if you work out a 12pm-1pm meeting in advance, I can adjust my sleep schedule for that day). Wednesdays and Thursdays, I am free whenever works for you (this includes today, Thanksgiving). Given the problems that the TV has with restarting, I will accept offers. The $50 list price is not firm. I will say, though, that if I tell you we have a deal, we have a deal. If I get a higher offer while you're on your way, I'm going to honor our deal. If I accept your offer, that acceptance is firm and not going to change, even if I get a higher offer after the fact. I absolutely guarantee that you won't get a call on the way to my house telling you that the deal is off if I agreed to it. That's on me, not you. But if my phone is ringing off the hook (I know, wishful thinking) and people are outbidding each other, I'll keep you all informed as to the most recent deal. Again...this is Craigslist, and I live in a relatively small community, so...what I actually expect is for one person to call (if I'm lucky), offer a price, and then for me to accept that price and you take the TV away and give it to someone you sort of like, but don't like as much as you like [insert favorite food/music/movie/vacation destination here]. And again, I'm not against a barter if you have something cool that you no longer want. Either way, it beats me having to pay to have the TV recycled...especially when it works (most of the time) and has just about as many bells and whistles as the TV I just bought.

If someone actually pays the $50 asking price, I’d be shocked (though the TV does, honestly, work as well as it did out of the box -- it just sucked out of the box but I disclosed that so I wouldn’t feel any guilt), but...the fact that I said “If I get a higher offer while you’re on your way, I’m going to honor our deal” (and not be greedy and go for a higher offer from someone who may call 20 minutes later) might get me some takers. I’ve never sold on Craigslist before, although I helped my parents sell a lawnmower so I’m not a TOTAL newb). but...the promise of “I know I said we had a deal, but someone else just offered $10 more, do you want to match/beat it?” seems like such a slimeball move that.

I don’t want to go there. I’m not a used car salesman. I’m just looking to pawn a mostly-working (but not without problems) TV off on someone else, after being honest with the TV’s pluses and minuses, so I don’t have to pay to have it recycled. Let someone else have my lemon TV -- as long as they have had the chance to see that it’s a lemon before they drop some money on it (honestly, I’d be THRILLED if I got $20 of my $50 asking price...I don’t know Craigslist well, but even getting $20 would be worth saying no when Best Buy said they’d haul my old TV away -- which they sold me -- if I paid them $15.

[muscledemandsrespect]

MY FASHIONMONITOR INTERVIEW: “WELLNESS TODAY”

I recently had the opportunity to share some thoughts with FashionMonitor.com for an interview ahead of a panel at the Festival of Marketing, on which I sat to discuss trends in the fitness industry. The interview caused me to think quite alot about several of the challenging topics posed to me. FashionMonitor presented a gently precised version of the interview HERE, but for those looking to explore the more complete answers I scribed, click MORE below to get my full thoughts on the trends shaping the industry at present and over the coming years, along with perceptions surrounding the influencer marketing world.

1.     What trends have you witnessed within fitness in the past few years?

I started working in the industry over ten years ago as a PT in a commercial gym, Esporta (which has long since been acquired by Virgin Active) and there have been many trends that have come and gone over the years. But to mention 5 more broad changes I see, it would be

i) PT as an occupation has gained mass popularity – social media has transformed and glamourised the job of working in fitness.

ii) ‘The gender swap’ – women train more like men and men train more like women.

iii) With mass popularity in social media and health there’s been a sort of ‘information overload’,

iv) This has sparked the growth and evolution of countless different flavours of ‘fitness communities’

and finally v) sports fashion ‘Athleisurewear’ has completely reinvented itself.

i) PT-ing ten years ago didn’t carry the same cache that the occupation enjoys now. Working in what certainly was a male dominated job was considered a bit more unusual. It wasn’t anywhere near as glamourized as it is today – Instagram as a fitness marketing tool for one didn’t exist. Today being a PT is associated with beach workouts, raw pressed juice on tap, and gorgeous bodies clad in expensive ‘athleisurewear’, not to mention crisp designer sneakers. For a lucky few this may be the case but more often than not this couldn’t be further from the truth, something I’ve written about on my blog. It’s a tough slog building a sustainable fitness business as a personal trainer!

ii)    ‘The gender swap’ may be a generalisation perhaps, but in my experience more often than not, it used to be the case that women would focus on cardiovascular training and men would focus on weight training. As a PT, trying to convince a woman to venture into the male dominated free weight area was not easy. There was the eternal fear of ‘getting bulky ‘. I remember distinctly walking into a weights area and being asked by a pretty stacked guy if I was lost. I think for women, encouraging weight training has been empowering, women feel bad ass and it has certainly introduced more fun, varied and effective training. For men, I see the change that it’s more acceptable and ‘mainstream’ to focus on mindfulness, yoga, meditation etc. So overall, men and women have merged somewhere in the middle.

iii)    ‘Information overload’ – with the explosion of fitness fashion, yoga and gym studios etc people through osmosis are more informed than before. There’s a real thirst for knowledge. People don’t just ask what they should train but also why. That’s something that rarely happened a few years ago. This has also brought with it MISinformation; the ubiquitous nature of advice is a potential danger to those who aren’t aware of the risks, and those ‘advisors’ operating without appropriate qualification can be easily elevated in this new social media world which introduces additional risk factors for people’s wellbeing and training regimes.

iv) You can find fitness communities everywhere today and brands recognise its power. As an example, today if you walk into a store, for example LuluLemon, you’re not just buying a pair of leggings, you’ve become part of a very large community. You’ll most likely be receiving newsletters not only promoting new products but you’ll find inspiring interviews, healthy recipes, invites to free yoga classes, workshops etc.

v) Athleisurewear – there has been an explosion of fitness apparel on the market. Large brands like Nike and Adidas are leading the way but I get several start up fitness brands reaching out on a weekly if not daily basis asking if I’d be interested in featuring their leggings.

2.     Which brands do you think are key disruptors right now?

My challenge in response would be ‘define ‘disruptor’. No fitness brands are doing to fitness what Uber did to transport on demand, nor really what Amazon has done to bricks and mortar retailing. They are however tapping into the trends I describe above; social media, community, innovation, gender stereotype developments in fitness.

bespoke tailoring is a thing. Adidas custom body scans, the speed factory that scans your foot and 3D prints a shoe that fits within the hour whilst you wait.

Conscious sustainable production. Small batch creations imbued with ethical values, like the Adidas Parley for the Oceans collaborations.

There have been a wave of new brands on the market over the last few years but Adidas and Nike are still the dominant players – it’s hard to see this model being disrupted, but rather, evolved….

3.     How do you see social media progressing in the future?

It’s an interesting question.

On the one hand people have become more mindful of how they use social media, perhaps more selective and time conscious (setting reminders etc), tuning out of content that imparts stress,

On the other hand brands are spending more money to work with influencers than ever before, as well as finding new and innovative ways of promoting themselves. There are constant trends coming and going. At the moment, I sense the trend is very much for a brand to be ‘passionate’ about something – whether it’s taking a stand for the climate, following in Greta Thunberg’s footsteps, or being a ‘conscious consumer’, gender equality, or matters of migration.

Not only have *brands* invested in social media, it’s becoming ever more of a platform for activists, politicians as well as influencers. It is a way to excite and rile up communities.

As the young Social media user base evolves and grows up, so too will the platforms. New platforms spring up like TikTok for new users, but the core platforms that for the base of social media have been established now.

The way we interact with those will change. People engage in longer form content but also the attention span is super short. It is a medium of significant contradictions.

4.     What causes are you most passionate about?

Primarily, wellbeing and health and fitness. Going back to my previous point (above) there is a real trend online now to be or be seen to be very passionate about a cause, whether it be the environment, feminism, migration etc but my platform is and will carry on only being about health. It’s completely politically neutral. I have grown up in Sweden, I have cared about nature and the environment since birth, but these are broadly private views for me on my platforms.

5.     How do you drive engagement on Instagram?

You need to post consistent, new, relevant and engaging content, dabble with new formats and placements, go stories, optimise for mobile first creative (vertical, sound on, key message in the first 3 seconds, fun stickers etc) – it’s got to be candy floss!!

6.     What is the key to a healthy, balanced diet?

The longer I’ve worked in the industry, the more I’ve realised that everyone is different and reacts differently to different foods. In order to enjoy and stick to a healthy way of eating you need to find something that you enjoy which is realistic. Anyone can stick to ‘the perfect diet’ if they were committed enough. At the end of the day it’s a question of what do you want more… the ice-cream or the six pack. For me, I like to think as long as I’m healthy most of the time, at 80% of my ‘best’, when I really wish to up the game before a holiday or something I’ve only got to increase my intensity/commitment by 20% – totally reasonable and realistic. What I would say is, it’s about portion control, eating quality foods (not eliminating any macros from the regimen – fat, protein, carbs), and timing – aiming to eat small amounts, regularly throughout the day. Fresh, locally sourced produce is best.

7.     Which influencers, celebs or activists do you admire right now?

I follow a bunch of different people for different reasons. I’m a big fan of Yoga with Adrienne, I also love interior design and Sophie Paterson is a definite fave. I enjoy Sheerluxe for fashion and chit chat.

8.     What do you think is the modern definition of wellness

I think wellness is timeless in the sense that it remains a product of its key ingredients – nutrition, movement/exercise and mindfulness (recover, sleep, etc). The optimal blend of those ingredients I believe differs from person to person depending on their metabolism, human makeup etc.

Perhaps the modern definition is based more on what’s realistic given the time constraints and lack of movement in most people’s everyday lives. For many who sit for 10 hours a day, walking for 40 minutes to work can be the most they move in a day. It’s a case of incorporating as much ‘wellness’ as possible, in as realistic and achievable a manner as possible.

An additional dynamic may well be the auto-recognition and normalisation of stress and mental distress; wellness isn’t just about *physical* wellness. We all face psychological struggles of some sort and the contemporary narrative around this is far more accepting, which in turn helps with wellness.

9.  Where is the best place you’ve ever travelled to and what did you love about it?

I lack the words to convey my wonder for the Maldives – it’s like stepping into a postcard, a photoshopped existence where the saturation has been maxed out. The turquoise waters are impossible, the temperature delicious, the relief so gentle and shallow, the sand is like flour under your feet and every morning you wake up in awe as to how beautiful the world truly can be. I return from the Maldives as if I’ve been somewhat reborn. From one’s first trip, everywhere else is ‘just not quite the Maldives’ thereafter.

10.  Do you think there is a bigger duty of care to audiences when dealing with the topic of wellness?

Yes, it’s why many of my blog posts have always strayed toward the ‘biomechanics manual’ rather than the 1-minute read. I am and have always been very careful as to what I advise, what I choose to promote and how I word my posts related to health online. There is a big difference between saying ‘here’s a delicious salad recipe’ and ‘this salad recipe will cure cancer and make you skinny’. Someone who may not be qualified to promote fitness online, may encourage someone to get up off the sofa that day – but on the other hand, that person may be more likely to sustain injury as the advice given isn’t necessarily safe or pursuant to a professional beat practice. It’s a tough one. Do we start regulating sites?

11.  What’s item can you not leave home without?

Four critical things; keys, phone, wallet, air pods.

12.  What makes you angry?

Untrustworthiness and unreliability…. People who let you down, or lie, or try to screw you over.

13.  Do you think it is the brand or the influencers responsibility to ensure authenticity and transparency?

I think it’s both parties responsibility. If you are sharing something on your platform, you’d hope it’s authentic – either you genuinely love the product, have been using it for year, or have tried it and can vouch for it. However, there will be times when the brand needs to point out certain details that may be unknown to the influencer. It’s a capitalist world out there and advertising buys into that wholeheartedly; people are going to try and sell stuff. But if content is flagrantly advertorial, you’ll know – and consumers are too smart for that!!

14.  What kind of email PR pitch would turn you off immediately?

I always like a face to face meeting with PR, as it adds a touch of old school human interaction, and helps to build rapport on both sides. However in my line of work, I see poor email outreach quite often. There’s a wide array of approaches; at the weaker end of the spectrum are lazy emails – dripping with spelling mistakes, and rarely getting my name right. That doesn’t mean the pitch will be weak, but if the PR outreach demonstrates a clear lack of insight as to who you are, by name or substance, it’s unlikely to bear fruit thereafter. Detail matters in order to find the right fit. Poorly structured, rambling emails that don’t make it totally clear what the pitch is about are a major turn off too. There’s too much noise in any given inbox, and crisp PR pitches cut through easily. Shorter, sweeter, more precise and to the point makes everyone’s job easier .

15.  Who takes your pictures?

Whilst it’s not his full-time job, my husband is a professional photographer, and when he can, he will always take my pictures. It is quite a help having your production facilities in house as you can move as fast as you want!

16.  What do you miss most about Sweden?

Mainly the proximity to nature – the fresh, invigorating smell of the outdoors, actually being able to see the horizon, as well as the proximity to the ocean. I also miss the food, especially all the fresh fish, and of course the cinnamon buns! It’s all about balance.

The post MY FASHIONMONITOR INTERVIEW: “WELLNESS TODAY” appeared first on Fitness on Toast.

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