August 29th: Grifters

 Sometimes I try to notice patterns in words being used. Like the frequency of them. I'm almost always wrong but it's fun to pretend. The word I think that has surged in popularity is "grift" and "grifters". 

Maybe in the past year I've heard it used a fair amount from multiple sources. Actually, let's check the google search popularity and see if I'm right. 

***checking***

ah-HA!

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=US&q=grift

Google has my back on this. In November of 2020 we hit peak grift, as they say. Hmmm, I wonder what historical event was going on in November 2020 that would have lead to a surge in the usage of "grift".

Prior to this I had only heard the term used in one Simpsons episode when Homer and Bart start grifting. That episode premiered in 2000. 

Anyway I think it's a useful term because it gets applied a lot to these shady tech scams dealing with NFT's and crypto. As well as politicians and people looking to take advantage of concern over social issues. 

I remember in the Simpsons episode, Grandpa Simpson finds out what Homer and Bart are doing and reveals that he wrote the book on grifting, being a con-artist during the Great Depression. Maybe that says something about the times we're living in. 

Anyway I had a really good workout yesterday. I was going to do 6xmile at under 6 minute pace but I felt good during the first rep and decided to change it to 3x2 miles which is a higher quality workout considering I'm not trying to go fast, I'm just trying to run as much under 6 minute pace as possible. It was really hot and humid so the effort was a little higher than I would've wanted but I think I did a good job of staying relaxed and sitting with the discomfort. By the end I'm not sure I could've done another one but also I was consistently running 87s and 88s instead of 90 second quarters so if I had slowed down and run the appropriate pace it would've felt much smoother. That's okay. The work was done and this is just the beginning. After I write this I'm going to go on a run. It's really hot but I have to get it done now because we have a coaching training at 5:30 and then I'm getting dinner after that. I also need to buy groceries. 

I talked to Luke and Erin on the phone yesterday. There are some of my favorite folks to talk to. I should find a way to visit Luke at some point. 

Off I go to bake in the sun. Smriti bought my sunscreen today and I put it on my face and it burnt my eye. Am I dumb or is sunscreen wrong?