Winter Gym Membership - The Perfect Time To Join

Most people get out less in the winter than they do in the warmer months. It's just easier to sit in front of the television with a cup of hot tea than it is to bundle up and brave the cold. Besides it's too cold to participate in the activities we do in the summer.

However, the inactivity that many people experience in the winter can be detrimental to their health. No matter how healthy one's diet is one needs exercise as well. That's why winter is the perfect time to join a gym.

Joining a gym gives you access to numerous exercise options. You might not be able to go on a nature hike or whitewater rafting but there are plenty of options available to you at the gym. There are all sorts of equipment, classes and even indoor pools.

Working Out To Stay Well

Working out burns fat and keeps our hearts healthy. It reduces our risk for many diseases and ailments. It increases our metabolism. Did you know that studies suggest that exercise benefits our immune systems?

Regular moderate exercise can help us ward off colds and the flu. A study of 50 women showed that those who walked briskly 5 days a week had half as many colds as those who did not exercise at all. They also had healthier immune systems with more virus- and bacteria- killing cells.

Choosing a Gym To Join

Finding a gym that you like and is convenient for you is crucial. If you join a gym and find out later that it isn't what you wanted, you probably won't be able to get a refund. It's important to check out a number of gyms before deciding on one.

Location is important but it's not everything. If there is a gym that you can stop by on your way home from work without going out of the way, by all means check it out. If it has a friendly environment and equipment and facilities that you will use, go ahead and sign up. If not, keep looking.

Some gyms offer free trial memberships. This is a great way to try them out before paying membership fees. Make sure you check out all they have to offer before deciding. It's great if they have good equipment but if you're looking for a fun aerobics class you'll need to see what they have to offer in that department as well.

Even when it is freezing outside, you can stay fit by joining a gym. If you can get a friend to join with you it will be easier for you both to say motivated. Then you can spend the winter staying in shape instead of putting yourself in a position to work twice as hard in the spring.

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Uligan, Maldives Journal

January 29 - February 5, 2008
by KT

Uligan Atoll, Maldives: 40 Feet in Sand

Anchorage off the main Motu

Maldives Mantas, 12 feeding just outside the anchorage - Very Playful!!

Some friends had emailed us and told us that four days was more than enough time in Uligan, and that we would see what they meant when we got there.  After one week, we still didn't understand what they meant, we'd been fully entertained in Uligan and had found the mix of relaxation and exploration to be perfect.  Perhaps we are just easily entertained, or maybe it's that we have perfected the art of doing nothing!


At first glance Uligan is the typical tropical atoll.  Turquoise green water, white sand beaches, and palm trees scattered about.  Ashore however, I was struck by the structure of the town.  Instead of grass huts with thatched roofs the buildings were concrete and coral.  But more unique was a tall wall that runs through the entire town.  The wall provided both protection to the houses behind it (from the sand the wind stirred up), as well as privacy.  The wall was clean and neat, forming a wide street in-between.   It was built entirely of coral which was pretty impressive.   There are no cars in Uligan, and at most a handful of bicycles plus a couple of motor scooters, but the road was easily wide enough for opposing car traffic.  The street is not paved and barely even packed, so you are constantly trudging through the white thick beach sand.  It is the contrast between the sandy beach streets and the almost modern houses & walls that makes Uligan so different from the other atolls we've visited (modern being a relative term, What I mean is modern compared to say the open bamboo huts of Kiribati).  We were especially impressed with their hammock chairs.  In other island/atoll countries the typical relaxation-socialization calls for sitting cross-legged on a mat under a tree.  It doesn't take long before your legs fall asleep and your back aches.  In the Maldives they've built a simple hammock chair; woven roped tied into a metal structure.  These chairs are everywhere and superbly comfortable.  Even their meeting "house" has these chairs instead of mats.  Their only flaw is that they are made for the tiny bums of the locals, us large Westerners found that we didn't have a lot of room to spare!  They had also built a set of lounging chairs, a small table, a couple of stools, and a bouncing child's chair into a tree -- it was ingenious.  A photo is the only way to describe it (see below).

Uligan is full of rules -- the introduction to the stricter societies that we would be traveling through from here to the Med.  We were only allowed to anchor at the one atoll, we could not travel to the other atolls without a guide/escort, and we were rarely left to walk alone in Uligan.  We could not have locals on our boat, could not bring alcohol ashore (actually the alcohol ashore is a pretty standard rule in every country), and for the first time in our travels we were actually required by the officials to run an anchor light during the night hours (something we do anyway, but have never been required to by the local government).  The rules aren't that big of deal, we just found it interesting that they were so worried about letting us do anything on our own.  The people themselves are relaxed and friendly, but private and reserved.  They would say hello and occasionally ask how we were, but for the most part had practically no interest in us, and pretty much ignored us (with exception of the group of men who were in charge of managing and monitoring us).

The check-in was fantastic.  Tons of paperwork like always, and they wanted our boat stamp on everything, but they were efficient and quick.  They were also all extremely young.  Later, when we were checking out, I asked a couple of them how old they were; they ranged from 17 to 22.  I had just finished reading an old Western book, and associated their ages with the ages from early America, when one was a fully aged, almost old, adult by 20.

Our time in Uligan was nicely broken up between boat projects, exploration, and relaxation.  At some point we'd cracked the swedge on our shroud.  It was a small crack, but we were glad Chris found it early on.  It took a few trips up the mast to replace it.  We'd also torn the UV cover seam on our Genoa.  We didn't have the time to fix it in Uligan so instead we just put up our smaller Jib.  Both of these fixes turned out to be good choices as our next passage ended up being rougher and more to weather than we'd anticipated.  We'd also had to fix a hole in the dinghy.  It may not sound like a lot, but this was probably the first time that we had so many boat projects after a passage ...  I guess we'd been quite lucky the last few years.

For exploration we strolled the white sand beaches, walked along Uligan's town walls, and visited their wind farm.  They are quite proud of this accomplishment and tout is as "The world's first AC coupled Renewable Energy Micro Grid System.  Initiated under the Renewable Energy Pilot Project".  Chris also checked out a boat the locals were making.  A huge wooden thing that they were building without a spec or plan of any sort -- just straight from the head!

We spent one day on a tour, visiting two of the nearby atolls and snorkeling.  It was a beautiful and interesting day.  We had two guides, and I felt bad for them as they struggled to keep track of our group and to keep us together, moving at the same speed.  They couldn't let any of us out of their sight (see rules above), and I felt a bit like cattle being herded from one spot to the next.  The two atolls were similar to Uligan, with clean wide streets and walls lining them.  We visited a small store and one of the schools.  The snorkeling was good, but not as impressive as we'd expected for the area.

We also enjoyed a local dinner buffet ashore.  The food was outstanding, similar to the Fijian-Indian food we'd had in Fiji, with curries, chili fish (very hot), dahl (a split pea type of curry), and heaps of fresh rotis.  Chris and I love fresh Roti so much that we actually asked if we could order 30 to pick up the next day for our passage, not one to miss out on a profit the guy was quite happy to arrange it.

The highlight of our stay was when one of the other boats spotted some manta rays swimming just next to the anchorage.  We dinghied out, and minutes later were snorkeling amongst ten of the gigantic winged animals.  The water was murky, so we couldn't see them until they were really close, which sometimes made for a shock.  I'd tread water in one spot, doing circles looking for a manta.  Then out of the murkiness, quite close, would appear a set of huge open mouths, sometimes aimed right at me.  The manta would always end up veering off, but sometimes they'd get close enough that I was sure they were going to bump into me!  I noticed that the longer I stayed in the water, the less the manta's cared about me.  First they'd give me wide berth, then after a few minutes it was pretty much as if I wasn't there, and they'd pass close enough that I could've easily reached out and touched them.  Chris, more daring than I, actually swam down and touched a few on the back.  We both swear that one guy was playing with us.  Chris had touched his back once, and on a second pass the manta came really close to Chris, but when Chris swam down to pet him the manta turned over on his back and swam beneath us for almost a minute upside down, before turning right side and coming back towards us.  We've never seen a manta do that before.  We stayed out there a couple of hours, until our backs were sunburned, our hands and feet turned to prunes, and our bodies shivered from the cool water.

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Cambridge and the Managing Committee

Cambridge was well represented on the Managing Committee. Professor Percy Gardner (1846-1937) was a member of the first committee: at the time he was holding the Disney chair in Archaeology (1880-87). (He was elected to the Lincoln and Merton chair in Classical Archaeology at Oxford in 1887.) This was not a demanding position. He recalled:

Though technically a Professorship, the Disney post was in fact only a lectureship, involving no residence, but only the delivery of six lectures in the year. These lectures I could easily arrange to give in time of vacation from the [British] Museum: so the Trustees allowed me to keep my post, thinking it desirable to establish a fresh line of communication between the Universities and the Museum.

(Autobiographica, 52)

A significant Cambridge influence on the Managing Committee was Richard Claverhouse Jebb (1841-1905) who was on the original Managing Committee and then a Trustee. He returned to Cambridge in 1889 as holder of the Regius chair of Greek. John Edwin Sandys (1844-1922) was also on the original committee with Jebb and subsequently the University of Cambridge nominee (replacing Ridgeway in 1904/05). Sandys was elected a Fellow of St John's College in 1867: he also served as the university's public orator (1876-1919).

James Smith Reid (1846-1926) was elected a Fellow of Christ's College in 1869 (until his marriage in 1872), and subsequently a Fellow at Gonville & Caius College (from 1878). He held the chair of Ancient History from 1899 (until 1925). His wife, Ruth, was a sister of Ernest and Percy Gardner. Reid's sister, Agnes, married Percy Gardner (who was Reid's exact contemporary at the City of London School).

Charles Waldstein (later Sir Charles Walston) (1856-1927) had moved to Cambridge as a lecturer in 1880. He was Reader in Classical Archaeology (1883-1907). (His successor was A.B. Cook [1868-1952]). Waldstein simultaneously served as Director of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (1888-92) during which time he excavated at the Argive Heraion. He also held the Slade chair of Art in Cambridge (1895-1901, 1904-11).

Leonard Whibley (1863-1941) was elected to a fellowship at Pembroke College in 1889. In addition he was university lecturer in Ancient History (1899-1910).

William Ridgeway was appointed to the Disney chair in 1892. He was the first nominee of the University of Cambridge on the Managing Committee (from 1896). His position in Cambridge was strengthened in 1907 by his appointment to the Brereton Readership in classics. He was particularly influential on Cambridge classical archaeology with many of his students going out to Athens.

One of the longest standing members of the Managing Committee (latterly as nominee of the Hellenic Socity) was Jane Ellen Harrison (1850-1928). She was a research fellow at Newnham College from 1898 and strongly encouraged female students to travel to Greece as part of their studies.

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Indoor Exercises For Your Kids

Cleaning the house expends more calories than one might think. However, if you add music to it, you and your kids can have fun and exercise at the same time. In fact, you could stop cleaning for 20 minutes and dance to the music. This is a wonderful cardiovascular exercise the kids will definitely enjoy.

When the winter weather keeps kids indoors, they need to expend all that pent up energy. One great exercise is to play Simon Says, which could incorporate jumping rope. The game will not only entice kids to join in the fun, but making it a contest will really get their juices flowing.

If you have a dance exercise DVD or CD, put it on and teach your kids new moves or, conversely, have them teach you a few steps. You can invite their friends over as well and in this way your kids will be more inclined to join in the activities. Of course, using the word “exercise” can be a turn off for some kids but if you present it to them as a game or contest, their competitive streak will kick in.

If your kids were lucky enough to receive the Nintendo Wii game for Christmas, while it does involve video play, it can be another excellent way to exercise. Some of the games in Wii consist of bowling, tennis and other sports games that any kid would love to play and it allows for quite a workout.

Believe it or not, musical chairs can also engage kids in a great exercise routine. Play the music a bit longer than usual so they can achieve a longer workout.

Another great exercise is to teach your kids how to row a boat. You can set the scene with pictures or drawings of waves and sand, then take the kiddie pool, blow it up and bring it into the den or basement. Have the kids sit it in with their feet pressed firmly to the bottom of the pool. Using a broom or mop handle, have them hold it in the center, and pretend they are rowing a boat. Similar to riding a bike, the hands and arms produce the same circular motion.

There was a home video on TV in which a mom was teaching her one-year-old son how to walk on a treadmill. She held his hands, of course, but the idea that it was fun and new to the child left him thoroughly enjoying it. Children become interested in exercising if it’s fun. So take out the “ex” in exercise, and replace it with jazzercise or danceasize, or any word you can come up with that will be enticing and sounds like loads of fun.

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Charles Waring: BSA Trustee

Charles Waring (c. 1827-1887) was born in Eccleshall, Yorkshire. He had at least two brothers, William (born c. 1821) and Henry (born c. 1823). By 1841 Charles was living in Micklegate, York and describing himself as a 'civil engineer'. The brothers formed a company (Waring Brothers) working on railway contracts.

In 1853 Messrs Waring Brothers and Shaw were working in the Central Peninsular Railway Company in Portugal. The contract was worth £800,000 for the 'entire execution of the works, and for furnishing the rolling stock' (Daily News, November 12, 1858).

Among the other projects were Dorset Central (1858), Ceylon (1859), the Pernambuco, Recife and San Francisco Railway (1860), Sicily (1862), the East Indian Railway (1862), The Bristol Port Railway (1863), the Honduras Railway (1870), and the Uruguay Central Railway (1871). In the 1860s Waring Brothers worked on several British projects including the Midland Railway, though this contract was sold to Joseph Firbank (1819-86), and Kensington alongside (Sir) John Kelk (1816-86) and Thomas Andrew Walker (1828-89). They were contractors for the 'earth and brickworks' for the London terminus station at St Pancras (1868). Waring's obituary noted:

With the exception of the late Mr. Brassey, Waring Brothers have probably built more railroads in foreign countries, especially in South America and Transylvania, than any other firm of contractors, whether British or foreign.

Pall Mall Gazette, September 1, 1887

Waring wrote Brazil and her railways (Montreal: Gazette, 1883), State purchase of railways (London: Chapman and Hall, 1887).

Waring was elected Liberal MP for Poole in 1865 and 1868. However in May 1874 there was a petition served against him relating to several charges including bribery: he was disqualified and unable to stand in the 1874 election. He was selected as the Liberal candidate for Poole in the 1885 election.

Waring was married to Eliza and he had a son George. Apart from his London home in Grosvenor Gardens, Waring rented Wycombe Abbey from Charles Robert Carrington, marquess of Lincolnshire (1843–1928), who had been appointed governor of New South Wales in 1885. Waring, who had been suffering from 'an affliction of the heart', died at Wycombe Abbey on 26 August 1887. He left an estate of £552,270 ('There are no benefactions to charities').

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Honorary Treasurers of the BSA

The founding Honorary Treasurer for the BSA was Walter Leaf (1852-1927), a banker in the City of London. He resigned in 1906 to become a Trustee in place of Sir Richard Jebb who died in December 1905.

Leaf's place was taken by Vincent W. Yorke (1869-1957), a former student of the BSA (1892/93, 1893/94), a director of National Provident Institution, and subsequently chairman of the Mexican Railway Ltd. Yorke served as treasurer until 1955.

Both Leaf and Yorke were directors of the London & Westminster Bank (elected 1891 and 1903, respectively).

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Season 4 Photo Journals

Season 4 Route

Indonesia to Thailand Sailing

Australia Driving and Sailing

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Trustees of the BSA

The three founding Trustees of the BSA were:

• (Sir) James Tynte Agg-Gardner, MP (1846-1928): Harrow; Trinity College, Cambridge. Chairman of the Cheltenham Original Brewery Company Ltd. Returned as Conservative MP for Cheltenham in 1885.
  
• Pandeli Ralli (1845-1928). A founding member of the member of the Hellenic Society. Returned as Liberal MP for Bridport (1875-80); and for Wallingford (1880-85). Resigned as Trustee in 1900.
  
• Charles Waring (c. 1827-1887). Contractor for the railways (Waring Brothers); projects included St Pancras railway station in London. Liberal MP for Poole.
  

Waring and Agg-Gardner were replaced by:

• (Sir) Richard Claverhouse Jebb (1841-1905). Trinity College, Cambridge. Professor Greek, Glasgow (1875-89). Regius Professor of Greek, Cambridge (1889-). Conservative MP for Cambridge. Knighted 1900.
• Dr Edwin Freshfield (1832-1918). Winchester; Trinity College, Cambridge. Solicitor (whose clients included the Gladstones; 'solicitors to the Bank of England'); senior partner (1903-18). His father-in-law, J.F. Hanson, was the Levant Company's representative in Smyrna.

Ralli was replaced in 1900 by:

• George Augustin Macmillan (1855-1936). Eton. Publisher. London secretary of the BSA 1886-98.

Jebb's place was filled in 1906 by:

• Dr Walter Leaf (1852-1927). Harrow; Trinity College, Cambridge. London banker. Honorary Treasurer of the BSA 1886-1906.
  

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Publishing the results of BSA projects

Articles on BSA projects were initially published in The Journal of Hellenic Studies and then in The Annual of the British School at Athens (from vol. 1 for the session 1894/95). Reports on major projects (Megalopolis, Phylakopi and Sparta) then appeared as Supplementary Papers for the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies:

• Gardner, E. A., W. Loring, G. C. Richards, W. J. Woodhouse, and R. W. Schultz. 1892. Excavations at Megalopolis, 1890-1891. Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies. Supplementary Paper, vol. 1. London: Macmillan.
• Atkinson, T. D., R. C. Bosanquet, C. C. Edgar, A. J. Evans, D. G. Hogarth, D. Mackenzie, C. Harcourt-Smith, and F. B. Welch. 1904. Excavations at Phylakopi in Melos. Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, Supplementary Paper, vol. 4. London: Macmillan.
  
• Dawkins, R. M. 1929. The sanctuary of Artemis Orthia at Sparta. Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, Supplementary Paper, vol. 5. London: Macmillan. [digital]
  

These Supplementary Papers also published the results of the Asia Minor Exploration Fund:

• Headlam, A. C. 1892. Ecclesiastical sites in Isauria (Cilicia Trachea). Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies. Supplementary Paper, vol. 2. London: Macmillan.

The third Supplementary Paper was relevant to the work in Athens:

• Middleton, J. H. (ed. E.A. Gardner) 1900. Plans and drawings of Athenian buildings. Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies. Supplementary Paper, vol. 3. London: Macmillan.

Results from excavations at Palaikastro were published after the First World War as a supplement to the Annual:

• Bosanquet, R. C., and R. M. Dawkins. 1923. The unpublished objects from Palaikastro excavations, 1902-1906. British School at Athens supplementary papers, vol. 1. London: British School at Athens.

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Staff at the British Legation (1881-1918)

The British Ministers in Athens were a welcome support for the School:

• Sir (Francis) Clare Ford (March 1881-December 1884)
  
• Sir Horace Rumbold (1884-88)
  
• Sir Edmund (John) Monson (1888-92)
  
• Sir Edwin (Henry) Egerton (1841-1916) (1892-1903). Son of the Rev. Thomas Egerton of Shropshire; nephew of the First Lord Egerton of Tatton; entered diplomatic service 1859; secretary to the British Legation in Buenos Aires 1879; secretary at Athens 1881; agent and consul-general in Egypt 1884-86; briefly secretary at Constantinople, and from 1886 first secretary in Paris. Companion of the Bath 1886; KCB 1897; GCMG 1902. Appointment to Athens announced January 20, 1892; 'kissed hands' with the Queen, March 12, 1892. Subsequently British Ambassador in Madrid: announced November 3, 1903; departed December 29, 1903. 'Sir Edwin took the warmest interest in the progress of antiquarian research in Greece, and especially in the work of the British School of Archaeology, to which he rendered important services' (The Times, December 30, 1903).
  
• Sir Francis Elliot (1904-17). GCMG 1917. Left Athens: June 17, 1917.
  
• Lord Granville (1917-)
  

George Macmillan noted the 'friendly relations' with the staff of the British Legation.

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