South Korea's Park Tae-Hwan (left) wears the high-tech LZR Racer swimsuit. TORU YAMANAKA/GETTY IMAGES Visit the Photo Place

Let a smile be your umbrella? He prefers to complain in the rain

Tech toys: Choose to be happy?

Date published: 7/5/2008

DON'T you hate them? People who are always saying: "Smile. It's not that bad." Don't you? I do.

Andy Andrews says we should "choose to be happy" as we're pumping that $4.09-a- gallon gas on the way to the beach this holiday weekend, because being unhappy about it will only make things worse.

The feel-good guru had a best-seller in "The Traveler's Gift" and has a published a new book, "Mastering the Seven Decisions," that essentially says sugar will get you farther than vinegar.

I can't muster a smile when the numbers are flying around as I fill up my car. But Mr. Sunshine is right. Which, of course, makes it all the more hateful. Having a stroke or a heart attack over gas prices would run you even more than a fill-up.

"Complaining is an activity just as listening to the radio is an activity," Andrews writes. "One may choose to turn on the radio, and one may choose not to turn on the radio. One may choose to complain, and one may choose not to complain. I choose not to complain."

I choose to complain. In my case not complaining could cause me to snap and become a smiling serial killer.

A more positive defense of my sour disposition at the pump: Negative emotions are most often the driving force behind the kind of technical innovation we so badly need right now.

Anger. Fear.

War. The space race.

And of course, greed. Greed does tend to bring a smile to people's faces. So he's got me there.

PUTTING THE 'SPEED' IN SPEEDO

The controversy over high-tech swimsuits slashing times as the Olympics approach might help put baseball's steroid scandal in perspective.

Comparisons between athletes in different eras have always been unrealistic because of modern advancements including steroids, lighter bats with thinner handles, LASIK eye surgery, "juiced" baseballs, etc.

USA Today reports that, so far this year, 22 world records have been set--21 of them by swimmers in the LZR and TYR Sport's Tracer Rise, swimsuits that reduce drag in the water and could cut a whole second off a 100-meter freestyle race. So, USA Today asks, will asterisks on this year's Olympic records be necessary, like the great big one on Barry Bonds' back?

I don't think so.

The best argument against steroid use in Major League Baseball is that it might lead to kids using the drug.

A high-tech bathing suit? It's about as much of a worry as a high-tech tennis racket or golf club.

Michael Zitz: 540/846-5163
Email: mikez@freelancestar.com

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Date published: 7/5/2008