Strap 'em on. There's so many ummm.. -interesting- theories I thought it a good idea to collect them in one place.
I'll start: What if Galina has been, for the last 6 months, slipping "special vitamins" into Casey's morning juice. Losing muscle mass, softened features, slowing growth of facial hair, increasingly emotional, sensitive to criticisms. Yep, Galina is buliding herself a girlfriend. Top that you wild conspiracy people!
56 comments:
So Bubba should send the thank-you note to Galina in a few months?
NR
PS 1st.
Murse.
'Nuff said?
Casey's subsisting entirely on juiced vegetables, green tea and the occasional feast at Macaroni Grill.
I think he's always been a whiney little girl. Look at him on the Kiyosaki video..
"These people keep hating on me... Waahhhh."
I'm thinking he's always slouching because the nubbins are starting to show and besides it explains the manicured nails and the tire changing incident.
well, casey sees galina's tasty birth control polls in the medicine cabinet, and figures "what the hell... it's not like she needs these anyhoo"
I have this disturbing image of casey doing a rendition of that scene in silence of the lambs where buffalo bill get all gussied up.
oh. ooooohh. possible picture for a topic -- buffalo serin.
"It puts on the lotion or it gets the hose again."
of course the other tune going through my head when I think of casey -- It's the one Bubba shall serenade our hero(ine) with: "Girl. You'll be a woman soon."
ahh, I love grad school. waiting for my experiments to run. sigh.
This Debt-Warp song may help to explain all.
It's amazing how little had to be changed from the original lyrics. Hey King Friday 13th.... been there, done them experiments. Nothing like an all-nighter in the lab. Have you ever set up a hammock in the lab?
NR
Casey:
It's astounding;
Cash is fleeting;
Interest takes its toll.
But listen closely...
Galina:
Not for very much longer.
Casey:
I've got to keep control.
I remember doing the debt-warp
Drinking those moments when
Borrowing would hit me
Casey:
And the void would be calling...
Mortgage payments:
Let's do the debt-warp again.
Let's do the debt-warp again.
Narrator:
It's just a loan from the bank.
All:
Your sweet deals are alright.
Narrator:
But no luck with your flips.
All:
So bring your knees in tight.
And give a pelvic thrust
That drives Bubba insane.
Let's do the debt-warp again.
Let's do the debt-warp again.
Galina:
It's so dreamy, oh fantasy free me.
Soon you won't see me, no, not at all.
In another dimension, with voyeuristic intention,
Well secluded, I see all.
Casey:
With a bit of a mind flip
Galina:
You're into my pink slip.
Casey:
And nothing can ever be the same.
Galina:
You're spaced out on sensation.
Casey:
Welcome to debt nation.
All:
Let's do the debt-warp again.
Let's do the debt-warp again.
Nigel:
Well I was cruising on the Web just a-having a think
When a snake of a guy gave me an evil wink.
He shook-a me up, he took me by surprise.
He had a bunch of homes, and the devil's eyes.
He stared at me and I felt a change.
Cash meant nothing, never would again.
All:
Let's do the debt-warp again.
Let's do the debt-warp again.
Narrator:
It's just a loan from the bank.
All:
Your sweet deals are alright.
Narrator:
But no luck with your flips.
All:
So bring your knees in tight.
And give a pelvic thrust
That drives Bubba insane.
Let's do the debt-warp again.
Let's do the debt-warp again.
The thought of Casey putting his love muscle anywhere but my arse is just disgusting.
Nigel
STATE OF NEW MEXICO COUNTY OF SANDOVAL THIRTEENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICTNo. D1329CV200601364AURORA LOAN SERVICES, LLC, Plaintiff,vs. CASEY K. SERIN; MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS, INC. (SOLELY AS NOMINEE FOR LENDER AND LENDER'S SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS); UNKNOWN OCCUPANTS, WHOSE TRUE NAMES ARE UNKNOWN, Defendant(s).NOTICE OF SALENOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the undersigned Special Master will on March 28, 2007, at 12:30 P.M., Outside the Front Entrance of the Sandoval County Judicial Complex, 1500 Idalia Road, Building A, Bernalillo, NM, sell and convey to the highest bidder for cash all the right, title, and interest of the above-named defendants in and to the following described real estate located in said County and State: LOT 25, IN BLOCK 130 OF UNIT SEVENTEEN, RIO RANCHO ESTATES, TOWN OF ALAMEDA GRANT, SANDOVAL COUNTY, NEW MEXICO, AS THE SAME IS SHOWN AND DESIGNATED ON THE PLAT OF BLOCKS 129 THRU 153 OF SAID SUBDIVISION, FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY CLERK OF SANDOVAL COUNTY, NEW MEXICO ON MAY 12, 1969 IN RIO RANCHO ESTATES PLAT BOOK 1, FOLIO 86. The address of the real property is 6021 Guadalajara Road North East, Rio Rancho, NM 87144. Said sale will be made pursuant to the Decree of Foreclosure entered on January 4, 2007, in the above entitled and numbered cause, which was a suit to foreclose a mortgage held by the above Plaintiff and wherein Plaintiff was adjudged to have a lien against the above-described real estate in the sum of $413,777.37, plus interest from December 18, 2006 to the date of sale at the rate of 6.5% per annum, the costs of sale, including the Special Master's fee, publication costs, and Plaintiff's costs expended for taxes, insurance, and keeping the property in good repair. Plaintiff has the right to bid at such sale and submit its bid verbally or in writing. The Plaintiff may apply all or any part of its judgment to the purchase price in lieu of cash. At the date and time stated above, the Special Master may postpone the sale to such later date and time as the Special Master may specify. NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that this sale may be subject to a bankruptcy filing, a pay off, a reinstatement or any other condition that would cause the cancellation of this sale. Further, if any of these conditions exist, at the time of sale, this sale will be null and void, the successful bidder's funds shall be returned, and the Special Master and the mortgagee giving this notice shall not be liable to the successful bidder for any damages. NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that the real property and improvements concerned with herein will be sold subject to any and all patent reservations, easements, all recorded and unrecorded liens not foreclosed herein, and all recorded and unrecorded special assessments and taxes that may be due. NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that the purchaser at such sale shall take title to the above-described real property subject to rights of redemption. Dated: February 16, 2007. Robert A. Doyle Special Master c/o Castle Meinhold & Stawiarski 13725 Struthers Road, Suite 201 Colorado Springs, CO 80921 (800) 286-0013 (719) 634-4868 06-3139/Serin, Casey K.; P277716 Publication Date (s):March 1, 8 & 15, 2007
The Observer, Rio Rancho NM, http://observer-online.com/classifieds/?loc=detail&main=Legal%20Notices
retrieved 3/1/07
@Nigel.
Casey told me he was a bottom only.
Brian Nick
Be advised that an email provided to some party in this ongoing Serin saga was used to run the "trader" con. This scam "hires" people to move goods internationally. Then one day the payments stop. I think I used this address at young-manager.com, something about that guy seems so fake, but ok.
That NM public notice was cooool... I wanna' be a Special Master.
Does the Special Master get to dress up all in black leather and carry a whip for the sale? One of those zippered black leather hoods with thin slits for the eyes?
You want a conspiracy theory? How about this one:
Galina's running the entire show.
Casey is her pretty-boy puppet front-man; not too smart, but willing to go along in exchange for a roof over his head -- particularly after he got fired from Pride -- and the occasional marital nap.
Galina constructed the elaborate persona exhibited at IAFF. Galina took the staged photos. Galina did the deals. But she carefully kept everything in Casey's name; Casey just signed whatever was put in front of him.
When it all comes crashing down, she'll cut and run, leaving Casey as the fall guy.
And she'd have got away with it too, if it wasn't for us meddling kids. Oh, and that pesky community property thing.
Or....perhaps Yulia is trying to help her little sister out of this pitiful marriage by poisoning Casey's juice every morning? I wonder if they recently purchased a life insurance policy on Casey?
Tonight on E! True Sacramento Story:
Born originally as Cassandra Serin; Casey started his days in small, cute little flower print dresses and mary-janes; his birth certificate stating with some certainty, that he was born a girl. Cassandra's mother only began to notice her strange tendencies when she was about nine, when she found her daughter sneaking into her husband's closet, and putting on his BVD's and tube socks.
Cassandra's tomboyish behaviour became more noticeable with each passing year; begging her mother for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles underpants, and insisting she buy her some matchbox Jettas, and Ken dolls for trendy dressing.
Cassandra's parents largely ignored the problem; perhaps denied it, unable to cope with the truth that Cassandra was gender-confused. When Cassie was 18, her mother finally acknowledged Cassandra's plight, and allowed her to begin the process in preparation for sex-change surgery.
Tragedy struck when a freak accident occurred during surgery - causing irreparable damage to Cassandra's sexual organs. Now neither man, nor woman, Casey exists in androgeny - Like his/her name, neither male, nor female, with a physical state much like that of a mannequin.
He still chose to live as a man would live, and was fortunate enough to find a partner who didn't care about his sexual deficiencies, or even his clearly androgenous state--As long as his wife Galina was kept in a lifestyle she was accustomed to, Casey would know the normalcy of a relationship.
As his life began to show signs of improvement after the tragic surgery, he came upon the idea to make some investments to secure their futures...
Rob I need yours and the other community members help.
I was approached to buy a timeshare in Leisure Time Resorts of America, LLC. I have done some preliminary searches on the internet for what I can resell this thing for and have come up empty handed. Lets all put our detective work to good use and show Casey how due diligence is done.
What I would like to know...current cost to gain membership now?
What the market is for transferring the timeshare? Who are the buyers, and where do I locate them on the internet?
My plan is to buy it from the current owner to owner and then resell it to my buyer for the transfer fee +my profit.
Okay all lets get to work.
One of the locations for it is thousandtrails.com
General Info:
Resort locations are mostly in the Washington state.
1. Cascade Resort
2. Oceana I Resort
3. Oceana II Resort
4. paradise Resort
5. Grandy Creek Resort
6. Crescent Bar Resort
7. Warden Lake Resort
8. Sierra Spring Resort
9. Thunderbird Resort
10. Seaside Resort
All of the above are in Washington State except 10 (Oregon coast-seaside) and 8 (California)
President and CEo Bernie O. Albertsen
LTR Member Services 1-800-453-3233
CCC Member Services 1-800-368-5721
Seaside Oregon leisure Time Resort
503-738-5292
Lets get this deal done and I will donate a couple hundred bucks to your tip jar for the anti-casey fund.
*puts on tin foil hat*
Casey is the only one that can hear the blue ball talk.
*removes tinfoil hat*
CHJTS,
Try this:
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&satitle=thousand+trails
It's ebay. a couple look like what you are looking for but you might check the sellers credentials and email them about it.
Aaron
jbjbj,
The blue ball doesn't talk, it hums.
JBJBJ: Casey is the only one that can hear the blue ball talk.
Beautiful Idea -- a remake of the movie "Cast Away", to take place after Casey is kicked out of his in-laws, and his parents places.
He's on a deserted island with no friends except his trusted volleyball... err, Blue Ball. He has to learn to live off the land by looking for "Sweet Meals". Finally, he builds a large raft in an attempt to escape. Unlike the original movie, our protagonist uses shoddy contractors to build the raft, taking sweet cash back in the process. Halfway to salvation, the raft sinks, and our hero drowns. The end.
Title: Cast Away II: Cased Away!
CHJTS,
A couple of them list the cost for it if you bought it new today, benefits to membership(which im sure you know already).
http://cgi.ebay.com/THOUSAND-TRAILS-NACO-AND-LEISURE-RESORT-MEMBERSHIP_W0QQitemZ180091080376QQihZ008QQcategoryZ16709QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
this guy has sold 164 things with 100% feedback
http://cgi.ebay.com/Thousand-Trails-NACO-Resorts-GOLD-Alliance-Membership_W0QQitemZ250087568114QQihZ015QQcategoryZ16709QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
also this one
http://cgi.ebay.com/THOUSAND-TRAILS-NACO-UNLIMITED-CAMPGROUND-MEMBERSHIP_W0QQitemZ190060910486QQihZ009QQcategoryZ16709QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem
aaron
Other Conspiracy Theories?
1. Casey's "in the closet" and his marriage to Galina was arranged by one or both of their parents. Casey had abstinence links in his bookmarks because the thought of doing... "that"... with a female is horrifying to him. Nevermind doing it while living at his in-laws!
2. The Utah Trip is really cover for a mandated court appearance about the missing payment(s). Casey got a subpoena in the mail, and he's hiding it from the blog.
3. Casey's "uncles" are people who will make CashCall look like Casey's best friend in comparison.
4. Casey's planning to give Yulia a nice freshly squeezed orange, carrot, and cyanide cocktail.
I'm really reaching here, but if we come up with enough theories, at least one or two must be true. :-)
BTW, it's been mentioned before, but fraud-alert@cashcall.com is the relevant email address for any aspiring anti-Casey informants.
1. Casey's going to Utah to join the mormons to he can marry Yulia as well - he needs more guarantors for new loans...
2. The wrappee's in Utah (and BTW - wrapping is completely illegal in my home state Western Australia) rang him up - told him they had a cashier's draft/check for the next months payment and could he come and collect it this time to make sure it gets to the right bank/pocket!
IMHO Nigel was the dude who put the wrap together... He's probably coughing up the dough/ticket.
Let's keep an eye on flikr for photos!
OH - and PLEEEZE GayCasey - everyone on the airport lounge was NOT amused at the gay porn link (and yes - I use firefox) - give us some warning mate!
PMSPMS
OK here's a scenario:
Stephanie (or Heidi or Kinsey) slip into Sac under cover of daylight & keep an eye on the JJ joint.
When the quarry turns up, she "accidentally" spills a JJ all over him. Offers to take him to her motel room for a cleanup. Offers him some real stuff (Vodka?).
Slips in a "roofie", & out of her clothes.
If he responds, time to a) take a digital pic., and b) say "wow, it's
so small, i'ts even smaller than Casey Serins!
See, all we have is innuendo and hearsay. Time to get the facts, even tiny facts are better than none.
The tip jar should be good for expenses, I should imagine.
Cheers - Dave
More a distinct possibility than a conspiracy theory:
Casey forgets to re-new the IAFF domain name. He's got some time, but it expires on 9/6/2007. Maybe he expects to be incarcerated by then...??
I am birddogging the getcashoffer.com site if it comes up tomorrow.
I'm late to this thread Rob, but thanks for making me spew half a can of Diet Coke all over my nice new monitor.
Lawnmower man,
"You want a conspiracy theory? How about this one:
Galina's running the entire show."
The same thought has crossed my mind more than a few times.
A subpoena would have been issued if Li'l Dandelion weren't a party (defendant) in an action that was filed, and he could probably get out of it by telling them he wasn't in the area. A summons, on the other hand, would have been issued if he were a party in the complaint, and he probably wouldn't be able to get out of that, even though he lives outside Utah.
I checked the Utah County Justice Court docket, and couldn't find Li'l Dandelion or Ablebuyer on it, but it looked like a criminal court docket and not a civil court docket (I didn't see any business names). I'm not familiar with Utah's state court system, so didn't delve into what their civil/criminal courts are. I might if I get bored tomorrow, but am posting this small nugget of info in case someone else is more enterprising...
Also, I am developing the desire for some IAFF-authentic merchandise. Does anyone know where I can get an exercise ball in the same size and color as our Li'l Dandelion's? Some of the ones I see are a lighter color blue.
I dunno if "Jake Vortex" is on this blog or is reading this, but could you stop editing Galina's name out of Casey's Wikipedia entry...?
First of all, only her name and birthday is listed -- hardly some tell-all exposé. Secondly, she isn't some random figure whose information is put up just so we can harass her. She's clearly involved in this whole saga, from the signing of documents, to the attempted re-habbing of the houses, to taking the guru classes, to appearing at the recent foreclosure auction.
Thirdly, as pointed out on the "Talk" page, Casey makes no effort to hide her identity. Every "hater" on the internet knows who she is. Please stop deleting her name... rant off, thanks.
wowsers...if this is a platinum plan I could sell it for quite a bit....NICE.
I guess I need to find out what plan it is so I can determine what My resale for it would be and if I can do a double transfer (me buy and then my buyer buy quickly without limitations..
What the balance is remaining on the original contract, and how much longer it is paid through.
I was offered this for just the transfer fee.
This could make me 5 or 6k for less than an hour of work.
NICE>
Guy is trying to buy a house.
Guy gets the following email from his mortgage broker.
He's inflating the selling price?!? Doesn't this screw up the sales reports by inflating sales prices? How prevelant is this practice?
Bold is for emphasis....
"So, on a 100% conventional loan, your min. requirement would be $500 down, plus the $375 for the appraisal, the seller could pay up to 6% of your closing costs. I have inflated the sales price to $195000 to make sure that the seller would be ok with these numbers. The P & I would be $1281.01, the Taxes, Mortgage Insurance, and Hazard insurance would total $660.25 (that is a high est.) for a total of $1941.26. I am assuming an interest rate of 6.875 for this program."
Firesale on b-friend. Any takers?
BTW, Dawg, tha's one cute Siamese kitty photo. Like da hat.
Steph, enjoyed da Cassandra story. Still suspect he's hidin his ass in da purse.
BTW, l'immutai guy, I'd like to make a suggestion. Avoid Diet Coke.
Rob, hope you can get the GetCashOffer.com site tomorrow. Any plans for it?
I was thinking, maybe we could get IAmFacingPrisonTime.com or something, have it redirect to IAFF, then spam it on housing crash related websites ;-)
Alumi-NutraSweet of the g-damn, entropic brain. Not cool. Drink water.
Gassolina be a cunt big time.
Where's Homey?
I's think it time to get creative on that mofo's ass (incluz da rest of da food chain).
Mofo being KC, btw.
@CHJTS
Though the idea of the tipjar was to fund research into Casey's scams, Rob Dawg has thinks that the anti-Casey traffic driving this blog is related to his own popularity.
Therefore, he has redirected all donations to a fund to boost his fragile ego. Any money you donated to do things like pull car registration info on Vdubs is now being redirected to allowing Rob to set up a dedicated server.
Not only do the traffic levels of this site not justify that misdirection of money, but in all probability, Rob is also charging for his own time at $109 per hour.
If his web development skills are anything like his skills with statistics or photoshop, it's going to be an expensive website.
@segfault said:
"Does anyone know where I can get an exercise ball in the same size and color as our Li'l Dandelion's? Some of the ones I see are a lighter color blue."
Many colors and sizes on amazon.com if you search for "exercise ball" or "balance ball", including dark blue ones. However, I don't know if any are the right shade or size to match Snowflake's. But they do not appear to be too expensive, so if it takes a couple tries you won't be out too much $$$$.
Slightly OT, but I just noticed that they are selling a "Deluxe Ball Chair" - something of a cross between an office chair and Snowflake's ball. Who the hell comes up with this stuff?!?!
Disclaimer: No, I don't work for amazon or any ball manufacturers. Just a starving grad. student who is too lazy to try to scare up other online stores selling balls.
Love,
Rainman
You know what might make good entertainment? One of the "haters" should call CashCall, record the call, and attempt to inform them of Casey's current situation:
- The address of his residence
- The blog post where he admits he's ignoring them
- All the dirt Homey et al. have dug up
... then upload the recording as an MP3 or WAV. I'm sure it would prove very interesting.....
Youz guyz have da mad skillz.
Someone want to play Thermos around here?
I LOVE the "Hey Casey" song and would like to hear more of them.
Tom Cruie is an asshole.com
@ Rob Dawg
I don't know that anyone has brought it up before, but if snowflake thinks about doing the BK process, it might make some sense to use tip-jar funds to access "pacer".
If I was interested in having search engines show results for a given page, or site, I wouldn't adjust meta-tags.
It appears Casey Serin has committed loan fraud, Casey Serin admits it in his blog. While Casey says he didn't try to commit fraud, Mr. Serin does state he lied on loan applications, which is a federal offense.
In the last paragraph, I got three "Casey", two "Serin", two "fraud", one "loan fraud" and two "loan". Also "sweet", I put loan fraud next to Casey Serin.
Take both paragraphs, and it's possible that search engines will understand that some part of this blog relates to Casey Serin and loan fraud.
Do look at the Pacer site, it might be interesting if Casey Serin declares bankruptcy.
You guys keep bagging on Casey's blue ball, but here's an article from Tuesday's Wall Street Journal that may cause you to pause . . .
The Ball's in Your Cubicle
New Workplace Trend Replaces
Office Chairs With Gym Balls;
A Debate Over Health Benefits
By ANJALI ATHAVALEY
February 27, 2007; Page D1
People have searched for the perfect office chair for decades, one comfortable, adjustable and easy on the back. Now some professionals are abandoning chairs altogether -- in favor of parking their hind quarters on a giant rubber ball.
Long used by fitness buffs and physical-therapy patients, those big spheres you see at the gym (commonly known as exercise balls) are rolling into an increasing number of workplaces as a seating option. Google Inc., a company that prides itself on its unconventional office culture, displays several balls on its campus in a recruitment video available online. But more-staid employers, including BMW AG and Bain & Co., the international consulting firm, are allowing employees to bring in balls or ball chairs for personal use as well. Manufacturers and distributors report that sales of the balls are up sharply. They even made an appearance on the TV show "The Office," when one character, irritated by the incessant bouncing, stabs a colleague's ball.
Some employees at the New York office of Naked Communications, a London-based marketing-strategy firm, opt for exercise balls over desk chairs.
Devotees say exercise balls, whose circumference ranges from about 18 to 30 inches, help improve posture and concentration. Sitting upright on them requires using abdominal and lower back muscles.
Yet some ergonomists warn against balls in the cubicle. "The experience I've heard from people is that it's difficult to use for a long time," says Peter Budnick, president and CEO of Ergoweb Inc., an ergonomic consulting company in Park City, Utah.
Sitting on the ball for hours at a time could cause people to eventually relax their muscles and slump forward, he says. The ball also lacks the adjustments that come with an office chair -- there is no way to raise the height to fit the height of your desk and keyboard -- and the ball offers no back or arm support.
There are other potential complications. Adjusting oneself on the ball can be tough -- especially for women who wear short skirts. Slouching can result in a tumble.
It can also be an office safety hazard, says Andrew Concors, a physical therapist and certified industrial ergonomist at San Diego-based CPT Consulting. He has had a couple of patients in the past who have ruptured their balls at home while sitting on them and doing exercises. The ball also has a tendency to roll, which could cause other employees to trip.
Still, some workers say sitting on a ball makes them feel younger. "It kind of reminded me of when I was a kid," says Patricia Harder, director of training and development at Healthtrax Inc., a Glastonbury, Conn.-based company that operates fitness and wellness centers. Ms. Harder bought a ball chair for herself a couple of years ago. When she began working at home, the chair went with her. Now, she says, sitting on regular chairs is a turnoff.
Many employees supply their own balls at the office, but companies are starting to make them available, saying their oddity helps foster a creative environment and encourages better posture. Last summer, Sprint Nextel Corp. stuck about a dozen balls in its Overland Park, Kan., and Reston, Va., offices to inspire creativity among employees in the product-development group. The U.S. headquarters of Naked Communications, a London-based marketing-strategy consultant, purchased balls for eight or nine employees who requested them. Besides the physical benefits, the balls make work more entertaining, a company executive says. "We always have music playing, so you can bounce," says Paul Woolmington, a founding partner of the firm, while bobbing up and down on a gray ball. He adds: "A lot of people like it because it does discipline you on your posture."
At BlueSky Strategies Inc., a communications-strategy firm in Toronto, employees have races on ball chairs, which roll easily, when they need a break from work. Sometimes they even do it backwards, says Ingrid Rubin, the firm's president.
Some medical professionals warn that while the ball can be beneficial for short periods of time, prolonged usage can result in exhaustion. "I see value in it for the younger person who can tolerate it," says David Apple, medical director emeritus of the Shepherd Center, a hospital in Atlanta that treats people with spinal-cord injury and disease. But, he adds, "they may need to work up to having it for eight hours." Also, he says that while the ball may help young people who are in shape, he wouldn't recommend it for those over 50. "You have to maintain your balance. If you have to turn and answer the phone, you could conceivably fall off."
First introduced in the 1960s, exercise balls -- also known as stability balls, Swiss balls and balance balls -- have been used in gyms for years. More recently, technology companies brought them into the workplace. In European classrooms, the balls are often used instead of chairs.
Exercise balls, typically priced at about $25 -- a bargain compared to $900 to $1,600 for an Aeron chair -- is now making inroads into larger companies as well as U.S. schools. Last year, the Perkins Academy, a public school in Des Moines, Iowa, began offering the balls to 4th- and 5th-graders who obtain parental consent. Three balls have deflated in one 5th-grade classroom this year, although not while children were sitting on them. Shelly Johnson, the teacher, blames staples or other sharp objects. She says that children have rolled off the ball on occasion, but they have never received serious injuries.
Ball Dynamics International LLC, a Longmont, Colo.-based company that manufactures FitBall brand balls in North America, has seen a 10% year over year increase since 2004 in sales of its ball chairs. Broomfield, Colo.-based Gaiam Inc. says it has seen sales of its balance ball chair -- which is geared toward office users -- nearly quadruple over the last three years.
Other companies say that the growing popularity of Pilates -- a workout regimen that makes use of exercise balls -- is helping make the balls more popular. Stott Pilates, a subsidiary of Merrithew Corp., which sells Pilates videos and equipment, has seen an 82% increase in ball sales from 2004 to 2006. The company, which began offering the ball in 2004, sold more than 11,000 balls last year.
Some in the ball industry say that the benefits of the ball, which keeps people active while sitting, outweigh the concerns. "Because you buy a ball that fits your height and your frame and your size, you are sitting properly," says Lisa Witt, founder of WittFitt LLC, a company that markets balance balls to schools and offices. She recommends that novices start out using the ball in 30-minute increments.
Many people opt instead for "ball chairs," which come with a frame and are consequently more stable and somewhat less eccentric-looking. In the corporate office of Food Fight Inc., a Madison, Wis.-based restaurant group, Lisa Schell and Brian Zach are the self-proclaimed ball-chair guinea pigs. The sight of the odd-looking chairs always draws comments from employees and mail carriers.
Ms. Schell says. "I think people would like to have one, but they are afraid to have it."
In some offices, employees who sit in regular chairs are developing ball envy. At PJ Inc., a New York-based public relations firm, when a new employee showed up with a ball chair on her third day of work, people stared. "It was kind of like, who is this strange girl who brought a chair in with her?" says Charis Heelan, a coworker. "That was until we sat in it."
The employees are now fascinated with the space-age looking chair. It has also become a conversation starter when clients visit the office. "When she's not at her desk, we all go and sit on her chair," Ms. Heelan says. "There's a bit of jealousy."
He has had a couple of patients in the past who have ruptured their balls at home while sitting on them and doing exercises.
OUCH!!!!!
@serintonin
That certainly answers my question about ball-chairs. I thought it was just some oddity that no one would buy. Well, I guess the joke's on me.
I would buy a blue ball just to freak out my coworkers (engineers don't deal very well with anything out of the ordinary), but all the broken glass on our lab floor would pop the sucker in about 5 seconds.
BTW, that comment about "ball envy" had me ROTFLMAO. Damn, now I have to pick glass shards out of my skin.
That WSJ article was so last century.
Its interesting how these sorts of things go in cycles.
A couple of years ago, our OH&S was trying to get everyone to go to sitting on the Swiss Balls.
Now they're backpedaling and saying they're not good for prolonged sitting and you should use a properly configured ergonomic chair :>
regarding ZWEG and the Galina pics..
anybody has screen shots with the comments..
ill be happy to host them...
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