Foster Time! Again.

We're getting another foster real soon, Tuesday if all goes well. Look for pics soon of Boo the schipperke.

Need Proper Sleep

Sleep schedule is out of whack again. The later it gets, the more awake I feel. As much as I would love to stay up late and wake up at a natural time for me, I still have to wake up for training. Boo

Belated Happy Birthday!

To my oldest cat. Snotface is 12 now. The old man is even older.

Secret Tweet

If you like Postsecret, there's something similar on twitter. Checkout Secret Tweet.

Small Victory

Diet's work'n. Belt down 2 notches.

My Cats are Awesome

Been feeling sick today, so I went up to take a short nap. Short turned into about 6+ hours of nap. Though when I went to sleep, the cats decided I needed some extra warmth so they piled on top of me. one cat on my chest, one on my left arm, and one on each leg. It's very comforting to wake up and feel the warm, purry goodness helping out.

bd Mongolian Grill

Food is decent, the grilling folks are pretty fun and have a lot of energy. Layout could use a bit of tweaking, the people flow around the grill and the salad bar are not very good at high volume times.

Generally, on par with other chain restaurants.

Weight Loss Setback

I have been dealt a blow to my weight loss project. When weighing myself this morning, I noticed that my weight jumped around when I moved the scale from place to place. Turns out, the weight has a leg on it that is impacted into the housing somehow.

That cases doubt on all the measurements I've taken since the beginning of the year. Great. So I have all this data that is now unreliable.

Now I have a new scale, so the data will be reliable from here on out. The positive outcome of the problem is that the new scale can also measure body fat. That will help me keep track of how much fat I am losing.

All in all, a hit, but a bonus too.

Ahh Denny's

After their ad for the free grand slam, I had a hankering for some good low-brow food. It was everything I thought it could be and more.

Plus it was breakfast food.

Thoughts on Direction

At work it's time for my 6 month and 1 month review... getting to them after only 1.5 years there.

One aspect of the review is a set of goals you want to achieve in the next year. This got me to thinking of what direction I want my professional career to go in. I have a clear idea of what my goals and direction should be in at my current job from my employer's perspective. Though what my goals and direction are from a personal career focus, I don't have the foggiest idea what I want or where I should go. I do know that I don't want to do this job for the rest of my life. While I am ok with my work, it's not something I can see myself doing in a longer time frame.

If this is not what I want to do then, what is it I want to do? Well, I don't know. I have a few ideas that I think would be fun to do and something I would enjoy, I don't know if it'll really be possible for me to be able to do them. Whether it be missing the skills for the job, the resources for the job, or the opportunity for the job.

There are a few job qualities I would be looking for in a long term career. A component of the job should involve some sort of manual labor. It is nice to be able to move and work the body as well as the mind during the day.

I would like to be able to use my hands to construct something, whether it be crafting or coding, I would like to be able to use my hands and make something. To be able to make something tangible would be a bonus.

Working with animals would be a bonus.

I would want to have some control over my work schedule and tasks I am to perform.

I would like to work in a field that does change over time. I wouldn't like to work in something that is static all the time. I like to have some aspect of change and variety.

I don't know what exact job would fit the bill. I am sure there are other criteria I have but can not recall actively. Until then, I don't know what to do or what direction to take.

Not all those who wander are lost... am I lost?

Taking the Long Way Home

After the Great Pothole Incident of '09, I've decided to find my way home by a different route. The normal way home has becoming a landmine filled path of sorrow.

The new way home is the back roads of Madison. The roads give me many scenic options as well as opportunities to honk at less than stellar drivers if I am having a bad day. While the drive might take a slight amount longer, my car will be injury free and I have more time to listen to my books on tape. Depending on how the commute goes, I might have to renew my audible account and get some more books on tape.

My general advice for you, avoid University Avenue west of campus. Yes, it is that bad. Try out a new route in the back roads and see some new parts of Madison you might be missing.

Another Short One

I would write longer, but I am mentally drained from the last few weeks at work. Need some time to do a mental recharge.

Bad Pain Day

Today was not a great day pain wise. My neck pretty much knocked me down and out for most of the afternoon. Not sure what tipped it off, but boy did it hurt. After some medication, that was under control for a bit. Now, I've got a migraine. Arg...

Great Weekend Start

A good time with friends is just what I needed after these past 2 weeks. Now, I think I will sleep the entire weekend. Why? Because I can.

Bus Vs EB

While the bus is fun and gives me time to play on my iPhone, it does make me feel sick. :-/

On the plus side, I get to pickup my car tomorrow so no more bus.

Pothole 1, Car 0

After working a long ass day, I manage to nail a pothole on the drive home. There was a big bang, and the control got really sluggish. Front tire is flat, back tire looks a bit off. great.

New Goal: Impressing the Doctor

My recent weight loss kick has been due partly due to my dad making a bet with me and partly due to me not wanting to be a huge, fat pig anymore. Today I added another reason to the list, I want to impress my doctor with the amount I can lose.

I had my annual physical this year. Mostly all normal news. My blood pressure is down which is good, but my cholesterol is still really high. Not surprised given how much eating of eggs for breakfast I have done the past few months. That should not be an issue to get it down again.

My doc mentioned that losing weight should be help in that field too. The doc has been pressing me to lose weight for a while. It seems like every visit it's there in the after visit summary somewhere. Well, this time I throw back at him that I am losing weight, not trying but doing, and I am on track for a 2 pounds a week rate. He was under the impression that this would not be sustainable and I would probably see that rate fall to .5 pounds a week or lower and I should be happy with losing 25 pounds in a year. If It was a really good year, 50 pounds would be amazing.

So in addition to winning the bet and getting healthy, the new reason is to lose more than 50 pounds this year to sock it to my doctor to show I can do it. I don't think this should be a problem as long as I keep my current pace and keep the 1k a day calorie deficit I am managing. That will give me 2 pounds a week and I would love to break 50 pounds in the year. 75 pounds would kick some ass.

Do I see these numbers as far fetched? No. Last time I got seriously into weight loss I managed to lose about 40 pounds in 2.5 months. Not 2 years, but I managed it in 2.5 months. That was a much higher rate of loss than I wanted, some sickness and surgery helped in that total, but I know that the 50/year is a breakable goal by keeping the healthy 2 pounds/week pace I am on.

Here's to 210 by 2010!

New York, New York

Put in my time off for going to New York in April. I'm excited. :)

Excellent Talk by Mike Rowe

Mike Rowe, if you have not seen him, is the host of Dirty Jobs on the Discovery channel. He has recently started a PR campaign to bring some honor and dignity to labor and skilled work. This talk is some how he got the idea and some of what he aims to do with it. I really recommend taking 20 minutes of your day and watching it.

What I Did Today

Nothing.

Ok, Absolutely Nothing.

Well, I did order Pizza. Veggie pizza to stay healthy.

After working for 60 hours this week, that's all I want to do. I'm so mentally drained I need some time to recharge.