Today marks our 3 year anniversary! While our marriage has been anything from normal from how we met and married to the current health challenges we face today, it's been a fun ride. Here's to many more and good health to follow!
08 April 2008
03 April 2008
Need to Recharge
The high point of my week so far is that I was able to figure out a somewhat creative way to take a recursive part of a program and make it non recursive netting some nice performance gains. Kinda sad and geeky highlight of the week. I spent a few hours today working it out and am really happy I got it working. My worry is it might get shot down in later reviews of the program. Here's to hoping it gets through.
Since that rather pathetic event was the highlight of my week, you can guess it is not a banner week for me. The thing is though, nothing major has gone wrong this week. There has been a bit of stress from a deadline at work, but nothing unmanageable. I am finding myself being snappy, quick to be annoyed or angry at people, and completely physically and emotionally drained. I need a break, a really really long one. That unfortunately is not coming any time soon. Seattle is coming at the end of the month, but that's still a few weeks away. Plus it will have some long onsite time before I get to break for the weekend.
I've got to do something to get out of this funk.
02 April 2008
Keyword Roundup
Looking at my logs, I've got some interesting search terms coming to this blog. Here's a selection some of the more frequent/interesting ones.
- Spam Burrito
- buzz lightyear halloween live
- don't break it down for me (oddly going to my Pizza Tipping post)
- pizza delivery sucks
- adopt a husky
- burrito windows service
- various searches for pizza tipping amounts
- paroxetine fucks you up
- why loveline podcast 10 minutes
01 April 2008
April Fool's Day 2008
For a listing of a ton of April Fool's Day jokes in the Internet, check out http://aprilfoolsdayontheweb.com/
Here's some great, geeky examples via Think Geek: http://www.thinkgeek.com/edm/20080401.shtml
Sometimes the Internet Boggles me
I am a big fan of April fools day on the Internet. There are some great gags out there. One that really puzzles me is the idea of rick-rolling someone.
For those not in the know, and I don't blame you if you are not, rick-rolling someone is posting a link that leads to a video of "Never Going to Give You Up" by Rick Astley. The link is posted as being relevant to what ever the page/forum is about. Personally I think it's kinda funny. It's the randomness amuses me. :) It's kind of like yelling "I like puppies" in the middle of a conversation about nuclear physics.
Where it came from and why it's so wide spread is beyond me.
To get rick rolled, go visit YouTube today, April 1st, and watch any of the featured videos.
Find more rick-rolling know-how via Wikipedia.
28 February 2008
Good News for Crazy Cat People
A new study says that people who own cats enjoy health benefits over those whom do not own cats. Now we have scientific reasoning for having cats!
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/fea/pets/stories/022208dnlivcats.23b81fd.html
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/fea/pets/stories/022208dnlivcats.23b81fd.html
16 February 2008
Friday Podcast Late... What A Week
This week has been one for the record books. Just about everything that could go bad has.
I: I am off my diet for a time. I got majorly sick. My main rule of dieting, diets are on hold when sick. It's not a good time to be depriving your body of the materials it needs to get better. I have lost 12 pounds so far before getting sick, but might have gained some of it back. Only a pound or two, but still a bummer.
2: I got a call on Monday informing me that my grandmother was ill and was not expected to last much longer. She did manage to hold on for longer than they thought, but passed away on Valentine's Day at 4am. Yet another reason for me to hate the holiday.
C: Due to my grandmother's passing, we had to truck down to Illinois for the funeral. Because of the short notice, we could not bring all the dogs. So 3 of them, our dogs and not the foster, were boarded. Before they could be boarded, they needed a vaccination first. Which meant that the Ulric, who is afraid of people, needed to go to the vet and get a vaccine pushed up his nose. Being afraid of people and especially afraid of females made the visit even more fun when both vet techs giving the vaccine were female. After muzzling Ulric just in case, they held him down for the vaccine... and he promptly peed all over one of the vet techs. Oddly, after this took place he is much more approachable around the wife and myself. Weird.
0100: Thursday, the day we were preparing to go down to Illinois, was also the day that our foster dog Nudge was to lose his manhood. Or doghood. Either way, we had to go pick him up after the fun at the vets for our dogs. After the vet visit, it was snowing. And snow in Madison means everyone forgets how the hell to drive in that new thing called "snow" and become idiots on the road. Because our vet is in McFarland and the foster vet is in Verona, we got to take the beltline in that wonderful weather. I was about to hurt multiple people by the time we got there. Then the drive home was even better since we had to drive through downtown, another bastion for oh-my-god-it's-snowing-so-i-will-bloody-freak-out drivers. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper when we got home.
e. On Friday, we get ready to drive down to Illinois. While the wife was in the shower, I go downstairs to locate some socks. When downstairs, I notice the infamous basement lake has appeared again. >.< style="font-style: italic;">$10,000 depending on the pipe damage.
2x+4=16: Also on Friday, we notice the brand new fridge, delivered on the 4th of this month, has failed. The cooling thing-a-magig does not work. All food in fridge and freezer is now spoiled. And it smells. bad... no.... BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD I am so not looking forward to cleaning that out. Anyone have a gas mask I can borrow? One saving grace, the smell is not able to get out of the fridge unless you open it. One bad point about the good point, in order to clean it out, one has to open it. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Damn it.
Swans A-swimming: Nudge might have worms. :-/
Acht: Tomorrow, in the 6-12" of snow coming, I have to go pickup the dogs in a van that handles in the snow like a fat man on a diet at an all-you-can eat dessert buffet.
Lastly: When I get home, the cats have used one of the dogs pads as a litter box. Adding to the lovely smell and the general disaster area feel of the house. Seriously, hurricane ravaged homes in New Orleans could be marginally cleaner than our house right now.
I give up.
I: I am off my diet for a time. I got majorly sick. My main rule of dieting, diets are on hold when sick. It's not a good time to be depriving your body of the materials it needs to get better. I have lost 12 pounds so far before getting sick, but might have gained some of it back. Only a pound or two, but still a bummer.
2: I got a call on Monday informing me that my grandmother was ill and was not expected to last much longer. She did manage to hold on for longer than they thought, but passed away on Valentine's Day at 4am. Yet another reason for me to hate the holiday.
C: Due to my grandmother's passing, we had to truck down to Illinois for the funeral. Because of the short notice, we could not bring all the dogs. So 3 of them, our dogs and not the foster, were boarded. Before they could be boarded, they needed a vaccination first. Which meant that the Ulric, who is afraid of people, needed to go to the vet and get a vaccine pushed up his nose. Being afraid of people and especially afraid of females made the visit even more fun when both vet techs giving the vaccine were female. After muzzling Ulric just in case, they held him down for the vaccine... and he promptly peed all over one of the vet techs. Oddly, after this took place he is much more approachable around the wife and myself. Weird.
0100: Thursday, the day we were preparing to go down to Illinois, was also the day that our foster dog Nudge was to lose his manhood. Or doghood. Either way, we had to go pick him up after the fun at the vets for our dogs. After the vet visit, it was snowing. And snow in Madison means everyone forgets how the hell to drive in that new thing called "snow" and become idiots on the road. Because our vet is in McFarland and the foster vet is in Verona, we got to take the beltline in that wonderful weather. I was about to hurt multiple people by the time we got there. Then the drive home was even better since we had to drive through downtown, another bastion for oh-my-god-it's-snowing-so-i-will-bloody-freak-out drivers. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper when we got home.
e. On Friday, we get ready to drive down to Illinois. While the wife was in the shower, I go downstairs to locate some socks. When downstairs, I notice the infamous basement lake has appeared again. >.< style="font-style: italic;">$10,000 depending on the pipe damage.
2x+4=16: Also on Friday, we notice the brand new fridge, delivered on the 4th of this month, has failed. The cooling thing-a-magig does not work. All food in fridge and freezer is now spoiled. And it smells. bad... no.... BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD I am so not looking forward to cleaning that out. Anyone have a gas mask I can borrow? One saving grace, the smell is not able to get out of the fridge unless you open it. One bad point about the good point, in order to clean it out, one has to open it. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Damn it.
Swans A-swimming: Nudge might have worms. :-/
Acht: Tomorrow, in the 6-12" of snow coming, I have to go pickup the dogs in a van that handles in the snow like a fat man on a diet at an all-you-can eat dessert buffet.
Lastly: When I get home, the cats have used one of the dogs pads as a litter box. Adding to the lovely smell and the general disaster area feel of the house. Seriously, hurricane ravaged homes in New Orleans could be marginally cleaner than our house right now.
I give up.
08 February 2008
Beware...
A desire to adopt a puppy might come with viewing these pictures:
http://madtown.cc/v/Pets/Nudge/
More info on Nudge here:
http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=9934223
http://madtown.cc/v/Pets/Nudge/
More info on Nudge here:
http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=9934223
Friday Podcast #3: The Household Helper
Today's pick comes from the land of iTunes. As I logged in I quested to find a random podcast to review. In my explorations, I discovered The Household Helper.
Why would the Household Helper catch my eye? My house is a mess. A huge mess. I have 4 dogs, 4 cats, and me. That would cause any domicile to look like a thermonuclear exchange between two warring pet factions took place.
I fired up the podcast hoping for some good tips to use to help keep m house in shape. Unfortunately the podcast did not live up to my hopes. It does have a nugget of good information, but I feel it is a bit too short. It could stand to be about 30 minutes in length. The Podcast could also stand a bit less repetition. It does lean toward beating a dead horse on some topics, but those are some topics worth repeating a time or two. For educational material, I would like to have a few more actionable suggestions in the podcast and a little less personal anecdotes.
In addition to the content concerns, the production concerns are also a hindrance to enjoyment. The audio is soft and static at times. I have to have my volume pumped up to max to hear it at an easily understood level.
Overall, I believe it is a good start of a podcast. The Household Helper is a young podcast, so the content and production issues can be chalked up to learning the podcast process. If this were a long standing podcast with the same content and production issues, I would pass this podcast right on by. Though it is a young podcast just getting it's legs all worked out, I think I will check back in a few months to see how it is progressing. It has the potential to become a regular, but it needs to offer more at a higher quality.
Name:
The Household Helper
Length:
15-20 Mins
Frequency:
Weekly
Site:
http://thehouseholdhelper.com/podcast/
Audience:
Anyone trying to live a cleaner, more organized life
Rating:
5/10
Why would the Household Helper catch my eye? My house is a mess. A huge mess. I have 4 dogs, 4 cats, and me. That would cause any domicile to look like a thermonuclear exchange between two warring pet factions took place.
I fired up the podcast hoping for some good tips to use to help keep m house in shape. Unfortunately the podcast did not live up to my hopes. It does have a nugget of good information, but I feel it is a bit too short. It could stand to be about 30 minutes in length. The Podcast could also stand a bit less repetition. It does lean toward beating a dead horse on some topics, but those are some topics worth repeating a time or two. For educational material, I would like to have a few more actionable suggestions in the podcast and a little less personal anecdotes.
In addition to the content concerns, the production concerns are also a hindrance to enjoyment. The audio is soft and static at times. I have to have my volume pumped up to max to hear it at an easily understood level.
Overall, I believe it is a good start of a podcast. The Household Helper is a young podcast, so the content and production issues can be chalked up to learning the podcast process. If this were a long standing podcast with the same content and production issues, I would pass this podcast right on by. Though it is a young podcast just getting it's legs all worked out, I think I will check back in a few months to see how it is progressing. It has the potential to become a regular, but it needs to offer more at a higher quality.
Name:
The Household Helper
Length:
15-20 Mins
Frequency:
Weekly
Site:
http://thehouseholdhelper.com/podcast/
Audience:
Anyone trying to live a cleaner, more organized life
Rating:
5/10
Are Homes Really a Good Investment?
While I was outside freeing my roof from the horrors of the heavy snow earlier this week, I got to thinking that buying a house is not a good money making investment. There are those who say that a house is a solid piece of investment for making money. I'm not so sure.
With a house comes a great deal of expenses to maintain the investment. We have to purchase equipment to maintain the house. For example, snow rakes, lawn mower, tools, lawn equipment, filters, etc. We have to put a lot of money into customizing the house for ourselves by painting rooms, getting different flooring, putting up drapes, etc. Pile on that unexpected charges like having to replace your roof (which we need to do soon, ours is not up to code), replacing failed appliances, fixing broken pipes, calling the plumber to fix the backup from said broken pipes, and the intangible investment of the time spent performing the upkeep on the house. For an investment, it is a hell of a lot of work and money required to maintain it. I believe that the money we spend in upkeep almost or completely cancels out the increase on the cost of the house.
No I am not saying I don't like having a house. I like that I get more control over where I live and I can customize it to my needs and wants. That flexibility comes with a high price though. I am sure I am making some money on the house somewhere, but there has to be better and easier investment opportunities to grow our money.
Overall, I think owning a house is mainly about having control over the place where you live. It is not normally a money making opportunity. I would compare it to a low-yield savings account. The costs of upkeep and maintenance eat into my gains for appreciation on the house thus reducing my rate of return. When we sell the house we will get some money out of the sale that we put into the house. I don't expect to see a huge profit on the sale, but I do expect some of our investment back.
With a house comes a great deal of expenses to maintain the investment. We have to purchase equipment to maintain the house. For example, snow rakes, lawn mower, tools, lawn equipment, filters, etc. We have to put a lot of money into customizing the house for ourselves by painting rooms, getting different flooring, putting up drapes, etc. Pile on that unexpected charges like having to replace your roof (which we need to do soon, ours is not up to code), replacing failed appliances, fixing broken pipes, calling the plumber to fix the backup from said broken pipes, and the intangible investment of the time spent performing the upkeep on the house. For an investment, it is a hell of a lot of work and money required to maintain it. I believe that the money we spend in upkeep almost or completely cancels out the increase on the cost of the house.
No I am not saying I don't like having a house. I like that I get more control over where I live and I can customize it to my needs and wants. That flexibility comes with a high price though. I am sure I am making some money on the house somewhere, but there has to be better and easier investment opportunities to grow our money.
Overall, I think owning a house is mainly about having control over the place where you live. It is not normally a money making opportunity. I would compare it to a low-yield savings account. The costs of upkeep and maintenance eat into my gains for appreciation on the house thus reducing my rate of return. When we sell the house we will get some money out of the sale that we put into the house. I don't expect to see a huge profit on the sale, but I do expect some of our investment back.
01 February 2008
Friday Podcast #2: Wait wait, it's the Friday Podcast!
After opening up with a nice barrage of geekieness with TWiT, this week I aim to do a podcast with a little more general appeal.
From National Public Radio, Wait Wait... don't tell me! Wait Wait is a radio news quiz show that airs on NPR. The podcast is the quiz show minus commercials in a spicy podcast sauce.
What do they quiz you on? The News! All of it. From pop news to politics to some of the weirdest news reports I have ever heard of, this show has em all. The questions are posed to the hopeful competitors in a variety of games they can play for the ultimate in news quiz prizes, the announcer's voice on your home answering machine! If you win one of the games, the announcer will create a custom outgoing voice mail greeting just for you. Impress your friends with your fancy prize with each call you dreamily screen to voice mail.
In order to win the prize, you first have to win one of the Wait Wait games. One caller could be faced with answering two out of three questions about the news for the price. Another might have to complete limericks on news topics give by the announcer. Yet another caller might have to guess which story out of three outlandish news events is the real one. Yet another prize hopeful would have to cheer on a celebrity guest as the famous person puts it all on the line to win the prize for them. The questions make you think, laugh, and in some cases wish to that it can't be true.
Above and beyond hearing people compete for the vocal talent of announcer Carl Kasell, a highlight of the show and podcast is the celebrities that come on the show.
Each and every show has a 3 person panel of celebrities that try to help the contestant, provide some hilarious commentary, and try to win points so they can be deemed panel champ for the week. They don't win any prize; they do it for the NPR news quiz glory of being deemed champion. I personally am a huge fan of panelists Tom Bodett, Paula Poundstone, and Mo Rocca.
While the panelists can be known to a few people here and there, every episode has a celebrity come on to play a news game called Not My Job. It's a two out of three question game that they play on behalf of a randomly drawn Wait Wait listener. If they win for the contestant, the celebrity gets nothing, but the listener gets Carl on their home answering machine. The folks who come on to play this game come from all over the place on the celebrity spectrum. They've had presidential candidates (including my top pick, Mike Gravel), Ted Koppel, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, Tom Hanks, James Lipton, and tons more on to play the game. It's a great chance to hear some more about big names in the news and to hear them sweat through the questions, which are tailor made to be on a topic they would know very little about to make it even better for those listening.
For my house, this is hands down our favorite podcast. I know my wife doesn't normally dig my techie podcasts much, but she loves this one. It has wide appeal and really should be a standard entry on your podcast list.
Name:
Wait Wait... don't tell me
Length:
50 mins
Frequency:
Weekly
Site:
http://www.npr.org/programs/waitwait/index.html
Audience:
All ages.
Rating:
10/10
With my two main favorites out of the gates, next week I am going to pick a random podcast from the Internet and review it for you, good or bad. I am pondering making this the format for the Friday Podcasts. One week will be a new podcast to me, the next week will be a pick of the week out of my normal podcast lineup. Also if you have any podcasts I should check out, leave me a note and I'll get em on a review!
From National Public Radio, Wait Wait... don't tell me! Wait Wait is a radio news quiz show that airs on NPR. The podcast is the quiz show minus commercials in a spicy podcast sauce.
What do they quiz you on? The News! All of it. From pop news to politics to some of the weirdest news reports I have ever heard of, this show has em all. The questions are posed to the hopeful competitors in a variety of games they can play for the ultimate in news quiz prizes, the announcer's voice on your home answering machine! If you win one of the games, the announcer will create a custom outgoing voice mail greeting just for you. Impress your friends with your fancy prize with each call you dreamily screen to voice mail.
In order to win the prize, you first have to win one of the Wait Wait games. One caller could be faced with answering two out of three questions about the news for the price. Another might have to complete limericks on news topics give by the announcer. Yet another caller might have to guess which story out of three outlandish news events is the real one. Yet another prize hopeful would have to cheer on a celebrity guest as the famous person puts it all on the line to win the prize for them. The questions make you think, laugh, and in some cases wish to
Above and beyond hearing people compete for the vocal talent of announcer Carl Kasell, a highlight of the show and podcast is the celebrities that come on the show.
Each and every show has a 3 person panel of celebrities that try to help the contestant, provide some hilarious commentary, and try to win points so they can be deemed panel champ for the week. They don't win any prize; they do it for the NPR news quiz glory of being deemed champion. I personally am a huge fan of panelists Tom Bodett, Paula Poundstone, and Mo Rocca.
While the panelists can be known to a few people here and there, every episode has a celebrity come on to play a news game called Not My Job. It's a two out of three question game that they play on behalf of a randomly drawn Wait Wait listener. If they win for the contestant, the celebrity gets nothing, but the listener gets Carl on their home answering machine. The folks who come on to play this game come from all over the place on the celebrity spectrum. They've had presidential candidates (including my top pick, Mike Gravel), Ted Koppel, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, Tom Hanks, James Lipton, and tons more on to play the game. It's a great chance to hear some more about big names in the news and to hear them sweat through the questions, which are tailor made to be on a topic they would know very little about to make it even better for those listening.
For my house, this is hands down our favorite podcast. I know my wife doesn't normally dig my techie podcasts much, but she loves this one. It has wide appeal and really should be a standard entry on your podcast list.
Name:
Wait Wait... don't tell me
Length:
50 mins
Frequency:
Weekly
Site:
http://www.npr.org/programs/waitwait/index.html
Audience:
All ages.
Rating:
10/10
With my two main favorites out of the gates, next week I am going to pick a random podcast from the Internet and review it for you, good or bad. I am pondering making this the format for the Friday Podcasts. One week will be a new podcast to me, the next week will be a pick of the week out of my normal podcast lineup. Also if you have any podcasts I should check out, leave me a note and I'll get em on a review!
25 January 2008
The Friday Podcast #1: TWiT
This blog needs an enema!
In lieu of an enema (because I am sure my readers would be horrified at the process of giving a blog an enema), I'll be starting up a regular series of posts on my blog. Lucia does Sweater Thursday, 11frogs started up Essay Tuesday (which I am still working on this weeks one. What word would describe me. Ideas?), and now I do Podcast Fridays!
Every Friday I will strive to review a podcast I listen to or have randomly found on the Internet. The podcasts will range from tech podcasts to game podcasts to pet podcasts to current event podcasts to sex chat podcasts. If you have some suggestions for podcasts for me to checkout, leave a comment or shoot me an email.
My first podcast to review is a favorite of mine, TWiT!
Name:
TWiT (This Week in Tech)
Length:
1 hour, +/- 15 mins
Frequency:
Weekly
Site:
http://twit.tv/twit
Audience:
Geeks, Mac enthusiasts, Gadget early adopters, technology activists
Rating:
8/10
This Week in Tech is run by Leo Laporte. Leo is a formal star of The Screen Savers on Tech TV. He is well known for helping people out with technology and getting it to work for them. The podcast is run by Leo and has a wide range of folks who join in. From the cranky John Dvorak (http://www.dvorak.org/blog/) to top editors from CNET to Cali Lewis from GeekBrief.TV (a future Friday Podcast review) and more. Topics range from tech politics, new technologies, upcoming tech trends, book recommendations, and the weird of the web. It is a great tech podcast to find out what new gadgets are coming up, what technology is emerging to watch out for, and what political issues are popping up with the technology and society.
In lieu of an enema (because I am sure my readers would be horrified at the process of giving a blog an enema), I'll be starting up a regular series of posts on my blog. Lucia does Sweater Thursday, 11frogs started up Essay Tuesday (which I am still working on this weeks one. What word would describe me. Ideas?), and now I do Podcast Fridays!
Every Friday I will strive to review a podcast I listen to or have randomly found on the Internet. The podcasts will range from tech podcasts to game podcasts to pet podcasts to current event podcasts to sex chat podcasts. If you have some suggestions for podcasts for me to checkout, leave a comment or shoot me an email.
My first podcast to review is a favorite of mine, TWiT!
Name:
TWiT (This Week in Tech)
Length:
1 hour, +/- 15 mins
Frequency:
Weekly
Site:
http://twit.tv/twit
Audience:
Geeks, Mac enthusiasts, Gadget early adopters, technology activists
Rating:
8/10
This Week in Tech is run by Leo Laporte. Leo is a formal star of The Screen Savers on Tech TV. He is well known for helping people out with technology and getting it to work for them. The podcast is run by Leo and has a wide range of folks who join in. From the cranky John Dvorak (http://www.dvorak.org/blog/) to top editors from CNET to Cali Lewis from GeekBrief.TV (a future Friday Podcast review) and more. Topics range from tech politics, new technologies, upcoming tech trends, book recommendations, and the weird of the web. It is a great tech podcast to find out what new gadgets are coming up, what technology is emerging to watch out for, and what political issues are popping up with the technology and society.
24 January 2008
Dropping the Pounds, Week 3
I skipped the week 2 update. Why? I just forgot to do it. :-P
So far I have been able to keep somewhat on track. While I have not kept on the initial pace I set, I am still on a downward track. My current weight is around 278.1 down from 281.1. My goal was to lose 1.5 pounds a week, but i have found a weakness that dampened my progress: Special Events.
Over the last few weeks, it's been my birthday, WG's 30th, a chili cook off, and more fun. I did manage to enjoy the events and ended up overeating on those days. Eating out in general is still a challenge, but I am slowly learning. The aim of the diet is not only to lose weight, but to get more familiar with the various foods and how much I should be eating. The only main food change I made was to only drink zero calorie liquids. That is working out. It's amazing how many calories I was taking in drinking soda, juice, and sweetened tea. Other than that, my diet is the same make-nutritionists-cringe diet. I still eat out at fast food (though I am cutting back a bit due to costs) and having a snack now and then. The difference now is I am keeping a better gauge on how much I eat. I can still enjoy the good stuff, only not as much.
I am learning what to eat and how much and losing weight, so it's all on track. I did make a change to try and lose a bit more per week. I've decided to shoot for 2 pounds/week. It gives me a bit more wiggle room in case I overeat one day. Also when I was on the 1.5 pounds/week calorie intake, I didn't feel as hungry as I thought I should. As of the start of this week (weeks start on Monday in my book), I am down to eating 2,340 calories. To maintain my weight, I would need to eat almost 3,300 calories. Seeing now how much food it takes to get to that amount and how fat ass I am now, I am amazed I ate that much.
More updates as they come.
PS: I also have more motivation now. WG sent me a picture of myself at her 30th birthday party (the party was in the neighborhood of damn awesome). That picture is now serving as motivation. I didn't realize I looked that damn huge. Then again, can't really be surprised at it.
So far I have been able to keep somewhat on track. While I have not kept on the initial pace I set, I am still on a downward track. My current weight is around 278.1 down from 281.1. My goal was to lose 1.5 pounds a week, but i have found a weakness that dampened my progress: Special Events.
Over the last few weeks, it's been my birthday, WG's 30th, a chili cook off, and more fun. I did manage to enjoy the events and ended up overeating on those days. Eating out in general is still a challenge, but I am slowly learning. The aim of the diet is not only to lose weight, but to get more familiar with the various foods and how much I should be eating. The only main food change I made was to only drink zero calorie liquids. That is working out. It's amazing how many calories I was taking in drinking soda, juice, and sweetened tea. Other than that, my diet is the same make-nutritionists-cringe diet. I still eat out at fast food (though I am cutting back a bit due to costs) and having a snack now and then. The difference now is I am keeping a better gauge on how much I eat. I can still enjoy the good stuff, only not as much.
I am learning what to eat and how much and losing weight, so it's all on track. I did make a change to try and lose a bit more per week. I've decided to shoot for 2 pounds/week. It gives me a bit more wiggle room in case I overeat one day. Also when I was on the 1.5 pounds/week calorie intake, I didn't feel as hungry as I thought I should. As of the start of this week (weeks start on Monday in my book), I am down to eating 2,340 calories. To maintain my weight, I would need to eat almost 3,300 calories. Seeing now how much food it takes to get to that amount and how fat ass I am now, I am amazed I ate that much.
More updates as they come.
PS: I also have more motivation now. WG sent me a picture of myself at her 30th birthday party (the party was in the neighborhood of damn awesome). That picture is now serving as motivation. I didn't realize I looked that damn huge. Then again, can't really be surprised at it.
09 January 2008
Weight Loss Week 1
First week of the diet is down, many many more to go. Overall, I think it was good.
My progress so far is either a 1 lb loss or a 3.1 lb loss.
The two options originate from the very first weight reading. On the first day, I clocked in at 286.2, but the days after were on average much lower than that. I think that the 286.2 reading was an anomaly. With the high initial start, I would be on track to losing 3.5 lb/week. That seems excessive. Without the initial high start, I would be losing about 1.2 lb/week which is much closer to the 1.5 lb/week that I intended to be losing. With the Chili party over the weekend throwing me off for one day, I feel the 1.2 lb/week reading is correct so that is what I am going with.
The Chili party threw off my Sunday intake, but it was worth it. Sooooo many great chili's to try. The rest of the days have been on track so the future loss is looking good. More updates each week!
My progress so far is either a 1 lb loss or a 3.1 lb loss.
The two options originate from the very first weight reading. On the first day, I clocked in at 286.2, but the days after were on average much lower than that. I think that the 286.2 reading was an anomaly. With the high initial start, I would be on track to losing 3.5 lb/week. That seems excessive. Without the initial high start, I would be losing about 1.2 lb/week which is much closer to the 1.5 lb/week that I intended to be losing. With the Chili party over the weekend throwing me off for one day, I feel the 1.2 lb/week reading is correct so that is what I am going with.
The Chili party threw off my Sunday intake, but it was worth it. Sooooo many great chili's to try. The rest of the days have been on track so the future loss is looking good. More updates each week!
05 January 2008
Dropping the Pounds
The first goal of the year I am working on nailing down is losing some weight. I bought an accurate scale to start things off and found out I have ballooned to 286 pounds. Man I am a whale.
I have dropped weight before. I dropped from 250 to 210, so I will be able to do it again. To help me on my quest, I have setup a few guidelines to keep me on track.
1. All liquids will be calorie free
2. Always eat something in the morning, no matter what
3. On Fridays, diets do not exist
- Read this for an explanation of why, it has a good purpose for weight loss. Why Cheating on Your Diet is a Good Thing
4. Keep track of everything I eat on thedailyplate.com
- Helps me keep on track to only eat 2600 calories a day which should result in about 1.5 pounds of weight loss per week. To maintain my current weight I would have to eat 3400 calories. Which makes me wonder how the hell I managed to eat so much to get this heavy.
5. Track my weight on physicsdiet.com
- A nice site that will compute the weighted moving average of your weight to actually see the trend of your weight loss
Working with those guidelines, the first few days have been right on track. I don't have a goal weight of where to stop at ultimately, but I plan to keep on the diet track for most of the year. After that, I will still use the tools to see how I can safely maintain my weight.
As an added bonus, here is a link where you can see how I am progressing weight wise. Hopefully, the trend will continue on a downward trend.
http://physicsdiet.com/Public.aspx?u=uwflatlander
I have dropped weight before. I dropped from 250 to 210, so I will be able to do it again. To help me on my quest, I have setup a few guidelines to keep me on track.
1. All liquids will be calorie free
2. Always eat something in the morning, no matter what
3. On Fridays, diets do not exist
- Read this for an explanation of why, it has a good purpose for weight loss. Why Cheating on Your Diet is a Good Thing
4. Keep track of everything I eat on thedailyplate.com
- Helps me keep on track to only eat 2600 calories a day which should result in about 1.5 pounds of weight loss per week. To maintain my current weight I would have to eat 3400 calories. Which makes me wonder how the hell I managed to eat so much to get this heavy.
5. Track my weight on physicsdiet.com
- A nice site that will compute the weighted moving average of your weight to actually see the trend of your weight loss
Working with those guidelines, the first few days have been right on track. I don't have a goal weight of where to stop at ultimately, but I plan to keep on the diet track for most of the year. After that, I will still use the tools to see how I can safely maintain my weight.
As an added bonus, here is a link where you can see how I am progressing weight wise. Hopefully, the trend will continue on a downward trend.
http://physicsdiet.com/Public.aspx?u=uwflatlander
01 January 2008
2008 Ahead
Watching Soul Music with puppies sleeping at my feet, it's time to look forward to 2008. New Years resolutions never hold, but they do get out into the open what one hopes to have happen given the drive and determination.
Here's to hoping. Better than hoping, here's to planning to make it happen.
- Wife restored to health
- Get my resting heart rate down to around 70
- Drop 15 pounds
- Learn my banjo
- Be better connected with my friends
Here's to hoping. Better than hoping, here's to planning to make it happen.
29 December 2007
27 December 2007
Christmas Wrapup
Another busy busy Christmas is in the books. Well, not completely. We still have a family Christmas party on Saturday down in Illinois. It should be a ball, the family white elephant gift exchange is always an interesting present experience.
For Christmas, we did our normal Christmas tradition. On Christmas Eve we exchanged presents, we went to her church for the late night service, and packed up the house in preparations for driving down to Illinois for visiting my family for Christmas. Let me tell ya how thrilled I was about getting up and driving to Illinois at 4am. Yea, not a huge fan of mornings. The upshot of that was all 4 dogs were tired and slept most of the way down. Unlike on the way back when the puppy was on a mission to get into my lap while I was driving. He's cute, I'll give him that. But he can be a bit annoying at times. Puppy + Lap + Driving = a challenging, but cute, driving experience.
(By the way, the puppy is up for adoption: http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=9934223
we are fostering him right now before he finds his permanent home.)
Upon arrival at home, the cats were happy to see us. Not so happy to see the dogs of course. I bet they were hoping we would "forget" them somewhere so they could have the house to themselves. The present they gave the house for Christmas was to use something in the living room as a toilet. Not sure what they relieved themselves on (it wasn't the litter box), but it smells like its near the couch. Bad kitties. The house gave us a Christmas gift too, a clogged drain. The main line going out of the house is clogged. again. So the water from the washer found it's way to wander over the basement floor. This time, I am not going to hire a plumber. I know where the clog is and all I need to fix things is a drain auger. So after work today, I'm off to Home Depot to get one to save the day. Getting the auger and using it successfully once will pay for itself right away. Because of the age of the house, the main drain line cloggage is a yearly/semi-yearly event. Fixing it myself will be much cheaper than hiring a plumber every time it gets backed up.
And now back to training. Two days of work, then back to Illinois for the weekend and returning in time to hit the new years party.
For Christmas, we did our normal Christmas tradition. On Christmas Eve we exchanged presents, we went to her church for the late night service, and packed up the house in preparations for driving down to Illinois for visiting my family for Christmas. Let me tell ya how thrilled I was about getting up and driving to Illinois at 4am. Yea, not a huge fan of mornings. The upshot of that was all 4 dogs were tired and slept most of the way down. Unlike on the way back when the puppy was on a mission to get into my lap while I was driving. He's cute, I'll give him that. But he can be a bit annoying at times. Puppy + Lap + Driving = a challenging, but cute, driving experience.
(By the way, the puppy is up for adoption: http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=9934223
we are fostering him right now before he finds his permanent home.)
Upon arrival at home, the cats were happy to see us. Not so happy to see the dogs of course. I bet they were hoping we would "forget" them somewhere so they could have the house to themselves. The present they gave the house for Christmas was to use something in the living room as a toilet. Not sure what they relieved themselves on (it wasn't the litter box), but it smells like its near the couch. Bad kitties. The house gave us a Christmas gift too, a clogged drain. The main line going out of the house is clogged. again. So the water from the washer found it's way to wander over the basement floor. This time, I am not going to hire a plumber. I know where the clog is and all I need to fix things is a drain auger. So after work today, I'm off to Home Depot to get one to save the day. Getting the auger and using it successfully once will pay for itself right away. Because of the age of the house, the main drain line cloggage is a yearly/semi-yearly event. Fixing it myself will be much cheaper than hiring a plumber every time it gets backed up.
And now back to training. Two days of work, then back to Illinois for the weekend and returning in time to hit the new years party.
14 December 2007
On Pizza, Delivery, & Tips
Sitting waiting for Vista SP1 to install and for my pizza to get here, I have a question to ask my readers/friends/strangers regarding tips, fees, and deliveries.
When ordering my pizza I noticed a new addition to the bill, a delivery fee. I am not a huge fan of added fees. They appear everywhere and the main purpose of those fees look to be buffing profits at the cost of consumers. They don't really add much to the service or product they are added on to. My hope would be that the fee would be to get the drivers some sort of tip for folks who would not tip. Not tipping delivery drivers sucks for them since they are adding to the service by bringing the food to you and thus they deserve a kudos of some sort.
I see this delivery fee as a mandatory tip. It is similar to the mandatory 18% tip some restaurants charge for serving large groups. When you pay that bill, you wouldn't add an extra 18% tip on top of the bill and the mandatory 18% tip. You would incorporate the mandatory tip into the tip you would ultimately leave.
Taking this into mind, what I did for the tip was give my normal 20% of the total. In this order, it would total a $3 tip. Since the fee (aka the mandatory delivery tip) is $1.50, the additional total I tipped is $1.50.
My question for you, is that an OK thing to do? What tip would you leave on a $15 pizza delivery with a $1.50 delivery charge?
When ordering my pizza I noticed a new addition to the bill, a delivery fee. I am not a huge fan of added fees. They appear everywhere and the main purpose of those fees look to be buffing profits at the cost of consumers. They don't really add much to the service or product they are added on to. My hope would be that the fee would be to get the drivers some sort of tip for folks who would not tip. Not tipping delivery drivers sucks for them since they are adding to the service by bringing the food to you and thus they deserve a kudos of some sort.
I see this delivery fee as a mandatory tip. It is similar to the mandatory 18% tip some restaurants charge for serving large groups. When you pay that bill, you wouldn't add an extra 18% tip on top of the bill and the mandatory 18% tip. You would incorporate the mandatory tip into the tip you would ultimately leave.
Taking this into mind, what I did for the tip was give my normal 20% of the total. In this order, it would total a $3 tip. Since the fee (aka the mandatory delivery tip) is $1.50, the additional total I tipped is $1.50.
My question for you, is that an OK thing to do? What tip would you leave on a $15 pizza delivery with a $1.50 delivery charge?
07 December 2007
Random Thoughts Part 1
Some random thoughts running through my head:
- Tip #1 for new husbands: When shoveling snow during winter, take off the ring before partaking in snow removal.
- Sub-tip: Be sure to put ring back on after said snow removal
- Sub-Sub-tip: On the correct finger
- "Offline" should only be used in meetings when referring to an Internet or network device or computer being removed from the network or taken out of service. It does not mean we'll talk about it after the meeting. Instead of "we'll take this offline" how about "we'll talk after the meeting"
- I wonder if there is something I could hook the dogs up to to have them help clear the sidewalk after a snow. A dog-plow.
- If it squeaks and my dogs are around, the mean time to failure for the little squeaker can be measured in minutes... with the puppy, seconds.
- It's going to be a white Christmas. Kick ass!
- Nintendo DS game cartridges are apparently built tough. They can survive a puppy chewing them and still work.
- It's weird that I have been eating wheat noodles like candy tonight. No sauce, no seasoning, just the noodles. I really like noodles. (Cooked noodles of course)
- A good topic for the Tuesday essays would be if you are running for President, what would be your key issues on your platform.
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