I wish I was taller
I wish I had a dog
I wish I read more
I wish I could cook
I wish I had less stuff
I wish I was confident
I wish I could run faster
I wish I could play guitar
I wish I knew what to say
I wish I learned a new skill
I wish I knew when to say it
I wish I was more expressive
I wish I felt good all of the time
I wish I knew another language
I wish I could make a difference
I wish I could get out of my head
I wish I could meet people easier
I wish I knew what I was thinking
I wish I could manage time better
I wish I had visited more of the U.S.
I wish I knew anything about plants
I wish I could see your point of view
I wish I knew what would happen if...
I wish things could have been different
I wish things could always be the same
I wish I spent more time with my friends
I wish I was more motivated to complete things
I wish I was comfortable outside of my comfort zone
I'm 5'10"; I exercise regularly, I can't beat a 15 minute mile yet; I am very good at music in theory, in practice I very often fall short; I have great intentions and a good sense of a choice given to me, I cannot come up with a choice to save my life; I am confident that I can do anything, I am also confident that I am often wrong; My proudest strength is self-reliance, my greatest weakness is not asking for help; I am an excellent listener, I make for terrible conversation; I can fix your computer, chances are I'll do it for free, most likely I won't charge because I enjoy the company, but honestly I would rather have a different excuse; Israeli dancing is rarely a very impressive skill, for the rest I can dance well enough not to step on your feet; If for some reason you read this very part, let me know, I'm actually interested to hear; I used to raise puppies as a kid before they were ready for adoption, the best part is I got to always be around puppies, the worst part is I had to always give up puppies; I play devils advocate constantly, with company and alone; When I feel overwhelmed in my ambitions that I end up accomplishing nothing, which is less than anything; I'm not very introspective, very often, I hope I'm doing well; I don't put things off, so much as I just forget to do them;
I feel better already
Showing posts with label Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Life. Show all posts
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Arbitrary ways to define value
Do you ever find yourself counting things? Chances are if you don't have some sort of OCD or any particular reason to count something, then you don't. At least I assume so. This isn't to say that I count my steps from my car to the door, but there are a few things that I do randomly count for no good reason.
A trivial example is how many steps I take on a particular "block" of sidewalk. Somehow if I take less than three steps per block, then I'm going at a pretty good clip. More and I'm just mosying, less and I'm really going fast for a walk, or I'm just playing "mr. long legs" on that particular day. Point being though, I judge the quality of my walking speed based on an arbitrary distance on the ground. Especially considering sidewalk blocks are not especially consistent in their spacing.
An older popular "count" of mine is the number of lane changes I was required to make to get from one place to another. The less times I was required to change lanes to get from A to B, the more I generally enjoyed going from A to B. Most likely this theory is along the lines of it being "easier" to get there, even though I don't find changing lanes all that difficult. Though the less traffic I have to pay attention to while cruising, the better.
My most recent example of counting that I think is perhaps a little more valid is counting the number of times I need to plant my feet while riding from point A to B. Of course this is completely dependent on when I travel from A to B, the traffic at the time, the route I take, how fast I go, and a bunch of other things. But if I can get from A to B without having to put my feet down even once, that was a good ride. Sometimes I even turn it into a game at red / turning green lights to see if I can drag it on long enough to not have to plant down. So far, it's super rare to get a '0', and I don't even have an idea what an average "score" is, but it's still fun to play.
A trivial example is how many steps I take on a particular "block" of sidewalk. Somehow if I take less than three steps per block, then I'm going at a pretty good clip. More and I'm just mosying, less and I'm really going fast for a walk, or I'm just playing "mr. long legs" on that particular day. Point being though, I judge the quality of my walking speed based on an arbitrary distance on the ground. Especially considering sidewalk blocks are not especially consistent in their spacing.
An older popular "count" of mine is the number of lane changes I was required to make to get from one place to another. The less times I was required to change lanes to get from A to B, the more I generally enjoyed going from A to B. Most likely this theory is along the lines of it being "easier" to get there, even though I don't find changing lanes all that difficult. Though the less traffic I have to pay attention to while cruising, the better.
My most recent example of counting that I think is perhaps a little more valid is counting the number of times I need to plant my feet while riding from point A to B. Of course this is completely dependent on when I travel from A to B, the traffic at the time, the route I take, how fast I go, and a bunch of other things. But if I can get from A to B without having to put my feet down even once, that was a good ride. Sometimes I even turn it into a game at red / turning green lights to see if I can drag it on long enough to not have to plant down. So far, it's super rare to get a '0', and I don't even have an idea what an average "score" is, but it's still fun to play.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Internet in the desert
Driving between Las Vegas and Reno sucks. Plain and simple. The only thing that makes it worse (besides running a 400) is doing it solo. It's 400+ miles of mostly the same desert on a regularly trucked road and over 80% of it is two-lane. Listening to some new CDs helps pass the time, but my new found activity of choice is Facebooking the journey. It at least makes me feel like I'm talking to someone, and even a couple of my updates got replies. It's not perfect, and being on the iPhone while driving is a terrible idea, I know.
The most surprising part of the whole shebang though is the very small amount of dead space along the way, and in particular where the dead spots are. Between Tonopah and Hawthorne is some of the most empty area I can think of, but sections of the road gave me 4-5 bars of reception. On top of that, data was good to go as well, as evidenced by my recent "Facebooked" journey back from Vegas.
Originally the concept was meant to provide a timeline for my Oranim kin to see what places are along the way from Reno to our party in Vegas and give a little perspective to the drive. I quickly realized that since we were all travelling back at around the same time, no one would actually get the updates as I sent them. They're all still there for them to read though, and I know the more perceptive of the group got what I was trying to do.
In any case, I love to drive and it's better to travel with people. What better people to travel with than my entire list of Facebook friends, am I right? I've got a couple more journeys planned to Vegas in the near future, and even more fun "Nevada" factoids to potentially share. Hopefully this little one-time side project might even be educational for me and entertaining for others.
The most surprising part of the whole shebang though is the very small amount of dead space along the way, and in particular where the dead spots are. Between Tonopah and Hawthorne is some of the most empty area I can think of, but sections of the road gave me 4-5 bars of reception. On top of that, data was good to go as well, as evidenced by my recent "Facebooked" journey back from Vegas.
Originally the concept was meant to provide a timeline for my Oranim kin to see what places are along the way from Reno to our party in Vegas and give a little perspective to the drive. I quickly realized that since we were all travelling back at around the same time, no one would actually get the updates as I sent them. They're all still there for them to read though, and I know the more perceptive of the group got what I was trying to do.
In any case, I love to drive and it's better to travel with people. What better people to travel with than my entire list of Facebook friends, am I right? I've got a couple more journeys planned to Vegas in the near future, and even more fun "Nevada" factoids to potentially share. Hopefully this little one-time side project might even be educational for me and entertaining for others.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Weekend activities: Part Deux
Well there's nothing I can do about it. My weekends during the summer are officially taken. Between crossfit and NSC, my worries about what to do on a given weekend are officially over. Saturday FMP's are just part of life now, and good thing too. Best part is they don't start until later in the morning, leaving me a little bit of time to go out Friday night if I feel so inclined. Recovering from the FMP pretty much takes up the rest of my day, then leaving Saturday evenings open potentially. Then Sunday NSC has rides going on finally, meaning Sundays are pretty much booked. Again after a good 4-6 hour ride, I'm inclined to take the rest of the day to recover. Thus ending up at Monday to do it all over again.
I'm actually pretty impressed with my social calendar as of late as well. Must mean winter's over and I can finally come out of hibernation mode ;) Two weeks in a row of 210 VIP, followed by a crazy good paleo dinner / NOAN outing, rock band evening, and then BR 1138 in Vegas.
Looking forward then to "the birthday" next weekend, LA area outing the weekend after that, then back to Vegas to celebrate (finally) the engagement of two great friends. After that, who knows. Oh yea, that's right, FMP and NSC, that's what's after that! This summer is looking to be great.
I'm actually pretty impressed with my social calendar as of late as well. Must mean winter's over and I can finally come out of hibernation mode ;) Two weeks in a row of 210 VIP, followed by a crazy good paleo dinner / NOAN outing, rock band evening, and then BR 1138 in Vegas.
Looking forward then to "the birthday" next weekend, LA area outing the weekend after that, then back to Vegas to celebrate (finally) the engagement of two great friends. After that, who knows. Oh yea, that's right, FMP and NSC, that's what's after that! This summer is looking to be great.
Love hate relationship with blogging
It's one of those times again were I go through the evaluation of "is it really worth it to keep up my blog?". To give some perspective, I read anywhere from 5-10 blogs daily. Most are technical blogs, a couple are just fun blogs, and then the two or so web comics that give me a little chuckle. The difference between them and me? Well two-fold and related. People read their content, and they have content worth reading. I'm not sure how much of it is original content, or how much is just regurgitated from other blogs /work / school, etc.. Wherever it's coming from, I enjoy reading it, but them I'm left with little to say for myself.
With the frequency that people blog, I sometimes wonder how they have time to blog, do the thing they're blogging about, and do things that have nothing to do with blogging (work, sleep, eat). This all comes around to my poor personal time management skills and then maybe reflecting them on others.
I'm curious how people manage their own time. I don't suppose this is something that is explicitly taught by parents, maybe it is. I know they're quite a few books on the subject, but reading one, rather even picking the right one, seems like it would take even more of an investment in the time I already feel like I don't have.
I guess my biggest problem is that I'm just plain ol' lazy. I should really admit that right out front. After I get done with work, get done with the gym, and figure out what I'm planning on eating over the next 10 hours or do, I don't feel like doing much else. Watch a little tv, stare at the computer screen deciding if there's something else worth staring at, things like that. I'd like to say that I will watch less TV, but I know that's not about to happen. It's far too entertaining and easy to do for me to stop. But I do think I can try to watch less "spontaneous" tv.
I know this was a random, unorganized blog, but typing it out at least helps me. Too bad I can erase before I post. There's some funny stuff in the liner notes.
With the frequency that people blog, I sometimes wonder how they have time to blog, do the thing they're blogging about, and do things that have nothing to do with blogging (work, sleep, eat). This all comes around to my poor personal time management skills and then maybe reflecting them on others.
I'm curious how people manage their own time. I don't suppose this is something that is explicitly taught by parents, maybe it is. I know they're quite a few books on the subject, but reading one, rather even picking the right one, seems like it would take even more of an investment in the time I already feel like I don't have.
I guess my biggest problem is that I'm just plain ol' lazy. I should really admit that right out front. After I get done with work, get done with the gym, and figure out what I'm planning on eating over the next 10 hours or do, I don't feel like doing much else. Watch a little tv, stare at the computer screen deciding if there's something else worth staring at, things like that. I'd like to say that I will watch less TV, but I know that's not about to happen. It's far too entertaining and easy to do for me to stop. But I do think I can try to watch less "spontaneous" tv.
I know this was a random, unorganized blog, but typing it out at least helps me. Too bad I can erase before I post. There's some funny stuff in the liner notes.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Not enough hours? Or too much to do?
I've lately fallen into this trap of thinking that there's just not enough time in the day to get the things done that I want to get done. Currently my list of things I like to do are as follows:
I'm wondering then if it's unreasonable to try to be a salsa-dancing, israeli-folk dancing, pool playing, tv watching, gym going, kickball playing, working, cow roping, social butterfly. For me at least it's really unreasonable, considering if I do choose to do something, I'll obsess until it's perfect. Then again, I could just realize that all of these "extra things" that I want to do, don't have to be done now. Sure they're available now, but I don't have to dive in right now. I'm glad this doesn't extend into my shopping habits. I'd be the most impulsive shopper anyone's ever known...
Tonight I feel like some chili...
- TV, around 6-10 hours a week (including news)
- Crossfit, around 1 hour a day (not including recovery)
- Kickball, 1-2 hours each Monday
- 8-ball, 2-3 hours each Thursday
- Work, about 40 hours a week
- Sleep, optimistically 56 hours a week
I'm wondering then if it's unreasonable to try to be a salsa-dancing, israeli-folk dancing, pool playing, tv watching, gym going, kickball playing, working, cow roping, social butterfly. For me at least it's really unreasonable, considering if I do choose to do something, I'll obsess until it's perfect. Then again, I could just realize that all of these "extra things" that I want to do, don't have to be done now. Sure they're available now, but I don't have to dive in right now. I'm glad this doesn't extend into my shopping habits. I'd be the most impulsive shopper anyone's ever known...
Tonight I feel like some chili...
Sunday, March 22, 2009
"You know how you can make anything suck? ..."
"... Add a 400m run to it"
Today was my second appearance at the fmp class. I'm way glad that I went, however it was way hard. Lots of running this time. First was 3x800m runs, then it ended with 3x400m runs, with other things tucked in there. The other pushups and pullups would have been fine on their own, but adding that little run in there just turned it into a terrible idea. The good news is everything got finished and it only took around an hour and a half to finish the whole ordeal.
After the class, it seemed a good idea to go for a ride aroun town. I met up with Morgan to start our ride but I was entirely too wiped out to actually go on the ride right away. So we hung out admiring his pocket bike for a little while. Those things are so rad, I might even get one for myself. We decided to go out on our ride, but the genious locked his keys in the house with no access to the house, garage, or his car. After spending 30 minutes or so looking for a spare key, we found an unlocked window and he was able to break into his own house.
Then began our ride. Man it was windy. I wasn't even sure I'd be able to make it around safely being blown around. There's a positive twist to this story though. Since I've lost quite a bit of weight and whatnot since last season, my jacket is way loose on me. A great problem to have, but unfortunately it acted like a windsail when trying to navigate the roads. We didn't end up making it the whole way to VC then, half because of the wind, and half because of the sheriff we ran into who was posed to follow us the whole way to keep us in line. On our way back to town, we stopped at michael's to check out some gear to see what my new size might be. I found a jacket that I really like, now to just find it at the price that I like.
Now to the only reason that I'm actually posting this blog. Especially at 1:30 am on a Saturday. Either the night went well, or it didn't. Either way it was eventful enough for me to have something to say about it. I wasn't planning on going out, but I had already said I wanted to, and a VIP table at a nightclub isn't something to easily pass up. All in all it was a really good night. The two downsides are I cheated a bit, one shot of Southern Comfort and two drinks of Absinthe. The other downside is I ended up on great terms with two women and both of which had boyfriends.
This brings me to my next point. We joked around on our birthright trip that if Oranim was meant as a sort of Jewish hookup birthright trip (of sorts), then there should be serious preference given to single men and women on the trip, waitlisting all of those people with "someone back home". Unfortunately this wasn't the case on the trip leaving about 18 single guys and maybe 4-5 single women on our trip. Not the best odds if you asked us. Fast forward to tonight. I wish there was some sort of nightclub where if a women walks up to you and starts genuine conversation, you already know that she's available. Twice tonight I got into non-trivial conversation, only at the (self-imposed) end of the evening did it even come up that they weren't available. Totally a "Boyfriend" moment. I know that it's not the end of the world of course, but it is annoying to say the least.
That's only the downside. On the upside, I got to meet two very interesting women, and I'm glad I had the opportunity. I felt great over the evening, getting plenty of compliments on my appearance, a first for me. At least the unprompted compliments. All that's left to do is sleep and get ready for tomorrow. It's snowing quite a bit down here, and I'm hoping that tomorrow there will be plenty left on the mountain for snowboarding down on. Finally a chance to get rid of those mt rose tickets burning a hole in my pocket.
Today was my second appearance at the fmp class. I'm way glad that I went, however it was way hard. Lots of running this time. First was 3x800m runs, then it ended with 3x400m runs, with other things tucked in there. The other pushups and pullups would have been fine on their own, but adding that little run in there just turned it into a terrible idea. The good news is everything got finished and it only took around an hour and a half to finish the whole ordeal.
After the class, it seemed a good idea to go for a ride aroun town. I met up with Morgan to start our ride but I was entirely too wiped out to actually go on the ride right away. So we hung out admiring his pocket bike for a little while. Those things are so rad, I might even get one for myself. We decided to go out on our ride, but the genious locked his keys in the house with no access to the house, garage, or his car. After spending 30 minutes or so looking for a spare key, we found an unlocked window and he was able to break into his own house.
Then began our ride. Man it was windy. I wasn't even sure I'd be able to make it around safely being blown around. There's a positive twist to this story though. Since I've lost quite a bit of weight and whatnot since last season, my jacket is way loose on me. A great problem to have, but unfortunately it acted like a windsail when trying to navigate the roads. We didn't end up making it the whole way to VC then, half because of the wind, and half because of the sheriff we ran into who was posed to follow us the whole way to keep us in line. On our way back to town, we stopped at michael's to check out some gear to see what my new size might be. I found a jacket that I really like, now to just find it at the price that I like.
Now to the only reason that I'm actually posting this blog. Especially at 1:30 am on a Saturday. Either the night went well, or it didn't. Either way it was eventful enough for me to have something to say about it. I wasn't planning on going out, but I had already said I wanted to, and a VIP table at a nightclub isn't something to easily pass up. All in all it was a really good night. The two downsides are I cheated a bit, one shot of Southern Comfort and two drinks of Absinthe. The other downside is I ended up on great terms with two women and both of which had boyfriends.
This brings me to my next point. We joked around on our birthright trip that if Oranim was meant as a sort of Jewish hookup birthright trip (of sorts), then there should be serious preference given to single men and women on the trip, waitlisting all of those people with "someone back home". Unfortunately this wasn't the case on the trip leaving about 18 single guys and maybe 4-5 single women on our trip. Not the best odds if you asked us. Fast forward to tonight. I wish there was some sort of nightclub where if a women walks up to you and starts genuine conversation, you already know that she's available. Twice tonight I got into non-trivial conversation, only at the (self-imposed) end of the evening did it even come up that they weren't available. Totally a "Boyfriend" moment. I know that it's not the end of the world of course, but it is annoying to say the least.
That's only the downside. On the upside, I got to meet two very interesting women, and I'm glad I had the opportunity. I felt great over the evening, getting plenty of compliments on my appearance, a first for me. At least the unprompted compliments. All that's left to do is sleep and get ready for tomorrow. It's snowing quite a bit down here, and I'm hoping that tomorrow there will be plenty left on the mountain for snowboarding down on. Finally a chance to get rid of those mt rose tickets burning a hole in my pocket.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
I cheated... and it was good
Well, it's officially day 16 of the challenge and as of noon yesterday, I cheated on the paleo challenge. Technically again a bit earlier, but I don't want to talk about it. Sob story short, I have inherited a condo in Vegas and this past week I got a phone call that the toilets in the condo started flooding into the basement. They caught it, and luckily I'm on the first floor, so no damage to anyone below me. The bad thing is, well, my freaking toilets flooded.
I had told the maintenance plumber earlier that I needed him to look at them and hopefully turn them off. He was going to look into it, found the issue, but never did the turning off that I wanted. Then this happens. The good thing is he was around to go in and fix the toilets from flooding, cut off the supply lines completely, and mop up a bit. Now I need new toilets and plumbing, no real surprise. Still I ended up going down south this past weekend to asses everything and take care of more work that is desperately needed down there. Two carloads full of donations, two trashcans full of trash, and one carload of stuff returning to Reno was the work I was able to get done during my one Saturday there. I also took a good set of pictures so I can keep in mind the things I still need to get done when I go back.
On the way down to Vegas, I stopped in Tonopah. More specifically I stopped at the McDonalds in Tonopah. Quite honestly I had that cheeseburger and fries out of anger and stress, but it's no excuse. On the plus side, the McDonalds there is terrible anyway, and so eating there gave me no pleasure whatsoever and I'm not expecting to do that any time soon.
In Vegas on Saturday after I turned in the last of my donations, I stopped by the cemetery to say hi to the folks. That got my spirits up a little bit, enough to google and find a crossfit gym schedule in Vegas I could sit in on. Lucky for me, there was one just on my side of the world and class started within the hour. I got in the car and headed right over. From the get go everyone there was great. The trainers were cool, people inviting, everything I started doing crossfit for really. The wod for the day was ridiculous, and I didn't end up finishing, but I got just enough of the high that I came to love from xfit, that I went right to the store and picked me up some grapes, pistacios, and bell peppers. So on the way home Sunday, I drove right past that McDonalds and it felt good. Sore, but good.
Then yesterday. I'm still in a good mood, and Mondays are Pho days, my good mood food. So I made myself a mental exception and let myself have some Pho. I have to say, it was really good, and not even because I hadn't had it in a while. The meats and portion were better than average for our visits there.
I then missed crossfit last night because we had a double-header kickball game and I got plenty of running and agility work for myself. No excuses today though, I'll be there right on time for my 6pm high. Can't wait.
I had told the maintenance plumber earlier that I needed him to look at them and hopefully turn them off. He was going to look into it, found the issue, but never did the turning off that I wanted. Then this happens. The good thing is he was around to go in and fix the toilets from flooding, cut off the supply lines completely, and mop up a bit. Now I need new toilets and plumbing, no real surprise. Still I ended up going down south this past weekend to asses everything and take care of more work that is desperately needed down there. Two carloads full of donations, two trashcans full of trash, and one carload of stuff returning to Reno was the work I was able to get done during my one Saturday there. I also took a good set of pictures so I can keep in mind the things I still need to get done when I go back.
On the way down to Vegas, I stopped in Tonopah. More specifically I stopped at the McDonalds in Tonopah. Quite honestly I had that cheeseburger and fries out of anger and stress, but it's no excuse. On the plus side, the McDonalds there is terrible anyway, and so eating there gave me no pleasure whatsoever and I'm not expecting to do that any time soon.
In Vegas on Saturday after I turned in the last of my donations, I stopped by the cemetery to say hi to the folks. That got my spirits up a little bit, enough to google and find a crossfit gym schedule in Vegas I could sit in on. Lucky for me, there was one just on my side of the world and class started within the hour. I got in the car and headed right over. From the get go everyone there was great. The trainers were cool, people inviting, everything I started doing crossfit for really. The wod for the day was ridiculous, and I didn't end up finishing, but I got just enough of the high that I came to love from xfit, that I went right to the store and picked me up some grapes, pistacios, and bell peppers. So on the way home Sunday, I drove right past that McDonalds and it felt good. Sore, but good.
Then yesterday. I'm still in a good mood, and Mondays are Pho days, my good mood food. So I made myself a mental exception and let myself have some Pho. I have to say, it was really good, and not even because I hadn't had it in a while. The meats and portion were better than average for our visits there.
I then missed crossfit last night because we had a double-header kickball game and I got plenty of running and agility work for myself. No excuses today though, I'll be there right on time for my 6pm high. Can't wait.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
It's official, Eating α 1/ (Physical Activity)
Read: Eating is inversely proportional to physical activity
I haven't been to the gym in a few days, and it's not likely to change in the next couple. I'm so angry I can convince myself of that, and slightly agitated that it's reasonably accurate. Tuesday I needed to go to the store (Costco) to get movie tickets for a work movie night. I also took the opportunity to buy some food to prepare meals from (my stew). Between the store and stew, I talked myself out of it.
Wednesday I left work early for a work lunch, and then shortly after went to said movie night. This means I worked less hours Wednesday and thus today I am inclined to stay at work a little later to make up for said hours on Wednesday. Thus two more days missed. Tomorrow I'll likely not be in the mood, although my status quo excuse is not really valid anymore.
Saturday I plan on going back, most definitely for the 9am class, and then Sunday for the FMP. Should be exciting.
I'm only down today because I'm hungry. I mean seriously hungry. It's uncharacteristically hunger I'm talking about. Lunch today consisted of "all you can eat soup and salad" at BJs. Two light vinaigrette salads, three "cup" bowls of tomato soup, and one broccoli cheddar later, I'm way hungry and it sucks.
I was almost ready to cheat this morning too. It's been 11 days so far since I started and today (besides day 2) is the day I was seriously considering it. Today it would have been for a philly cheese steak sandwich and some fries. I'm sort of glad that I didn't. I did end up bending a little bit with the cheddar soup and the vinaigrette dressing. I've never had the dressing before, it tastes like the juice of cherry cordials. In other words, like heaven. I love cherry cordials.
I think tonight I'll have to dust off the Wii fit and substitute some of that for some cross fit. Try to cram as much as I can. Might even be able to find some xfittish routine in the options, hopefully unlock something.
On the plus side, Wednesday I left early enough that after "dinner" I went home and got to ride my motorcycle. Mostly because the addiction is making me twitch, but also economical. Our dinner was closer home than near the theater, so making that trip twice in a day in the car is not something my wallet enjoys me doing. I can't wait until summer.
I haven't been to the gym in a few days, and it's not likely to change in the next couple. I'm so angry I can convince myself of that, and slightly agitated that it's reasonably accurate. Tuesday I needed to go to the store (Costco) to get movie tickets for a work movie night. I also took the opportunity to buy some food to prepare meals from (my stew). Between the store and stew, I talked myself out of it.
Wednesday I left work early for a work lunch, and then shortly after went to said movie night. This means I worked less hours Wednesday and thus today I am inclined to stay at work a little later to make up for said hours on Wednesday. Thus two more days missed. Tomorrow I'll likely not be in the mood, although my status quo excuse is not really valid anymore.
Saturday I plan on going back, most definitely for the 9am class, and then Sunday for the FMP. Should be exciting.
I'm only down today because I'm hungry. I mean seriously hungry. It's uncharacteristically hunger I'm talking about. Lunch today consisted of "all you can eat soup and salad" at BJs. Two light vinaigrette salads, three "cup" bowls of tomato soup, and one broccoli cheddar later, I'm way hungry and it sucks.
I was almost ready to cheat this morning too. It's been 11 days so far since I started and today (besides day 2) is the day I was seriously considering it. Today it would have been for a philly cheese steak sandwich and some fries. I'm sort of glad that I didn't. I did end up bending a little bit with the cheddar soup and the vinaigrette dressing. I've never had the dressing before, it tastes like the juice of cherry cordials. In other words, like heaven. I love cherry cordials.
I think tonight I'll have to dust off the Wii fit and substitute some of that for some cross fit. Try to cram as much as I can. Might even be able to find some xfittish routine in the options, hopefully unlock something.
On the plus side, Wednesday I left early enough that after "dinner" I went home and got to ride my motorcycle. Mostly because the addiction is making me twitch, but also economical. Our dinner was closer home than near the theater, so making that trip twice in a day in the car is not something my wallet enjoys me doing. I can't wait until summer.
Friday, March 06, 2009
The beast goes by many names
"The infection", "The voice snatcher", "Harold's whooping cough". No one knows its true name, form, or source. All that is known is when it comes, and trust me it will, it shows no mercy to those in its path. It starts as a small tickle in the throat upon waking. That's the first clue. Next comes the mild headache and general tiredness. Then the main course, three damn weeks of coughing non-stop. Finally the coup-de-gras, another three weeks without a voice. The upside for me during the whole experience, I usually don't feel all that bad during the whole thing. The initial throat tickle isn't fun, and the ab workout from the coughing is less than ideal, but it's not anything that can prevent me from doing any of my day-to-day. The one thing that does prevent me from my day-to-day is the constant complaining of people around me. Apparently the cough does annoy people around me.
I bring this up because this winter, I not have officially started my fourth round of this great little sickness of mine. First was after the very first chill of the winter this year, sometime early November. That didn't last too long, maybe a week and a half. Next came just before my trip to Israel. In fact, my preparation for my trip to Israel included massive vitamins, and trips to the gym to keep up my body so I wouldn't be sick in Israel. That ended just after the New Year, a good week before my trip. In Israel, my best friend followed me and struck four days before my trip ended, causing me to return on my scheduled flight rather than taking a few extra days to enjoy Israel for myself. That bout was fun, it lasted the full 3-4 weeks. It even got to the point where I was politely asked to stay home for a couple of days.
Now marks the beginning of my fourth bout, arguably much more tame than before, but not nonexistant. My plan is to still keep going to the gym because it somehow keeps the deamons at bay. Also keep up my daily airborne dose. This weekend will be spent at home mostly as well, besides two trips to the gym and one trip to a Hillel event. Hopefully the bed rest and indoors will help things along as well. The worst so far was this afternoon at work. I'm not sure what kicked it off, but at around 3:30 I just had some random coughing fit. By 4 I just had to leave to avoid the accusing eyes of those around me.
I bring this up because this winter, I not have officially started my fourth round of this great little sickness of mine. First was after the very first chill of the winter this year, sometime early November. That didn't last too long, maybe a week and a half. Next came just before my trip to Israel. In fact, my preparation for my trip to Israel included massive vitamins, and trips to the gym to keep up my body so I wouldn't be sick in Israel. That ended just after the New Year, a good week before my trip. In Israel, my best friend followed me and struck four days before my trip ended, causing me to return on my scheduled flight rather than taking a few extra days to enjoy Israel for myself. That bout was fun, it lasted the full 3-4 weeks. It even got to the point where I was politely asked to stay home for a couple of days.
Now marks the beginning of my fourth bout, arguably much more tame than before, but not nonexistant. My plan is to still keep going to the gym because it somehow keeps the deamons at bay. Also keep up my daily airborne dose. This weekend will be spent at home mostly as well, besides two trips to the gym and one trip to a Hillel event. Hopefully the bed rest and indoors will help things along as well. The worst so far was this afternoon at work. I'm not sure what kicked it off, but at around 3:30 I just had some random coughing fit. By 4 I just had to leave to avoid the accusing eyes of those around me.
Monday, March 02, 2009
Paleo Challenge - Day 1
I wasn't planning on starting the whole challenge. In fact, last week I had already sort of gave in considering I absolutely love quite a few of the foods on the no-no list. Most notably, this is going to be hard without: cheese, potatoes, pho (noodles), the random sweet, tacos, and just about every other food I'm accustomed to just spontaneously eating. To top it off, I recently went on a shopping run to get a stockpile of these illicit items.
After work today, l was actually planning on going straight home, then it changed to stopping off at Barnes & Noble to look at some Mac related literature. Then came the decision to turn left to the BN, or right to crossfit. I'm guessing you now what happened next. To my pleasant surprise, my partner in crime Lynn was there to join in on the fun. Kumar and Devan were sadly absent. Kumar even talked to me at work today asking if I was interested in the challenge, and also joking how the paleo diet for a vegearian could very well kill you... Way to look on the positive side.
The paleo challenge is designed as follows. It's a 90 day long event where each participant is to keep a log of foods eaten, workouts completed, sleep gotten, and feelings felt. There's a log book that it's all supposed to go in, and weekly we'll post our progress on the main gym blog. Every three weeks, there's a baseline workout that we'll do, we'll weigh in, measure up, and perhaps take and post photos to track our progress.
Most everything I'm planning on keeping track of in my little log book, but as for the feelings part, I plan on just incorporating them here and maybe put the important bullet points in the log book. So far, I haven't gotten much sleep... the challenge only started today :P. I'm hoping to get to bed early today though. I woke up feeling a little on the sickish side, but as always after a good workout I'm feelin' fine. Keeping on my gym schedule is just about the only thing that I think will help keep me on my eating schedule. At least for my dinners anyway, lunches and "breakfast" I'll just have to keep the workout in mind. Just as a disclaimer as well, I already feel pretty darn good just including crossfit in my routine without changing / monitoring diet and sleep. I've got relatively high hopes for the 90 days if I can stick to it. BUT... I have relatively low hopes for the period of time after this "challenge". I'm not particularly good at open-ended goals, but a 90-day goal, I can keep that in mind.
I'll keep me posted.
After work today, l was actually planning on going straight home, then it changed to stopping off at Barnes & Noble to look at some Mac related literature. Then came the decision to turn left to the BN, or right to crossfit. I'm guessing you now what happened next. To my pleasant surprise, my partner in crime Lynn was there to join in on the fun. Kumar and Devan were sadly absent. Kumar even talked to me at work today asking if I was interested in the challenge, and also joking how the paleo diet for a vegearian could very well kill you... Way to look on the positive side.
The paleo challenge is designed as follows. It's a 90 day long event where each participant is to keep a log of foods eaten, workouts completed, sleep gotten, and feelings felt. There's a log book that it's all supposed to go in, and weekly we'll post our progress on the main gym blog. Every three weeks, there's a baseline workout that we'll do, we'll weigh in, measure up, and perhaps take and post photos to track our progress.
Most everything I'm planning on keeping track of in my little log book, but as for the feelings part, I plan on just incorporating them here and maybe put the important bullet points in the log book. So far, I haven't gotten much sleep... the challenge only started today :P. I'm hoping to get to bed early today though. I woke up feeling a little on the sickish side, but as always after a good workout I'm feelin' fine. Keeping on my gym schedule is just about the only thing that I think will help keep me on my eating schedule. At least for my dinners anyway, lunches and "breakfast" I'll just have to keep the workout in mind. Just as a disclaimer as well, I already feel pretty darn good just including crossfit in my routine without changing / monitoring diet and sleep. I've got relatively high hopes for the 90 days if I can stick to it. BUT... I have relatively low hopes for the period of time after this "challenge". I'm not particularly good at open-ended goals, but a 90-day goal, I can keep that in mind.
I'll keep me posted.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Facebook, Schmasebook + Crossfit
I get into the good habit of posting things relatively regularly, but have the unfortunate side-effect of liking this posting method and not having a way to distribute to anyone of consequence. So now I'm able to post my ramblings on blogger, and have them magically show up in facebook through the magic of facebook, notes, rss import thingymajig. I guess that's pretty positive
Here's a recent conundrum of mine. I'm getting pretty good at this regularly scheduled gym thing. Cross-fit is hella fun, the people are most excellent, and it seems like a good idea. I'm feeling better generally and I have the soreness to prove it. The one stumbling block for me now is I know that if I don't make some sort of effort to control my nutrition, then it's almost in vain. Not totally, but it seems like I'm only selling myself short at that point.
My paradox is that over the summer I started riding a motorcycle, yay. It's just about the most entertaining activity that I've taken part of and the closest thing to an addiction that I've ever felt. As part of that I made the conscious decision that instead of the normal 1-drink, 1-hour rule for driving, when I'm riding my motorcycle or potentially riding, it's more like 1-drink, 12-hours. And you know what, I haven't budged an inch. I've been to plenty of parties with friends, out socially, everything and not drinking, knowing that I get the satisfaction of riding, there's no problem.
Now extend my thinking to working out. I know that working out, eating right and everything go hand in hand. So if I want to be able to improve more in my workouts and fitness, I know that I should make better decisions on what I eat. The biggest problem for me then I guess is that I don't get such an immediate gratification for the work. Choosing not to drink for 12 hours, I know for a fact then when I'm going to be able to ride my motorcycle. Choosing not to have that cookie, or piece of candy from that huge basket they just put out at work... Well that's not a 12 hour payoff, or a 12 day payoff for that matter. If I'm lucky, 12 weeks of staying away from that candy basket will have made some sort of difference.
I'm not that patient, at least not when it comes to myself. If I want to do something, I'll go for the route that promises the most immediate gratification possible without sacrificing any of my original goals, within compromise of course. It just makes it that much more frustrating. The one motivating factor that I still have is the gym that I go to and the people there that I am fortunate enough to train with. Their motivation is my motivation, and trust me, they're damn motivated. There's a guy there, 30+ pushup / situp combo, after fatigue, in under 40 seconds. He's almost twice my age and looks way great. Plus the women that show up to train aren't eyesores themselves, but it's rude to stare ;)
There's a little challenge that's coming up for the next month, a little motivator if you will. The whole details of which haven't been announced yet, but I'm just a little more than interested to join in on the fun. I think giving myself a nice reasonable 30 day goal will be much more to my style than some indefinite goal off in the distance.
It's wel past my bedtime, so toodles.
Here's a recent conundrum of mine. I'm getting pretty good at this regularly scheduled gym thing. Cross-fit is hella fun, the people are most excellent, and it seems like a good idea. I'm feeling better generally and I have the soreness to prove it. The one stumbling block for me now is I know that if I don't make some sort of effort to control my nutrition, then it's almost in vain. Not totally, but it seems like I'm only selling myself short at that point.
My paradox is that over the summer I started riding a motorcycle, yay. It's just about the most entertaining activity that I've taken part of and the closest thing to an addiction that I've ever felt. As part of that I made the conscious decision that instead of the normal 1-drink, 1-hour rule for driving, when I'm riding my motorcycle or potentially riding, it's more like 1-drink, 12-hours. And you know what, I haven't budged an inch. I've been to plenty of parties with friends, out socially, everything and not drinking, knowing that I get the satisfaction of riding, there's no problem.
Now extend my thinking to working out. I know that working out, eating right and everything go hand in hand. So if I want to be able to improve more in my workouts and fitness, I know that I should make better decisions on what I eat. The biggest problem for me then I guess is that I don't get such an immediate gratification for the work. Choosing not to drink for 12 hours, I know for a fact then when I'm going to be able to ride my motorcycle. Choosing not to have that cookie, or piece of candy from that huge basket they just put out at work... Well that's not a 12 hour payoff, or a 12 day payoff for that matter. If I'm lucky, 12 weeks of staying away from that candy basket will have made some sort of difference.
I'm not that patient, at least not when it comes to myself. If I want to do something, I'll go for the route that promises the most immediate gratification possible without sacrificing any of my original goals, within compromise of course. It just makes it that much more frustrating. The one motivating factor that I still have is the gym that I go to and the people there that I am fortunate enough to train with. Their motivation is my motivation, and trust me, they're damn motivated. There's a guy there, 30+ pushup / situp combo, after fatigue, in under 40 seconds. He's almost twice my age and looks way great. Plus the women that show up to train aren't eyesores themselves, but it's rude to stare ;)
There's a little challenge that's coming up for the next month, a little motivator if you will. The whole details of which haven't been announced yet, but I'm just a little more than interested to join in on the fun. I think giving myself a nice reasonable 30 day goal will be much more to my style than some indefinite goal off in the distance.
It's wel past my bedtime, so toodles.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Weekend activities
I have to say I enjoyed this past weekend very much. I had something to do the whole time, regardless if I was actually doing the thing I was planning to do at that time. The only real change of plan was my Sunday morning. I was planning on getting a little snowboarding fun in during the morning and come home during the afternoon to clean up a little bit and the sit down for an Oscar party even planned for our place.
Well, I ended up going out to enjoy a VIP booth at a local nightclub Saturday night, so sleeping ended up being the morning activity, followed by laundry, more Cocoa book learning, and the the Oscars.
I don't like to go out for evenings often, especially during the winter. But if I do end up going out, I must say it's much more fun if you do it right. Sure it's more than the typical $20 cover charge + $8 per drink, but it's sure worth it to be treated like the VIP I am. I couldn't see myself doing this often, but I can definitely see myself doing this again.
I didn't end up leaving until around 2am to go home, at which point I got a second wind of not being tired, so I stayed up a little while, being the cs kid I am, and knocked out a couple more chapters of my intro to Cocoa book.
Sunday was filled with much of the same, laundry - cocoa - laundry - cocoa - groceries - cocoa - cook for oscars - oscars preshow - cocoa - oscars. The highlight of the evening was Slumdog Millionaire taking the cake as far as I'm concerned. I'm a huge fan of the movie, and picked it to win all the way on our little pool, and I was right for 8/9 nominations. It was a suprise to my friends who haven't seen it, and an even bigger suprise to my friends that had. Apparently they didn't think the move was "all that". All in all, I won a bit of money to pick something I enjoyed and stick behind it 100%. It's not some epic "moral of the story" or anything, but it's something.
Well, I ended up going out to enjoy a VIP booth at a local nightclub Saturday night, so sleeping ended up being the morning activity, followed by laundry, more Cocoa book learning, and the the Oscars.
I don't like to go out for evenings often, especially during the winter. But if I do end up going out, I must say it's much more fun if you do it right. Sure it's more than the typical $20 cover charge + $8 per drink, but it's sure worth it to be treated like the VIP I am. I couldn't see myself doing this often, but I can definitely see myself doing this again.
I didn't end up leaving until around 2am to go home, at which point I got a second wind of not being tired, so I stayed up a little while, being the cs kid I am, and knocked out a couple more chapters of my intro to Cocoa book.
Sunday was filled with much of the same, laundry - cocoa - laundry - cocoa - groceries - cocoa - cook for oscars - oscars preshow - cocoa - oscars. The highlight of the evening was Slumdog Millionaire taking the cake as far as I'm concerned. I'm a huge fan of the movie, and picked it to win all the way on our little pool, and I was right for 8/9 nominations. It was a suprise to my friends who haven't seen it, and an even bigger suprise to my friends that had. Apparently they didn't think the move was "all that". All in all, I won a bit of money to pick something I enjoyed and stick behind it 100%. It's not some epic "moral of the story" or anything, but it's something.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Just like every other blog...
... It never gets updated. Shame on me. Actually I have a decent excuse. During my trip to Israel, I decided to keep a journal for the trip, including experiences leading up to the trip and also as a result from the trip. There's quite a lot of good stuff in there, and a large amount that I did miss. Importantly though, my current mental state for each day is somehow captured in my comments. Unfortunately, dates, times, and places are painfully lacking.
Our first day we landed, we spent the night in "Abu Gof"? and got our speech with Momo about Love and Jewish babies. The next day I spent in Jerusalem, at the wall, on the bus, and at the bar. Then we drove to tel aviv to see the place of rabin(?)'s assination, and also a "tel" in jaffa. That night was pretty lame for me, but everyone else enjoyed a stay at the bar across the street in netanya(?). Then a shabbat day lazing around on the beach, and a nightclub at night, I wish I knew the name. Then a trip to Ceasaria and to Tiberius. A trip around golan heights and a battle ready bunker on the north east border. A drive down south with our new soldier friends to the Dead Sea and an evening in the bedouin camp with my newly acquired cough and somberness. Another bus ride to eilat with the malls and club scene #2. A drive up north to mt. masada (awesome) and a jaunt back west to Jerusalem. Friday night at the wall (also amazing) followed by alot of walking because the bus doesn't run on Shabbat. Havdalah in the hotel bomb shelter followed by tearful goodbyes.
There were additional nature hikes, scenic overlooks, inspirational stories, and moments now fleeting into the past. So for everyone interested in how the trip went, to quote the artist Avraham in Tzfat, it was "AaawwweesoooooooOOOOOooomme" (awesome).
Since then, I've just been trying to evaluate all of the things that are tying me to Reno. Definitely my friends here, all of them I consider family. My job, I couldn't imagine working somewhere with people as smart and as real. My "stuff", of which I have entirely too much of. My "obligations" which I've only recently been able to realize that they're all self imposed.
Over the next little while, my goal is to just talk about each of these things and how my perspective on them has become so much more clear.
Our first day we landed, we spent the night in "Abu Gof"? and got our speech with Momo about Love and Jewish babies. The next day I spent in Jerusalem, at the wall, on the bus, and at the bar. Then we drove to tel aviv to see the place of rabin(?)'s assination, and also a "tel" in jaffa. That night was pretty lame for me, but everyone else enjoyed a stay at the bar across the street in netanya(?). Then a shabbat day lazing around on the beach, and a nightclub at night, I wish I knew the name. Then a trip to Ceasaria and to Tiberius. A trip around golan heights and a battle ready bunker on the north east border. A drive down south with our new soldier friends to the Dead Sea and an evening in the bedouin camp with my newly acquired cough and somberness. Another bus ride to eilat with the malls and club scene #2. A drive up north to mt. masada (awesome) and a jaunt back west to Jerusalem. Friday night at the wall (also amazing) followed by alot of walking because the bus doesn't run on Shabbat. Havdalah in the hotel bomb shelter followed by tearful goodbyes.
There were additional nature hikes, scenic overlooks, inspirational stories, and moments now fleeting into the past. So for everyone interested in how the trip went, to quote the artist Avraham in Tzfat, it was "AaawwweesoooooooOOOOOooomme" (awesome).
Since then, I've just been trying to evaluate all of the things that are tying me to Reno. Definitely my friends here, all of them I consider family. My job, I couldn't imagine working somewhere with people as smart and as real. My "stuff", of which I have entirely too much of. My "obligations" which I've only recently been able to realize that they're all self imposed.
Over the next little while, my goal is to just talk about each of these things and how my perspective on them has become so much more clear.
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