Free spysweeper, weekend and 2007 wrap up
If you would like a free one year subscription for Spysweeper, go here. Of course I found this after I paid $15 to renew my copy, damn it. Oh, Spysweeper is anti-spyware software that I have used for awhile now. It seems to do a good job.
This weekend was a textbook, ho-hum sort of weekend. We did chores, we watched some movies and relaxed, hooray. The first movie we watched was Balls of Fury a very silly comedy that is thin on plot and big on physical humor and sight gags. Yea it was ridiculous but both Ali and I laughed a lot. I do happen to like ping pong as well. B+ Saturday night we watched Hitch, a romantic comedy with Will Smith in it that came out in 2005. I had this buried on my PC for awhile because I was in no rush to see it. Romantic comedies usually are very low on my movie totem pole. This one wasn’t bad. It had lots of laughs but just like most romantic comedies it makes you feel inadequate at the end. I’d give it a B+ as well.
The Eagles won a rather boring game against the Bills to finish up their season at 8-8. which is better than I would have predicted they would finish a month ago. So what does 3 straight wins to finish out the season mean? Well I guess there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Donovan has looked more mobile in the past couple games which is a good thing. It will be interesting to see how the off season goes. Donovan’s comments during the year seem to be laying the ground work for his exit, we’ll see.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Brian Dawkins retire. Jevon Kearse was stealing money this year and will be cut for sure. I don’t particularly like the Australian punter they have. He can boom it but he also shanks it far too often for my tastes. I have to admit I enjoyed watching him make the tackle yesterday though. He is almost linebacker size. The defense needs to make more plays, their turnover totals were woeful this year. Getting to the opposing QB seemed way too hard most games this year.
That Patriots-Giants game was much closer than I expected. I could not keep myself awake to see the ending. That is quite the accomplishment by the Pats, to win every single game in an NFL that routinely has miraculous upsets every week and where parity reigns supreme is pretty incredible. I can’t help but to respect their accomplishment.
I think I have Ali finally sold on the idea of us getting a Wii. I told her that her chiropractor whom I know from the gym, just got one for the kids this Christmas and was ranting about how cool it was. She must hold his opinion in much higher regard than mine because once she heard that she was suddenly receptive to the idea. Oh well I don’t care how it comes to be. Now I just have to wait it out until the stores get them again. I refuse to overpay to the scoundrels on ebay that snapped them up a few weeks ago and are trying to sell them for a big profit.
Last night Ali made pasta with the fake, vegetarian meatballs in it. For some reason, the fake beef products really do a number on me but last night took the cake. I woke up around 2am feeling like my gut was going to explode. I often have to get up to take a leak but never ever do I wake up feeling like I have to do the other dirty deed. It was awful. I made a couple trips to the bathroom but wound up throwing enough gas to fill the tank on my truck more than anything else. It was one of those times where you have to take a glance at the boxers to make sure all is “in order”. I was up a good couple hours until I fell asleep finally only to be awakened by the alarm at 5:30. Needless to say I feel like crap today. My stomach still is in knots. Normally coffee would be a godsend to help wake my ass up on a day like today. Unfortunately coffee can also have a laxative effect. That is the last thing I feel like dealing with. What a fun day this will be.
So let’s get the 2007 thing going, as always by listing the goals I listed at the end of 2006.
Corian / Silestone counters installed – nope, the money situation never seemed strong enough to get around to that. It will happen in 2008 I predict.
Interior painting – yes, at least a start of it. We transformed our guest bathroom and bedroom.
Drive out west to see family – a big YES there. It was quite the memorable trip, I’m glad we did it.
Go to Vegas – yes again, too bad it was to “celebrate” me becoming old
Regain fitness level and activity level of 2005 – yes and no. I am definitely fit but I am still not able to run or play volleyball without rolling the dice as to what the physical aftermath of such activities will be. I weigh less than I did my freshman year in college, I guess that says something. I did play some volleyball this year, I don’t think I ran any 5k’s.
Better our financial situation – no, not really, we sort of stayed flat this year. There are some changes we need to make in that area. We did however take a step in the direction Ali was looking for with her assuming the role of a consultant instead of an employee. It has made her life better, it hasn’t yet helped mine to the degree that I had imagined.
Do more out of the box “things” – we did do some of that sort of stuff but still need to make the effort to do a lot more of it. Going out west was a two full weeks out of the box.
That about covers the 07 goals. Overall I did a decent job of hitting them but of course I could have done better. So let’s review 2007.
2007 was the year of the 300. I saw the movie back in the March/April time frame and it had an affect on me like no other movie ever did before. For some reason I decided to look into the training regimen that the actors in the movie followed to get in shape for the film. What I found intrigued me, it motivated me to give it a try, not because I ever expect to look like King Leonidas but just to see if I could do it.
I started what seemed like an impossible work out plan that added up to a total of 300 reps. When I first started I barely managed to do half of that, but I stuck with it. I would torture myself twice weekly always pushing to improve my totals every single time. I kept it up for 6 months culminating in the silly Spartan Halloween contest photo shoot. When I started 2007 I was tipping the scales around 196 or 197 pounds. Right now I am a svelte 179-180. I guess it works. It taught me something valuable. If you want true results from your fitness regimen the missing ingredient for most people is intensity. My 300 workouts are the most intense workouts I ever attempted and also the most transforming. My hard work showed up as physical changes to my appearance. It’s rewarding to know that you were able to push yourself that hard. I still am doing my 300 but only once a week instead of twice. I still am trying to constantly come up with new unconventional exercises to push myself in different ways. My gym routine is a very important part of me holding onto my sanity, seriously.
2007 was the year the Roomba made a big comeback in my house. I had bought a Roomba a few years back but like most Roomba’s it developed problems and was quietly just sitting in the spare bedroom. Well for some reason I got motivated to get it working again, which I did. Along the way I found a big community of Roomba nuts that helped fan the flames. I now I have a stable of 4 Roombas (different models) as well as a Scooba for cleaning hard surfaces. I typically do not have to vacuum more than once every few weeks, I let the Roombas scurry around the house every other day. I love them.
I may not have done the Corian counters this year but we undertook a job more massive in scale, the sprinkler system. Installing the in ground sprinklers was probably the biggest home improvement job I ever undertook. In total it took about a month to complete. Thank goodness dad came to help. We laid over 2000 feet of pipe in the ground. I have nearly 50 sprinkler heads in the ground. It was bust ass work but well worth it.
I discovered the movie Loose Change in 2007. It forever changed my view of the events surrounding 9/11. There are truly evil people in our government. It’s scary to imagine just how deep the rabbit hole goes. I am surprised by the reaction of some people when I asked them to watch it. They immediately dismiss it as too ridiculous to consider. The sad thing is most people that do eventually watch it start at that same place, in disbelief that our government could have any prior knowledge or involvement with the disasters of that day. Once they see the information spilled across the screen it is nearly impossible to not question what the hell really went down. It’s just easier to not look at the light. Sicko was another documentary well worth a look. More examples of corruption and hypocrisy this time dealing with the health care industry in the United States.
Visitor wise, we again had a light year. My dad, brother and two of his friends were down in March and Randall and his girlfriend stayed over later in the year. (not counting mom visits) My sister, brother-in-law and his parents came down shortly after we visited them in Arizona. They didn’t sleep over at our place though. I think that is it. I guess the distance from our roots weakens the bonds.
Both Ali and I got more involved with the running club this year, during a time ironically that we have been doing very little running. Ali is on the board of directors for the club and I agreed to take on the project of establishing a new timing system for races. This is in addition to the work I have been doing with the half marathon website and the work Ali puts in getting race results up on the web. The race that Ali organized in February was a huge success and she is doing it again this year.
I converted us over to Vonage this year. We had a bunch of call quality issues that I blogged about earlier. However after I made several changes the problems seems to have smoothed out. It definitely is not quite as rosy and their commercials suggest.
My health for 2007 was decent, no cancer cut out of my head, no hernia exams but I did have my first “full” almost 40 years old physical. I still have flashbacks to that prostate exam. I am concerned because that exam makes me hesitant to go back even though I know it is the right thing to do.
We had an issue this year with Nicki. For some reason after 3 years of smooth sailing, she decided to start shitting in the house at times. It seemed to coincide with Ali’s schedule change. She normally would do it overnight. So as a result we keep our bedroom door closed at night now. It seems that Nicki won’t shit where she sleeps.
One of the biggest changes of the year is Ali is now her own independent business as a consultant dietitian. This change has given her great freedom in her schedule. Now even on days she has to work, she doesn’t have to even hear an alarm until 8am which works out better with her sleep patterns. If things are going smoothly at work she can get away with only working two days a week. The best part is she can work those two days and make the same money as she did working four days as an employee. When this came to be I had expectations that have so far been unrealistic. I almost imagined I would be coming home to June Cleaver, with dinner on the table, chores done and not a care in the world. Instead due to our original ideas for dog sitting getting derailed, most days Ali isn’t home when I get home. Her days have managed to become filled up with “stuff” and my fantasy of her competing in the 2007 Ms. Fitness USA pageant never came to fruition. 🙂 It’s a work in progress, trying to make it all balance out is not as easy as either of us initially thought it would be.
I haven’t had as many rants against companies this year it seems. RCI remains a thorn in my side and the pool screen guy mildly got my temper up. He smartly decided to not press the issue with charging me for that screen repair. I had a rant against the mining operations by our house that was later squelched after I got some more information. Travelocity also joined the “companies not to deal with” list after badly screwing up our plane tickets to Vegas.
I had another massive repair bill for the party van getting it ready for the trip out west. I was mildly surprised that it survived the 5000 mile journey intact.
All of the pets that entered into 2007 are still here for the start of 2008. Buttons the diabetic, 3 toothed, annoying cat had a close call a few weeks ago when she went into insulin shock for the 3rd or 4th time.
I am wrapping up a third full year of playing the same game, WoW. I have beaten the subject to death about how it is amazing that I could possibly still be playing the same game for this amount of time. It is a testament to the goal/reward system that is at the core of MMORPG games. I have seven level 70 characters with two more on their way.
OK 2008 goal time, oh geez, I dunno.
The counters need to get done, hopefully we can get the funding secured to do so. I actually have a long list of to-do’s on the fridge, they include things like replacing the landscape borders that are rotted out, fencing, replacing the pool drains, the pool cleaner, more interior painting and getting HDTV. That should be enough to do/buy.
Personal goals, hmmm they are getting tougher and tougher. Don’t die? Ok just kidding. I plan to continue pushing my fitness regimen, still trying to mix things up to combat the endless mountain of aging. I am sure I will play some volleyball here and there. I don’t know if I ever will be able to resume regular running, my knees just are too unstable. I plan on the 300 remaining a staple in my fitness program.
Jumping out of a plane, still on the list as well as continuing to look for different things to see and do that are out of the ordinary.
And of course just like every year and just like everyone on the planet, being happier would be the ultimate goal for 2008 or any year for that matter. The advice of “live life like you are dying” is over used but a goal that is worth shooting for. So easy to say, so hard to do, at least it seems that way. One thing I have come to realize as I get older is most people are generally unhappy with their lives, the difference is how the deal with it.
Hope your 2008 is rocking.