Archives 2007

I am out of my normal protein shake stuff so until my shipment arrives I am using up some old packs of stuff we had lying around.  The first one I tried was “berry flavor”. Once I shook it up it looked like vomit, complete with little chunks of “fruit” in it.  It tasted only slightly better than it looked.  I could only take a couple swigs of it before I couldn’t stand it anymore and dumped it.

So I washed out my cup and grabbed a different kind, Lean body FOR HER.  It is stuff we got Ali awhile back but she didn’t like the taste of it.  So anyway I fill my cup with water, dump the stuff in but then get distracted for a couple minutes doing something else.  I finish up what I am doing, pick up the cup and start shaking.  I didn’t put the lid on tight!  Water and protein powder explode out of the cup all over my desk, my keys, my cell phone, my pants and my keyboard.  The cell phone was most concerning so I immediately picked it up and wiped it off the best I could.  The rest of the tedious clean up took a solid 15 minutes. 

I’m lucky it wasn’t worse.  I have my laptop on the desk but luckily the direction of the fluid and the subsequent splash just missed it. 

Well I am back at work and feel better, although I still am weak.  No 300 until at least Friday.  I slept through the night last night although I had some problems falling asleep initially.  I stayed up till 11 watching part of Rocky V.

During my time home yesterday I spent some time feeling sorry for myself.  I was thinking about how it is unbelievable that I am going to be 40 YEARS OLD in a few months.  It just seems surreal to me.  I thought about my state of being.  I am financially secure, have a house in a desirable area to live, a pool, a dog, a wife, nice car, blah, blah, blah.  Minus the kids, all the stuff average Joe blow guy is supposed to strive for I guess.

 But I see other people my age and they seem so much more mature than I am.  It freaks me out sometimes.  Am I really just a slacker that doesn’t want to accept the weight of being a responsible adult that plans families, retirement strategies and aging gracefully?   

I think these thoughts all come from the fact that I have no major goals to push for right now to distract me from the descent into the 2nd half of life….  

It was a weekend of illness.  It started on Friday night.  I woke up around 4am and then was unable to fall back asleep.  Although my body was very tired, my mind refused to cooperate.  My head was filled with random, meaningless garbage that was firing off non-stop, I was unable to clear my head.  I couldn’t get comfortable either, no position felt good and I tried everyone imaginable.  So I laid there in bed wide awake with my eyes closed until maybe 7 in the morning. 

So I got up, still feeling disoriented.  I told Ali how I felt weird and she said it sounded like symptoms from dehydration.  I went out to the kitchen but did not do my normal cat maintenance routine.  I was really f’d up in the head.  I had no motivation to do anything, I felt exhausted and confused.  I grabbed pop tarts and milk and sat on the sofa and had them while staring blankly at the wall.  There was a big cat vomit mess on the floor that I could do nothing about.  Ali came out and cleaned it up. 

I literally felt like a zombie.  Ali had me drink some water as well.  During the night I also started having sweats followed by chills.  I would feel like I was in a sauna and then shortly afterward have the covers pulled up to my neck, freezing.  I had all this stuff I wanted to get done on Saturday and I realized that absolutely none of it was going to happen, I was just wrecked.

The entire day consisted me eating next to nothing, passing out/sleeping at various spots around the house and just feeling miserable.  Sitting up was work, I couldn’t do it for long.  Standing and walking was worse and would lead to an immediate hot flash.  Ali gave me a Tylenol PM to help me sleep, I think it added to the already dense fog that was around me.  I was so drained I didn’t even sit in front of the computer the entire day, now that is sick…

By the time Saturday night came I felt slightly more awake.  I had crackers for dinner and was able to give myself a shower.  I even forced myself to stay awake to watch the Ultimate Fighter 3 hour finale.  On Saturday night the insane images stopped flipping through my mind and I was able to get some sleep.

On Sunday I was still very weak but not paralyzed like I felt for most of Saturday.  But now whatever bug was hammering me moved into my gut.  The day was filled with horrific bathroom episodes that were just disgusting.  I lit our Yankee Candle in a pointless attempt to make the house smell better.  Luckily for Ali she had to go into work for a portion of the day.  I still didn’t have much of an appetite but ate more than the day before.

I passed the time watching the first two Godfather’s well most of them.  I was pissed to discover that the 2nd one cut off two hours into a three hour movie.  The first one was good.  What I saw of second was good except for all the flashback shit.  All of the flashback was done in Italian which was maddening.  I found it so annoying that we were supposed to guess what they were saying.  I will have to get the full 2nd movie to see the ending even though I went online and got the summary version.  Out of the recent mob movies I have seen, Good Fellas, Scarface and the Godfathers, I would rank them in that order, with Godfather being third.  All the Italian and Marlin Brando mumbling most of his lines just made it annoying at times for me to follow.

So anyway, by Sunday night I was hoping to have a good night’s rest and be able to go to work today. (no I’m not at work)  Instead it was a night from hell.  I woke up sometime between 1 and 2am and could not fall back asleep to save my life.  Again my mind was short circuiting, throwing up images and scenery non-stop, refusing to allow me to drift off.  It was maddening.  I woke up this morning exhausted, yet unable to lay it that damn bed a minute longer.  I called in to work and hope to be able to get some actual sleep during the day today.

I will probably wind up doing some chores around the house that Ali didn’t get done over the weekend.  She had procrastination mode turned up to high for some reason.  I will never understand how it is better to put something off to the very last minute so you have to bust ass like crazy at the end of a weekend or not get it done at all because you pushed it off so long.      

Randall was kind enough to double check my 300 math, maybe my illness was already setting in on Friday as I totally screwed up the numbers. Eh he is an accountant, he would pick this out…

I’m gonna have to audit your numbers old friend. You’re physical prowess may be Spartan-like but your math is terrible.

Pull ups – original reps – 13 Current reps – 20 = +35% (Should be +53%. 7/13 = .53)

Dead lifts – original reps – 25 Current reps – 45 = +45% (+80%)

Push ups – original reps – 25 Current reps – 50 = +50% (+100%)

Box jumps – original reps – 17 Current reps – 34 = +50% (+100%)

Wipers – original reps – 15 Current reps – 33 = +65% (+120%)

One arm C&P – original reps – 26 Current reps – 50 = +48% (+92%)

Last set pull ups – original reps – 10 Current reps – 14 = +40% (This one you got right!)

Total reps – original – 156 Current – 271 = +42% (+73% increase in total reps. +88% increase if you don’t count the extra pushups)

I had a 6 rep bump today in my 300 workout, the largest increase in awhile.  I’m only 5 reps away from the dead lift target.  I’m only 5 reps away from the first set of pull ups goal as well, but that one will take much longer to hit than the dead lifts.  The dead lifts have been an exercise I have increased slowly but consistently, I always have done at least one more rep each time.  I was looking at the increases in my numbers since I started and wanted to put some cold numbers to it.

Pull ups – original reps – 13  Current reps – 20 = +35%

Dead lifts – original reps – 25  Current reps – 45 = +45%

Push ups – original reps – 25  Current reps – 50 = +50%

Box jumps – original reps – 17  Current reps – 34 = +50%

Wipers – original reps – 15  Current reps – 33 = +65%

One arm C&P – original reps – 26  Current reps – 50 = +48%

Last set pull ups – original reps – 10  Current reps – 14 = +40%

 Total reps – original – 156 Current – 271 = +42%

The 300 program started April 2nd so this is in the span of just short of 11 weeks.  The numbers show good progress.  There isn’t a huge way to go as far as numbers go, but those last few numbers are going to come slow, especially the wipers.  I am at my physical limit every time I do them.

Today we had someone come out to give us an estimate for solar heating of our pool AND hot water heater. We would be able to keep our current electric pool heater as well, only using it when we want to do something crazy like power heat the pool when it is 50 degrees outside.

  I was surprised at the number they came back with, it was actually lower than I expected.  On top of that, there are approximately 2k of rebates we get from the state and federal governments for installing a system like this.  Of course until Ali’s new working situation becomes solid, we aren’t going to do anything.  But if her consulting works out, I can see us moving on this before the year is out.  It would save us a nice chunk on our electric bill. 

My sister commented on my entry yesterday about being brittle.

Dude! You are a FREAK! You are not BRITTLE, you are NEUROTIC!!! There is a distinct difference. Get a grip, eat a freakin’ steak, and perhaps stop working out like you are going into battle with thousands of Persians and you might feel better!!!

I would like to clarify, I am not preparing to go into battle with a few thousand Persians, it’s a MILLION PERSIANS!

My sister Torrin and I get along well nowadays.  When we were younger however, she was the target of torment by me.  Todd and I used to come up with many names for Torrin to piss her off.  I remember for awhile we were calling her Leonard for some reason.  It made no sense but it made her mad so we kept using it.  The most famous and most nonsensical nickname we ever came up for her was “Leechbonefangsmellers”  Don’t ask me to remember the details of where that combination came from, but boy did she hate it.

This weekend has no big highlights in it.  I have a bunch to do around the house and we may go out to the movies over the weekend.  I have Godfather 1 and 2 to watch as well.   

I woke up this morning with a nasty pain inside my left knee.  Even though all I did at the gym yesterday was non-impact cardio, evidently I did it at an intensity level high enough to aggravate things.  This aggravates me.  I’m brittle.

Nothing else to say.

In my latest attempt at chic geek, I am posting this entry wirelessly, via bluetooth connection from my pc thru my Treo 650, out to the net.  It is pretty damn cool.  What this means is if I have my laptop, my cellphone and signal, I’m plugged in.  Of course it is far from speedy, no one will ever confuse it with cable modem speeds but it is very workable.  When we take our trip out west it will be a way for us to stay plugged in even as we are trucking down highways.

I don’t quite understand why everyone is taking a shit on Kelly Clarkson’s new stuff, the two songs I heard, I liked.  It almost seems like an intentional smear campaign.  She snubbed the traditional music brass and they put out the word to talk down the record.  I heard she is really bummed out about all the negative reviews and has been packing on the pounds like mad, emotional eating at it’s finest.  It sucks, she is a very talented singer IMO.   Hopefully she isn’t setting up to be the next Brittany Spears (although Brittany can’t sing nearly as well)

So here is the ticket that was my closest sniff to millions of dollars.  All the circled numbers are hits.  Damn that would have been nice.

Ali and I have talked about what we would do if we hit it big.  Ali of course would immediately quit her job and never work again.  I don’t know that it would be such a no brainer for me. 

I may want to work in some regard to just make me feel worthwhile.  I think I would go crazy if I just sat home and counted my money all day.  Then again. maybe not. 🙂

A gym buddy of mine I used to talk to at the gym all the time had been MIA forever.  One day he just stopped showing up.  I bet I haven’t seen him in close to a year and a half.  Then out of the blue I see him yesterday, he’s back.  He has had a rollercoaster going in his personal life, venturing out into owning his own pool cage business, having the market dry up and at the same time buying a second home to “flip” and having that market dry up as well.  He is really getting financially squeezed.  Well anyway, it was good to see him at the gym again.  He is a Philly guy like me, we normally have a lot to talk about.

I felt so wiped out after my 300 workout yesterday.  Could you imagine the irony if I would drop over dead in the middle of it?  However that isn’t a bad way to check out, if you ask me.

Every week we play the Florida pick 6 lotto in the hope of hitting it big.  We drop 5 bucks and play 5 lines.  We are normally lucky if we have one or two numbers on the entire ticket.  Well I got groceries on Friday and got the ticket.  The first two lines I do are always the same, the other three I just make up.  Well Ali checked the ticket last night.  I had ALL SIX numbers.  The problem is I didn’t have all six on one line.  Holy shit. The odds of pulling that are very slim, certainly not like hitting them all at once , but still.  I did manage to get 3 numbers on three different lines so instead of 16 million, Ali and I get to split $10.50   🙁 

Ali is back home. Her flight back was uneventful. She was glad to be back in her normal surroundings.  Trips up north can be very stressful for various reasons.

Last night was another totally nonsensical dream.  I was at a beach with a boardwalk.  I was approached by some guy that gave me a big plastic jug filled with some sort of liquid that is used to make surfaces less slippery.  He told me that if I would go down the boardwalk and throw this stuff on the steps of all the hotels he would pay me.  It sounded good to me so off I went.

I did two hotels quickly.  I would just squeeze the jug and spray the junk out.  Then I would get on my knees and spread it around with my hands.  Then I got to a third hotel, a fancy one.  For some reason I didn’t use the direct approach.  Instead I went to the front desk and asked if I could check in.  I got a room but then immediately came down with my jug, walked out the door and started spraying down the steps.  The front steps of this place were covered with leather for some reason.  So as I was spraying and spreading, the front desk guy sees me and comes out furious, asking me what I was doing. 

I tell the guy to calm down, I am just applying something to make the leather steps less slippery.  I told him to feel the steps.  He would have none of it and called the police and continued yelling at me.  Instead of fleeing, I got in the guys face and was screaming back at him.  Eventually the cops came and told me that I could not spray this stuff on people’s steps.  I told the cop that it was only to make them safer and less slippery.  He wasn’t convinced.  He didn’t arrest me but instead took my chemicals and made me leave.  That was where the dream ended…..

My weekend alone with just me and the dog was fine, I had a relaxing time more or less.  On Friday I really appreciated that Ali gets stuff done during her day off.  After work I went to the bank, then went to Sam’s and then finally went to Publix.  By the time I got home it was close to 7.

I bought some fresh beer and a pizza at Sam’s to set me up for the weekend, allowing me to not have to cook very much.  It has become a mini-tradition that I normally get pretty drunk one night while Ali is gone.  I planned on continuing the tradition.  However the entire weekend I only had one beer and that was on Friday night as I watched 300 for the third time. (the dvd rip this time) I never tire of it.

So my plan was to bust my ass on Saturday so on Sunday I could have a more or less carefree day.  I was worried about the forecast which called for some heavy weather to come rolling in.  However, the entire day was dry and I was able to knock everything out.  Not having Ali around means there is a lot more work for me to do.  On top of my normal physical labor, I also have to do stuff like the laundry which is a drag.

There are several things I do differently when Ali isn’t around. I can listen to stuff louder.  The volume on the tv, in WoW, on the radio all go up a bit when I am by myself.  Ali says I must be hard of hearing but really I just like stuff louder.  When I am driving home from work I am able to listen to Bubba the Love Sponge on Sirius.  Ali can’t stand him, he crosses the vulgarity line for her too often.  I find him very funny.  Other than that there isn’t much difference, I still get up early, I still stay up later than I should, still push to finish “the list”

Like I said earlier, the rain held off during the day Saturday but we got hit hard over the rest of the weekend.  The weather center recorded almost 5 inches of rain over a 24 hour period.  It was enough rain that we actually had standing water around the property, although by this morning most of it had soaked in.

I watched a lot of movies while Ali was gone.  As mentioned earlier, my third 300 viewing was enjoyable as ever, it still gets an A.  On Saturday afternoon I watched Tekken the Movie.  I got this confused with the Street Fighter movie which had live actors in it.  Tekken was a one hour animated “movie”.  Ali would have hated it, I found it entertaining.  They even say the word “shit” in it several times and have an animated nude girl in it, freaky. I give it a B, although most would not.

I saw Scary Movie 4.  I have had this for a long time and pretty much forgot about it.  It was anything but scary, in fact it was very funny.  It used Airplane type humor throughout.  It even had Leslie Neilsen in it, the king of this movie genre.  I really liked it.  B+  I am hoping to get Ali to watch it with me when she gets back.

I also took in Scarface for the first time.  I have seen bits and pieces of it but never the whole thing.  It was a great movie although I would put Good Fellas ahead of it.  Now I have Godfather 1 and 2 to watch, I’m not gonna bother with Godfather 3, I heard it is very lame.

The fifth movie I took in last night was Blood Diamond.  It was a really good movie based on a really sickening situation.  Leonardo Dicaprio is great actor.  The movie was about the diamond trade in Africa and how the fight to control it results in endless violence.  If the brainless, animal-esque, f’ing that goes on in Africa that results in rampant HIV wasn’t bad enough.  Put guns in the hands of these same people and you have a whole new type of genocide.  If the movie was accurate in it’s portrayal of the situation, it is disgusting.  Seriously, so many of these people seem to be only slightly above primate status in their cognitive thinking.  They kill a person like they were swatting a fly, it is no different to them.  It’s amazing that in this day and age that these sort of situations exist, that mankind as a whole has learned nothing from their several thousand years on this planet.  It was a good movie about a terrible thing.  I would give it A.

On Sunday morning I took Nicki to the dog beach.  We had not taken her there in a long time.  The last time we were there the beach was covered with dog shit from careless owners and the tide was rolling in.   After that trip Nicki broke out in a rash on her belly. 

Well I decided it was time for her to go back.  She was skeptical and scared of the other dogs, as always but she had no problems going right back into the water.  It’s odd because she absolutely does not want to go in our pool but she will go into the water at a beach immediately.  I think it is the gentle slope that allows her to go in at her pace instead of having to jump right into a pool.

The weather looked like rain the entire time so there weren’t a ton of people/dogs there which was just as good.  For the most part Nicki and I were off on our own with me in the water up to my knees and her swimming circles around me, it was cute.  I took a bunch of pictures with my cell phone.  The quality isn’t great but it’s good enough.   We stayed at the beach for maybe an hour and that was enough.  I threw a big towel over the seat of the truck to try to contain the sandy wet mess from her.  It was only partially successful.

Once we got home I immediately put her in the tub and gave her a quick bath in an attempt to prevent any rashes from breaking out this time.  The beach was much cleaner than the last time though.  She had fun and I want to try to get there with her more often.

The rest of my Sunday was very low key.  I did some laundry, played WoW, ate pizza and looked forward to Ali’s arrival today.  I don’t mind being on my own but it is always nice to have things swing back to normal.  I pick Ali up at 2pm.

 The picture link posted above also has a few pictures from the Hollywood VB event, very few.  I didn’t feel very much like taking pictures.