Bought it, Inside Out

So yesterday I decided to roll the dice and bought a new drain pump for the dishwasher, gambling it will fix the problem for $50 instead of spending $400-$500 for a new unit.  Hopefully it pays off.

The other day I got a box in the mail from my dad that I opened up.  Inside was a birthday card and a book.  Getting a book from my dad is not unusual, he has bought me a few as gifts over the years.  Getting this particular book was unusual since I just happened to be the author of it.  It was titled “Inside Out 2002-2004”  The hardcover book was quite thick and substantial.

So what am I talking about?  Awhile back my dad asked me if there was some way for me to export my blog.  He talked loosely about the idea of having it converted to print.  I wound up sending an export file to my sister Meghan and forgot about it.  I was astonished when I exported it all it ended up being almost 5000 pages long.

The book dad sent was just covering the first two years, I couldn’t believe it equated to a manuscript of that size.  I didn’t get a chance to do much more besides flip through the pages at this point but I think I will take it along on the trip to NYC to get reacquainted with the version of myself from more than a decade past.  It should be interesting seeing the origins of the path I have taken start to develop.

I called Dad on my way home from work to thank him for the book.  He said I should be expecting some more editions to be forthcoming.  He told me during the conversation that he has taken some steps to try to get healthier which was good news.  He is doing something called the 3 day diet which is pretty simple.  For 3 of the 7 days in a week you eat a very regimented, portion controlled meal plan.  The other four days you do not.  However there is a beneficial side effect to the plan.  The 3 days you are “on” educates you as to what proper portion sizes should be so even when you are “off” you are likely to cut down on your consumption.  Dad has never been good at portioning.

In addition to cleaning up his eating he joined a gym which is no small feat when you live in Marienville.  To go to the gym requires something around a 50 mile round trip since there are no gyms close to where he lives.  The combination of his efforts has resulted in him losing about 15 pounds so far which is great.  With all the aches and pains dad has in his various joints, carrying around less weight on them would really help his quality of life.

I think back to my childhood and how both of my parents were athletically active for a period of time and how it influenced me.  Mom used to be a pretty regular runner into her early 30’s.  Once she stopped running she pretty much stopped all conventional exercise all together which surely did not help her later in life.  Dad also ran regularly, did sit ups, went to the gym, swam, and played rugby for a number of years.  He lasted well into his 40’s until a blown ACL while skiing shut down most of his exercise regimen.

I have now surpassed both of them in terms of still doing consistent exercise at this ridiculous age of 48 (tomorrow).  I credit some of that drive to continue to move, lift, and push to what I saw them doing as I grew up.  It also has been supplemented by my hatred of most aspects of aging and my lifelong fear of illness, disease, and death.

I felt bad for Cindy last night.  She was invited to a girls night out she had been looking forward to.  She started feeling miserable during the day yesterday.  As soon as I got home I could see on her face she wasn’t feeling well.  It takes a lot to drain her batteries and they were running close to empty.  I hope she can bounce back quickly as neither of us wants to feel ill for the trip.

My boss graciously is giving my Friday off as a thank you for my time spent in the office last weekend.  It will work out well, allowing me to handle NYC trip related items as well as possibly taking a swing at stuff like getting the dishwasher back in 100% working condition.