Exercise - Day Two

I peeled my butt off of the exercise bike for the second day. Today was much easier then yesterday. There is a dramatic change in energy levels. Yesterday I could bounce around everywhere after working out. Last night Jeannette and I didn't sleep well, but I woke up refreshed anyway, and Jeannette was groggy. Jeannette is actually in her target weight, just at the higher end. So, for her to lose weight, she can only have like 1400 calories a day. I don't think she'd have to change her diet much, just work out once a day, and she'd be fine. I, on the other hand, have much more to lose then she does. Last night was hard for her. We went to the Lotus in Uptown for dinner, and she wanted cream cheese wontons. I said it was up to her, and she was going to get them. I suggested the veggie spring rolls, and she thought they were gross because they were so bland. The trick is to get over your craving, and just eat something else. Then you're full, and won't have a craving for anything. She was fine afterwards, it's just getting over that initial craving that is tough. Believe me, I'd love to have wontons too, but it's just not worth it. We're also working on eating breakfast each day. Jeannette had a Myoplex shake, and I had a bowl of cereal. I measured the servings this time, and wow, a serving of cereal is so small, 3/4 of a cup. No more heaping bowls for me. We'll see how this whole tings goes, how long it lasts. I think we'll be ok, if we just think before we eat something. Is this something I should have? Is there something better? I think I'll be hitting up subway a lot for lunches. Maybe I'll be the next Jared.

Livin Fat

Jeannette sent me a text message yesterday because she had gotten fatter, I asked her, "By how much?," she said, "2 lbs." Now, Jeannette is small, I'm the big one. I could gain and lose two pounds, and never even notice. I have always tried to be plump enough to withstand being stranded somewhere for weeks on end without food, but I'm past that now. You could stick me in the desert for a month, and I'd be ok. Being diabetic already, if I don't exercise at all, I'm at risk for insulin resistance. All of my numbers have been fine when I go to the doctor, BP, cholesterol, heart rate, all of that stuff. I'm still healthy, despite being fat. But, I have noticed that I'm starting to need more and more insulin to metabolize carbohydrates. That's where the danger is. It's ok to be fat, unless you are unhealthy, then you need to do something. I still plan on being fat enough to withstand a stint on a mountain without food, and without having to eat a member of the hiking party, just a little less fat then now so I can maintain good control of blood sugar levels. There is no way I'm going to have an eating disorder, I like food too much for that. Jeannette has bad cholesterol, so with exercise, and watching what she eats, we'll see if we can take care of that. We'll work on it together, and there are no excuses. I have a book called the Calorie King in my car, it can tell me the nutrition information for almost any food we could get. Chipotle is horrible for you. It's seems ok, a giant burrito, no meat. That burrito is over 1000 calories. Jeannette's burrito she gets is 1195 calories and has 59 grams of fat. Chipotle's website is too busy making you feel hip for eating at a place that cares about the quality of the food they give you, and the art and music you find inside, but it's impossible to find nutrition information for their burritos. The burrito bol I have been getting is 815 calories, and 39 grams of fat. With a few changes, like taking out the rice, and guacamole, and sour cream, I can still have a bol with steak, and cheese, and lettuce, which is only 360 calories. It's amazing how many calories are in rice. I told Jeannette how many calories are in a Chipotle burrito, and that it's have of all you should eat in a day, and she said she just wouldn't eat much else in that day. That never happens, because you get hungry, and snack, then everything is ruined. We'll have to work on the Chipotle because it is Jeannette's favorite place.

Morel Orel Vs. My Father

"Christianity sure is convenient"

Words of wisdom from the show "Morel Orel". This is a show about a naive 11 year old boy whose hero is God. In this particular episode, Orel breaks the 10 commandments so he can fear God and be scared on Halloween. He knows his soul will be safe, because all he has to do is repent. Never have I seen something so realistic, so true to what I have seen in my life. Orel is a clay animated version of my father.
My father, broke a commandment. I won't go into detail about what he did, but it caused many people much pain. Before our estrangement he told me that all was well because he asked God for forgiveness. He didn't ask the people he hurt for forgiveness, but something that may or may not exist. He always told me that my only sin was to not believe in God. Well than, I'm doomed, because according to him, and other Christians, I'm going to a hell that has the same probability of existing as Santa's workshop.
I apologize for offending anybody, I really am. The last thing I want to be is a hypocrite. But please, don't be a hypocrite yourselves. Exercise your love for all mankind. I am not a bad person, I have morals. I do good things. I just don't do them to get into heaven. I do them because that is how other people should be treated.
When life resembles a clay animated satire, people should really start questioning the the reason they are doing things. When you pray to God for forgiveness that's fine, but make sure your really sorry, and make sure you are asking for forgiveness from the tangible figures you hurt in real life.

The Label

Last night, Jeannette and I went to see The Label at the Varsity Theater in Dinkey Town. Two guys I went to high school with are in the group, Bill Young, and Ben Densen. The Label is a group of local comedians, who present these shows, in an odd format. The way it's done lets the comics perform live for about 45 minutes for 6 or so comics, and the rest is filled with premade video skits, and musical intermissions. Each live set is only about 5 to 7 minutes. The whole gig is very self promoting, with cameras everywhere, because they like to film themselves, and made a DVD out of it, which they sell at the next show. I would have enjoyed myself better if I had a few drinks that they sold there. The doors opened 20 minutes late, and we had to stand around in a crowded lobby. That is one thing to be said, there were a lot of people there, maybe 150 to 200, each coughing up 10 bucks. Once that's spread around, however, I'm sure it's enough for each comic to pay their tab at the bar after the show. Once seated, the show didn't start for another 30 minutes. The people I saw in the crowd, I had seen before. These people are open mic groupies. Each of the comedians I have seen at one time or another on stage at an open mic night. That what the night felt like, a group of people, who are just a step above the open mic scene, but only because they've done it for so long, that they can't suck that bad. The format, and concept, is alright. I could have done without the live band, they weren't that good, and made the cuts between artist too long. The videos were each unique, in the style of the comics. Each comic had their own style to bring to the stage, but are kind of holding on to a character they have created, such as the skinny guy, the awkward guy, the awkward girl. Also, I thought observational humor was dead. As a comic you should be able to write original comedy, not just repeat the funniest thing that you saw in the last month. I did like Bill's set. He's been doing comedy as long as I've been working with computers. While I don't get to go to Iowa to fix computers, I'd say he's about as funny as I am good at fixing computers. His best joke, I thought, was about duck hunters. He saw a guy, who spend hundreds of dollars on a decoy, gear, guns, all to hunt ducks. I'm pretty sure all you need is bread and a hammer. Just go to the park and they just line up to be next. I might want to buy the DVD of the show, just to see how they cut it together, and I did like Tommy's video. You can check out The Label here.

Psuedo life of a college student

I haven't really been blogging to much lately. It isn't because I'm not a serious blogger. It's just that I don't really have all that much to blog about. Life as a college student isn't the most exciting life. I can't exactly write a memoir on the tedious lab hours I put in, or the two hour long classes that make my ass hurt, or the people in Kabbalah that just won't shut up. College life is psuedo life. Most students don't know what it's like to pay bills, rent,tuition, loan payments. Dorm life doesn't represent the real world at all, so there's a whole psuedo community there. My life takes on facade as well. I'm kinda drifting through, but I really don't feel like I'm living. This is nobody's fault but my own, but I'm sure many people can relate. There are moments I find though that make me smile, and forget. These moments are peaceful. I love sitting by the fountain terrace in Coffman Union. When someone starts playing the piano, I just sit back close my eyes and listen. I listen to the mistakes, the flow. Or sitting at the rec center and watching the divers. These are stolen moments that make my day livable.

MAKE Magazine

I received my favorite magazine in the mail today, MAKE Magazine. In it, there is a study on randomness, and its ability to foreshadow big events. Also, a Purr Generator, which uses vibration, sound, and radiation to cure everything from back pain to depression. Not to mention, there's a good chunk of work on perpetual motion devices through out history. I've only read a little of it, but each page has something on it I want to build, if only I had the time.

On another note, Vista is working well. It was a little slow when I first installed it, but that was due to indexing, and an initial AV scan.

Jeannette and I had our anniversary yesterday, four years! She bought me a couple of bossa nova cd's, and she bought both of us this wicked cool shiatsu massager pad for the computer chair, it's great!

Vista

Again, I dive into the latest Microsoft OS head first. It's always exciting to see new things, and get used to new issues, so I installed Vista on my laptop at home. It's a crummy $400 laptop I got cheaply from Circuit City, but it's running Vista with Aero just fine. It can also run 3D games, like Unreal Tournament, and the Sims 2, so I've been pretty happy with it. I also like the matte screen, rather then glossy. I always hate seeing smudges all over those screens, and I hate the glare. It's a shame all laptops seem to be going that way, except for the cheap ones, which is good news for me. Vista is working alright so far, no big issues, and took about an hour to upgrade from Windows XP Home. I installed Vista Business, because I have a license from work. I've had to patch a few programs, but everything is chugging away. I'll leave my desktop as XP for now, at least until I'm done submitting taxes for Jeannette and I. Jeannette had today off, so it was nice to spend some time together, not doing anything really exciting, bu just hanging out. I worked for a while yesterday replacing the networking cables in one of the closets. It's all purple now, rather then a mix of black, blue, and yellow cables. I have plans for changing up the topology of the network, but I can't do that until I get a part in, so that'll be another late night this week.

Work work and more work

I've been working a lot of late hours lately, but have gotten a lot of work done. I saved my company a bunch of money by wiring a networking closet with fiber, and I've upgraded two of the IT staff's computers. The CFO needed a new laptop because his is old, and the hard drive was failing on it, so I suggested that he get a new laptop. Well, all new laptops have Vista on them. This is a problem when you have so many applications you depend on, which do not work with Vista. I can't see many businesses moving to Vista anytime soon, unless they perform really simple tasks. Our desktops, for the most part, are all Windows 2000 machines, because it just works. The way Microsoft will force us to upgrade, is when they release a new programming component, like .NET 3.0, and the programmers decide that they want to use it, then it's time to upgrade everyone to Windows XP. Otherwise, there just is no reason to upgrade, everything just works. I MAY upgrade my laptop to Vista, just so I can get used to the quirks, otherwise there is little reason to upgrade. I may work all weekend replacing the cabling in the networking closets, which should mean a good sized pay check, that I need to pay the 1K deductible to get my car fixed.

On a different note, Jeannette and I saw The Queen last night. I thought it was very well done.

My first contribution

The topic of my first contribution to Bjorn's pages is that of pedestrians and bikers on the UMN campus. Since this is something that we see everyday together, and both hate on the same level, I thought he would appreciate it.

I'll start with pedestrians. I'm a pedestrian for the good part of my day on campus, but what sets me apart from so many of my bumbling walking cohorts is that I follow a rule my mother taught me when I was young.....Look both ways before you cross the street. I see so many students walking with their head down, talking on their cell phones or just not paying attention. At a cross walk they just walk, many times holding up traffic. There is so much jaywalking its ridiculous. This article appeared recently in the Daily. http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2006/09/29/69182
The guy in this is complaining that he got a ticket for jaywalking and that there are better things the cops could be doing. Well whether that's true or not you STILL BROKE THE LAW. Quit bitching. And I do in fact think the cop should have ticketed him. Jaywalkers on campus is a huge problem. College kids need to wake up. You can't drive anywhere you please. You can't park anywhere you please. You also can't just walk anywhere you please.

This leads me to the biking problem. Here I need to take a deep breath in, and exhale slowly. While I could write a lengthy discussion on why bikes are unnecessary and endlessly irritating, I won't, keeping my blood pressure in mind. I'll just say many of my pedestrian arguments carry over to bikes. Bikers tend to be more arrogant though. They have all the rights as cars, but don't follow the rules of cars. A biker should get ticketed for running a red light just the same as a car.

So this is what I propose. Next time you see someone on campus just walking out onto the street without looking both ways, don't wait for them. Speed forward and hit them. Don't kill or maim them by any means, but at least give them a good scare. And next time you pass by a bike rack, let all the airs out of the tires. If not because you too hate bikes, but to make my day.

I will not be affiliated with any happenings of future tire deflating, or pedestrian scaring

Kiva.org

I was reading ComputerWorld, and they profiled the people involved with starting up Kiva.org, an online solution to microlending. They have a collection of people, gathered through different organizations, who need money for different projects for their business, like a part for a mill, or money to expand their shop. The people are usually from developing countries, or developing parts of countries, and most loans are under $1000. Kiva.org collects the donations, and gives them as a loan to the lender. When the loan is paid back, you get your money back, usually between 6 and 12 months. You can then reinvest in another project. You can make small investments, like $25, and even give gift certificates.

Ice bow

I saw an ice bow on my way into work last week. It felt arctic. On another note, Jeanette and I enjoyed the bowl today, the burrito bowl at Chipotle that is! Oh, and I have been kicked out of the Fighter's Guild for axing a member. Now my quest is to find 20 bear pelts. Is that all a fighter is worth, 20 pelts?

Save Boston - Mooninite Whack-A-Mole

Save Boston Now!

On that note... my internet access was gone for half of the day, and as I'm waiting on hold with Comcast, my connection comes back on. Great. I've been thinking about getting Vista for the laptop, thinking it'll be like a magic pill. I need to pay attention to less marketing.

dipo - shuffle - ipod

Jeannette is the proud owner of a new green ipod shuffle. She used to have a shuffle, but I gave that away when I bought her the mini. She thinks this will be better to work out with, because it isn't so big, and won't bounce around. I've been using Opera at work, kind of turning my back on Firefox. Opera is just faster. I get spoiled with AdBlock though, maybe there is AdBlock with Opera. I've been working way too late the last three days, but I actually get a chance to do work. I can now manage every single port for all 200 or so computers and devices connected to the network, including looking at each ports utilization. Vista is so dumb, I'm so tired of Vista. Jeannette and I had some way good pizza at Galactic, which was a nice break from working late, coming home, and making some food from the apartment.