One of the great spiritual truths I've gleaned from my Pagan path is that the Wheel of the Year offers a good model for timing some of life's bigger tasks that are not directly tied to religious liturgy or agrarian life. One of the things I have been doing annually between the Autumn Equinox and Samhain is taking stock of my life, cataloguing the wins and losses over the course of the year, celebrating goals achieved and identifying new opportunities for spiritual growth.
OK, New Years' Resolutions are somewhat universal, and in a way, this is exactly that.
(continued)
Showing posts with label weight control. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weight control. Show all posts
Friday, October 28, 2011
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
SotR 2008-08-20
Overview:
Two-plus years ago, I wrote down a series of goals. I was in the hospital at that time and I saw just how badly I was running my life. I reviewed those goals two months ago . . . and I'd made very little progress toward any of them.
After that review, I made up my mind that every couple of weeks, I need to spend the time in meditation on the many personal foibles and weaknesses I need to work on and what to do about them. This is entirely an internal process. Part of this process is spurred by my inching ever-closer to the age of fifty. Part of the spur is that there are things that have been part of my life for several years that simply need to no longer be a part of my life.
The most important single personal foible / weakness: I am sick and tired of dealing with the consequences of the open wounds on my legs. I'd like to be able to swim for the first time in five years . . . to go to the doctor once every three months, not every couple of weeks . . . to be free of wound odors. I'm almost there; maybe a couple more months and I'll be swimming.
To that end, I've made some adjustments: limiting my sodium consumption (diet soda mostly), drinking LOTS more ice water, elevating my legs, getting a full night's sleep, eating more salads and less meat, playing a lot less WoW and cutting caffeine intake by 75%. All of these things help the wounds heal faster.
The "reward goal" I set here is to remain wound free for a year.
My next series of adjustments is financial. So far, I've started my 410(k) at work and started researching the various funds in the plan with an eye toward understanding how they fit into a coordinated plan to make me enough money for my old age. Once I turn 55, I can accelerate my donations, since at my age the lever called "the time value of money" is a little short. My next adjustment is to finally get my oversize ass onto a realistic budget. I found some great Mac software that is NOT published by Intuit and used that to set up a budget that includes putting some cash into savings that is NOT my 401(k). I want a cushion against emergencies.
The "reward goal" here is to have $5k in a savings account for a year. Since I did not envision having the 401(k) then, I'll include 50% of that account (after all, Apple is matching my contributions!) toward the goal. I started the 401(k) a year ago or so, and as of today "my share" is around $1k.
My last "reward goal" is to lose 100 lbs and keep it off for a year. I have not done much in this area; a soon as the legs are healed, I'll be directing my efforts toward weight loss.
One year with all three goals met . . . the reward is a trip to GenCon.
I'm also working on a few other goals, namely work-related ones like "break the career stasis I've been in for three years." My manager says I'm heading in the right direction.
----------------
Listening to: Echo's Children - No Quarter
via FoxyTunes
Two-plus years ago, I wrote down a series of goals. I was in the hospital at that time and I saw just how badly I was running my life. I reviewed those goals two months ago . . . and I'd made very little progress toward any of them.
After that review, I made up my mind that every couple of weeks, I need to spend the time in meditation on the many personal foibles and weaknesses I need to work on and what to do about them. This is entirely an internal process. Part of this process is spurred by my inching ever-closer to the age of fifty. Part of the spur is that there are things that have been part of my life for several years that simply need to no longer be a part of my life.
The most important single personal foible / weakness: I am sick and tired of dealing with the consequences of the open wounds on my legs. I'd like to be able to swim for the first time in five years . . . to go to the doctor once every three months, not every couple of weeks . . . to be free of wound odors. I'm almost there; maybe a couple more months and I'll be swimming.
To that end, I've made some adjustments: limiting my sodium consumption (diet soda mostly), drinking LOTS more ice water, elevating my legs, getting a full night's sleep, eating more salads and less meat, playing a lot less WoW and cutting caffeine intake by 75%. All of these things help the wounds heal faster.
The "reward goal" I set here is to remain wound free for a year.
My next series of adjustments is financial. So far, I've started my 410(k) at work and started researching the various funds in the plan with an eye toward understanding how they fit into a coordinated plan to make me enough money for my old age. Once I turn 55, I can accelerate my donations, since at my age the lever called "the time value of money" is a little short. My next adjustment is to finally get my oversize ass onto a realistic budget. I found some great Mac software that is NOT published by Intuit and used that to set up a budget that includes putting some cash into savings that is NOT my 401(k). I want a cushion against emergencies.
The "reward goal" here is to have $5k in a savings account for a year. Since I did not envision having the 401(k) then, I'll include 50% of that account (after all, Apple is matching my contributions!) toward the goal. I started the 401(k) a year ago or so, and as of today "my share" is around $1k.
My last "reward goal" is to lose 100 lbs and keep it off for a year. I have not done much in this area; a soon as the legs are healed, I'll be directing my efforts toward weight loss.
One year with all three goals met . . . the reward is a trip to GenCon.
I'm also working on a few other goals, namely work-related ones like "break the career stasis I've been in for three years." My manager says I'm heading in the right direction.
----------------
Listening to: Echo's Children - No Quarter
via FoxyTunes
Saturday, February 2, 2008
What next?
OK, this is more than enough!
What "this" is, is that a state legislator in Mississippi has introduced a bill to forbid serving overweight people in restaurants with more than five seats.
No, this is NOT a joke! I guess since discrimination against people with dark skins is out, these assholes have to have someone to discriminate against. Or maybe this is a way to accomplish the same goal (since people of color are also very often overweight).
Overweight people are a class of people it's OK to hate. Perhaps the only one left in the US anymore. We get stares . . . we get sneers . . . we get criticism disguised as unwanted medical advice from EVERYONE, because everyone is a weight loss authority. The last thing overweight people need is shame; most of us have enough other issues with our relationshio to food as matters stand!
At least some medical people are starting to understand that strident advice / shaming people to lose weight is counterproductive.
What "this" is, is that a state legislator in Mississippi has introduced a bill to forbid serving overweight people in restaurants with more than five seats.
No, this is NOT a joke! I guess since discrimination against people with dark skins is out, these assholes have to have someone to discriminate against. Or maybe this is a way to accomplish the same goal (since people of color are also very often overweight).
Overweight people are a class of people it's OK to hate. Perhaps the only one left in the US anymore. We get stares . . . we get sneers . . . we get criticism disguised as unwanted medical advice from EVERYONE, because everyone is a weight loss authority. The last thing overweight people need is shame; most of us have enough other issues with our relationshio to food as matters stand!
At least some medical people are starting to understand that strident advice / shaming people to lose weight is counterproductive.
Monday, November 12, 2007
I love Sac RT . . .
Yes. Really. However, in the words of one of Kevin Smith's characters in Clerks:
Yes, I love Light Rail, but there are some things about the people on Sacramento RT and Elk Grove e-Tran that get on my fscking nerves. The bus would be great of it weren't for the the other passengers . . .
To wit:
1. Operators who converse on their cellphones (even with Bluetooth headsets) while driving the bus. OK, folks, this one really hjorked my spazz-button when I first saw it. During the duration of my ride on a bus, my very life and that of every other soul aboard that bus is in the hands of an operator who may be suffering from divided attention due to domestic drama or some other conversational or emotional state. I don't know what state law or sac RT's operating instructions say, but I'm going to find out if professional drivers are allowed to use wireless headsets and drive. In either case, if it is allowed, it's unprofessional at best and fscking dangerous to passengers.
2. Light Rail passengers who engage in extremely LOUD cellphone conversation about matters that should not be publicly shared. Folks, you may not be driving, but some of your cannot-help-but-overhear due to your LOUD voiced conversations are the very definition of Too Much Fscking Information. I'm all for free speech, and I'm barely shocked by what passes for conversational profanity anymore . . . but if you must discuss intimate details of your lives in my presence, could you please lower your voice?
3. LOUD cellphone ring tones. Yes, I understand that most of the ring tones sold from AT&T and other wireless providers are from popular tunes, and this art form consists of some very angry and profane speech. Again, I'm pro-First Amendment -- NOBODY has ANY right to tell you you cannot listen to or use part of a song for a ring tone on your cellphone. If you did your fellow passengers the dignity of turning down the volume on the ringer in public (and OFF in certain venues, like theaters, for the love of Eris), I'd be your very best friend.
3. Light Rail passengers who play their music aloud in direct violation of LRT rules. Guys, this one is posted as verboten on EVERY LRT car and every bus. Of all of my gripes, this one is the least excusable. After all, you cannot control when the phone rings or remember to turn it down, and I can understand it if you're deep into conversation and not practicing consideration for others. Why is there NO FSCKING EXCUSE? EVERY CD / mp3 player comes with headphones ...please use them, OK? If you do this, for me, and listen to your music with headphones, I'll refrain from blasting you with Tom Smith, Seanan McGuire, or going nuclear with bagpipe music.
5. RT rent a cops with that wannabe cop attitude. There was this Wackenhut guard at the Marconi-Arcade LRT station hassling some poor schmoe because he was standing between the tracks, waiting for the train. The next trains were several minutes out and the passenger was harmless, not drunk or otherwise whacked. Just standing there, looking up the tracks. The rent-a-cop on patrol looked to me for a minute he was about to go tactical on this poor guy. I got my phone out and set the video camera to record if the whack job of a security officer was about to Rodney King the passenger. The passenger finally realized that Dirty Harry meant business and sat down shaking his head. He saw my phone in camera mode and smiled his thanks.
I encountered more than a little of this attitude back when I worked as a security guard. I worked as a guard for a couple of reasons. Security was very easy work. In those days I had lost all confidence in my abilities as a technician and figured I could never work in the field again . . . so I took a job that required almost no thought whatsoever. It also was a job that allowed me to do child care during the day while Ex#1 worked and /or went to school. Among the high school dropouts and fellow losers (as I freely admit I was, back then) was a small number of people who thought a stint as a security guard would look good on a resume when they applied for the police department, other law enforcement agency, or (Goddess forbid!) the military. All I can say is that some of the extreme head cases left as soon as they realized we were in the observe-and-report business and not in the kick-ass-and-take-names industry. Some did manage to perform auto-rectocraniectomies. One colleague did become a Sacramento PD officer, another went into the Army as a military policeman.
At any rate, I had to vent. Don't let this rant keep you off public transit. I know, transit has its limitations and there are many times when you gotta drive . . . but taking transit when it is feasible helps reduce your carbon emissions footprint, which makes the Goddess smile. The exercise you get from walking to bus and train stops will make your healthcare provider smile, too.
----------------
Listening to: Seanan McGuire - Dorothy
via FoxyTunes
"This job would be great if it weren't for the fscking customers."As far as I'm concerned, the Sacramento version of Light Rail rocks on toast. Back in the early 90s, I was without a car for about a year, and Light Rail was my main transportation. I did a lot of walking as well, but my terms on a bus were relatively few and far between.
Yes, I love Light Rail, but there are some things about the people on Sacramento RT and Elk Grove e-Tran that get on my fscking nerves. The bus would be great of it weren't for the the other passengers . . .
To wit:
1. Operators who converse on their cellphones (even with Bluetooth headsets) while driving the bus. OK, folks, this one really hjorked my spazz-button when I first saw it. During the duration of my ride on a bus, my very life and that of every other soul aboard that bus is in the hands of an operator who may be suffering from divided attention due to domestic drama or some other conversational or emotional state. I don't know what state law or sac RT's operating instructions say, but I'm going to find out if professional drivers are allowed to use wireless headsets and drive. In either case, if it is allowed, it's unprofessional at best and fscking dangerous to passengers.
2. Light Rail passengers who engage in extremely LOUD cellphone conversation about matters that should not be publicly shared. Folks, you may not be driving, but some of your cannot-help-but-overhear due to your LOUD voiced conversations are the very definition of Too Much Fscking Information. I'm all for free speech, and I'm barely shocked by what passes for conversational profanity anymore . . . but if you must discuss intimate details of your lives in my presence, could you please lower your voice?
3. LOUD cellphone ring tones. Yes, I understand that most of the ring tones sold from AT&T and other wireless providers are from popular tunes, and this art form consists of some very angry and profane speech. Again, I'm pro-First Amendment -- NOBODY has ANY right to tell you you cannot listen to or use part of a song for a ring tone on your cellphone. If you did your fellow passengers the dignity of turning down the volume on the ringer in public (and OFF in certain venues, like theaters, for the love of Eris), I'd be your very best friend.
3. Light Rail passengers who play their music aloud in direct violation of LRT rules. Guys, this one is posted as verboten on EVERY LRT car and every bus. Of all of my gripes, this one is the least excusable. After all, you cannot control when the phone rings or remember to turn it down, and I can understand it if you're deep into conversation and not practicing consideration for others. Why is there NO FSCKING EXCUSE? EVERY CD / mp3 player comes with headphones ...please use them, OK? If you do this, for me, and listen to your music with headphones, I'll refrain from blasting you with Tom Smith, Seanan McGuire, or going nuclear with bagpipe music.
5. RT rent a cops with that wannabe cop attitude. There was this Wackenhut guard at the Marconi-Arcade LRT station hassling some poor schmoe because he was standing between the tracks, waiting for the train. The next trains were several minutes out and the passenger was harmless, not drunk or otherwise whacked. Just standing there, looking up the tracks. The rent-a-cop on patrol looked to me for a minute he was about to go tactical on this poor guy. I got my phone out and set the video camera to record if the whack job of a security officer was about to Rodney King the passenger. The passenger finally realized that Dirty Harry meant business and sat down shaking his head. He saw my phone in camera mode and smiled his thanks.
I encountered more than a little of this attitude back when I worked as a security guard. I worked as a guard for a couple of reasons. Security was very easy work. In those days I had lost all confidence in my abilities as a technician and figured I could never work in the field again . . . so I took a job that required almost no thought whatsoever. It also was a job that allowed me to do child care during the day while Ex#1 worked and /or went to school. Among the high school dropouts and fellow losers (as I freely admit I was, back then) was a small number of people who thought a stint as a security guard would look good on a resume when they applied for the police department, other law enforcement agency, or (Goddess forbid!) the military. All I can say is that some of the extreme head cases left as soon as they realized we were in the observe-and-report business and not in the kick-ass-and-take-names industry. Some did manage to perform auto-rectocraniectomies. One colleague did become a Sacramento PD officer, another went into the Army as a military policeman.
At any rate, I had to vent. Don't let this rant keep you off public transit. I know, transit has its limitations and there are many times when you gotta drive . . . but taking transit when it is feasible helps reduce your carbon emissions footprint, which makes the Goddess smile. The exercise you get from walking to bus and train stops will make your healthcare provider smile, too.
----------------
Listening to: Seanan McGuire - Dorothy
via FoxyTunes
Friday, June 22, 2007
Friday, April 27, 2007
SotR, Cleaning Spree edition
Back when I was sick a few months ago, my standards of housekeeping started to resemble those of a nest of diseased gerbils whose cage was severely neglected.
Now, I am not all about housework. Nobody this side of severe OCD is, or should be. However, I used to have a bad lazy streak coupled to terrible indifference to my general surroundings. Until things get really really really bad (as in "piles of trash and more bugs than Juan Rico has ever had to deal with . . ."), I don't do anything about them, ignore them, and hope the trash walks itself into bags (roaches the size of Yugos are an occasional help) and the dishes are magically cleaned.
That changed when I moved into my new place. I wanted to make a break from my history of "trash the place and hope my friends help dig me out." I want a place where I can entertain, game, make dinner for people I care about.
I want a cozy home, not a lair. Should I meet someone someday who I'd like to impress with my 1337 d0mestik skillz (as opposed to my gheek cred), I'd like that someone to say "That RichO guy isn't a sloven and has 1337 d0m3stik skillz!"
All was well for about a month after my move, then I got sick and stayed that way for the better part of the first four months of 2007. I saw the abyss and my slide toward household hell . . . and being ill, I did not feel like doing jack squat about it. I went from pretending to 1337 to total n00bness.
What happened? I started getting well, thanks to losing all that weight and some very good wound care by some of the very best nurses anywhere --- Teri, Guadalupe, Zoe, Ellen, and Florence. And just in time, my complex announced its semi annual walkthrough to inspect smoke alarms and the plumbing.
At that point, I got busy and started undoing several months of poor housekeeping -- and was informed on inspection day that I needed to do better or I'd be evicted. Round two was nearly four hours of frantic sweating work with some newly purchased tools and supples -- and the place passed. The apartment manager said I really turned the place around. A month ago, I could not have done it without yelling for help, and I'm tired of imposing on my friends like that.
I like the way the place looks now. I'm overdue for a small housewarming party, or a soiree where I make dinner for someone important to me . . .
Now, I am not all about housework. Nobody this side of severe OCD is, or should be. However, I used to have a bad lazy streak coupled to terrible indifference to my general surroundings. Until things get really really really bad (as in "piles of trash and more bugs than Juan Rico has ever had to deal with . . ."), I don't do anything about them, ignore them, and hope the trash walks itself into bags (roaches the size of Yugos are an occasional help) and the dishes are magically cleaned.
That changed when I moved into my new place. I wanted to make a break from my history of "trash the place and hope my friends help dig me out." I want a place where I can entertain, game, make dinner for people I care about.
I want a cozy home, not a lair. Should I meet someone someday who I'd like to impress with my 1337 d0mestik skillz (as opposed to my gheek cred), I'd like that someone to say "That RichO guy isn't a sloven and has 1337 d0m3stik skillz!"
All was well for about a month after my move, then I got sick and stayed that way for the better part of the first four months of 2007. I saw the abyss and my slide toward household hell . . . and being ill, I did not feel like doing jack squat about it. I went from pretending to 1337 to total n00bness.
What happened? I started getting well, thanks to losing all that weight and some very good wound care by some of the very best nurses anywhere --- Teri, Guadalupe, Zoe, Ellen, and Florence. And just in time, my complex announced its semi annual walkthrough to inspect smoke alarms and the plumbing.
At that point, I got busy and started undoing several months of poor housekeeping -- and was informed on inspection day that I needed to do better or I'd be evicted. Round two was nearly four hours of frantic sweating work with some newly purchased tools and supples -- and the place passed. The apartment manager said I really turned the place around. A month ago, I could not have done it without yelling for help, and I'm tired of imposing on my friends like that.
I like the way the place looks now. I'm overdue for a small housewarming party, or a soiree where I make dinner for someone important to me . . .
Monday, April 16, 2007
Good news from my doctor
1. Legs getting better -- wounds are clean and healing, edema is down, and I'm moving a lot better.
2. I'm down almost 41 lbs since my initial WW weigh in five weeks ago. I have about 6 to get to my (initial) WW 10% goal.
3. I think we may have a name for the Serenity game: "The Shadow Fox Chronicle"
4. Serenity went well last night. The "Snakes on a Boat" bit came off without a hitch, and the little waif / orphan Xi, the ship's mascot, is now branded "Little Creepy Grrl" for her role is both loosing and recovering the reptiles, I mean, "Organic pest control." They slso learned their passengers have the singing voices of a "battle stations" klaxon.
2. I'm down almost 41 lbs since my initial WW weigh in five weeks ago. I have about 6 to get to my (initial) WW 10% goal.
3. I think we may have a name for the Serenity game: "The Shadow Fox Chronicle"
4. Serenity went well last night. The "Snakes on a Boat" bit came off without a hitch, and the little waif / orphan Xi, the ship's mascot, is now branded "Little Creepy Grrl" for her role is both loosing and recovering the reptiles, I mean, "Organic pest control." They slso learned their passengers have the singing voices of a "battle stations" klaxon.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Walking Playlist
From my iPod "Doomslayer XP SP2" . . . . a playlist for taking walks. Upbeat, springy, youthful (at least to me)
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Bizarre...
The rune pull was very applicable, but more so to its traditional meaning. My car broke down friday night, the starter was making sounds that are not normally associated with a starter. A AAA tow and a good mechanic's look later, the issue was a physical misalignment caused (probably) by the collision my beastie had with the center divider on southbound I-5 back in December. One very through, well placed beating (the starter, not me!) and sixty bucks later, I was rolling again.
Kudos as always to AAA and their contract tow guys. AAA customer service is, as a writer friend of mine might put it, a hardcore shot of Pure Awesome. The tow truck driver was a young guy and a total professional. He also tried beating on the starter, but to no avail.
While I did not feel so good after the walk home and felt bad all weekend (backaches and my friend Mister Upset Stomach), I'm now most assuredly OK.
The best news of all is that I was able to make the walks I needed to make from Kaiser (where the car died) t0 home and back. This bodes well for weight control because as recently as a month ago, I would not have been physically able to make a walk of such distance because of back pain or being out of breath. I know that this a long way from a triathalon, sure, but I felt like such a fatass slug two months ago I was winded just crossing the parking lot and getting to my cube at the office.
Fortunately, one of my favorite places is just two traffic lights away, or about the distance from here to the Kaiser medical offices. Incentive, anyone?
Kudos as always to AAA and their contract tow guys. AAA customer service is, as a writer friend of mine might put it, a hardcore shot of Pure Awesome. The tow truck driver was a young guy and a total professional. He also tried beating on the starter, but to no avail.
While I did not feel so good after the walk home and felt bad all weekend (backaches and my friend Mister Upset Stomach), I'm now most assuredly OK.
The best news of all is that I was able to make the walks I needed to make from Kaiser (where the car died) t0 home and back. This bodes well for weight control because as recently as a month ago, I would not have been physically able to make a walk of such distance because of back pain or being out of breath. I know that this a long way from a triathalon, sure, but I felt like such a fatass slug two months ago I was winded just crossing the parking lot and getting to my cube at the office.
Fortunately, one of my favorite places is just two traffic lights away, or about the distance from here to the Kaiser medical offices. Incentive, anyone?
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Ten things that make me smile when I'm a bit down . . .
Right now, as I write this, I'm too damned fragged emotionally to be good company to anyone or to fall asleep.
When I'm in that state, I strive for complete control of my surroundings, what RTS players call "turtleing" -- I fort up, getting the hell away from people because I'm not at my best. My 1337 50ci@1 skillz are not mad enough to deal with social situations when I'm like this.
In Trek terms: shields up, red alert, phasers on desocialize, emoton torpedoes on overload.
When the ick subsides to the point where I'm no longer antisocial, I cheer myself by thinking of, visiting, doing / warching / reading these things (not in order of which has the highest "cheer me up" factor):
1. Michelle, David and Kaia. Hanging out with them helps keep me sane; the cats and I are old friends, and M's veggie cooking is teh r0xx0r.
2. A good book I've read before, any of my desert island books will work as does the 1632 series (alternate early modern history set up by a cosmic accident that drops a West Virginia mining town scirca 1997 smack in the middle of Germany during the height of the Thirty Years' War).
3. Iz. For far too many reasons to list here.
4. World of Warcraft. WoW's good for catharic venting onto poor virtual monsters.
5. Babylon 5. Best. TV. Space. Opera. Evah. Quotes like this one help me cope:
6. I come up with game stuff. As an immediate example: when I went looking for the above quote, I found another B5 quote from Marcus Cole that will find its way into my "In Hoc Signo Vinces" D&D game. I'm keeping that one to myself for now . . .
7. Hearing songs I havn't heard in a decade or more, and thinking back to where I was then.
8. Reviewing my weight loss so far
9. Looking back on where I was 1, 3, 5, and 10 years ago and comparing then to now. Now almost always comes off better. I've come a long way since then, but in life it's grow or die.
10. A crisp wind, warm sunshine, running water, green grass.
When I'm in that state, I strive for complete control of my surroundings, what RTS players call "turtleing" -- I fort up, getting the hell away from people because I'm not at my best. My 1337 50ci@1 skillz are not mad enough to deal with social situations when I'm like this.
In Trek terms: shields up, red alert, phasers on desocialize, emoton torpedoes on overload.
When the ick subsides to the point where I'm no longer antisocial, I cheer myself by thinking of, visiting, doing / warching / reading these things (not in order of which has the highest "cheer me up" factor):
1. Michelle, David and Kaia. Hanging out with them helps keep me sane; the cats and I are old friends, and M's veggie cooking is teh r0xx0r.
2. A good book I've read before, any of my desert island books will work as does the 1632 series (alternate early modern history set up by a cosmic accident that drops a West Virginia mining town scirca 1997 smack in the middle of Germany during the height of the Thirty Years' War).
3. Iz. For far too many reasons to list here.
4. World of Warcraft. WoW's good for catharic venting onto poor virtual monsters.
5. Babylon 5. Best. TV. Space. Opera. Evah. Quotes like this one help me cope:
"Then I will tell you a great secret, Captain. Perhaps the greatest of all time. The molecules of your body are the same molecules that make up this station and the nebula outside, that burn inside the stars themselves. We are starstuff, we are the universe made manifest, trying to figure itself out. As we have both learned, sometimes the universe requires a change of perspective."Firefly is NOT space opera, and is just as quotable.-- Delenn to Sheridan in Babylon 5:"A Distant Star"
6. I come up with game stuff. As an immediate example: when I went looking for the above quote, I found another B5 quote from Marcus Cole that will find its way into my "In Hoc Signo Vinces" D&D game. I'm keeping that one to myself for now . . .
7. Hearing songs I havn't heard in a decade or more, and thinking back to where I was then.
8. Reviewing my weight loss so far
9. Looking back on where I was 1, 3, 5, and 10 years ago and comparing then to now. Now almost always comes off better. I've come a long way since then, but in life it's grow or die.
10. A crisp wind, warm sunshine, running water, green grass.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Weigh in, Week 2
I was UP 2.8 lbs. yesterday.
NOT a very happy thing.
I am having issues because I've been following the concept of "eat only when you are hungry" rather than "eat whenever you're triggered" -- and when I'm not hungry, I'm not eating. OK, so I ate a few points less than my allotment and I gained. I'm still down about 7 lbs overall, though, so my weekly rate is still good. I've also been craving salt, which is doing me no good at all.
At any rate, M&D held a birthday party for me yesterday. Killer low-points veggy lasagne, GUINNESS CAKE (one box double choc cake mix, 2 egg whites, 12oz bottle of Guinness), asparagus, french bread, and a 12oz Guinness. Dead-on for the points for the day, with leftovers for today.
Thank you, Michelle and David!
NOT a very happy thing.
I am having issues because I've been following the concept of "eat only when you are hungry" rather than "eat whenever you're triggered" -- and when I'm not hungry, I'm not eating. OK, so I ate a few points less than my allotment and I gained. I'm still down about 7 lbs overall, though, so my weekly rate is still good. I've also been craving salt, which is doing me no good at all.
At any rate, M&D held a birthday party for me yesterday. Killer low-points veggy lasagne, GUINNESS CAKE (one box double choc cake mix, 2 egg whites, 12oz bottle of Guinness), asparagus, french bread, and a 12oz Guinness. Dead-on for the points for the day, with leftovers for today.
Thank you, Michelle and David!
Monday, March 26, 2007
OK, this is interesting . . .
 |  |  |
| The Norn spread is used to plot the crucial elements of past, present, and future, and to reveal the evolution of the situation through the arc of time. Ice Runes are most commonly used for questions about struggle, conflict, and achievement. |
| The left rune represents an important element of the past. Wunjo is the rune of joy. The reversal of this rune suggests that joy is withheld. Since joy is frequently communal, this rune often suggests loneliness. Alternatively, some have seen Wunjo as the rune of perfection and the rune of the gods. Therefore this rune reversed could signal a feeling of separation from one's deity, or as imperfection in an important work. |
| The middle rune represents a deciding element of the present. Laguz is the rune representing water. Laguz is a strongly feminine rune, and like the ocean contains much power of an uncontrollable nature. Here the rune is seen in the reversed, symbolic of the ebbing tide. This may suggest power being drawn away, or may perhaps the start of a journey. Since this is a rune of sexual power, the reversal can also suggest sexual problems or dissatisfaction. |
| The right rune represents the critical element of the future. Tyr is the symbol of the warrior. This rune most represents masculine force and potency, and frequently victory in battle. Beware though, for this rune represents directly the Norse god whose name it bears - Tyr stands out in legend for having sacrificed his hand that he might bind Fenrir, a monstrous wolf that threatens to swallow the world. As such, this rune is known to portend a great victory that can be bought with a terrible sacrifice. Tyr is also the god of law, frequently placed in such position above Odin. In this aspect, protection of justice may be had by this rune. Interesting pull. Very interesting indeed. Now, I don't usually read my runes as reversed / merkstave, but here the variant positions make sense. I freely admit the joy I feel in life has been diminished, especially since I've gotten so effing overweight. There have been times the last couple of months where I hurt so very much thsat I was tempted to put an end to it all; fortunately, my social support system -- family by choice like M&D and Iz, my gaming groups, even WoW -- is first rate. There are things I want to do, and things I need to do . . . and being o'weight prevents them from happening. Thus, dimished joy. Further, even the bit about "Therefore this rune reversed could signal a feeling of separation from one's deity" makes sense; the Gods want us to be happy (as the Charge says: " . . . let there be reverance and mirth . . ."), and with too damn much of my personal power tied up in my personal accumulation of suet, I sometimes feel as if I'm letting the Lady down being this way. As I ponder the second rune, I'm blinking away tears. Again, the reverse of this rune makes sense. This song, to be released by a friend of mine on her new album, adds some emotional context. Twice in just over two yesrs, I've gone back to sea, "caught the tide" to leave something which was comfortable and return to that I have always been. The first departure was from someone who echoed this woman's feelings in the song. The second departure is from the "comfortable" lifestyle of free-range eating that was killing me, and may still kill me . . . if I don't hurry and catch the tide. I'm beginning another journey . . . The third rune, the future, is the rune of He Who is my Norse patron. Tyr speaks to my self image as a warrior. The rune itself tells me that there will be a victorious struggle in the future, one that will mean pain and sacrifice on my part. Tyr tells me that the pain is worth the sacrifice. My sacrifice? A lifetime's worth of comfortable but ultimately highly problematic attitude about food and exercise. |
Thursday, March 22, 2007
On-The-Go? Not too bad, could be better.
Update / review on the WeightWatchers software I installed on my PDA yesterday.
The software synced up very nicely. There's a nice little app buried in it that acts alot like AvantGo's web client software.
The app logs int your WeightWatchers eTools account and pulls your eTools logged food choices right into your PDA. No muss, no fuss, no Windows app other than the Palm conduit installer for Windows (damn!) and the PDA client. Not only that, you have the full functionality of WW eTools -- food lookup, POINTS(tm) calculator food log, weight tracker, add-your-own food values.
And, Thank You WW for not taking the easy way out and writing some cheap ass Godsforsaken VB .NET app! .NET is one of the many reason Microsoft is EVIL.
One glitch: the software is dated 2005. I've seen some discrepancies in food value calculations between the PDA and the eTools. It looks like the *.pdb files have not been updated to the new (early 2007) program's food values. I think this may be because the tech biz is changing kinda fast and there is some talk about PDAs like the Palm going away as all-up portable computer systems get smaller, more capable, less expensive and more ubiquitous. Perhaps WW is making a decision to not invest the effort in supporting this software further.
Personally, I'd love to see a OS X-based conduit installer so I don't have to boot into WinXP (I spend 95%+ of my time booted into Mac OS X -- everything I really want to do on a computer is handled fine by the Forces of Light), but since my baby's an Intel Mac I can make use of WWOtG.
Final analysis: Nicely executed, could be a bit better, but still useful to me.
The software synced up very nicely. There's a nice little app buried in it that acts alot like AvantGo's web client software.
The app logs int your WeightWatchers eTools account and pulls your eTools logged food choices right into your PDA. No muss, no fuss, no Windows app other than the Palm conduit installer for Windows (damn!) and the PDA client. Not only that, you have the full functionality of WW eTools -- food lookup, POINTS(tm) calculator food log, weight tracker, add-your-own food values.
And, Thank You WW for not taking the easy way out and writing some cheap ass Godsforsaken VB .NET app! .NET is one of the many reason Microsoft is EVIL.
One glitch: the software is dated 2005. I've seen some discrepancies in food value calculations between the PDA and the eTools. It looks like the *.pdb files have not been updated to the new (early 2007) program's food values. I think this may be because the tech biz is changing kinda fast and there is some talk about PDAs like the Palm going away as all-up portable computer systems get smaller, more capable, less expensive and more ubiquitous. Perhaps WW is making a decision to not invest the effort in supporting this software further.
Personally, I'd love to see a OS X-based conduit installer so I don't have to boot into WinXP (I spend 95%+ of my time booted into Mac OS X -- everything I really want to do on a computer is handled fine by the Forces of Light), but since my baby's an Intel Mac I can make use of WWOtG.
Final analysis: Nicely executed, could be a bit better, but still useful to me.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Week 1 WW results
Today was weigh in. I lost 10.4 lbs!
I'd say that was a good start.
I also downloaded and installed the WeightWatchers "On-The-Go" PDA software.
The proggy needs Winderz to install the sync conduit for the PDA, but fortunately, my Mac's an Intel machine and it dual boots with BootCamp into XP. The PDA software provides the functionality of WW eTools website in a palmtop application.
More tomorrow.
I'd say that was a good start.
I also downloaded and installed the WeightWatchers "On-The-Go" PDA software.
The proggy needs Winderz to install the sync conduit for the PDA, but fortunately, my Mac's an Intel machine and it dual boots with BootCamp into XP. The PDA software provides the functionality of WW eTools website in a palmtop application.
More tomorrow.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Serenity NOW? Tomorrow fer sure!
Rather than rant about St. Patrick's Day, I turned my attention to my Serenity RPG run tomorrow.
I'm ready. I planted a few "Cortex Bombs," and came up with a fun scenario or three, all within the span of about a day. There's plenty of room for me to improvise; I love on-the-fly GMing. As West Point teaches that "No battle plan survives contact with the enemy," the RichO School of GMing teaches that "No pre-written scenario remains both fun and survives contact with the player characters."
My version of the Firefly/Serenity 'Verse has some distinctions. The Unification War is to me a historical event with real people involved in planning and executing it. I name the high commanders on both sides, the units involved. Things like ship class names add a lot of color. I write news for my games from a player-character prespective. I like sketching out events that may impact the heroes, but to which the heroes are not central figures. This is something I've been doing for most of my games since about 1989-90, when I wrote a BattleTech mercenary unit's newsletter from the PC point of view.
There is a time and a place to vary from plan and a place to avoid freelancing. I'm doing pretty good adhering to my daily caloric plan. I'm expecting a very good day come Wednesday when I weigh-in. I won't go ape if it isn't a good week. To paraphrase a character in one of Harold Coyle's excellent military novels: "Fsck it, drive on."
I'm ready. I planted a few "Cortex Bombs," and came up with a fun scenario or three, all within the span of about a day. There's plenty of room for me to improvise; I love on-the-fly GMing. As West Point teaches that "No battle plan survives contact with the enemy," the RichO School of GMing teaches that "No pre-written scenario remains both fun and survives contact with the player characters."
My version of the Firefly/Serenity 'Verse has some distinctions. The Unification War is to me a historical event with real people involved in planning and executing it. I name the high commanders on both sides, the units involved. Things like ship class names add a lot of color. I write news for my games from a player-character prespective. I like sketching out events that may impact the heroes, but to which the heroes are not central figures. This is something I've been doing for most of my games since about 1989-90, when I wrote a BattleTech mercenary unit's newsletter from the PC point of view.
There is a time and a place to vary from plan and a place to avoid freelancing. I'm doing pretty good adhering to my daily caloric plan. I'm expecting a very good day come Wednesday when I weigh-in. I won't go ape if it isn't a good week. To paraphrase a character in one of Harold Coyle's excellent military novels: "Fsck it, drive on."
Thursday, March 15, 2007
The weigh-in manefesto
Yesterday, I joined WeightWatchers.
It's past time for me to get busy losing weight and keeping it under control. I no longer can put up with the way I currently feel, and if this keeps up, I'll more than likely be dead before I am 55, or maybe 50.
This isn't about maximizing any sort of "chick-magnet" physical assets (something my first ex did after separating with me was to lose 100lbs to maximize her physical appeal -- her plan worked), or "getting back" with ex #2, or proving anyone wrong about me or my capacity to change, or even wearing more stylish clothes. I'm not actively looking for another love (my Femseek(tm) sesnors are entirely on passive mode atm, but if Ms. Absolutely Right suddenly crossed my bow, it's going to be "Fool Speed Ahead!" aboard USS RichO) and I am not about teh stylin clothes. It's about survival past middle age. It's about living long enough to be there if my daughter and her husband one day decide to become parents. It's about being there for my Godsdaughter as well. It's about having my personal energy not bound up in a glacis of fat anymore.
I am doing this for one person and only one person.
Not for Catnyp.
Not for my daughter.
Not for ex#2.
Not for any other friend, enemy, job, cause, ideology, or faith.
I'm doing it for me.
I was shocked when I got the news of my starting point: 471 lbs. I should not have been.
Fortuntely, like life itself, WW isn't about where you start the process, it's about the transformative physical journey, making changes of thought and habit that are for me about about three decades overdue.
Fortunately, I have help in working the plan, someone who has lost 100 lbs on WW and knows how to work the plan.
Weight control is going to be a, uhm, big part my life . . . but only a part of it. I'm not going to turn this into a weight loss-only blog, writing about my every meal choice in soul-rending detail. That's a form of imbalance I'm not going to embrace right now. I'll post progress reports every weigh-in and any blinding insights I get while working the plan.
Goals are important. WW says shoot for 10% of starting weight (for me, 424). Personally, I think I should shoot to get below 399, say 350. Good health guidelines like Body Mass Index put me around 200 as a good healthy weight. I was last at under 200 back when I was in uniform. I'll lose till I feel good and healthy, then work on maintaining it.
And, to incentivize myself . . . FABULOUS PRIZES!! At the 10% loss point, I'm getting myself a Bluetooth cell phone, prolly a RAZR or maybe a Treo. To mark every 5 lbs of incremental loss, I'm buying myself some kind of gamer thing, a supplement or a book off my Amazon.com Wish List.
"Food is nourishment, not a reward, psychological first-aid, social lubricant or idle pastime."
It's past time for me to get busy losing weight and keeping it under control. I no longer can put up with the way I currently feel, and if this keeps up, I'll more than likely be dead before I am 55, or maybe 50.
This isn't about maximizing any sort of "chick-magnet" physical assets (something my first ex did after separating with me was to lose 100lbs to maximize her physical appeal -- her plan worked), or "getting back" with ex #2, or proving anyone wrong about me or my capacity to change, or even wearing more stylish clothes. I'm not actively looking for another love (my Femseek(tm) sesnors are entirely on passive mode atm, but if Ms. Absolutely Right suddenly crossed my bow, it's going to be "Fool Speed Ahead!" aboard USS RichO) and I am not about teh stylin clothes. It's about survival past middle age. It's about living long enough to be there if my daughter and her husband one day decide to become parents. It's about being there for my Godsdaughter as well. It's about having my personal energy not bound up in a glacis of fat anymore.
I am doing this for one person and only one person.
Not for Catnyp.
Not for my daughter.
Not for ex#2.
Not for any other friend, enemy, job, cause, ideology, or faith.
I'm doing it for me.
I was shocked when I got the news of my starting point: 471 lbs. I should not have been.
Fortuntely, like life itself, WW isn't about where you start the process, it's about the transformative physical journey, making changes of thought and habit that are for me about about three decades overdue.
Fortunately, I have help in working the plan, someone who has lost 100 lbs on WW and knows how to work the plan.
Weight control is going to be a, uhm, big part my life . . . but only a part of it. I'm not going to turn this into a weight loss-only blog, writing about my every meal choice in soul-rending detail. That's a form of imbalance I'm not going to embrace right now. I'll post progress reports every weigh-in and any blinding insights I get while working the plan.
Goals are important. WW says shoot for 10% of starting weight (for me, 424). Personally, I think I should shoot to get below 399, say 350. Good health guidelines like Body Mass Index put me around 200 as a good healthy weight. I was last at under 200 back when I was in uniform. I'll lose till I feel good and healthy, then work on maintaining it.
And, to incentivize myself . . . FABULOUS PRIZES!! At the 10% loss point, I'm getting myself a Bluetooth cell phone, prolly a RAZR or maybe a Treo. To mark every 5 lbs of incremental loss, I'm buying myself some kind of gamer thing, a supplement or a book off my Amazon.com Wish List.
"Food is nourishment, not a reward, psychological first-aid, social lubricant or idle pastime."
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