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jackbenimble
New Member
| Joined: | 1 May 2008 |
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| Posts: | 44 |
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Posted: 2 May 2008 01:41 am |
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Hi everybody!
The reason I'm posting is I'm carrying 5-10 pounds extra, it's been going on for years now. I'm 5' 6", currently weighing in at a redline of 180. My goal is to achieve the seemingly modest 172-175 range. Actually I'm kind of stockily built, so it's really not as bad is it sounds. My college weight was 155, but that was long time ago!
I commute about 3 hours a day, and am a software developer. So, I'm sitting on my butt 11 hours a day, Then, add in night school (I finally decided to get that masters degreee) which takes about 20 hours a week, and the opportunity for excercise is somewhat limited.
However, my timing is good - the current class ends in about 2 or 3 weeks, and don' have a course over the summer. So, some time should free up after that.
How am I going to achieve my weight goal?
1) don't eat bread
2) don't eat crackers, breakfast cereal, cheezits, stuff like that. Just say no.
3) No pasta
4) Stop eating when I'm full
5) Eat slow.
6) Don't eat at night after dinner.
7) have a light breakfast - oatmeal, say.
8) No sweets.
Excercise - get some tennis in on weekends
Keep working out on the total gym, say 5/10 minutes a day
Do the treadmill, say, 20 minutes on days I don't do tennis.
Ok, heres what I ate today which breaks those rules:
Breakfast - oatmeal, apple.
Lunch - salad. crackers
snack: bag of party mix
Dinner: Rice with chicken, potato sald, salad, more crackers
Excersise:
Hit the tennis ball of the wall for 1/2 hour
walked/jogged the beach about 1/2 hour.
Weight: 180
See you tomorrow!Last edited on 2 May 2008 01:24 pm by jackbenimble
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jackbenimble
New Member
| Joined: | 1 May 2008 |
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| Posts: | 44 |
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Posted: 2 May 2008 01:54 pm |
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Good morning, Vietnam!
The diary is already paying off. On a work-from-home day, I always have trouble getting my 5-minute total-gym workout in, since I don't have the deadline to get out of the house. But, I went to post to my diary today, and wanted something good to report to "my public" as the movie stars would say. Nothing like the power of an audience - even if you are posting anonymously! I did the workout - five minutes worth, so I've kept that commitment for day 1.
So, I'm down to 178 from 180 last night, which is attibutable to normal weight fluctuation, but also in part due to the fact that I didn't snack after dinner last night. I don't feel quite as bloated as I did yesterday. But now comes the tough part - actual weight loss due to eating healthier and excercising more.
I'll make another post tonight - with a report on exactly what I ate today, and excercises.
Last edited on 3 May 2008 03:24 am by jackbenimble
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clarinetgurl
Moderator
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Posted: 2 May 2008 09:00 pm |
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Hi there! Sounds like you have a good plan :-) I love oatmeal for breakfast!!
CG
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jackbenimble
New Member
| Joined: | 1 May 2008 |
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| Posts: | 44 |
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Posted: 3 May 2008 03:32 am |
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Thanks Clarine!
As for the oatmeal - I particularly like it with sliced bannan and topped of with an a sprinkling of equal sugar. I make no aplogies for it - it's beats a hot fudge sunday, right?
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jackbenimble
New Member
| Joined: | 1 May 2008 |
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| Posts: | 44 |
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Posted: 3 May 2008 04:04 am |
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The evening report:
What I did today for excercise: Just the total gym workout in the a.m.
What I did for food:
Breakfast/lunch: Rice w/ Ketsup and chicken bits. Asparagus. Baked potato. Ate it nice and slow, putting my fork down between bites - how do you phrase that? And chewing and taking my time. Not reading the paper, not shoveling the food into my mouth. Good way to start out the old diet.
Dinner: Chicken with some soy sauce and bow-tie pasta with parmesan cheese. I know I'm not supposed eat pasta, but my wife makes it, so I eat it. That's one rule I have in my life - don't complain when someone else prepares your food for you. Especially if you don't cook.
Then, we went over to my Mom's house and hung out with some of my extended family. They get together every week, but I only go there every once in a while - it's a big commitment of time, like 3-4 hours. I couldn't do it *every* week.
While I was there, I did have a few nuts, a few slices of cheddar cheese, but that was it, I think. Actually had a few chips, maybe some doritos, but I wasn't unconsiously stuffing my face with them, or anything, so I did't really eat so much of them. And that's it! Oh, I'll pat myself on the back - the wife had put out this massive sourdough pretzel for me (I had bought them from someone at work) with the salt already on it, and all, but I didn't eat it. There, see - I was a good doobie. Hooray for me!
Tommorrow comes the a.m. report. Oh yeah, some non-food-related great news - my daughter decided to go the (much cheaper) state university than the more expensive private college - even when the private one sweetened their offer by $10,000 in a last-minute enhancement to their financial aid offer. Too late! Anyway, even with that, the private one is still $5000 more per year than the state yniversity, so that's $20,000 saved over four years - not a bad haul for a day's work! (That doesn't make sense, but it sounds good)
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zenobia
Moderator
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Posted: 3 May 2008 04:04 am |
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hey Jack! i have to say i love your full user name, and "jack" as a name name is one of my favorites.
anyway, happy to ohear that things are paying off for ya. just take it slow, don't restrict too much and keep with it! those 5-10 lbs are the WORST!!!
throw some blueberries on that oatmeal (if you like them... if not, why not give it a shot?). i have been eating that every day for a while and it's so good.
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jackbenimble
New Member
| Joined: | 1 May 2008 |
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| Posts: | 44 |
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Posted: 3 May 2008 01:12 pm |
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Thanks, zenobia! Excellent tip! Blueberries have got to trump bananas a calorie-saver! As far as my signon - I have trouble coming up with good ones - I thinks it's some kind os a mental block - most people seem to come up with cool ones like magic. It's an underrated skill, imo. In this day and age, coming up with a good screen name ranks up there with having a high friend-count on faceook or a blog that gets a reasonable number of hits (I don't do either by the way!)
A good day to you!
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jackbenimble
New Member
| Joined: | 1 May 2008 |
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| Posts: | 44 |
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Posted: 3 May 2008 01:23 pm |
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Good Morning, Vietnam! (I'll never get tired of that)
My morning report:
Did my 5-minute total-gym workout. Weighed in at 177 - although it threatened to stop at 178, and actually did, once - so I'm down from the redline 180 of a couple of days ago.
today, there's wont' be much excercise - I'm falling behind in my final project, I have an appointment to get fitted for a contact lens in town, and I have to do some work to make up for the time I goofed off yesterday when working at home. So - it will be another sit on my butt and compute weekend. Maybe I will be able to sneak in a jog at the beach. But for now, I have to implment this algorighm that has turned out to be tricker than I first imagined. I think I have a strategy for it though! Maybe I can get some tennis in...I'd like to ramp it down to 176 by tomorrow.
Oh, yeah, before I forget - I have to stop goofing around on the internet (present company excluded, of course). I will mention in the evening report exactly how much time I spend browsing around on the internet. None, I hope!
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jackbenimble
New Member
| Joined: | 1 May 2008 |
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| Posts: | 44 |
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Posted: 4 May 2008 02:20 am |
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Hello, night owls!
So, on a coolish wettish day, I only got my 5-minute total gym workout in for excercise. The day was dominated by two things: a visit to my eye-doctor for a new prescription (in town, so takes a while) and working on this homework assignment for my final project. I had a subconcious deadline to break through the algorithm part today. For hours I banged away at a tricky solution, and finally settled for a slightly less elegant solution, but far simpler and easier to implement, so it's probably better anyway. Just got that working about 1/2 hour ago, so now I'm free to get this posting in.
To the old food report:
Breakfast - oatmeal and equal.
Lunch - after I came back from the optometrist, I saw some Middle Eastern rice mix hanging around. I usually don't cook, but it looked easy enough - basically boil it for 25 minutes - so I cooked it and mixed the spanish mix in. It was pretty good! While I was waiting I chopped off a bunch of slices of cheddar cheese, and ate them. Yumm. So by the time all was said and done, I'd had myself a fair meal. My wife called and was actually pretty surprised I made something for myself - definitely something I wouldn't of done if it weren't for this diary. So, there, see, I've made a step toward independence!
Later on, just to top things off, I had three bananas. The first two disappeared in fairly rapid succession, so I decided to try to slow down the rate of consumption on the third, somehow. I chopped the 3rd bananna into a bunch of tiny slices, put some equal sugar and oatmeal on top, and had it off the plate instead of out of the peel, gorrilla-style. A much more civilised approach, as it were.
As a result of all this lunchtime debauchery, I didn't even have dinner because I was feeling pretty full. Maybe I should have stuck my fingers down my throat to induce vomiting. Still, unless I'm mistaken, I won't have lost any weight by tommorrow. Too much cheddar cheese, bananas and middle-eastern rice.
Hopefully tomorrow will be a nicer day, weatherwise. Who knows - maybe I'll even get a couple of sets of tennis in. If nothing else, I'll go for a nice jog down the beach, if it's not to raw outside. Maybe smack the tennis ball off the wall for a while. I'll be off to the cape for the memorial day weekend, and I don't want to embarrass myself with the tennis-playing crowd down there. Not that anyone's that great, anyway, but still one prefers to win, or ate least make a good show of it.
The weeends are so short! Tomorrow, I will have to give a couple of hours to real work, since I goofed off on my day at home yesterday. Hrumph. Well, at least I didn't go messing around on the internet all day, like I sometimes do. It's pretty bad. I've got to get that under control. What an useless time waster that is (present company excluded, of course!) Then again, some days, you just can't pull it together. No wonder bosses don't like people to work at home. They don't do anything!
I signed up for a bowling thing tomorrow at my night school - they try to get the night students involved - but I won't go. I have too much to do! If they want us to show up at these events, maybe they should think about making the course load a bit lighter.
Anyway, I have to go. I've got bills to pay, promises to keep - you know the routine.
hasta la vista!
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 4 May 2008 03:27 pm |
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Another day! Seems like time is flying by like lighting. Well at least I made good use of the a.m. I immediately got my two hours of "real" work out of the way - 2 1/2 actually - and now have done for Monday what I need to have done Monday. Next - jogging! - two liesurely miles along the beach. It was raining, but not hard, and not that cold, either. I realized that jogging and rain go naturally together. It's a lot easier to jog on a rainy, not so cold day that on a bright, cold windy day, by me.
So, obviously I immediately weighed myself after the shower. 176, not bad considering I was tipping them at 180 last Thursday. But, of course, it'll bounce up a pound or two later on.
Oh, and I did my usual 5-minute total-gym workout. Total gym is good because you can to a fast workout on it. It would be better if I did more reps - but that may be asking too much!
For now, I'll spend the next few hours working on my final project. It's coming along, I anticipate having the basics in place by next weekend.
Oh well - gotta go. Time's a wasting!
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clarinetgurl
Moderator
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Posted: 4 May 2008 05:58 pm |
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Wow, three bananas in a day  I can stomach the occasional banana now and then 
I used to love bananas wrapped in a slice of american cheese. Is that crazy or what? Have you ever tried freezing them? I like them pretty well that way too.
Congrats on 176! Yay :)
Okay, well, have a nice sunday!
CG
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 4 May 2008 09:33 pm |
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Hey, CG! Thanks for stopping by! Is three bananas a lot? I guess it must be - I always feel like they add to the bowling ball feeling in my stomach. Bananna and cheese? You must be crazy, girl! Great idea on freezing them - I will try it out, someday.
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clarinetgurl
Moderator
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Posted: 4 May 2008 10:36 pm |
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Three is a lot to me :) But I say hey, if that's the kin of fruit you like, go for it 
About the cancer thing...yeah, I have actually entered a total of four scholarships/contests regarding having cancer, and have gotten money from two of them  Yay!
Have a good night!
CG
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 5 May 2008 02:25 am |
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Two of four...nice! At that rate, you'll get your college paid for in no time flat. Plus, it's a great admissions essay!
I think you're right - bananas are a danger point!
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jackbenimble
New Member
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Posted: 5 May 2008 03:03 am |
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Dear Diary,
I had a pretty good day today. I went jogging along the beach in the morning. And I took an hour off of working on this school project to practice some tennis. First I tried something I usually don't - volleying, i.e. hitting the ball off the wall without letting it hit the ground. It's a good workout! I was trying to get to 100 consecutive, but didn't make it - the most I got to was 66/67 around there. It'll take some real practice to hit the 100 barrier. After that, I did 100 serves, 100 forehands, and 200 backhands. I'm experimenting with a two-hander on the backhand. What seems to make it more effective is if you throw your arms in the direction the ball is going, then release the off-hand, allowing a follow-through. Just like a baseball swing. Altogether, the workout took almost exactly one hour. Just right!
The other thing is I got the main part of my final project working. It's a flashcard thing which reviews the ones you get wrong more frequently than the ones you get right. It's really working - a flashcard system more intelligent then just random selection - it's called the Lietner system. It's wicked cool, as they say in these parts.
Also, the Celtics won. I didn't see the game, but I will try to catch some pieces of games in the upcoming series against LeBron and company. Atlanta took them to the full 7 games. I went to the second game and the Celts smoked them. But in Atlanta, it was a different story!
Food report:
Brunch was a garden salad, some steamed rice with veggies, and...hmm.., there was something else? I'm sleepy, can't remember.
Dinner: Tonkatsu (pork and veggies, mushrooms carrots & onions) with rice; pineapple for dessert.
And, in the evening, two cups of chocolate milk (powdered, poured into hot water). I couldn't help it. My sweet tooth was demanding satisfaction.And when my sweet tooth is acting up, I have to feed the monster. The trick is to minimize the damage. At least I didn't open the box of chocolates my wife bought at CVS! I have my diary to account for, after all.
So, I'm probably around 177 lbs. right now. I just can tell. Even with the excercise and not snacking. The stomach is feeling just about like that. At least it's not taut like a drum - that pregnant feeling - that I had last week when I was eating all those o-senbei and redlining at 180.
Last note - I started speaking Japanese to my wife (who is Japanese). She's been here many years and has never liked it when I speak Japanese, but this is a battle I need to win. We're going to Japan next year and I want to gain minimal fluency in it. It's a real challenge. Finding time will be the hard part. I'm ok with the grammer, but I badly need to build up my vocabulary and normal conversaioin. When? Oh yeah, that reminds me - I want to dig out my Pimsleur tapes! Wish I had more time. It's this master's program and the commute that's squeezing everything else out.
Anyway, so, it's 10:30 and I'm starting to feel sleepy. Another weekend bites the dust - but it was a good one!. Monday, I'm ready for you this week!
Bonne nuit, tout le monde!
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 6 May 2008 01:20 am |
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Dear Diary,
I'm beat. A looong day at work. But, good news. The problem they were having with my program at Central Headquarters was not a problem at all - they just need to *follow the instructions, guys!*. They never read the README.
Anyway, I weighed a legit 176 this morning; so I've lost maybe 3 or 4 lbs. since Thurday night. Today I ate a bowl of oatmeal and equal sugar for breakfast, a salad with patoto salad in it and a bananna for lunch, a banana for a 5 p.m. snack, and bow-tie pasta and broiled chicken for dinner, covered in parmesan cheese.
The good news is I didn't stop at the Sunoco on the way home for a bag of party mix, like I usually do. I also ordered cable for our new (old) tv which is now in front of our new (old) treadmill. So, I can watch the celtics while treadmilling a few times this week. It will make it tolerable.
Other good stuff: I found the cds for Pimsleur Japanese III, sides 15-29. I listened to sides about 4 sides while commuting today. It's a good review, but I don't know what I'll do when I'm done. Rosetta stone is supposed to be pretty good, but you have to read, and it's hard to read in a moving vehicle which you are driving! I've done it, but only when completely necessary.
Oh, yeah. I figured out why I'm having trouble sleeping - a guilty concience. Just kidding! I think it's the coffee. The tough part will be giving it up.
Ok - my initial target was 172-175. I'll stick with that for now; but how would it be to tip the scales daily at 170? It would be like, walking on air, or something.
Ok - nuff said. I really need to take a nap - or just hang in there till about 11 and hit the rack.
Good night!
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jackbenimble
New Member
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Posted: 6 May 2008 03:07 pm |
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Hello World,
Just checking in - I always feel a little bit under the gun at work, it's a small company and there's always lots and lots to do. Some quick items: I had a few o-senbei (Japanese cookies) last night after dinner - four of them, to be exact - but it's better than finishing the bag like I usually do. My weight this morning was still 176. That's ok, at least I didn't gain. I tried to get it to 175 by doing reps on the total gym, but that didn't to the trick. The wife was unhappy with me for getting up so early (5 am) and showering (because of the excercise) so I will have to tread a bit more lightly next time.
On the Japanese effort, I found a really good site last night. It has like 65 mp3 entries of an English bloke talking to a Japanese lady sensei, and they review various sentences. It is real conversation too, the way they really talk, not the overly formal langauge you always find in the textbooks. And that's what I need to do - listen and speak Japanese. I've been talking to my wife (who is Japanese) in Japanese, none to well, but I'm doing it. She actually responded a couple of times in Japanese (it's a beautiful thing!) and even corrected me once - although tht was probably because she got so annoyed she couldn't take it anymore!
It's awkward, but I have to do it, if I'm ever going to pull this off. We're going to Japan next summer and I want to be *competent* in the language by the time we get out. It's a lifetime goal, and it's now - or never! I'm almost thinking of skipping the spring semester (delaying my masters degree by 1/2 year) just to get it to happen. Hmmm...that's a tough call - I'm already into graduation by the fall semester of 2010, if I take a course per semester without skipping. I've got five years to get it done after matriculation, which was in 2006. So, I can push in into 2011, which I really *don't* want to do. We'll see. I have the whole summer to work on it.
Right - for breakfast today, just a banana. How many calories is that? Must be 100 or a couple of hundred. I see a lot of other people track their calories and excercise - maybe that why this site is called "caloriesperhour.com". I would like to do that. It's just like money - you need to take in more than you pay out, or else you're in trouble. I'm being lazy though - trying to get away without doing it. I'm sure once you get an idea of things, it goes pretty quickly. For now, though, I'm going to try to just use daily blogging as my motivational tool.
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clarinetgurl
Moderator
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Posted: 6 May 2008 09:52 pm |
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Hey jack,
Japanese, huh? Cool stuff. I had a hard enough time with spanish
Yeah, have you tried out the calorie counter on this site? It's pretty wicked awesome too. http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_food.php
So, have you been treadmilling yet? I actually enjoy it, but I know most epople really don't like it.
Happy Tuesday!
CG
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 7 May 2008 04:10 am |
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Hey, Clar! Thank for stopping by. I used the calorie counter to figure out how many calories a banana has - 100! Maybe more if it's large - ouch!
Japanese is a really cool. But it's a don't try this at home language - you've got to be serious about it or you'll end up with a lot of time blown for minimal results. But I'm over the cliff and ready to start experimenting with the language at large. In this day and age, there are tons of options for getting exposure to it, even if you don't live in the country!
I was just going to post to my diary about the treadmill. You like treadmilling? It's not bad, really, but pretty dull - I can't take it unless I at least have something to watch on the TV!
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 7 May 2008 04:34 am |
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Dear diary,
I was just telling Clar about my treadmill. In fact, I got the cable guy to come into today and install a set-top, for my old-new TV which is right in front of my new-old treadmill. It was worth the 13 bucks because the reception is coming in far better than when I hooked it up myself. The box will be 7 extra bucks per month, not bad if you look at from the perspective of excercise gained. Beats a membership in a health club. Here's what I did - the Celtics were playing the Cavaliers.. So, from about the middle of the 3rd quarter to the end of the game, I was on the treadmill, watching the game and election results during commercials. Mostly at a 5 speed, which a relatively slow jog - just right. I was on it for maybe, 50 minutes, something like that, and burnt off around 650 calories if you believe the LED display on the treadmill. Not a bad subsitute for the couch, right? So, of course I immediately weighed myself after I finished and was rewarded a nice solid 175 glowing back at me in red from the scale. Ok, it won't last, since the weight after excercise always comes back up, but it's nice to be back to my baseline weight.
Still, the mirror doesn't lie. I could definitely stand to lose another 5. It won't be easy to do, but it's doable. But, the *really* hard part will be staying there. I saw in a couple of other people's journals that you should stop eating when you feel full. I feel if I can master that art of doing that, then I may be able to lose the weight and keep it off, long term. So, what I'm going to do is this - I'm going to blog whenever I eat past the point where I started to feel full. I'll call it "eating in the red zone".
I haven't been at 170 in, say, about 1000 years. It's only five pounds less than I weigh *right now*, but it seems like a million miles away! To be honest, I've been ticking between 175 and 180 for quite a goodly amount of time now. So, what I'm really looking to do is downshift that range by about 5 pounds. That's when I'll know I've really accomplished something.
Ok, enough rambling! What I ate today - breakfast, one banana. Lunch, a salad with potato salad in it. Dinner - something good, what was it???? ???? See, that's what happens when you read the paper instead of focusing on your food. Ah, yes. fish, what kind? Salmon? Not sure...that's bad. I'll find out. What else with it? Rice??? I know I had a salad, because that's when I realized I was overeating. Sounds wierd to start feeling like you're overeating when it's a simple salad, but that was the case, definitely. I even said to my wife, I can't eat this, I'm full. She will back me up. Take it to court if you like, I've got a witness! Anway, so I've got to *not read the paper while I'm eating so I can remember what I ate* If I had cooked it, I'd definitely remember. But, I don't cook. Actually, I did "cook" some Indian rice last weekend, shocked my wife, shocked the world! Ok, not the world. I'm getting silly, now.
Wow - it's already 12:30. Where did the night go? Oh, yeah - watching TV!
Ciou,
Jack B. Nimble
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zenobia
Moderator
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Posted: 7 May 2008 10:49 am |
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hey! if you by chance get the rosetta stone system, let me know how it works. i need to work on my french for grad school (it's either that or stick with german )... i have heard it works wonderfully, but i am not sure if i can trust the infomercials.
mastering the art of stopping when you're full can be really difficult. it may take a while for you to understand what full and hungry mean(sounds wierd, but most people don't know what "true" hunger feels like).
sounds like you are making some great progress! kudos to you (lol- we say "wicked cool" in these parts, too! well, at least i do.  )
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 7 May 2008 11:55 pm |
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Hey Zen! I'm having trouble justifying the expense of Rosetta Stone. But I'll let you know if I get it - I may try at least one set. French is definitely worth learning - the prettiest of languages. Like any Romance langauge, there are tons of cognates, so you can hit the ground running. One of my favorite French words is "scenique" - I guess you can figure out what it means.
I know what you mean about not knowing when you're hungry or not - I was trying to figure it out at dinner, just about 5 minutes ago!
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 8 May 2008 12:15 am |
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Dear Diary,
Another looong day. I ran out of Japanese cds on the ride home, and I desparately need some fresh material - Pimsleur is repetitive enough! I'm going download all those mp3 dialogues between the crazy English guy and the Japanese sensei, and get them on my ipod (soon to be mine - my daughter got a new one, so I get the old one).
I had mad insomnia last night - the coffee and the late jogging probably. I finally got up and reviewed Japanese characters for a while, and ended up going to bed about about 3 pm when I really got tired. The good news is that I woke up at like 6:15 anyway, so I could just lay in bed till 7 or so. It's good when you wake up early after a night of mad insomnia, because you have time to get mentally ready to get out of bed.
It caught with me, later on. I was over at Bobs cubicle, and I had my laptop with me and my feet up and was looking at some stuff on it while he did some work, and I just was having trouble staying above water - couldn't stay awake. We were joking around about Jerry - he's a brilliant old guy, really, really smart, but he does have a tendency to nod off every now and then. We just let him sleep it off.
So. Food. Breakfast - banana. 100 cals. Lunch - Salad w/ potata salad - and a banana. Snack - banana. Dinner, tofu with a kind of sloppy joe sauce and watermelon. Excercise - quick workout on the Total Gym in the am. Oh, yeah, I was still 175 in the morning weigh-in. Ok, I'm done. Off to mp3 land!
Jack B. Nimble
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 8 May 2008 03:51 am |
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Weeellll, I fell off the bandwagon a little bit tonight. I just kind of snapped and started going through the o-senbei's, until there were only a few left. By the time the carnage was done, I had gained two pounds from this morning...the problem was, I was too sleepy after not sleeping last night, tired really. Running on fumes - cranky. Next time, I'll just take a nap.
The good news is that I found a commercial mp3 site for Japanese dialogues. For 8 bucks, I got a basic subscription, and there are so many mp3s I can't even download them all. Hundreds. I haven't figured out how not to do it one at a time; and theres about 1 per day with two supplementals, I think for displaying dialogue and lesson notes. The site is called japanesepod101.com, and I was offered a link to another language when I subscribed, so there's probalby sites like this for every language!
So, I'm going to pause the downloads, because I need to syncrronize the ipon. If anyone knows how to download all the podcasts without clicking on each icon - let me know!
Once I figure out how to play podcasts on the ipod, the last step will be to figure out how to connect it to the car-radio. I'm pretty sure it has some kind of ipod connection, that was part of the sales pitch. I hope I don't need some special wire.
Bonne nuit!
Jack
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 8 May 2008 11:35 am |
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Still 177 lbs this morning. I feel better after a nights sleep and have an ipod full of japanese converstion lessons. The problems with weight loss is is it's a lot easeir with excercise, and the only excercies I really like to do is tennis. Also, I have limited time with work and the commute, I'm usually by 7:30 / 8:00. I like my job, but I would like to get some of that time back. If I do excercise, it squeeze out Japanese & vice versa. Not to mention I have my finaly project do. It's just I need to sleep as yesterday proved. Maybe I should get an appartment closer to work. Expensive, sure, but #%@&! convenient.
Jack
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 9 May 2008 02:28 am |
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Dear Diary,
This diet stuff is formidable, I realized after last nights debacle. What I need to do is be a little more patient. We don't want any of this yo-yo phenomenon going around.
So, my strategy will be to plataue on weekdays and lose a couple of pounds on the weekend. That's still two pounds a week!
Today: Breakfast - nothing.
Snack: banana
Lunch: Salad w/ potato salad & Bananan
Iced tea on the way home
Dinner: Japanese noodles, the fat kind, what are they called, with hard-boiled eggs, broiled chicked, beans, carrots, etc. Waremelon, diced.
I watched the celts, much easier victory this time. Jogged about 500 calories worth during the game.
Listen to the ipod conversation this morning - they do get a little wierd - why do i need to know how to say "nose-hair"; they have a lot of the way informal stuff I would never use. It's more for manga, movies stuff like that. Still, it's an endless supply of Japanese, which I can listen three hours day, 4 days a week. 12 hours of Japanese listening will get you somewhere.
Gutten nachen (is that how they say it in German?)
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zenobia
Moderator
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Posted: 9 May 2008 03:25 am |
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gutten nacht, actually (spelling could be wrong, but one of the neat things about german is that it's usually spelled how it sounds.... unlike french)
why not listen to your ipod full of japanese when working out. even when you are doing the total gym, put it on a cd player and crank up the volum. might not be as motivational as (insert favorite band here) but why not? throw your ipod on when jogging on the tredmill....
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 9 May 2008 12:25 pm |
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Got it. And this morning, I would say "Gutten tag", right? Great idea about the Japanese on the treadmill! Still, you're right - I would be tempted to listen to the music - something about running and music works better than running and Japanese - more "zen", Zen. I have a few hundred songs on iTunes and they are now on my old-new ipod and they would certainly make the time go by while jogging/treadmilling. That reminds me , last week I was playing music on my pc and our new-old parakeets starting chirping along with it (they always do that). So I tried to drown them out by playing the music as loud as the pc allows and was reminded how good rock sounds when you give it some volume - even if it's only 16-bit laptop speakers. The parakeets don't give up easily, however, so I finally decided just to move them to the other room so I can play my PC in peace. Of course, I could use the ipod, now I have it loaded...
Jack
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zenobia
Moderator
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Posted: 9 May 2008 04:23 pm |
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this morning would be Gutten Abend
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 9 May 2008 11:16 pm |
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| The way I look at it, if I constantly repeat "Gutten Tag" throughout the day, at some point I will be using it correctly....
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jackbenimble
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| Joined: | 1 May 2008 |
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Posted: 10 May 2008 12:05 am |
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Dear Diary,
Thank God Its Friday! Now I am going to go and party like a first-semester freshman at a major state university.
No, wait - that's my daughter ...this fall...I must be regressing. Not that I went away to college...I was a commuter. The travel came later, for me.
Actually, it's Prom night for my daughter. No date, though - she's going with friends, at least some of whom do have dates. She's actually quite pretty, but doesn't emphasize it. It's all right - all in good time. What's the rush?
So, it's already 7:30. I got up at like 6:30, (went to bed at 12), so I got a good 6.5 hours sleep. Then I did my homework project till about 9:30, then total gym, then work. Work was a slow-motion kind of thing, filling out this tedious spreadsheet about what tests corresponded to what requirements for our software product. It took all day, real drudge work. That's one reason I gave up being the boss, to avoid stuff like this. But, the boss (whom I hired) soaks most of it up so I can't complain. This has do be done because it's demanded by Central Headquarters.
Then my wife came home. She's actually coming around on this Japanese thing a little. She will talk a bit of Japanese before relapsing into English. I'm just sticking with the Japanese. It's not like we have in-depth conversations, anyway. Now I just have to get her to talk purely Japanese to my daughter. I actually talked Japanese to my daughter today, and she responded with beautiful, accentless Japanese. The problem is, I hardly ever hear it because my wife lets her get away with talking English to her. And since my wife mixes English with Japanese when talking to my daughter, you can hardly blame her - mixed signals. I still don't get why my wife still speaks at least 1/2 English to her. I just guess she has her own reasons.
Ahh - I'm dwelling in negativity. The reason is I just had a nap, and I'm always grouchy after a nap. The good news is that I was back down to 176 this morning and the weekend is upon us!
To the food - oatmeal for breakfast. A very nice salad for lunch complete with hard-boiled eggs and potato salad. I snacked on some cheddar cheese during the afternoon (uhh, did last night around midnight too  ), and for dinner had a Japanese dish called "san-shoku", which means three-colors - white for rice, yellow for scrambled eggs, and brown for the hamburger mix.
Ok, what's up for tonight - let me browse through my many invitations - well, what do you know, I'm free! The wife is out singing, daughter at the prom - got the house to myself tonight. Par-doo!
Well, before I head out, I'll just do some work on my project - didn't make to much headway this week. I've got one main feature left to put in there, and I realized this morning that I had no clue how to do it. So, that'll take me a bit of time - lets see how far I can get.
Gute Nacht! (Zen, I looked this one up on Babel-fish  it must be right!)
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jackbenimble
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| Joined: | 1 May 2008 |
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Posted: 10 May 2008 01:50 pm |
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Dear Diary,
Already 9 in the morning! Didn't get up till 7:30 - the Prom people kept calling us in the middle of the night to let us know where our daughter was. I guess that's what has to be done - hey if there are parents / faculty who are willing to stay up all night to watch the kids, then I guess a couple of middle of the night phone calls are a reasonable price to pay! My daughter is over at one of her friend's houses right now. I don't know when she'll come back, it's usually in the late afternoon when she stays over.
So, I haven't worked out yet, but the weight was 176 this morning. This isn't really bad at all, since I briefly balooned all the way back up to 177/178 on wednesday after the o-senbei debacle. My goal, is, I decided, a pound per week, starting this weekend. So, since I will have time to excercise this weekend. I should easily hit my goal of 174 by Monday morning. I just have to not snack out at my mum's house for Mother's day. I wish the weather were better so I could get some tennis in, though!
Food - ok, not to bad yesterday, after dinner. I was tempted to go with cheddar cheese, but instead had the salad and fruit salad that I had not eaten for desert because I was full. I also had the single remaining o-senbei, so that danger is removed.
As for the Japanese - sticking with it. My wife actually taught me a couple of words yesterday. One is "sagaku" which mean the difference-amount. The other is sha-kkin which means loan, which I already new but had forgotten.
Yesterday, after flailing around a bit on my own, I finally figured out the right way to search for the capability my project needs on Google Suggest, and came up with a perfect example of the type of lookup I want to do. I'll put that into my project today, and at that point will have all the major features I've committed to in the project (I put the browse feature in Thursday night, it was basically all set to go, just needed little glue). One thing I do regret about this course is I really didn't delve into as much javascript as I should have. But I did do plenty of CSS, which had to get the priority.
Can't forget about Mother's day - my wife already bought something for mum, so, I'll return the favor by getting something for her. It's easy enough to do, and she knows what she wants - flowers she can plant, perennials - so we'll go get those this morning. But I also have to get my duaghter to get her something - I'm sure she's forgotten with all the studying for the AP history test and the prom.
Chatted with my buddy Brad last night. He says that at work, the Weight Watchers program comes around once a year or so, and everyone in his office gets into it. They lose weight, start looking great - then after the program's over, they go right back to where they started. Doesn't make sense. Isn't it worse to yo-yo than to stay at the same weight?
My sister went into the hospital last year, she had some kind of heart scare. She lost like 10 or 20 lbs., and has been dedicated to keeping it off since. It's absolutely amazing, she looks really really great. She stair-walks 30 floors a day, at least. If walking is good for you, stair-walking is way-good. Except you're not outside, or anything fun like that. Still, man is it ever effective.
A week or two ago, my brother was taken to the hospital with dizzy spells and trouble breathing. He's seriously overweight and never, I mean never excercises. By the time I saw him last Saturday, he was ok and pretty much back to normal. But, this may be the best thing for him, because now he knows what danger he's in - he's 55/56 years old and must weigh 250, for a 5' 8"" guy. My sister and I have been nagging at him for a while, but he's stubborn. He never answers his phone at home. House full of books. Crazy. Has some emotional issues which come from him not being a jock and Dad trying to force him into it. If he had just let him bloom naturally, he might have gotten it. My, I couldn't throw a baseball till I was a sophomore in high school. Freshman year I threw the softball 100 feet and kids were laughing at me. Sophomore, I threw it 200+ feet. I just finally got it. Late bloomer, I guess. Story of my life.
Ouch 9:30 already. Journaling is good, but I've got to get moving...
Oh, yeah, just had scrambled eggs with hamburger bits and a few chunks of watermelon.
checking blood pressure in Japanese: ketsu-atsu o hakabu.
jaa, mata ne (see you again)
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 11 May 2008 10:42 am |
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Good Morning World!
Happy Mother's day to all the Mum's out there!
Ok, right to it. Yesterday I faltered a bit - I snacked on chedder cheese during the afternoon, plus had a couple of cups of chocolate milk. Dinner was rice with soy sauce, steamed beans & carrots and chunks of grilled chicken. Lunch was some delicous ramen with hard-boiled eggs. Breakfast was scrambled eggs with hamburger bits.
I played tennis at around 8-9, but still weighed a high 176 afteward. The Celtics were busy playing a stinker at Cleveland, so I used that as an excuse to jog the treadmill for a while. That got back to 175, barely, and that's where I was this morning.
One gripe about cable - changing the channel takes four seconds of black screen. I remember when the channel would change as soon as your thumb hit the button. It's all software based now, and I miss the good old days. Especially now when we have all these new channels, and you just want to find out what stations even are!
On a good note, I made some good progress on my project yesterday. There's a week to go - it's due a week from Monday - and I have partially implemented the Google-suggest type lookup that is a key feature of my web program. There are still a couple of issues I need to iron out - for example, Microsoft explorerer is not respecting the regular expression I have coded, although it works in Firefox. You know something? I hate Explorer. Every other browser - Opera, Safari, Firefox - all respect the standards that have evolved. Arrogant Microsoft goes their own way. And Steve Ballmer - the guy just bugs me.
So, another thing bugging me is we have a big deliverable tomorrow, and ideally I would get in a little testing today, to make sure things come off ok. But thers is a party over at Mom's today, and it's not as if I had all this time to hang around for 4-5 hours and stuff my face.
And I did want to get to 174 today, which means some jogging or tennis or some good solid excercise. I think I'm going to have to do some work-work today. Aye, Caramba!
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mollymoo24
Senior Member
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Posted: 11 May 2008 12:38 pm |
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Hi there Jack,
Just wanted to come around and visit the 'relatively new guy' on the block.
Enjoy your time with Mum today and I hope that you are not too busy take some time for yourself even if it is a shorter workout than usual. Have a great day!
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 11 May 2008 04:57 pm |
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Hey Molly Moo! Thanks for stopping by!
In fact things are working out ok, so far. I decided to follow the AA adage of "one day at a time". Why should I let tomorrows worries infect this nice weekend day? I could die in my sleep tonight, then all that worrying would be wasted.
I got lucky, I worked out the problem with Explorer by implementing a feature which makes the regular expression unecessary. So, at this point my project is nearly feature complete. I only have to do a little layout work (always a challenge) and some validation. Nice.
Then, I went to hit the ball off the wall and ran into fellow I had met earlier this spring, Stan, who was doing the same. We hit for a while and it was a nice workout. Naturally I weighed myself immediately and was at 173. I was hoping for 172, but why get greedy? Anyway, it'll pop right back up to 175 - I'm at least hoping to weigh in at 175 tomorrow.
The first five weren't too bad, since that was partly bloat, but the next five are going to much tougher. That's the five the has been kicking around for about a hundred years, and it won't give in easily. Worse, even if I get to them, they'll come back like lightning if I'm not very, very good. But, I'm settling in for the battle and the timing is good - summer's coming up.
Finally, I sold a copy of my new version of the shareware, and the guy who bought it, who was having an install problem, figured out the fix himself! First time ever!
Ok, got to go to Mum's.
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jackbenimble
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| Joined: | 1 May 2008 |
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Posted: 12 May 2008 12:13 am |
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Good day overall. I broke down and did a couple of hours work - I knew I would - and feel more prepared going into tomorrow. It's our supposed "final" release, which is a fiction - but we need to figure out a mix of programming, testing and documentation, and packaging - all in one day. I guarantee I'll be there till 9 at night. But, that's the life of a software developer - I guess.
Also, I did something unusual for me - I cleaned up the trunk of my car. Put all the tennis balls in a bag, threw out the plastic containers. Brought in some books and papers and Chinese tapes (I never learned that, but I did listen to the whole Pimsleur I on it. Grueling). And - I found two missing Japanese Pimsleur cd's. Paydirt! Cleanliness is next to godliness.
I didn't do to bad at Mum's house - I skipped the cake and stuck with sandwiches (ughh - bread) and pototo salad and a few slices of crackers and cheese. Only stayed 1-4. I'm going to make family parties a max 3 hours. 3 hours is #%@&! reasonable.
I talked to my crazy brother, the book-a-holic, while I was there. Man, he knows a lot. He didn't go off on some crazy, nonsensical tangent as he sometimes does. He was just describing the genre of book I had been reading (Brideshead Revisited) and all the stuff he knows about the author, Christian apologists, Englins "U" (upper class, I think) writing, Oxford etc. As a lapsed Catholic, religious quandries are intriguing to me. Once you are imbibed with a religious belief, it's always there - whether you believe it rationally, or not. I also love English writing - I find it very satifying, linguistically. It was one on the more enjoyable conversation I've had with him - less #%@&!, more facts and interesting observations. So, he seems to have been ever so slightly humbled by his recent stay in the hospital. He's eating better. Unfortunately, it looks like his vision may be permanently impaired - the doctors don't say it, but there's no improvement in his double-vision. That plainly sucks.
Anyway, so, I napped a bit when I came home, then spent a couple or three hours hours working. I was 176 when I weighed myself this afternoon, and I still feel full. So I might skip dinner - maybe just a snack? We'll see.
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hazel245
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Posted: 12 May 2008 12:21 am |
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Hi Jack!
Your job sounds interesting. It's great that you didn't go overboard at your mums, it is so easy to do so at family gatherings.
Have you considered only weighing yourself once a day? It appears you are weighing your self 3 or 4 times a day. I used to do this and it only drove me insane. It really doesn't help to monitor yourself so frequently. Once a day is more than plenty. Just do it at the same time everyday in the same clothes or in your birthday suit everytime. That way, you still know your progress without factoring in that fact that most people naturally fluctuate up to 5lbs a day.
Just an idea. Good luck on those last 5lbs. They are always the worst.
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zenobia
Moderator
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Posted: 12 May 2008 04:24 am |
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hey jack! yup, it's those darn last 5 lbs. i hear ya.
on the religion thing- i get you. i was baptized catholic, went to lutheran sunday scool, did baptist day care, took cadechism in jr. high, became born again from about 13-16, then i thought i was athiest, dabbled in budhism, take a few courses on asian religions, own a number of different religious texts (Quaran, bible, book of the dead, are just a few...), own books on atheism... and it all comes down to me being so very intruiging, but i am yet some kind of agnostic. go figure.... i love religious talk.
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 13 May 2008 04:39 am |
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Hazel, Zen - it's a pleasure to see you both stopped in! Hazel, you're right. It's silly of me to be constantly weighing myself. Especially after excercise, which is just sweat loss. It's kind of stupid, really, the more I think about it. Maybe I'll take your advice - once a day, right before I shower, ought to do the trick.
Zen! You've had an amazing sprititual journey. I personally have never taken up another religion, nor looked into them much. I've read a couple of books on Zen Bhuddism, which to my mind is the coolest religion going. But the za-zen - sitting around meditating for hours at a time - seems kind of time-consuming. I know I'm missing the point and all that, but still.
I've also considered the Unitarian church. Their beliefs, or lack thereof, seem to align pretty well with mine, and I seem to get a connection with Unitarians - maybe because of our shared world viewpoint. I get uncomfortable around settings which are overtly religious, because I know my core beliefs -or more accurately, lack thereof - might come to the surface and clash with some of those who are closed-minded about their religion. But most people are live and let live these days - and my family doesn't hassle me about it.
But, you know, when I really get depressed or scared - I will pray and everthing. Go figure!
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zenobia
Moderator
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Posted: 13 May 2008 04:53 am |
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oh, that is funny you mentioned Unitarian- my husband and i were married by a Unitarian minister because we both wanted something "spiritual" without it having a completely direct and solid dogma. open mindedness is sort of our path. but, i think that rather than Unitarians having a lack of beliefs, it's more about having so many options- that things arn't just black and white- they certainly reach out further than other demoninations... it's about understanding that everyone is going to have thier own ideas which might not coincide with yours; and just because it's different doesn't mean it's wrong. i think that's the best part.
lol- funny also you mention those who are very serious with thier beliefs- my mother is still a born again christian and some of our best talks are "arguing" about spirituality. i accept the fact that she is closed to anything but christianity... she doesn't like it that i don't really consider myself christian, but that's her deal (we do get along famously, though). yeah, i sometimes sort of pray, but i really don't know to whom or what i am praying.. maybe just some sort of meditation in a way... it's strange though- if you are raised christian, you do have a tendancy to sort of fall back onto it. but i don't think there's anything wrong with it... like it really became imprinted in your mind or something and you really just can't help it. but that opens up a whole other slew of philosophical, psychological, and spiritual issues!
sorry to hijack your journal. i just couldn't help myself-- i really dig this stuff.
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 13 May 2008 04:54 am |
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Already 12:45 am - and I'm sleepy. I'll hit the sack after this post. Just a few notes about today. You know how I said I'd be at work till 9 pm because of the "final" release? Well, I finally got out - 10:30 pm. And we still weren't done. But, made a lot of headway. The boss, who is extremely bright, was having some trouble figuring out some complex control code, so we whiteboarded it and it came clear. Then he had to code it, so I sat with him - it sucks to code by yourself after hours under a deadline - and we got the whole flow coded up in a nice clean way - all his doing, but with me asking questions and following along as well as I could. Which is a fun way to code for both parties, kind of like two heads are better than one. Anyway, around 9:30 we finally got to testing it, and were mowing through the varous bugs that cropped up when we just ran out of time. So much for the "final" release. It's really just a technique to pressure you into putting in some overtime, which obviously was effective.
So, food - no breakfast, lunch was salad/potato salad, dinner spanish rice and veggies. Weighed 176 this morning, will be the same tomorrow, I think.
The best piece of news is I don't have to go down to Central Headquarters to help with the implmentation. We have a techie guy who is realtively new and was happy to go down - he's never been there. Anyway, he's a better choice because he's been working on the video piece which is going to need more attention.
Ok, off to la-la land. Sweet dreams, y'all.
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 14 May 2008 02:41 am |
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| Hey Zen, hijack away! Speaking of Unitarians, I once read them described as people who's belief in God could be descibed as a candle flickering in the wind, or words to the effect. I try not to get too caught up the religion, but as I start on my fifth decade, the life-clock is starting to tick rather more loudly than before. Still, it reminds me of the commercial where the guy comes out of the doctor's office whooping happily. When someone asks him why, he says "The doctor says I have only 30 years to live!". So, there's still some shake left in these bones.
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jackbenimble
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Posted: 14 May 2008 07:26 am |
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I'm hanging around listening to some old tunes tunes on my pc. Pink Floyd, Stones, Dylan, Zepplin, the classic stuff. I'm tired, should be sleeping, but I just finished making some improvements to my project - I think it would've been easier if I had implmented the lookup as a simple select statement - in fact I might end up doing that, anyway.
I also added validation to my page, an important step, actually one of the last ones if I don't re-implement the lookup as a select. All that remains is to clean up the code, get it uploaded to the server, do some testing there, write up a readme and declare victory. There's a "science fair" on Monday where we show off our projects. Funny - a science fair.
Foodwise, - no breakfast, potato-salad salad for lunch, ramen with tamago and chicken for dinner. No snacks. Weight 175/6 this morning.
Ahh - Gun's & Rose just came on. Their cover of Knockin on Heaven's door. Great version. Their breaking up was a modern tradgedy. I guess Axel freaked out and they couldn't keep it together. A real shame.
Good progress at work today. We finally came up with the right combination of parameters to give a reasonable image under stressed network conditions. Roger and Vasely head down to Central Headquarters for a couple of days tomorrow. I think we're kind of in the clear for this deliverable. I might not even have to go down for the big demo. That would be awesome. Bob has to sit in on meetings with The Big Contractor in place of Roger, and he was a little nervous - asked Roger if I could hold his hand - he's funny. He's actually decent in meetings. We're a small company - what do they expect?
The new intern is having trouble with Jerry, who for some reason arbtirarily refused to approve a purchase of $60 piece of equipment that would make the research far easier to conduct. That's what sucks - if you have a boss you don't agree with, and he makes an arbitrary and obvously wrong decision, what do you do? I think I'm going to try to resolve the thing, without getting myself in trouble. I understand the sting he's feeling, been there myself.
Going to the Celtics tomorrow night. I have a buddy who gets cheap tickets and he brings me along occasionally. They play Cleveland in the 5th of 7.
After this course is over, I'll have only 5 courses left to get the Masters degree. I know it's a little late to be getting one, but it's already paid off. I've leveraged the updated resume into a couple of job offers and a living wage. Just in time, too, what with my daughter entering college and all. Ah..the guitar solo from "Another Brick in the Wall". I almost feel like I'm stoned or something. There's something about Pink Floyd that makes you feel like you're stoned when you're listening to them, even if you're not. No idea why. I like music, and all, but I could listen to good guitar as much as anything.
Ah - Mile Davis - Kind of Blue. One kind of music I really like, is jazz. It takes so many forms - it's so satisfying to listen to. The notes just flow over you, taking thier own path, following a sweet logic inspired by the universal musical energy the jazz cats can somehow channel, who seem to bring the music spontaneously out of the ether. The thing about jazz, and I've often noticed this, is it's a music for the evening, for the night. A sophisticated, urban kind of music which is almost detached - cool - in its cerebral incantations.
Ok, here's a total contrast - a version of under the boardwalk - not the original - who did the original? I love this old 50's type music - it makes me feel nostalgic for simpler times - simpler music - music that makes you think of love.
Alright I'm getting dopey and sleepy. I've got to get some sleep so I'll have some energy for the Celtics game tomorrow.
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zenobia
Moderator
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Posted: 14 May 2008 10:34 am |
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