Dear James, Daniel and Emily,
Wow, this week just flew by. I am not sure what to attribute that to, probably a combination of still using the charge from the week off, plus the effects of changes to flow in how I do certain things here & and at work, plus Kim's unusual schedule, and last feeling the inertia of the boys summer break ending.
Family
Kim's schedule was a little goofy this week, having Tuesday & Thursday off, and then working slightly different schedule on the days she does work. And next week she is testing out the feasibility of working over night shifts, so our life will be different because of that. She was able to get her mom over to our house and finally tackle all of the stored stuff in the basement. Which also allowed her to really tackle the whole basement. So we can actually go down there again and use the space. We have plans for some of the furniture down there,and I have some new strategies for storing the Lego's. And last I plan to lay down the law for the kids playing down there as far as toys as well. Hopefully with the goal of keeping massive disaster areas like we had under control.
Saturday the boys have their last baseball games of the season. I think this will be James' last season playing baseball. It's too bad, I think he has some talent there, but I can tell he is bored with the game itself, and would like the break from sports in the summer. After the games the boys will be going to a birthday party, which should be a nice opportunity for them to see some school friends they have been missing all summer. Sunday we have a family barbecue at Dad's since my sister is in town. So it is definitely a full weekend, which is good, because I had to yank video game privileges for the weekend.
I think James is ready to spend time with kids his age, without his little brother around. Because lately they have really gotten on each others nerves. And last night I had to warn them to start behaving better while playing Wii, and when my warning failed to be listened to had to suspend the privileges. It was mostly James losing his temper, but it was partly Daniel being passive resistant to James requests for cooperation while playing, thus the need for the hammer. Might not have endeared myself to either one, but sometimes you have to play bad cop.
Email
So my goal this week was to reform the way I dealt with e-mail. Just that, and primarily at work. Both simplify it, and make sure I actually got into the habit of both reading the messages, and then did something with them. It involved removing the excessive compartmentalization of lots of little sub folders in my inbox, and just creating 2 (3) new ones: Follow Up, Hold (& Archive). Then making myself stick to a habit of deleting e-mails I didn't have to respond to, placing the ones I had to respond to in the follow up, and moving keepers to the Hold or Archive folder. Then changed my workflow to hit that follow up folder periodically and clear it out. This whole process keeps me doing 2 things: touch each e-mail when it comes in, but just long enough to determine what category it fall in, then keep my actual inbox empty. This whole process has helped keep me sane this week, and helped me keep focused on the important work, and deal with it in it's correct priority. I got this tip from the Lifehacker book I mentioned earlier in the week, and I highly recommend it for people who get stuck managing their e-mail flow.
Sports
Football is here, sort of, training camps are opening in the NFL, and the Hall of Fame game is a week away. And not a moment too soon, not that I want to start filling my weekends again with TV, but a man can only stand so much time with only baseball to watch, and 'what if stories' to follow. I am ready for the real thing, to see what really happens in game action. It's a bit like seeing a toy in a box, and wondering what it is really like, what will I do with it, but I have to wait. This is the time of the year when I see my teams, have some ideas on how they will play, but no one really knows for sure.
Running
Had a real good week, fell into the daily routine with no problems, ending with a net loss for the week. And now, with 2 races planned on the horizon, and a visit to the Dr. for a checkup I feel really good. I am especially excited to see the Dr. since he hasn't seen me in over a year, and 50+ pounds of weight loss.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
New book series
Dear James, Daniel and Emily,
So I am on book 6 of a series (which the author says is the last of the story line but not the end of the overall universe). And I am going to recommend the series to fantasy/sci-fi readers out there. What is interesting is what caught my eye about the series in the first place was that when I picked up one of the books in the library there was a recommendation from Paul Krugman of all people. I figured that if my favorite economics/politics commentator likes a fiction series that is more than strong enough of a recommendation for me.
The link is for the latest book, but again it is a 6 book series so you will want to go back to book 1 to start at the beginning. And this is not the type of series where you can jump in pretty much any where like the Dresden Files books. No you really need to have read books 1-5 before starting book 6.
It's hard to describe the books without giving too much away. The overall plot is simple: there are mirror worlds to ours, with the cultures and civilizations in different stages of economic development. And there is a group of people who are born with a special ability to cross into the different worlds. But what the writer does with that power and the consequences and potential of that ability is pretty amazing. The layered plots and plotting of the characters is on par with anything I have ever read. By this point (just starting book 6) I almost want to create a visio file to track all of the characters and their different plots and motivations. And the writer does a really good job of keeping a lot of things hidden, so you don't see the results of a seed planted early in the book sprout until the end. And every book ends in a pretty major cliffhanger, so be prepared, get all the books at once if possible or place the next one on hold as soon as you get one from the library.
And it is clear why Krugman likes the books because there is some fascinating exploration into the economics of mercantilism versus capitalism. And some general ideas on politics and the politics of modern revolutions which are also quite interesting to read and explore.
So, overall a very good and fun series to read, so long as you are into this type of fiction.
So I am on book 6 of a series (which the author says is the last of the story line but not the end of the overall universe). And I am going to recommend the series to fantasy/sci-fi readers out there. What is interesting is what caught my eye about the series in the first place was that when I picked up one of the books in the library there was a recommendation from Paul Krugman of all people. I figured that if my favorite economics/politics commentator likes a fiction series that is more than strong enough of a recommendation for me.
The link is for the latest book, but again it is a 6 book series so you will want to go back to book 1 to start at the beginning. And this is not the type of series where you can jump in pretty much any where like the Dresden Files books. No you really need to have read books 1-5 before starting book 6.
It's hard to describe the books without giving too much away. The overall plot is simple: there are mirror worlds to ours, with the cultures and civilizations in different stages of economic development. And there is a group of people who are born with a special ability to cross into the different worlds. But what the writer does with that power and the consequences and potential of that ability is pretty amazing. The layered plots and plotting of the characters is on par with anything I have ever read. By this point (just starting book 6) I almost want to create a visio file to track all of the characters and their different plots and motivations. And the writer does a really good job of keeping a lot of things hidden, so you don't see the results of a seed planted early in the book sprout until the end. And every book ends in a pretty major cliffhanger, so be prepared, get all the books at once if possible or place the next one on hold as soon as you get one from the library.
And it is clear why Krugman likes the books because there is some fascinating exploration into the economics of mercantilism versus capitalism. And some general ideas on politics and the politics of modern revolutions which are also quite interesting to read and explore.
So, overall a very good and fun series to read, so long as you are into this type of fiction.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Am I becoming a self help junkie?
Dear James, Daniel and Emily,
I would say no, but I have noticed that I am spending more time on sites containing How to, self help style information. It started innocently enough with weight loss sites. Then I started reading more tech sites, under the guise of wanting to develop information and skills for my work. Then I started on the running sites when I was looking for new shoes. Then a couple of weeks ago I stumbled onto a link for a blog that has become a go to on a daily basis. And my reading the book that stemmed from that site. Which leads to this post.
Lifehacker web site
This is just the coolest site. I can (and have) spent hours at the site, reading the various articles, following links to other articles and so on. After discovering it, I got the book
from the library, and read that. And I have spent some time since returning from vacation trying to emulate some of the practices in that book. I highly recommend doing both if you are interested in tech things, or just use them in your every day life.
I thought I would tip my hat to the site, since I added it to my favorite web pages on the left hand side of the page. And the results so far of what I have done have been successful, and helped me maintain my sanity. Not that I was missing things, just that I was having problem maintaining some feeling of control over little things like work flow and what felt like an overflowing inbox and empty calendar. So I have been using some of the tips, along with some resolve to start using the calendar and task lists to give myself a better feeling of control. Again, it's too early to tell how much of an effect it is really having, but it feels good so far.
I would say no, but I have noticed that I am spending more time on sites containing How to, self help style information. It started innocently enough with weight loss sites. Then I started reading more tech sites, under the guise of wanting to develop information and skills for my work. Then I started on the running sites when I was looking for new shoes. Then a couple of weeks ago I stumbled onto a link for a blog that has become a go to on a daily basis. And my reading the book that stemmed from that site. Which leads to this post.
Lifehacker web site
This is just the coolest site. I can (and have) spent hours at the site, reading the various articles, following links to other articles and so on. After discovering it, I got the book
from the library, and read that. And I have spent some time since returning from vacation trying to emulate some of the practices in that book. I highly recommend doing both if you are interested in tech things, or just use them in your every day life. I thought I would tip my hat to the site, since I added it to my favorite web pages on the left hand side of the page. And the results so far of what I have done have been successful, and helped me maintain my sanity. Not that I was missing things, just that I was having problem maintaining some feeling of control over little things like work flow and what felt like an overflowing inbox and empty calendar. So I have been using some of the tips, along with some resolve to start using the calendar and task lists to give myself a better feeling of control. Again, it's too early to tell how much of an effect it is really having, but it feels good so far.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Back to the world
Dear James, Daniel and Emily,
Back from vacation, back at work, with renewed/changed approach to said work. Also changing web habits, we'll see how that goes. Got plenty of exercise on vacation so just resuming the workout schedule should be pretty seamless. Really enjoyed the return of Mad Men last night. Last, Football cannot start soon enough from a sports viewing perspective.
Vacation
I won't go blow by blow on the whole week. Just leave it as a wonderful week, got to spend plenty of time with lots of different family that I rarely see. Thanks to Mom & Dad for their making the different parts possible. I have uploaded an entire folder to Picasa of various pictures, plus posted a small selection to Facebook as well.
The only drawback was that the kids certainly started to show the effects by the end of the week. And we were all glad to be home, and resume home routines. Although I don't think Daniel is as excited to be returning to a much stricter Wii/Playstation schedule, but he'll adjust.
Work
Made a vow to myself to just turn off the browsing at work except at break times. Nothing on there is that essential (even Twitter). And between that and implementing a new method for handling e-mail will hopefully make me more productive and also saner. Hope it works out like I hope.
Running/Health
So got in some runs and 1 major hike over the course of the week, plus lots of swimming. Between that and making some conscious effort to not go overboard on the eating I managed to return at the same weight I was when I left. So the run this morning was seamless, and hopefully I can resume the weight loss and get and stay below the 180 mark for good.
Mad Men
Loved to see the show return, always fascinating to see how it handles the time off. I was glad to see I wasn't the only one who sees the Don Draper - Tony Soprano parallel (Jason Whitlock tweeted the same). I won't break the episode down, there are other people out there who do that better than I do. Just leave it as I really liked the new season, and I was pleased with how it gradually incorporated the changes in the world that we know occurred.
Football
Like a sickness I can feel it coming on. I just can't wait to start watching regular games again. I even watched a little CFL the other night just for a fix. Baseball just doesn't do it for me. But I renewed my retirement from fantasy football when the office league tried to suck me back in.
Blog Change
Hope you all enjoy the format change. Decided it was time to make the look a little more attractive, and since Blogger finally released some better templates I decided to make the switch. Feel free to let me know your thoughts, Like? Not Like?
Back from vacation, back at work, with renewed/changed approach to said work. Also changing web habits, we'll see how that goes. Got plenty of exercise on vacation so just resuming the workout schedule should be pretty seamless. Really enjoyed the return of Mad Men last night. Last, Football cannot start soon enough from a sports viewing perspective.
Vacation
I won't go blow by blow on the whole week. Just leave it as a wonderful week, got to spend plenty of time with lots of different family that I rarely see. Thanks to Mom & Dad for their making the different parts possible. I have uploaded an entire folder to Picasa of various pictures, plus posted a small selection to Facebook as well.
The only drawback was that the kids certainly started to show the effects by the end of the week. And we were all glad to be home, and resume home routines. Although I don't think Daniel is as excited to be returning to a much stricter Wii/Playstation schedule, but he'll adjust.
Work
Made a vow to myself to just turn off the browsing at work except at break times. Nothing on there is that essential (even Twitter). And between that and implementing a new method for handling e-mail will hopefully make me more productive and also saner. Hope it works out like I hope.
Running/Health
So got in some runs and 1 major hike over the course of the week, plus lots of swimming. Between that and making some conscious effort to not go overboard on the eating I managed to return at the same weight I was when I left. So the run this morning was seamless, and hopefully I can resume the weight loss and get and stay below the 180 mark for good.
Mad Men
Loved to see the show return, always fascinating to see how it handles the time off. I was glad to see I wasn't the only one who sees the Don Draper - Tony Soprano parallel (Jason Whitlock tweeted the same). I won't break the episode down, there are other people out there who do that better than I do. Just leave it as I really liked the new season, and I was pleased with how it gradually incorporated the changes in the world that we know occurred.
Football
Like a sickness I can feel it coming on. I just can't wait to start watching regular games again. I even watched a little CFL the other night just for a fix. Baseball just doesn't do it for me. But I renewed my retirement from fantasy football when the office league tried to suck me back in.
Blog Change
Hope you all enjoy the format change. Decided it was time to make the look a little more attractive, and since Blogger finally released some better templates I decided to make the switch. Feel free to let me know your thoughts, Like? Not Like?
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Lifestyle update plus some political thoughts
Dear James, Daniel and Emily,
I finally did it! I broke the 180 barrier and plateau I was stuck on. I can only point to being so focused on the house projects the past couple of days that I didn't have time to laze around snacking. Proof positive that idle hands are not necessarily a good thing.
So I got started thinking about that, and how people ask me how I made this change, and how to extrapolate what I did to the political arena. The harsh reality of weight loss is this: there really are no quick fixes to healthy wieght loss. I have known more than a few people who have dropped significant weight in a short time, but in almost every case it was either with the use of chemistry (legal or otherwise) or massive stress. In either case there was a good chance that they could return to their former weight once the extra factor was removed (stop taking drugs, remove source of stress). Once again, the formula is dead simple: reduce calorie intake + increase calorie burn. But the deceptive part of that is the only way to keep that going is a change in lifestyle. Once you stop the boot camp exercise (if that is what you do) or stop starving yourself it is easy to regain the pounds. I know this from experience from a few previous stabs at weight loss.
What does all this have to do with politics you ask? Well if you look at government spending of all kinds as eating, and then exercise as taxes it becomes more clear. The problem is that our political culture is that we tend to overeat (spend and spend, engage in unending wars, dealing with disasters etc.) without exercising (low taxes meaning less productive income to offset that spending). So we get fat (vast deficits) or starve to death (enforced balanced budgets when there's no revenue to maintain any adequate levels of spending). Our current political culture no more understands that government does need to balance income and spending, than most people inherently understand the balance of calorie intake versus calorie burn.
I finally did it! I broke the 180 barrier and plateau I was stuck on. I can only point to being so focused on the house projects the past couple of days that I didn't have time to laze around snacking. Proof positive that idle hands are not necessarily a good thing.
So I got started thinking about that, and how people ask me how I made this change, and how to extrapolate what I did to the political arena. The harsh reality of weight loss is this: there really are no quick fixes to healthy wieght loss. I have known more than a few people who have dropped significant weight in a short time, but in almost every case it was either with the use of chemistry (legal or otherwise) or massive stress. In either case there was a good chance that they could return to their former weight once the extra factor was removed (stop taking drugs, remove source of stress). Once again, the formula is dead simple: reduce calorie intake + increase calorie burn. But the deceptive part of that is the only way to keep that going is a change in lifestyle. Once you stop the boot camp exercise (if that is what you do) or stop starving yourself it is easy to regain the pounds. I know this from experience from a few previous stabs at weight loss.
What does all this have to do with politics you ask? Well if you look at government spending of all kinds as eating, and then exercise as taxes it becomes more clear. The problem is that our political culture is that we tend to overeat (spend and spend, engage in unending wars, dealing with disasters etc.) without exercising (low taxes meaning less productive income to offset that spending). So we get fat (vast deficits) or starve to death (enforced balanced budgets when there's no revenue to maintain any adequate levels of spending). Our current political culture no more understands that government does need to balance income and spending, than most people inherently understand the balance of calorie intake versus calorie burn.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Random ideas & thoughts
Dear James, Daniel and Emily,
Project
Made great progress on the living room last night, got about halfway done on the laminate flooring. Hoping to get that part finished tonight, but that is dependent on Kim's energy level. We want to avoid her crashing from overwork & her normal schedule.
Running
Did my walk/run this morning, felt it some, so eased off from the run, not as long intervals. Wanted to avoid overdoing it early in the week, I want to make sure I get in a full week. Didn't expect I would ever have to force myself to not train so hard.
Family
The whole family is ready for the upcoming vacation week. James didn't want to go to the B&G club today, since they were going to the zoo and he just went last week. At least that was his story, I think the real reason is he has had a hard time making friends there this summer because he hasn't spent as much time there due to our inspired plan to give him variety. And without a good buddy to look forward to he isn't all that enthused to go. That and I think he is craving some more time with the family, we have all been so busy (partly with his baseball team) that he is maybe not feeling like he has had a real vacation.
I am looking forward to imposing some more consistent guidelines for the kids after the vacation. Things like bedtimes, video game time, etc. We agreed to return to that after the trip. Among those things is finding a way to get Emily into an earlier bedtime, she has been staying up later and later, but is not much fun to be around for the last hour or so so it is clear she needs to just be in bed, but her routine is so off that she seems to feel that she has to stay up.
Project
Made great progress on the living room last night, got about halfway done on the laminate flooring. Hoping to get that part finished tonight, but that is dependent on Kim's energy level. We want to avoid her crashing from overwork & her normal schedule.
Running
Did my walk/run this morning, felt it some, so eased off from the run, not as long intervals. Wanted to avoid overdoing it early in the week, I want to make sure I get in a full week. Didn't expect I would ever have to force myself to not train so hard.
Family
The whole family is ready for the upcoming vacation week. James didn't want to go to the B&G club today, since they were going to the zoo and he just went last week. At least that was his story, I think the real reason is he has had a hard time making friends there this summer because he hasn't spent as much time there due to our inspired plan to give him variety. And without a good buddy to look forward to he isn't all that enthused to go. That and I think he is craving some more time with the family, we have all been so busy (partly with his baseball team) that he is maybe not feeling like he has had a real vacation.
I am looking forward to imposing some more consistent guidelines for the kids after the vacation. Things like bedtimes, video game time, etc. We agreed to return to that after the trip. Among those things is finding a way to get Emily into an earlier bedtime, she has been staying up later and later, but is not much fun to be around for the last hour or so so it is clear she needs to just be in bed, but her routine is so off that she seems to feel that she has to stay up.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Weekend O' Projects revisited
Dear James, Daniel and Emily,
Saturday as we were watching James' baseball game Kim asked me what I wanted to do after the game. I told I wanted to go to Lowes or Home Depot and maybe pick out some paint for the living room. She agreed to do so, so we dragged the kids with us (not their favorite thing to do at all). And we picked out some paint, supplies, and some joint compound.
Once we got home we couldn't stop ourselves, we just dived right into the painting. First the fireplace wall, then did the patching in the rest of the room and dining room. Then we got the kids to bed, and I ran and got us some tasty treats. And feeling all sugared up and energetic we just dived back into it, getting the first coat on the main walls, plus the second coat and trim on the fireplace.
Sunday is where we started to lose control. After getting up and making breakfast for the kids and doing a little kitchen cleanup we got right back into the painting, finishing it up around 11:00. Had we stopped then we would have been OK. But no, we decided to start ripping up the carpet. Now it's time for some back story. We had removed the original carpet in that room once before, and lived with the wood for about a year. But that was many years ago, so our memory of the wood must have faded. Because when we took up the carpet this time it was clear that the wood was just horrible, and really no amount of work would make it look much better.
So it was time for a trip to Home Depot, picking up some plywood for a sub-floor and some laminate flooring. Which meant the rest of the day was devoted to arranging, sizing, and cutting the sub-floor, then shimming it to try and get as close to level as possible. And then finally nailing it down around 9:00. Which means that our evenings the rest of the week will be devoted to cutting and laying the laminate, so the project is done before we go on vacation next week.
So what was a simple painting project has turned into a massive week long affair, par for the course with us. Just like cleaning the basement was a couple of months ago.
Pictures
I had some time at home Saturday morning between baseball games. So I uploaded a bunch of pictures off the camera and phone to the computer, then organized them in Picasa. And then finally uploaded a bunch of them to the web site. So there a bunch of new pictures out there to see. Now I need to clean up the disk on the camera before the reunions next week.
Running
Took my 2 days off from running and walking over the weekend. Of course all the painting involved a lot of stepping up and down on stools for the ceiling cut in (my painting job since I am taller than my lovely wife). So I thought I would have a tough time resuming this morning but I felt good and got in my 3.5 miles without really pushing myself for speed. And then got a nice surprise when I checked the scale this morning, I may have finally cracked another plateau, and am within very close distance of a major milestone, just gotta keep disciplined and keep up the exercise this week.
Saturday as we were watching James' baseball game Kim asked me what I wanted to do after the game. I told I wanted to go to Lowes or Home Depot and maybe pick out some paint for the living room. She agreed to do so, so we dragged the kids with us (not their favorite thing to do at all). And we picked out some paint, supplies, and some joint compound.
Once we got home we couldn't stop ourselves, we just dived right into the painting. First the fireplace wall, then did the patching in the rest of the room and dining room. Then we got the kids to bed, and I ran and got us some tasty treats. And feeling all sugared up and energetic we just dived back into it, getting the first coat on the main walls, plus the second coat and trim on the fireplace.
Sunday is where we started to lose control. After getting up and making breakfast for the kids and doing a little kitchen cleanup we got right back into the painting, finishing it up around 11:00. Had we stopped then we would have been OK. But no, we decided to start ripping up the carpet. Now it's time for some back story. We had removed the original carpet in that room once before, and lived with the wood for about a year. But that was many years ago, so our memory of the wood must have faded. Because when we took up the carpet this time it was clear that the wood was just horrible, and really no amount of work would make it look much better.
So it was time for a trip to Home Depot, picking up some plywood for a sub-floor and some laminate flooring. Which meant the rest of the day was devoted to arranging, sizing, and cutting the sub-floor, then shimming it to try and get as close to level as possible. And then finally nailing it down around 9:00. Which means that our evenings the rest of the week will be devoted to cutting and laying the laminate, so the project is done before we go on vacation next week.
So what was a simple painting project has turned into a massive week long affair, par for the course with us. Just like cleaning the basement was a couple of months ago.
Pictures
I had some time at home Saturday morning between baseball games. So I uploaded a bunch of pictures off the camera and phone to the computer, then organized them in Picasa. And then finally uploaded a bunch of them to the web site. So there a bunch of new pictures out there to see. Now I need to clean up the disk on the camera before the reunions next week.
Running
Took my 2 days off from running and walking over the weekend. Of course all the painting involved a lot of stepping up and down on stools for the ceiling cut in (my painting job since I am taller than my lovely wife). So I thought I would have a tough time resuming this morning but I felt good and got in my 3.5 miles without really pushing myself for speed. And then got a nice surprise when I checked the scale this morning, I may have finally cracked another plateau, and am within very close distance of a major milestone, just gotta keep disciplined and keep up the exercise this week.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Ready for the weekend?!
Dear James, Daniel and Emily,
Light weekend as far as plans, just the boys baseball games, nice break for a change. Disgusted by the spectacle of the NBA and Lebron James. Hit the wall today on day 4 of daily workouts, but it's okay. Amazed at the new perspective he is getting on life, not sure if it's just natural aging process or something else.
Family
Just the boys baseball games on tap for the weekend tomorrow. Probably devote some time to uploading pictures from last weekend from the camera. Probably make a short run to the library, just because we can. Might make a run to Home Depot or Lowes, Kim & I have a plan for redecorating the living room, repainting it, take up the carpet, and at some point down the road lay some laminate flooring. All of that starts with picking out some paint, and an area rug, hence the trip to Home Depot/Lowes.
NBA
Hasn't anyone learned anything from the last 10-20 years of NBA history? Super teams don't work under the constrictions of the salary cap, for the simple reason that you need more than just 3 players to win a championship. Could the Lakers have won their most recent rings without Derek Fisher, Lamar Odom or Ron Artest/Trevor Ariza? Could the Celtics have won without James Posey, Eddie House, Glen Davis? Do the Spurs win all of their rings without their role players? I could go on and on. The point is you want a superstar to get to the chmapionship, and having 2 superstars and an All Star certainly help. But you need those role players to step up when necessary to make the odd game winning shot, or crucial steal, or rebound etc. And while the ability to start Wade, James and Bosh is certainly imposing every team in the league is going to do 2 things: play a hard zone defense and force Wade & James to shoot outside shots, and pound the ball inside offensively against what will inveitably be a weak interior defense. Who on this team is going to guard Kendrick Perkins, or Dwight Howard, or Andrew Bynum? Who is going to be the second player getting rebounds when Bosh is blocked out? I just think this was the wrong move for James, both in his quest to win rings and his overall legacy if he wants to be a true pantheon player.
Running
I managed to get in 3 miles, but not all running, I was doing alright until I hit 2 miles and then the toll of daily workouts finally hit. That's okay, I kind of expected it. Plus I was maybe pushing a little too hard initially. But I still got in a good workout, and now have 2 days of a break planned. I'll probably squeeze in a couple of walks, but no running so I can start back on Monday. I was considerably more disciplined on eating this week though, have to get back into that mode overall if I ever hope to get below this plateau.
Things I didn't Expect
So I am going to ask for some feedback on this. What do people think of these little thoughts? I am going to keep them up but just curious. I'll put up a poll here for people to respond to.
Light weekend as far as plans, just the boys baseball games, nice break for a change. Disgusted by the spectacle of the NBA and Lebron James. Hit the wall today on day 4 of daily workouts, but it's okay. Amazed at the new perspective he is getting on life, not sure if it's just natural aging process or something else.
Family
Just the boys baseball games on tap for the weekend tomorrow. Probably devote some time to uploading pictures from last weekend from the camera. Probably make a short run to the library, just because we can. Might make a run to Home Depot or Lowes, Kim & I have a plan for redecorating the living room, repainting it, take up the carpet, and at some point down the road lay some laminate flooring. All of that starts with picking out some paint, and an area rug, hence the trip to Home Depot/Lowes.
NBA
Hasn't anyone learned anything from the last 10-20 years of NBA history? Super teams don't work under the constrictions of the salary cap, for the simple reason that you need more than just 3 players to win a championship. Could the Lakers have won their most recent rings without Derek Fisher, Lamar Odom or Ron Artest/Trevor Ariza? Could the Celtics have won without James Posey, Eddie House, Glen Davis? Do the Spurs win all of their rings without their role players? I could go on and on. The point is you want a superstar to get to the chmapionship, and having 2 superstars and an All Star certainly help. But you need those role players to step up when necessary to make the odd game winning shot, or crucial steal, or rebound etc. And while the ability to start Wade, James and Bosh is certainly imposing every team in the league is going to do 2 things: play a hard zone defense and force Wade & James to shoot outside shots, and pound the ball inside offensively against what will inveitably be a weak interior defense. Who on this team is going to guard Kendrick Perkins, or Dwight Howard, or Andrew Bynum? Who is going to be the second player getting rebounds when Bosh is blocked out? I just think this was the wrong move for James, both in his quest to win rings and his overall legacy if he wants to be a true pantheon player.
Running
I managed to get in 3 miles, but not all running, I was doing alright until I hit 2 miles and then the toll of daily workouts finally hit. That's okay, I kind of expected it. Plus I was maybe pushing a little too hard initially. But I still got in a good workout, and now have 2 days of a break planned. I'll probably squeeze in a couple of walks, but no running so I can start back on Monday. I was considerably more disciplined on eating this week though, have to get back into that mode overall if I ever hope to get below this plateau.
Things I didn't Expect
So I am going to ask for some feedback on this. What do people think of these little thoughts? I am going to keep them up but just curious. I'll put up a poll here for people to respond to.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Trying to figure out this logic
Dear James, Daniel and Emily,
I don't know how many people are aware of this bizarre article published yesterday. It follows an odd train of logic. And tries to hammer home some points that on some level make sense but not much. So here's my take on what I have been able to figure out about the Conservative/liberatarian logic regarding the economy and politics.
1. Nothing is free, no matter what, in any reasonable marketplace people must charge for what they provide, and no one should expect to get something for free. Charity is bad business.
2. Government should not give away anything, or help people. (Unless you are a large corporation like a bank or oil company or defense contractor in which case the government should never regulate you, but if you are collapsing government shoudl immediately leap to give you aid)
I tried to come up with a number of other thoughts here, but kept getting interrupted, and lost my train of thought. Suffice to say I think the person who wrote this column totally and completely missed the point. And it is that kind of crass seflishness that in some ways has led to the problems our economy is facing. The idea that every individual and corporation will not hurt other people or businesses out of pure enlightened self interest has been proven time and again to be wrong. And that if everyone is working in their own interest it will all work out is wrong.
I don't know how many people are aware of this bizarre article published yesterday. It follows an odd train of logic. And tries to hammer home some points that on some level make sense but not much. So here's my take on what I have been able to figure out about the Conservative/liberatarian logic regarding the economy and politics.
1. Nothing is free, no matter what, in any reasonable marketplace people must charge for what they provide, and no one should expect to get something for free. Charity is bad business.
2. Government should not give away anything, or help people. (Unless you are a large corporation like a bank or oil company or defense contractor in which case the government should never regulate you, but if you are collapsing government shoudl immediately leap to give you aid)
I tried to come up with a number of other thoughts here, but kept getting interrupted, and lost my train of thought. Suffice to say I think the person who wrote this column totally and completely missed the point. And it is that kind of crass seflishness that in some ways has led to the problems our economy is facing. The idea that every individual and corporation will not hurt other people or businesses out of pure enlightened self interest has been proven time and again to be wrong. And that if everyone is working in their own interest it will all work out is wrong.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Post 3 day weekend recap
Dear James, Daniel and Emily,
Really enjoyable weekend, lots of fun times, with friends and family. Got in some good walks, and a little basketball to keep up the activity. Watched an excellent game of World Cup soccer. Had good time at Spam O Rama. And started a new idea on Twitter.
Family
I started the weekend off with a nice dinner with a friend. It was a good chance to catch up. And also a chance to impart the lessons I have learned from my weight loss as he is trying to do the same thing. It is interesting to realize how much I have learned from this experience.
Saturday morning I went for a walk with Spotty, then came home and watched the World Cup game. Then focused on planning for the rest of the weekend. Went grocery shopping etc.Saturday afternoon we went to the Spam O Rama. Which was fun, although different since I did not take a spam dish this year. And a bit of a shock as I was reminded how much I have done in the past year with the fitness and weight loss in comparison to many of the people I only see once a year.
Sunday morning was devoted to cleaning, getting the house ready for the party. Then a nice, relaxed 4th of July family barbecue/birthday party for Selena. It is interesting to me how much the family chemistry has changed over the years. We have always enjoyed hosting these parties. But as the composition of the family has changed the chemistry of the parties has changed as well, for the better in most cases.
Monday was a nice family day. Kim worked in the morning, I took Daniel to his Y camp, then took the other 2 shopping with me, then library and then the park. Once Kim got off work we went to lunch, then went and saw Toy Story 3, which was a great movie by the way, just spectacular. So lots of fun times for the family and friends.
World Cup
I watched the Germany - Argentina match. Wow, what a difference from other matches I watched. It really was a step up in terms of the quality of play. Not just Germany, who obviously played really well in winning 4-0. But also Argentina, you could see how they would have matched up so well against lesser competition. It was like the transition from from a college to a professional football game. I will really miss watching these games and following the tournament once it is over.
Running
Saturday morning I woke and tried the shoes, and the blister still really hurt. So I made a command decision to just put on my boots and take a walk instead. And did the same thing Sunday. I knew I wouldn't get the chance to look for new shoes until Monday but I didn't want to miss out on the exercise. Sunday I also played some basketball in my bare feet, thinking that if I was serious about getting the minimal shoes or running barefoot I needed to start somewhere. So yesterday I was pretty sore, but ready to look for new shoes.
I went to the Colorado Running Company determined to get a pair of Vibram Five Fingers, the ultra minimalist shoes that I had been reading up on. My thinking was that since I am still fairly new to running it was as good a time as any to make the transition to running barefoot (or as close as possible). However, once I got there and tried on a pair it just didn't work, my big toes were just too constrained. So I did the full evaluation and settled on a different pair of still relatively minimal running shoes. I tried them out today and was pleased with the feel during and after.
My plan is to run the Mesa route (19th to King to Mesa to Uintah) on Tuesdays & Thursdays, and the track on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. But I am making the Mesa route a transition for now, walking 5 minutes, then running 5 minutes etc. Until I am able to run all 5 days. And focus on increasing my pace on the track for now.
Things I Didn't Expect
So I started doing this Saturday morning. No telling how long I will keep doing it. But I had a thought during my walk about all the things I didn't think about or expect once I started losing weight and getting fitter. And I thought it might be fun to make a daily entry of these thoughts, using the ever ready Twitter as a way to capture all of them. And just to keep things simple I decided to go ahead and do a hash tag for it as well. It is mainly things I have discovered regarding the weight loss and fitness process. But I will probably start using it for thoughts on the rest of my life as well. It's just a fun way to keep these one line thoughts in the same place.
Really enjoyable weekend, lots of fun times, with friends and family. Got in some good walks, and a little basketball to keep up the activity. Watched an excellent game of World Cup soccer. Had good time at Spam O Rama. And started a new idea on Twitter.
Family
I started the weekend off with a nice dinner with a friend. It was a good chance to catch up. And also a chance to impart the lessons I have learned from my weight loss as he is trying to do the same thing. It is interesting to realize how much I have learned from this experience.
Saturday morning I went for a walk with Spotty, then came home and watched the World Cup game. Then focused on planning for the rest of the weekend. Went grocery shopping etc.Saturday afternoon we went to the Spam O Rama. Which was fun, although different since I did not take a spam dish this year. And a bit of a shock as I was reminded how much I have done in the past year with the fitness and weight loss in comparison to many of the people I only see once a year.
Sunday morning was devoted to cleaning, getting the house ready for the party. Then a nice, relaxed 4th of July family barbecue/birthday party for Selena. It is interesting to me how much the family chemistry has changed over the years. We have always enjoyed hosting these parties. But as the composition of the family has changed the chemistry of the parties has changed as well, for the better in most cases.
Monday was a nice family day. Kim worked in the morning, I took Daniel to his Y camp, then took the other 2 shopping with me, then library and then the park. Once Kim got off work we went to lunch, then went and saw Toy Story 3, which was a great movie by the way, just spectacular. So lots of fun times for the family and friends.
World Cup
I watched the Germany - Argentina match. Wow, what a difference from other matches I watched. It really was a step up in terms of the quality of play. Not just Germany, who obviously played really well in winning 4-0. But also Argentina, you could see how they would have matched up so well against lesser competition. It was like the transition from from a college to a professional football game. I will really miss watching these games and following the tournament once it is over.
Running
Saturday morning I woke and tried the shoes, and the blister still really hurt. So I made a command decision to just put on my boots and take a walk instead. And did the same thing Sunday. I knew I wouldn't get the chance to look for new shoes until Monday but I didn't want to miss out on the exercise. Sunday I also played some basketball in my bare feet, thinking that if I was serious about getting the minimal shoes or running barefoot I needed to start somewhere. So yesterday I was pretty sore, but ready to look for new shoes.
I went to the Colorado Running Company determined to get a pair of Vibram Five Fingers, the ultra minimalist shoes that I had been reading up on. My thinking was that since I am still fairly new to running it was as good a time as any to make the transition to running barefoot (or as close as possible). However, once I got there and tried on a pair it just didn't work, my big toes were just too constrained. So I did the full evaluation and settled on a different pair of still relatively minimal running shoes. I tried them out today and was pleased with the feel during and after.
My plan is to run the Mesa route (19th to King to Mesa to Uintah) on Tuesdays & Thursdays, and the track on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. But I am making the Mesa route a transition for now, walking 5 minutes, then running 5 minutes etc. Until I am able to run all 5 days. And focus on increasing my pace on the track for now.
Things I Didn't Expect
So I started doing this Saturday morning. No telling how long I will keep doing it. But I had a thought during my walk about all the things I didn't think about or expect once I started losing weight and getting fitter. And I thought it might be fun to make a daily entry of these thoughts, using the ever ready Twitter as a way to capture all of them. And just to keep things simple I decided to go ahead and do a hash tag for it as well. It is mainly things I have discovered regarding the weight loss and fitness process. But I will probably start using it for thoughts on the rest of my life as well. It's just a fun way to keep these one line thoughts in the same place.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Hooray for the 3 Day Weekend!
Dear James, Daniel and Emily,
This weekend I get to celebrate our nations independence by not working for 3 days! Discovered this morning I am going to have to look more seriously at a new pair of running shoes. Lots going on over the weekend: Spam O Rama, family birthday, day of relaxation plus some serious World cup action. And maybe get back to some game time with the kids.
Running
Yesterday I walked the route that I ran on Wednesday so I could get an accurate measurement of the distance. Unfortunately I discovered that I was getting a blister on my back heel after the walk, probably due to the different motion of running/walking up and down hills as opposed to the level track. This morning I tried to gut it out, but decided after 1 trip around the track that that was not smart. So I went home and bandaged it, and will maybe try again tomorrow. But that got me thinking that I might have to step up my looking at a different pair of shoes because this is not the first time that my track shoes have done this. If I want to be able to run on anything other than a level track I need a better fitting pair of shoes.
Family plans
No baseball this week, so my Saturday morning if free for a change. The afternoon and evening will be dedicated to Spam O Rama. After going over my old posts I see that I have not actually described this event in detail before so I will take a moment to do so now.
Spam O Rama is an annual event put on by our friends Forrest & Nancy. It is held on the Saturday closest to the 4th of July. There generally are 2 spam oriented events: a cooking contest (best Spam dish) and the Spam toss. When it gets dark enough they then shoot off some fireworks. In the mean time people chat, play games of various kinds, it's a lot of fun.
So that is our Saturday afternoon and evening plan. Sunday will be a pretty relaxed day. We will host a family pot luck barbecue, then go up to Manitou to watch the fireworks (hopefully for the last time at Grandma & Grandpa's house). Monday I have the day off, and only Daniel has a plan, so I will find something to occupy James & Emily in the morning, then maybe all go to Toy Story in the afternoon.
I am hoping to get some time in there to finsih my game of Warhammer with James, I kind of let that slip by the way side for a while. In general I need to get myself back into the Daddy Hours again on the weekends, even with the baseball games going. Not sure how I am going to get back to squeezing that in but feel the need to do so.
This weekend I get to celebrate our nations independence by not working for 3 days! Discovered this morning I am going to have to look more seriously at a new pair of running shoes. Lots going on over the weekend: Spam O Rama, family birthday, day of relaxation plus some serious World cup action. And maybe get back to some game time with the kids.
Running
Yesterday I walked the route that I ran on Wednesday so I could get an accurate measurement of the distance. Unfortunately I discovered that I was getting a blister on my back heel after the walk, probably due to the different motion of running/walking up and down hills as opposed to the level track. This morning I tried to gut it out, but decided after 1 trip around the track that that was not smart. So I went home and bandaged it, and will maybe try again tomorrow. But that got me thinking that I might have to step up my looking at a different pair of shoes because this is not the first time that my track shoes have done this. If I want to be able to run on anything other than a level track I need a better fitting pair of shoes.
Family plans
No baseball this week, so my Saturday morning if free for a change. The afternoon and evening will be dedicated to Spam O Rama. After going over my old posts I see that I have not actually described this event in detail before so I will take a moment to do so now.
Spam O Rama is an annual event put on by our friends Forrest & Nancy. It is held on the Saturday closest to the 4th of July. There generally are 2 spam oriented events: a cooking contest (best Spam dish) and the Spam toss. When it gets dark enough they then shoot off some fireworks. In the mean time people chat, play games of various kinds, it's a lot of fun.
So that is our Saturday afternoon and evening plan. Sunday will be a pretty relaxed day. We will host a family pot luck barbecue, then go up to Manitou to watch the fireworks (hopefully for the last time at Grandma & Grandpa's house). Monday I have the day off, and only Daniel has a plan, so I will find something to occupy James & Emily in the morning, then maybe all go to Toy Story in the afternoon.
I am hoping to get some time in there to finsih my game of Warhammer with James, I kind of let that slip by the way side for a while. In general I need to get myself back into the Daddy Hours again on the weekends, even with the baseball games going. Not sure how I am going to get back to squeezing that in but feel the need to do so.
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