Cyclery, Week 9

Working long hours doesn't make it easy to get out there.

8/14: -
8/15: -
8/16: 8m
8/17: 16m
8/18: 12.5m
8/19: 16m
8/20: -

Week Total: 52.5m
Overall Total: 508.7m
Miles to go to meet summer goal: -8.7m

But I did reach my goal of 500 miles by Labor Day a couple weeks early.

Health

So it's not a big secret that I'm not a big health care advocate (haven't seen a doctor since 1996), but without going too far afield, I feel compelled to say that the current national health care debate has gone pretty ridiculous.

Seriously, I read the bits about "end of life consultations" and to think it means "death panels" or eugenics seems like quite a stretch.

I have employer-provided health insurance. Sure, I never use it, but it's kind of cool to know its there. I don't follow the informal fallacies that if the government finds a way to make a public option, the private insurance industry is doomed. Compete, or don't.

This week's presidential address made enough sense to me that I felt like throwing in my two cents.



I don't have any answers, but I'm kind of thinking that if we're going to say "Hey, we're the best country anywhere", it makes sense to address the problems we've got, and take care of our own.

This country is made of up actual humans. They deserve the best opportunities we can offer.

Milestone 1

So back a few months ago, I found my life changing in unexpected ways, and having a few mental cycles to burn off, I decided that it was time to make some changes.

First up, I've been carrying too much weight around for too long. It'd fluctuate a bit, but nothing significant. Here's a picture of me from 2006 where I weighed about the same as I did in May of this year when I started seriously thinking about it:

(I think my brother likes to use the term "man mound" in reference to that picture)

So I'd start going for walks, and quickly remembered that walking bores the hell out of me. Took a picture of the scale (below) with some loosely-formed goals in mind.

Skip forward a month and I found myself at the DMV renewing my driver's license and filling out the form it dawned on me that the weight basically started accumulating the day I started driving. I used to walk or bike everywhere before that when I needed to get around.

So another week's worth of research and I found a bicycle I was interested in purchasing. High risk of folly there, as I'd not ridden a bike in nearly 15 years, but it seemed like the right time to start getting things in order.

Decided that if I could break the 200lb mark, then I'd get a chance (this) to brag a little. Something to work for.

So, here's the scale on May 18th at 232.6:


And here's this morning (August 13th) at 199.8:


(if you click through to Flickr on those, you can see the "Taken On" dates that were embedded in the EXIF data)

No fancy programs or anything dropping 30+ lbs in just under 3 months. Exercise more with the biking and the walking. Eat more vegetables. Cut in half meat consumption. Doubled coffee intake. Doing a little resistance stuff now.

My goal is to get to 175. I don't know if it's feasible if more muscle replaces fat (muscle being more dense and all), but it's what I'm aiming towards.

As for some of the other things in my life I'd like to change, well, I figure one thing at a time for right now. I'm trying to make permanent changes I can live with rather than jump off Cliff Gung-Ho and then rescind a week later. In due time for some of the other things.

But I'm feeling rather proud of making it to today.

Oh, and I checked: The camera does not add 10lbs.

Cyclery, Week 8

Short week. Motivation isn't quite as high as it was before, but still a couple good rides. Bonus going out and doing a beach ride with a friend on Sunday.

8/7: -
8/8: -
8/9: 17m
8/10: -
8/11: 12.5m
8/12: 16m
8/13: -

Week Total: 45.5m
Overall Total: 456.2m
Miles to go to meet summer goal: 43.8m

Goodbye, cat

Well, transfer is complete. The cat that lived with me for several years has now gone to its new home with its original owner (the girl that left it for me to take care of it.) Hope it has many happy days to come.

And I thought my relationships ended awkwardly...

Weird Beard

So I kept getting certain references on the joke beard today. Of course, I was compared to some guy in a Guy Fawkes mask

Colonel Sanders

But the one that really surprised me was Vladimir Lenin


So, of course, I started making jokes like "Well, a Hitler mustache would be tasteless...but c'mon, it's a Lenin goatee!"




(and I'm sort of thinking of keeping it now.)

De-Bearding: Phase 1

About once a year or so I get the urge to shave off whatever facial hair I've got (I end up growing it back a week or so later), but it's been a while.

So I was talking about it to a friend the other day, and they convinced me that I had to do something ridiculous, and get through at least one work-day with it.

So, the before:

And, the after:


Dear god, it's almost growing on me.

Cyclery, Week 7

Need new routes. That 16 mile one is losing interest.

7/31: -
8/1: 16m
8/2: -
8/3: -
8/4: 16m
8/5: 16m
8/6: 16m

Week Total: 64.0m
Overall Total: 410.7m
Miles to go to meet summer goal: 89.3m

thoughts...

Still laugh every time I watch this.



And more... (some overlap, sure)

(I know, you're thinking, can't I just hear this whole story at once? And I say, "c'mon, I'm linking this stuff off youtube, what can I do?")

I know you're thinking "Oh, some crappy stand-up comic", right? Ok, maybe, but this guy used to sing for ye olde punk rock band Black Flag, and listening to his spoken word stuff had its hand into warping me a little back in my youth. (I can find people that'd be willing to give depositions that his spoken word stuff stuck a little too hard, trust me.)