The Weight Thing: Day 11

I don't consider yesterday a shining example of dietary excellence.

I started off the day with a chai latte and a slice of banana nut bread from Starbuck's. For lunch, I had a sensible seared tuna steak with roasted potatoes and vegetables, with a Coke (sugar/caffeine) and two glasses of ice water. During the afternoon playtest, I had a Diet Mountain Dew (caffeine).

For dinner, though, I had a chicken salad sandwich on wheat bread from the Teeter, a glass of Hawaiian Punch (sugar), some Doritos leftover from the trip to Disney (salt), and a couple of chocolate cupcakes (sugar).

And I didn't walk.

I woke up with a migraine, probably thanks to all the sugar after a relatively decent couple of weeks.

I must do better.

Stupid.

The Weight Thing: Day 10

I was a little off the mark on Wednesday. No breakfast because I was running late, although I did take my vitamins.

For lunch, I had a Chick Fil-A sandwich and a Dr Pepper (sugar/caffeine).

During the PvP test at work, I had a Diet Mountain Dew (caffeine).

For dinner, I had a couple of slices of Hawaiian BBQ pizza from Papa John's, a couple of chicken wings, and a parmesan breadstick with some Hawaiian punch (sugar).

No dessert. Not a walking day.

The Weight Thing: Day 9

This morning, I had yogurt for breakfast.

For lunch, I had leftover chili with a Coke (sugar/caffeine).

I had a second Coke (sugar/caffeine). Not my best afternoon there.

For dinner, I had three slices of double pepperoni pizza and a Coke Zero (caffeine).

I took a short walk, because it's damned cold outside.

The Weight Thing: Day 8

For breakfast, I had bran cereal with strawberries in it.

For lunch, I joined Dan and Marie at Domo Sushi - it's a new place down near the Harris Teeter with a conveyor belt that sends sushi around to the customers. I had chicken teriyaki with rice and hot tea while they had sushi.

I drank one Pepsi (sugar/caffeine) and one Diet Mountain Dew (caffeine) during the day.

For dinner, Karen made salmon. I had that with water.

I didn't walk last night, but will do so tonight.

Nice job, hatemongers...

And so it begins?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081027/ap_on_el_pr/skinhead_plot

This is what happens when you push an agenda that plays on hate and bigotry, John McCain.

The wheels coming off?

God, I hope so!

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/27/palin.tension/index.html

The Weight Thing: Day 7

Slept in, but we had brunch at Brig’s. I had a bacon cheeseburger with a house salad (oil and vinegar dressing) and a cup of hot caffeinated tea (lemon, no sugar). I also had about a third of an angel food cake/strawberries/vanilla ice cream dessert – shared the rest with Karen and Stefan.

After Brig’s, we stopped by the apartment to pick up Huckleberry and took him to the Greenway trail in Umstead Park. Walked for at least a couple of miles.

For dinner, I had a pulled pork dinner from Smithfield’s – I ate the pork, the potato salad, and a couple of fried hush puppies – with a large sweet iced tea.

After dinner, we had some homemade apple crisp. Delicious!

Got $500 to spend?

Because this is pretty cool:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/25/zeppelin.tours.ap/index.html

The Weight Thing: Day 6

I slept in on Saturday, so I didn't end up having any breakfast at all.

On the way to work, I picked up a hamburger (no cheese), side salad (rather than fries), and a large sweet tea (sugar/caffeine) from Wendy's.

While at work, I drank one Coke (sugar/caffeine).

After work, I walked two circuits around the apartment complex.

We ate dinner at Johnny Carino's. I had spicy chicken romano, a Caesar salad, a couple of stuffed mushrooms, hot tea with lemon (caffeine), and a small piece of chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream for dessert.

The Weight Thing: Day 5

So, yesterday:

Had a protein shake for breakfast.

Bought a 12-pack of Coke for the office. Drank one (sugar/caffeine).

Got lunch at the Hibernian. I ate Irish stew with unsweetened iced tea and some grain bread.

Drank a Diet Mountain Dew after lunch. Had a bowl of 2-percent yogurt with strawberry jam in it as a snack.

For dinner, we drove to Southpoint in Durham for California Pizza Kitchen. I had artichoke dip with nacho chips and about half a buffalo chicken pizza, with one cup of Earl Grey (caffeine) and a glass of Pepsi (sugar/caffeine).

My walking routine last night consisted of trekking through Southpoint's parking lot because I had to park way the hell out in the boonies. (And it was drizzling. Whee!)

Fell asleep watching Citizen Kane.

Testing iBlogger

Checking out this new blogging app on my iPhone. Fear it!

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

New Star Trek pics

So, I've had my doubts about Star Trek - especially the casting of Karl Urban as McCoy. But, y'know, yeah, this is just a picture, but it kind of gives me some hope!

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20233788_5,00.html

Restless Spouse Syndrome?

I couldn't get to sleep last night. I felt antsy and anxious. So, I got out of bed, logged on the computer, and ran around World of Warcraft to fill out more of my map for those exploration achievements. I was doing whatever I could not to think about whatever it was I was fidgeting about.

When I got bored with WoW, I started watching one of three episodes of Dexter that I'm trying to catch up on. I was 10 minutes into the episode when it clicked in my head. I knew what was bugging me: I hadn't heard from Joy since sending her my answers for the divorce filing on Monday. Not even a confirmation that she got the information.

This is bad for my personality, because I'm like a shark: I have to keep moving forward. I can't stand going in stupid circles or trying to swim backward or sitting in one place for very long.

Once I realized what was wrong and knew I couldn't settle the problem in the middle of the night by watching TV, I felt I could sleep.

And I did.

Heroes: Its Own Worst Enemy?

So, I've tried to get back into Heroes this season and it's just not clicking for me.

I don't buy Nathan's religious conversion.

I don't buy how stupid Hiro is acting.

I don't get how Linderman is alive/not alive/manipulating people.

I don't know why TPTB are already recycling superpowers (Isaac's future-via-painting, for example).

I don't like the new Not-Niki.

I can't buy Sylar-as-Petrelli-sibling OR HRG partner.

I hate the whole Mohinder-fly plot.

I'm not interested in the villains.

Season 1, I couldn't get enough of this show. Season 2 was a real struggle, thanks in large part to the writers strike. Now...I think it suffers from trying to continually be on the cutting edge, endeavoring to top itself, and mostly it's just leaping over sharks.

Sad.

The Weight Thing: Day 4

On Thursday morning, Karen made me a wheat muffin with egg, cheddar cheese, and ham, with a cup of hot tea.

A while later, at work, I had a bottle of Dr Pepper (sugar/caffeine).

For lunch, I had leftover Brunswick stew, apple slices, and a Diet Dr Pepper (caffeine).

After lunch, I had a Pepsi (sugar/caffeine).

For dinner, Karen made spaghetti with a side of asiago bread from Panera and a glass of water.

I only took a short walk tonight, with Huck. Feeling pretty restless and antsy, but not up to exerting myself, apparently.

It's trying to tell me something...

I had two dollars for the soda vending machine at work.

I'm swearing off Mountain Dew now, even the diet stuff, and it was time to do some playtesting on the game. I needed sugar and caffeine. So, I slid the bills into the electronic slot and ordered myself a bottle of Pepsi.

The drink, which costs $1.25, rolls down into the dispenser bin. The remaining change rattles down to the coin slot. The first quarter comes popping out at an arc and lands at my foot, as if flung there in disgust by the vending machine.

Don't judge me, I thought.

This...

...is just damned creepy:

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24540399-5009760,00.html

Rock Band 2!

Rock Band 2, one of the birthday presents from my folks, arrived today!

Yay for new tunes!

The Weight Thing: Day 3

For breakfast, I ate a mixed cereal with bran flakes, raisins, dates, pecans, raspberries, and strawberries. Cup of hot tea.

Ate lunch at the Stonewood Tavern. Tempura crab burger sandwich with a house salad instead of fries and a glass of unsweetened iced tea (caffeine).

One Mountain Dew (sugar/caffeine).

For dinner, ate out at Cool Runnings. Had the jerk ribeye steak, pan-fried plantains, and oven-roasted garlic potatoes. Drank a pineapple soda (no caffeine) and a glass of iced water. One bite of Karen's bread pudding.

No walking tonight. I'm going on a 3-night-a-week walking schedule instead of pushing myself every single evening.

New Star Wars MMO!

So, it's official!

BioWare is developing Star Wars: The Old Republic as an MMO.

I could give up WoW for good if this new game proves to be as awesome as its potential suggests.

http://www.swtor.com/news/article/press-release-001

National Novel Writing month is coming...

...and I've officially re-upped my membership so that I can participate.

In the month of November, I'll write 50,000 words. The project I'm working on won't be based on any of the current Jointhesaga.com games - it'll be fiction set in the real world of the late 20th Century.

You should give it a try too! Everyone should try writing a novel at least once. I pulled this off back in 2004 and it resulted in Red-Eye Flight.

Check it out at http://nanowrimo.org

Vote!

We've got two weeks until a new president is elected for the next four years.

The new president will either be an old guy who traded in maverick idealism for Bush coattails and a crazy Alaskan moose hunter, or a relatively untried young guy who's got a way with words and boatloads of charisma.

Personally, I'm voting to keep the moose hunter more than a heartbeat away from the most powerful office in the land. We've had eight years of crazy VP Cheney. No need to extend that record of wackiness.

No matter who you're voting for, get to the polls on Nov. 4!

Short Attention Span Review: Amazon's Kindle

Karen gave one of these to me for my birthday. It's fantastic. Basically, it's an electronic book reader with a wireless connection. I can order and download new content any time, and read it any time. I can also put my own content, such as PDFs and other documents, on the device. It's my current favorite toy.

The Weight Thing: Day 2

For breakfast, Karen made me a fried egg and cheddar cheese English muffin with hot tea.

Before lunch, I had one Mountain Dew (sugar/caffeine).

For lunch, I had leftover chili and a bag of fresh apple slices, with a Diet Mountain Dew (caffeine, no sugar).

For dinner, I had homemade Brunswick stew, a buttered roll, and a glass of Dr Pepper (sugar/caffeine). No dessert.

After dinner, I walked about a mile in 20 minutes around the apartment complex. My right calf and the sole of my right foot felt sore afterward. I think I might want to get new walking shoes instead of my normal sneakers.

Short Attention Span Review: Cirque du Soleil - La Nouba

I caught this show at Downtown Disney during my week-long Florida vacation. Actually, it capped the week, as we started for North Carolina the next morning. We ended up seeing it on a fluke. We went to Downtown Disney for lunch at Bongo's, so I took a chance and asked the cashier in the box office if they had tickets for that night's show. They did! I'm glad we got the tickets - it was one of the most amazing performances I've ever seen. If you get a chance, catch it.

Necessary Questions

It's been nearly a year since Joy left, ending any chance of saving our marriage. In North Carolina, you've got to wait one year and a day after the official separation to file for divorce.

On Sunday, as we were coming back from vacation, Karen and I talked about how busy I was likely to be in November with court activity. It seemed obvious that I was going to have to take the initiative and file for divorce here, hoping somehow to get the papers to Joy in Florida.

Monday morning, though, I found an email from Joy in my in-box from the week I was on vacation. It seems that she has taken the initiative and started the proceedings via an online site. The email included a lot of probing finance-related questions that must be answered by both parties in an uncontested divorce.

So, I sent back the answers as quick as I could. I'm not fighting this split. I've fought all I care to for that relationship and now I'm past it. I'm very glad that she has taken the ball and run with it on this - saves me a load of work in November, to be quite honest, if all I have to do is sign papers for her.

It may just be a matter of days now before our marriage is really officially over.

The Weight Thing: Day 1

Vacation's over! Time to get to work on myself.

Karen and I talked it over. Major things I'll cut right off the bat: Sugary drinks and French fries.

I'm not cutting the drinks cold turkey, but...

On Monday, Oct. 20, I had one 20 oz. Mountain Dew (sugar/caffeine), a lunch of steak teriyaki and a tempura banana with a glass of unsweetened iced tea, and then, after lunch, one 20 oz. Diet Mountain Dew (caffeine).

For dinner, I had a bowl of chili with cheddar cheese and sour cream, plus a wedge of corn bread. Washed it down with a glass of Dr Pepper (sugar/caffeine). No dessert.

Monday night, I walked for nearly a mile in about 20 minutes, averaging a little more than 3 mph.

Rude Awakening

So, there I was, in the midst of my awesome Disney/Universal Studios vacation. I had zoomed through the thinly populated queue for The Hulk so I could get in the very front row of the rollercoaster - just like I did last year.

I settled in, with Karen and Stefan on my right. Just one problem: I couldn't snap the restraint's buckle into place. An attendant came over to help, but failed to manage any better than I had.

"You'll have to get out and wait for the next car, and we'll seat you in Row Three," she said.

I'm not morbidly obese or anything, but I could definitely stand to lose - or shift - about 20-30 pounds from around my waist. The fact that I can't ride in the front of my favorite rollercoaster clinched it for me. It's time to take steps.

Therefore, among other things, I'll be tracking efforts to get into rollercoaster fighting form in this blog. No, I won't post anything related to pounds lost or gained. I really don't care about numbers. If I keep some of the weight as muscle, great! But I do want to keep track of what I'm eating and what I'm doing to keep in shape.

Stay tuned.