It's been a weekend of highs and lows, but the lows were much worse than the highs.
On the good side, we went to a shrimp boil Friday after work and had a good time with folks while enjoying sweet gulf shrimp, corn, potatos and various chips, cookies and other junk food. Then on Saturday, we went up to the HGMS gem and mineral show. I got some nice opals, a nice piece of amber (raw) and a few slabs to cab later on. Plus I picked up some tools for my Dremel to make it easier to polish my opals.
On the bad side, Daniel discovered he's developed an allergic reaction to shrimp. Notice what we had on Friday? Somehow, he didn't get sick by eating it, but when he handled the raw shrimp, his hand swelled up, and by Sunday night it had started to spread to his neck, arms and legs. So we made a late night trip to the emergency room for steroid shots and prescriptions.
The not-fun continued today, with the sad death of three of our goldfish. We'd been keeping the pond level low so that when the weather finally cooperated and we had time, we could easily pump out the pond, put in a new liner and replace the water. Unfortunately, it seems the water got too low for some of the fish. We lost 3 last night and 2 more are looking shaky.
The timing doesn't help either. I've got a massive amount of work to do this week, so I'll be working 10 hour days, and this weekend, we've already made plans to go to Fredericksburg on Friday and Saturday. Plus, they're talking about having us work this weekend! My poor fish. Maybe I'll just have to break out the flashlights and do it at night.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Friday, September 14, 2007
Diet and workout - CKD
Part of getting back to this is to have a place to record some of my thoughts on my new diet and strength training program. It's not a place for detailed day-to-day journalling, but I think an update would be good here.
Almost 4 weeks ago, I started a cyclical ketogenic diet (CKD). It involves low-carb during the week, and high-carb on Friday night and Saturday. The idea is to get the body to switch to fat burning during the week and lift very heavy. Then on the weekend, you eat high (clean) carbs to replenish the glycogen in the muscles, give them something to use to repair and get stronger. Then on Sunday, back to low-carb and the whole thing starts again.
I'm an all-or-nothing kind of person when it comes to diet. I did okay on a moderate (40/40/20) diet for a few months, then the snacks and junk food would slowly sneak back in, and by August I had gained back 15 pounds from January. I actually only count 10 of it, because the first 5 was water rebound from the Medifast diet I did last year. So I found out about the CKD and decided to give it a try.
It's been 4 weeks, and I made the switch fairly easily. Never had the brain fog that affects most people. The happiest thing is that I'm rarely hungry and I'm able to get by with the targeted amount of calories. I set my calories at 1650-1750/day Sunday to Thursday. On Friday and Saturday, I'm aiming for 2100-2300. You're supposed to do clean carb-ups, meaning oatmeal, sweet potatos, tuna, chicken. A "standard" bodybuilder diet with low fat and no refined sugar. In practice, I've been giving myself permission to have the things I'm "denied" during the week, or even on a 40/40/20 diet. From what I've read, it's fairly standard among people starting a CKD, and after a few weeks, you're done binging and you can easily stick with clean carb-ups.
I've only had 2 carb-ups so far, and last week I splurged on a birthday cake, so I went a little overboard. I know that a dirty carb-up can wipe out any gains during the week, so I have to take more accountability for my weekends. However, my pants fit better now, even though the scale isn't moving down very much. That's the most important thing to me, considering that I had to go buy a larger pair of pants a couple months ago. Now I'm back in my regular clothes and much happier.
It's an experiment and for the first time, I'm sticking to the rules so I can acurately evaluate what's working for me and what isn't. I feel like it's taken me many years, but every time I try something, I get a little better at it.
So bottom line for the past 4 weeks?
Low carb cals: 1650-1750; ~20 g net carbs (lots of veggies)
High Carb cals: ~2200; too much fat
Exercise: Heavy training 2 days/week, depletion workout on Friday afternoon; cardio 2-3X/week
Weight lost: 2 pounds
Waist inches lost: ~1-2 inch
Thoughts: A little slower than I was expecting. Possible reasons? Too many refined carbs and fat during the carb-up. Not enough calories during the week.
Have to really keep an eye on carbs during the week. They sneak in everywhere.
Strategy? Giving it 2 more weeks on the current schedule, then I'll decided what changes I want to make. Work on cleaner carb-ups and getting more healthy fats in and reducing the saturated fats. Aim for 4 strength trainings/week instead of 3.
Almost 4 weeks ago, I started a cyclical ketogenic diet (CKD). It involves low-carb during the week, and high-carb on Friday night and Saturday. The idea is to get the body to switch to fat burning during the week and lift very heavy. Then on the weekend, you eat high (clean) carbs to replenish the glycogen in the muscles, give them something to use to repair and get stronger. Then on Sunday, back to low-carb and the whole thing starts again.
I'm an all-or-nothing kind of person when it comes to diet. I did okay on a moderate (40/40/20) diet for a few months, then the snacks and junk food would slowly sneak back in, and by August I had gained back 15 pounds from January. I actually only count 10 of it, because the first 5 was water rebound from the Medifast diet I did last year. So I found out about the CKD and decided to give it a try.
It's been 4 weeks, and I made the switch fairly easily. Never had the brain fog that affects most people. The happiest thing is that I'm rarely hungry and I'm able to get by with the targeted amount of calories. I set my calories at 1650-1750/day Sunday to Thursday. On Friday and Saturday, I'm aiming for 2100-2300. You're supposed to do clean carb-ups, meaning oatmeal, sweet potatos, tuna, chicken. A "standard" bodybuilder diet with low fat and no refined sugar. In practice, I've been giving myself permission to have the things I'm "denied" during the week, or even on a 40/40/20 diet. From what I've read, it's fairly standard among people starting a CKD, and after a few weeks, you're done binging and you can easily stick with clean carb-ups.
I've only had 2 carb-ups so far, and last week I splurged on a birthday cake, so I went a little overboard. I know that a dirty carb-up can wipe out any gains during the week, so I have to take more accountability for my weekends. However, my pants fit better now, even though the scale isn't moving down very much. That's the most important thing to me, considering that I had to go buy a larger pair of pants a couple months ago. Now I'm back in my regular clothes and much happier.
It's an experiment and for the first time, I'm sticking to the rules so I can acurately evaluate what's working for me and what isn't. I feel like it's taken me many years, but every time I try something, I get a little better at it.
So bottom line for the past 4 weeks?
Low carb cals: 1650-1750; ~20 g net carbs (lots of veggies)
High Carb cals: ~2200; too much fat
Exercise: Heavy training 2 days/week, depletion workout on Friday afternoon; cardio 2-3X/week
Weight lost: 2 pounds
Waist inches lost: ~1-2 inch
Thoughts: A little slower than I was expecting. Possible reasons? Too many refined carbs and fat during the carb-up. Not enough calories during the week.
Have to really keep an eye on carbs during the week. They sneak in everywhere.
Strategy? Giving it 2 more weeks on the current schedule, then I'll decided what changes I want to make. Work on cleaner carb-ups and getting more healthy fats in and reducing the saturated fats. Aim for 4 strength trainings/week instead of 3.
Back and practicing
There are so many reasons to keep up a blog. So why do I have so much trouble? Well, maybe by now, not so many people are reading, so I can spend some time writing for myself now, and work out some issues. Like why do I procrastinate? Why does anyone?
There are a lot of things going on right now, and often I think it'd be neat to write stuff down so I can share with friends. I also feel like it's about time to reinvent myself again, something I seem to do every 3-5 years. Thoughts of running my own business are creeping into my head again, but I keep asking myself, what would I do? I know I don't want to stay in Houston, and I'd like to move back to Virginia, so that's the major factor in that wish. I did have an interview at Wallops Flight Facility, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, almost 2 weeks ago. I thought I did really well on the interview, but I still haven't heard anything. I know they have someone, or two, in mind locally, so I'd have to be really good to beat them out. One other thing is that they aren't offering relocation expenses, so we'd have to pay for it ourselves. I would, though. That's how much I'd love to get back to Virginia. Everything else can work itself out.
So this morning on my way into work, I hear a talk show about a woman who started her own business(es) and what she had to say resonated a lot with me. To the point where I went to the website and did some reading and got some ideas.
One of the ideas floating around in my head involves communication, so in the end, that's why I'm back to my blog. I need to practice. I need to get in the habit, even if no one is reading now. Someday, they will be.
There are a lot of things going on right now, and often I think it'd be neat to write stuff down so I can share with friends. I also feel like it's about time to reinvent myself again, something I seem to do every 3-5 years. Thoughts of running my own business are creeping into my head again, but I keep asking myself, what would I do? I know I don't want to stay in Houston, and I'd like to move back to Virginia, so that's the major factor in that wish. I did have an interview at Wallops Flight Facility, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, almost 2 weeks ago. I thought I did really well on the interview, but I still haven't heard anything. I know they have someone, or two, in mind locally, so I'd have to be really good to beat them out. One other thing is that they aren't offering relocation expenses, so we'd have to pay for it ourselves. I would, though. That's how much I'd love to get back to Virginia. Everything else can work itself out.
So this morning on my way into work, I hear a talk show about a woman who started her own business(es) and what she had to say resonated a lot with me. To the point where I went to the website and did some reading and got some ideas.
One of the ideas floating around in my head involves communication, so in the end, that's why I'm back to my blog. I need to practice. I need to get in the habit, even if no one is reading now. Someday, they will be.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Wildflowers in Texas
We finally got out of Houston for the day and got to a prettier part of Texas. The hills really are blue and red and orange and pink with all the blooming wildflowers. I couldn't tell which was more interesting - the flowers or the tourists stopped on the side of the road taking pictures. Of course, I was one of the tourists, so I can't do much other than laugh. At one place, we found the holy triumvirate of picture taking: cows lying in blue bonnets next to a quaint pond. Cars were lined up for a quarter mile. Pictures are here (still working on them).
While out, we stopped at the Antique Rose Emporium in Brenham, TX. They rescue old roses from ditches, cemetaries, old homesites and places destined for the bulldozer. So I bought 3 roses to put in. I'm slow at that like everything else, so it might take me a few days to get them in. But hopefully, eventually, I'll get my yard all cottage-y.
While out, we stopped at the Antique Rose Emporium in Brenham, TX. They rescue old roses from ditches, cemetaries, old homesites and places destined for the bulldozer. So I bought 3 roses to put in. I'm slow at that like everything else, so it might take me a few days to get them in. But hopefully, eventually, I'll get my yard all cottage-y.
Painting the Bathroom
Respite Blue or Raindrop Blue? How can there be so many shades of blue and none of them just right? I finally got the old wallpaper off the bathroom walls. That took me about a week. Then another week to tape and prime the walls. Now I'm studying the two shades of blue I test painted on the wall behind the mirror to see what I like best.
Now explain to me why people would hang wallpaper over plain drywall, then take the time to plaster a spongy pattern on the wall, but only behind where the mirrors are hung. There's no paper there, but plenty of plaster. It took me 2 hours with a sander to smooth off the plaster bumps. Then another hour to vacuum up the plaster dust and mop up. I still need to find some new lights to replace the standard builder's lights they put in originally. And finally, I'm trying to figure out what I can do to fancy up the mirrors. Gives me excuse to buy and browse through the home improvement magazines.
Now explain to me why people would hang wallpaper over plain drywall, then take the time to plaster a spongy pattern on the wall, but only behind where the mirrors are hung. There's no paper there, but plenty of plaster. It took me 2 hours with a sander to smooth off the plaster bumps. Then another hour to vacuum up the plaster dust and mop up. I still need to find some new lights to replace the standard builder's lights they put in originally. And finally, I'm trying to figure out what I can do to fancy up the mirrors. Gives me excuse to buy and browse through the home improvement magazines.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Happy Thanksgiving
I hope everyone had a nice, fun holiday weekend. Out of respect for my friends who work retail, and out of respect for the human race, I decided not to go shopping on Friday. First of all, I'm not getting out of bed insanely early to stand around and hope to get one of a very few doorbuster items. Actually, to get those, you have to get in line around 11pm the night before. Forget that. I'm sleeping in. Second, they just didn't have anything I wanted.
I had a nice 5 day weekend. On Thanksgiving, we had duck instead of turkey. It was good, but greasy. Friday we watched Casino Royale, and I think it's probably the best Bond film ever. Daniel Craig is awesome as James Bond!
Over the weekend, I did some holiday baking. I made a couple batches of different cookies, which promptly went into the freezer so I wouldn't be tempted. I had two small cookies last night and had a stomach ache all night long. It's been so long since I had sugar and junk that my body can't handle it anymore. I'm looking forward to eating my salad and apple today to get back on track. I also made some Christmas presents for friends and family this weekend while watching a bunch of movies at home. All in all, quite a nice, relaxing weekend.
I had a nice 5 day weekend. On Thanksgiving, we had duck instead of turkey. It was good, but greasy. Friday we watched Casino Royale, and I think it's probably the best Bond film ever. Daniel Craig is awesome as James Bond!
Over the weekend, I did some holiday baking. I made a couple batches of different cookies, which promptly went into the freezer so I wouldn't be tempted. I had two small cookies last night and had a stomach ache all night long. It's been so long since I had sugar and junk that my body can't handle it anymore. I'm looking forward to eating my salad and apple today to get back on track. I also made some Christmas presents for friends and family this weekend while watching a bunch of movies at home. All in all, quite a nice, relaxing weekend.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
So Long, Sprint!
We've had it with the dropped calls, the cross-connections, the poor customer service and the locked-out website. The last straw was when I couldn't make a call for 2 days without getting dropped and kicked into roaming, then when I went to the website, it wouldn't validate my password and instead of mailing it to me, it said to call customer service. Well, my phone won't frakkin' work!! How am I supposed to call?
So we drove to the Verizon store and talked to them for a long time. We ended up with two new phones and a discount to our service plan. Plus my new phone now has Bluetooth, and I like it a lot. Hrm, now how do I get my phone to display the length of the phone call?
Then we stopped by Kroger to pick up a couple things for Thanksgiving. I could handle the crowded aisles, but at the checkout, the guy in front of us was taking stuff away from his bill so it wouldn't cost as much, then he paid for some strawberry milk separately, then he paid for all the stuff he didn't get the first time. I was ready to strangle him. Time to avoid all stores now until January.
So we drove to the Verizon store and talked to them for a long time. We ended up with two new phones and a discount to our service plan. Plus my new phone now has Bluetooth, and I like it a lot. Hrm, now how do I get my phone to display the length of the phone call?
Then we stopped by Kroger to pick up a couple things for Thanksgiving. I could handle the crowded aisles, but at the checkout, the guy in front of us was taking stuff away from his bill so it wouldn't cost as much, then he paid for some strawberry milk separately, then he paid for all the stuff he didn't get the first time. I was ready to strangle him. Time to avoid all stores now until January.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
I'm done!
I'm done with the weight loss portion of my Medifast journey. I've lost 80 pounds in roughly 9 months, and I've inspired several other people to lose weight, either through Medifast or on their own. I have to say, I'm really happy with the results. I've gone from a size 20 to a size 10 (sometimes I fit into a size 8!). I can jog, and I actually enjoy eating plain salad with balsamic vinegar as a dressing.
I debated for a long time if I should put up my before pictures, because they are so incredibly awful. I avoided the camera whenever possible, and when I started, I knew I needed some before shots. But man, are they awful. Oh well, maybe they'll help inspire someone else to start. At the least, they'll inspire me to keep it off!
Front:
I debated for a long time if I should put up my before pictures, because they are so incredibly awful. I avoided the camera whenever possible, and when I started, I knew I needed some before shots. But man, are they awful. Oh well, maybe they'll help inspire someone else to start. At the least, they'll inspire me to keep it off!
Front:
 |
 |
Sunday, November 19, 2006
It's Sunday
And I have discovered hell on earth. It's Burlington coat factory on a Sunday afternoon. I needed a couple of sweaters because I've been freezing lately. Must be the side effect of losing my insulation. Anyway, curse me for looking for cheap clothes, because I think I'll just shoot myself before I ever step foot in that store again. I hate going into places that automatically assume their customers are thieves. I really, really hate it when they say only bring in 6 pieces of clothing to try on. It's a huge pain when you're trying on different combinations, and then you have to get dressed again to go out and grab another six pieces of clothing.
And today, the cashier in our line must have been trying out for the slowest cashier west of the Mississippi. He probably would have won. I don't know how I kept from exploding after standing there watching him try to undo the theft tag and scan up some kids' clothes and it took him over 20 minutes and three phone calls to his manager. I would have gotten in another line except that as soon as we got in line, every other cashier went on break, and the lines got crazy long. I was proud of myself for not acting like a child and kicking the counter or making snide remarks under my breath. I only made one snarky comment about how long would it take when he made his third call for help. I'd have walked out if I hadn't already spent an hour in the damn store.
On the good side, I lifted tonight. My squats are getting nice and deep now, so I'm getting more flexible. Still having some balance trouble and some trouble finding the best place to position the bar on my back. Matt told me I need to work on pinching my back together to give the bar a shelf of muscle to rest on. I have to do something because right now, it's resting right on my shoulder blades, and there's no padding there. My back is all bruised up, and that was just with 135 pounds on the bar.
We've been watching the Ali G show on HBO, and I have to admit, the guy's a comic genius. Sometimes , it's painful to watch, but it's also funny. I don't know how he manages to get where he does and interview the people he does. He interviewed Boutrous Boutrous Gali, the former Sec-Gen of the UN. And he got him to say a rhyme about don't fight and listen to Bob Marly. Impressive. Donald Trump saw right through him and walked off. That was funny. Guess I'll have to try and see Borat. Everyone says it's hilarious.
And today, the cashier in our line must have been trying out for the slowest cashier west of the Mississippi. He probably would have won. I don't know how I kept from exploding after standing there watching him try to undo the theft tag and scan up some kids' clothes and it took him over 20 minutes and three phone calls to his manager. I would have gotten in another line except that as soon as we got in line, every other cashier went on break, and the lines got crazy long. I was proud of myself for not acting like a child and kicking the counter or making snide remarks under my breath. I only made one snarky comment about how long would it take when he made his third call for help. I'd have walked out if I hadn't already spent an hour in the damn store.
On the good side, I lifted tonight. My squats are getting nice and deep now, so I'm getting more flexible. Still having some balance trouble and some trouble finding the best place to position the bar on my back. Matt told me I need to work on pinching my back together to give the bar a shelf of muscle to rest on. I have to do something because right now, it's resting right on my shoulder blades, and there's no padding there. My back is all bruised up, and that was just with 135 pounds on the bar.
We've been watching the Ali G show on HBO, and I have to admit, the guy's a comic genius. Sometimes , it's painful to watch, but it's also funny. I don't know how he manages to get where he does and interview the people he does. He interviewed Boutrous Boutrous Gali, the former Sec-Gen of the UN. And he got him to say a rhyme about don't fight and listen to Bob Marly. Impressive. Donald Trump saw right through him and walked off. That was funny. Guess I'll have to try and see Borat. Everyone says it's hilarious.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Cleaning house
Managed to get rid of 4 more bags of clothes that don't fit anymore. Donated them to a local women's shelter. Also took in 3 coats that were too big for me to wear anymore. No going back for me! Exercise is getting easier, or maybe I just didn't push myself hard enough. Only meant to do 20 minutes on the elliptical, but was able to go for 43 because I was watching an interesting show. And we cleared out some space on the DVD rack by selling back some games and DVDs we weren't going to watch anymore.
Cleaned out the back yard too. Took down the camo netting over the fish pond since the sun is getting weaker. I'm sure the lawn care crew will appreciate not having to duck when they walk under it.
Dinner was a yummy chicken Parmesan dish with my homemade canned spaghetti sauce. Turned out really well and the chicken was nicely spicy. I am so looking forward to cooking real food once again. I'm collecting recipes and making plans for what I want to cook. I have to come up with something fun and interesting for our Christmas potluck at work in a couple of weeks. Not sure what I want to take in, and they asked for people to donate door prizes, so I thought I might try to craft up something for that.
Cleaned out the back yard too. Took down the camo netting over the fish pond since the sun is getting weaker. I'm sure the lawn care crew will appreciate not having to duck when they walk under it.
Dinner was a yummy chicken Parmesan dish with my homemade canned spaghetti sauce. Turned out really well and the chicken was nicely spicy. I am so looking forward to cooking real food once again. I'm collecting recipes and making plans for what I want to cook. I have to come up with something fun and interesting for our Christmas potluck at work in a couple of weeks. Not sure what I want to take in, and they asked for people to donate door prizes, so I thought I might try to craft up something for that.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Training is fun
Been in a training class all week. Supposed to end on Thursday, then I found out I'm schedule (I think) for another training class Friday and Monday. Sheesh. At least this one is fairly interesting. All about evaluating contract proposals. Yeah, I didn't think it would be interesting, but I was wrong. Or maybe it's just more interesting than the craziness waiting back at work. Although I checked my email and nothing appears to have blown up or self-destructed, so it can't be that bad.
Been looking at something called Once A Month Cooking. You take one day to do a marathon cooking session and end up freezing dinners for a month. Not sure I'd do that, but freezing a couple weeks of breakfast and lunches would be handy. So I've been writing down ideas for sandwiches and other meals I could do like that. And they have to be healthy too.
My weight seems to be stabilizing, so I think it's time to start transitioning off Medifast. I'm ready to have some real food for a change. :)
Been looking at something called Once A Month Cooking. You take one day to do a marathon cooking session and end up freezing dinners for a month. Not sure I'd do that, but freezing a couple weeks of breakfast and lunches would be handy. So I've been writing down ideas for sandwiches and other meals I could do like that. And they have to be healthy too.
My weight seems to be stabilizing, so I think it's time to start transitioning off Medifast. I'm ready to have some real food for a change. :)
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Ouch!
2 ouches today. First was finding a really great upgraded video card for my system. It was Neverwinter Nights' fault. It was running too slow and clunky on my system, and I found a great card for a terrific price. I have a GeForce 7900 now. Oooh, ahhhh. Now all my games run great, but I'm still optimizing the rest of my system.
The second ouch is purely physical. I smashed the ever-loving f**k out of my finger tonight while doing squats. Thank goodness I smashed it on a warmup set, so I only had the 45-pound bar in my hand. But I rammed my pinky finger nail between the bar and a J-hook in the rack. It's killing me. Who knew a pinky finger could hurt so much. Apparently, I could get rid of the pain if I'm willing to burn a small hole in my fingernail and lance the hematoma out. Not sure I'm ready to try that. We'll see how bad it gets.
I had more to say, but honestly, I can't remember it because my finger hurts too much. Oh, I officially have lost 80 pounds since I started on Medifast!
The second ouch is purely physical. I smashed the ever-loving f**k out of my finger tonight while doing squats. Thank goodness I smashed it on a warmup set, so I only had the 45-pound bar in my hand. But I rammed my pinky finger nail between the bar and a J-hook in the rack. It's killing me. Who knew a pinky finger could hurt so much. Apparently, I could get rid of the pain if I'm willing to burn a small hole in my fingernail and lance the hematoma out. Not sure I'm ready to try that. We'll see how bad it gets.
I had more to say, but honestly, I can't remember it because my finger hurts too much. Oh, I officially have lost 80 pounds since I started on Medifast!
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Heh. I just scrolled down to see the last time I posted. Almost 11 months ago, last December, when I was still lifting strong.
Well, since then, I've gone on a radical diet, lost 80 pounds, lost a lot of strength, and had an absolutely insane schedule at work for the past 2 months. I haven't lifting since June, maybe May. I just didn't have the calories for it. The last 2 weeks, I've started exercising again. I can actually run on the treadmill for 10 minutes without feeling like I'm going to keel over and die. I can do a pullup with only 40 pounds of assistance. My goal is to do one unassisted pullup. And to have sexy legs. Both of those will take a little bit of work.
I'm back to squatting and deadlifting with Matt and his group, but on Sunday nights now. He's busy with kids during the week, and my work schedule is too hectic to get away regularly. So I'm doing some light conditioning weights at the gym at work during lunch. I still don't have the calories to do big heavy workouts, but right now, I'm focused on losing weight and body fat. I can always get strong later.
I've also been learning a lot about lapidary this summer. I joined the Houston Gem and Mineral Society (HGMS), and I've been learning to cut and polish gemstones of various types. I gave a lot away when I visited family and friends, but that's okay. It gives me an excuse to make more of them. I've also learned to do wire wrapping for some of the cabochons, so I need to keep practicing that. That'll probably be some Christmas presents. :)
Other than that, the summer was pretty quiet. It was too hot to go out and do much. Now that it's November, we have the house open and it's nice to go outside and do stuff. A big change from living in Virginia.
Well, since then, I've gone on a radical diet, lost 80 pounds, lost a lot of strength, and had an absolutely insane schedule at work for the past 2 months. I haven't lifting since June, maybe May. I just didn't have the calories for it. The last 2 weeks, I've started exercising again. I can actually run on the treadmill for 10 minutes without feeling like I'm going to keel over and die. I can do a pullup with only 40 pounds of assistance. My goal is to do one unassisted pullup. And to have sexy legs. Both of those will take a little bit of work.
I'm back to squatting and deadlifting with Matt and his group, but on Sunday nights now. He's busy with kids during the week, and my work schedule is too hectic to get away regularly. So I'm doing some light conditioning weights at the gym at work during lunch. I still don't have the calories to do big heavy workouts, but right now, I'm focused on losing weight and body fat. I can always get strong later.
I've also been learning a lot about lapidary this summer. I joined the Houston Gem and Mineral Society (HGMS), and I've been learning to cut and polish gemstones of various types. I gave a lot away when I visited family and friends, but that's okay. It gives me an excuse to make more of them. I've also learned to do wire wrapping for some of the cabochons, so I need to keep practicing that. That'll probably be some Christmas presents. :)
Other than that, the summer was pretty quiet. It was too hot to go out and do much. Now that it's November, we have the house open and it's nice to go outside and do stuff. A big change from living in Virginia.
I return
Yes, I let this languish in disarray for a long time. I was always thinking of what I should be writing, but I must confess, I found another journal site for a few months. But that's over now. It's you, baby, and it always has been, I promise.
Just to prove it, I'll link to my picassa web albums so I can show my friends all the interesting things I've been up to. Although I only have a few pictures up at the moment. It's hard work selecting the best pictures, compressing them, uploading them, captioning them and linking them. whew. Time to go have some chocolate protein pudding.
Oh, did I mention my big news over the summer? I lost 80 pounds! Yeah, that's right. 80 pounds gone, gone, gone. Actually, 100 pound from my highest weight. In one sense, it's cool. In another, it's sad. I should never have let it get that high, but I didn't know how to control it. Now, I think I have the answer. In another year, we'll see. I have to maintain that weight loss, but I'm motivated now. Wearing new, skinny clothes is much better than eating candy and junk food.
So let's see if I can figure out how to link Blogger and Picassa...
(hrm, well, the website is http://picasaweb.google.com/Texas.Nova ...)
And this is what Picassa gave me as a link.
We'll try them both.
Just to prove it, I'll link to my picassa web albums so I can show my friends all the interesting things I've been up to. Although I only have a few pictures up at the moment. It's hard work selecting the best pictures, compressing them, uploading them, captioning them and linking them. whew. Time to go have some chocolate protein pudding.
Oh, did I mention my big news over the summer? I lost 80 pounds! Yeah, that's right. 80 pounds gone, gone, gone. Actually, 100 pound from my highest weight. In one sense, it's cool. In another, it's sad. I should never have let it get that high, but I didn't know how to control it. Now, I think I have the answer. In another year, we'll see. I have to maintain that weight loss, but I'm motivated now. Wearing new, skinny clothes is much better than eating candy and junk food.
So let's see if I can figure out how to link Blogger and Picassa...
(hrm, well, the website is http://picasaweb.google.com/Texas.Nova ...)
And this is what Picassa gave me as a link.
We'll try them both.
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Upping the Weights
I'm psyched. My weightlifting is in the stage where you make tremendous gains every week. I think my body's finally starting to remember how to lift, plus I'm just plain getting stronger.
On November 11, I was happy because I got 135 pounds for a single in the bench press. 135 is significant because it's the weight of the bar plus a 45 pound plate on each side. It's nice because there's no bigger plates to put on (unless you're a monster putting on 100 pound plates). It's just nice to have the big plates on each side instead of a bunch of little ones that don't add up to 135.
Well, last night, I did 135 pounds on the bench press for a set of 5! Then I went beyond and did a set of 145 for a triple. Next week, I'll get it for 5.
My squat's coming along nicely too, but I saw a huge improvement in my deadlift last night. My previous max was 275 for a single on the deadlift. Last night, I did 255 for a set of 5. Obviously, that 275 is no longer my max, but I'll have to wait until we switch training programs to find out what my max is again. Right now, I'm content to just build strength.
It's funny how your favorite lift can change. I used to hate squats. So much so, that I'd almost make myself sick before squat nights. However, in the program we're doing now, we squat every single workout. On Monday it's sets of 5, on Wednesday, it's front squats, and on Friday it's sets of 3. Now I'm actually starting to enjoy squats, and even bench.
On November 11, I was happy because I got 135 pounds for a single in the bench press. 135 is significant because it's the weight of the bar plus a 45 pound plate on each side. It's nice because there's no bigger plates to put on (unless you're a monster putting on 100 pound plates). It's just nice to have the big plates on each side instead of a bunch of little ones that don't add up to 135.
Well, last night, I did 135 pounds on the bench press for a set of 5! Then I went beyond and did a set of 145 for a triple. Next week, I'll get it for 5.
My squat's coming along nicely too, but I saw a huge improvement in my deadlift last night. My previous max was 275 for a single on the deadlift. Last night, I did 255 for a set of 5. Obviously, that 275 is no longer my max, but I'll have to wait until we switch training programs to find out what my max is again. Right now, I'm content to just build strength.
It's funny how your favorite lift can change. I used to hate squats. So much so, that I'd almost make myself sick before squat nights. However, in the program we're doing now, we squat every single workout. On Monday it's sets of 5, on Wednesday, it's front squats, and on Friday it's sets of 3. Now I'm actually starting to enjoy squats, and even bench.
Thursday, December 22, 2005
The Big Chamber at NASA JSC
I had a chance recently to take a tour of the Big Chamber at NASA's Johnson Space Center. A big thank-you to Eric Chan and Mary Halligan, facility managers for the building that houses the Big Chamber, or as it's officially known, Chamber A.
The building is unique because it's the only one where they built the equipment inside, and then put the building up around it. It was built in 1963, soon after JSC was established, and it was used for thermal and vacuum testing for the space program. It uses various pumps and cryogenic cooling to create an incredible vacuum inside the chamber and to chill the chamber down to 3 degrees Kelvin, or -435 degrees Fahrenheit. Absolute zero is defined as 0 degrees Kelvin. It's the temperature where all molecular activity is stopped.
This is the first thing you see when you walk into the high bay area. The first word out of every single person's mouth is "Wow!"
This is my office mate, Dave, standing in front of the door to the Big Chamber. The door is 40 feet in diameter and weighs 40 tons. In spite of the weight, two people can push the door closed.
Here we are inside Chamber A.
This gives you an idea how thick the door is.
It has an internal diameter of 55 feet, and an external diameter of 65 feet. It's 90 feet to the top, and it goes down another 30 feet underneath the chamber floor. In the Apollo program, they would actually put the Lunar Transfer Vehicle and the Luner Excursion Module inside the Chamber, pump it down and leave it exposed to space conditions for over 14 hours. During that time, the astronauts would be inside the vehicle in their space suits. It's the only time that the Big Chamber has had human test subjects in it.
In order to prepare the chamber for testing, they first use roughing pumps to get as much of the air out of the chamber as possible. Then they switch to a combination of diffusion pumps and liquid nitrogen, which gets them down to around a tenth of a torr. One torr is equal to one millimeter of mercury. At sea level, the atmospheric pressure is 760 torr or 760 mm Hg, so you get the idea that there's very little pressure in the chamber at this point.
The cryogenic system is really neat. There are radiator fins running the entire length of the chamber and placed every couple of feet around the outer wall. In the fins are small tubes that they use to pump liquid nitrogen. The nitrogen cools the chamber down to around 77 K. However, they're not done yet.
There are extra radiator fins with tubes, and they run liquid helium through these. This is how they cool the chamber down to 3 Kelvin. It's so cold that the remaining molecules of air (nitrogen and oxygen) freeze out as snow against the panels holding the liquid helium. At this point, the pressure in the chamber is down to one-millionth of a torr. It's now as close to space conditions as you can get on the planet Earth, excepting the whole gravity thing.
It takes just 14 hours to go from atmospheric normal to cold vacuum in the chamber.
Here we are outside the Big Chamber.
The light silver wall is the outer chamber wall. The dark gray cylinder with all the rings is one of 20 diffusion pumps. When you walk through the building, it's hard to believe engineers can build something so complex. There are pipes running every which way, systems to handle air, nitrogen, helium and ammonia, dozens of immense pumps and control systems. And because the facility is so old, some of the systems aren't being made any more. If a pump part goes bad, they may have to look for a long time to find a replacement.
Here's our tour guide, Eric Chan, explaining the pump control system in the man-lock.
They tested the Apollo space craft and dozens of other satellites in the chamber. I asked if they tested the Hubble Space Telescope in there, and the answer was no. That's interesting, because one of the main problems they had with Hubble early on was a wobble in the solar panels caused by thermal stress as the telescope went into and out of earth's shadow. They're looking at a new test in the chamber for the next generation of the space telescope. It's still a few years off though.
Eric took us outside to see the liquid nitrogen storage tanks.
There are 6 tanks that hold 28,000 gallons of liquid nitrogen each. If you've seen a cryogenic semi-truck going down the interstate, each of those holds about 6,000 gallons. When the Big Chamber is running, they take a delivery truck of liquid nitrogen every 6 hours.
After Hurricane Katrina, they had a big problem. They were in the last week of a test, and even though Johnson Space Center hadn't been hit by the hurricane, Interstate-10 was destroyed, and the liquid nitrogen supply companies couldn't get their supplies to Texas. In a heroic effort, in just three days they managed to write a new contract for liquid nitrogen. If you know anything at all about government contracting, that's unbelievably fast. They managed to complete the test and get all the data they needed.
We went back inside, and Eric showed us Chamber B, or the little chamber.
This chamber is used for small tests and for human testing. The top slides sideways and they use cranes to lower the equipment inside. People enter through an airlock on the side. They can get the same temperature and vacuum conditions as in the big chamber.
This airlock door is the one where the astronauts enter. The space suits weigh around 150 pounds, so they use a spring-loaded system suspended from an overhead track to carry the weight of the space suit, allowing the astronaut to move around the chamber more easily.
When we saw the facility, they had the Little Chamber set up to do testing on space shuttle tile repair in orbit. Here you can see the tiles set up on the table.
It was a really cool tour, and Eric and Mary were great to work with. So far, I've managed to see the Neutral Bouyancy Lab (the big swimming pool where the astronauts train), and land the space shuttle (simulator). Now all I need to see is Mission Control.
The building is unique because it's the only one where they built the equipment inside, and then put the building up around it. It was built in 1963, soon after JSC was established, and it was used for thermal and vacuum testing for the space program. It uses various pumps and cryogenic cooling to create an incredible vacuum inside the chamber and to chill the chamber down to 3 degrees Kelvin, or -435 degrees Fahrenheit. Absolute zero is defined as 0 degrees Kelvin. It's the temperature where all molecular activity is stopped.
This is the first thing you see when you walk into the high bay area. The first word out of every single person's mouth is "Wow!"
This is my office mate, Dave, standing in front of the door to the Big Chamber. The door is 40 feet in diameter and weighs 40 tons. In spite of the weight, two people can push the door closed.
Here we are inside Chamber A.
This gives you an idea how thick the door is.It has an internal diameter of 55 feet, and an external diameter of 65 feet. It's 90 feet to the top, and it goes down another 30 feet underneath the chamber floor. In the Apollo program, they would actually put the Lunar Transfer Vehicle and the Luner Excursion Module inside the Chamber, pump it down and leave it exposed to space conditions for over 14 hours. During that time, the astronauts would be inside the vehicle in their space suits. It's the only time that the Big Chamber has had human test subjects in it.
In order to prepare the chamber for testing, they first use roughing pumps to get as much of the air out of the chamber as possible. Then they switch to a combination of diffusion pumps and liquid nitrogen, which gets them down to around a tenth of a torr. One torr is equal to one millimeter of mercury. At sea level, the atmospheric pressure is 760 torr or 760 mm Hg, so you get the idea that there's very little pressure in the chamber at this point.
The cryogenic system is really neat. There are radiator fins running the entire length of the chamber and placed every couple of feet around the outer wall. In the fins are small tubes that they use to pump liquid nitrogen. The nitrogen cools the chamber down to around 77 K. However, they're not done yet.
There are extra radiator fins with tubes, and they run liquid helium through these. This is how they cool the chamber down to 3 Kelvin. It's so cold that the remaining molecules of air (nitrogen and oxygen) freeze out as snow against the panels holding the liquid helium. At this point, the pressure in the chamber is down to one-millionth of a torr. It's now as close to space conditions as you can get on the planet Earth, excepting the whole gravity thing.
It takes just 14 hours to go from atmospheric normal to cold vacuum in the chamber.
Here we are outside the Big Chamber.
The light silver wall is the outer chamber wall. The dark gray cylinder with all the rings is one of 20 diffusion pumps. When you walk through the building, it's hard to believe engineers can build something so complex. There are pipes running every which way, systems to handle air, nitrogen, helium and ammonia, dozens of immense pumps and control systems. And because the facility is so old, some of the systems aren't being made any more. If a pump part goes bad, they may have to look for a long time to find a replacement.Here's our tour guide, Eric Chan, explaining the pump control system in the man-lock.
They tested the Apollo space craft and dozens of other satellites in the chamber. I asked if they tested the Hubble Space Telescope in there, and the answer was no. That's interesting, because one of the main problems they had with Hubble early on was a wobble in the solar panels caused by thermal stress as the telescope went into and out of earth's shadow. They're looking at a new test in the chamber for the next generation of the space telescope. It's still a few years off though.
Eric took us outside to see the liquid nitrogen storage tanks.
There are 6 tanks that hold 28,000 gallons of liquid nitrogen each. If you've seen a cryogenic semi-truck going down the interstate, each of those holds about 6,000 gallons. When the Big Chamber is running, they take a delivery truck of liquid nitrogen every 6 hours. After Hurricane Katrina, they had a big problem. They were in the last week of a test, and even though Johnson Space Center hadn't been hit by the hurricane, Interstate-10 was destroyed, and the liquid nitrogen supply companies couldn't get their supplies to Texas. In a heroic effort, in just three days they managed to write a new contract for liquid nitrogen. If you know anything at all about government contracting, that's unbelievably fast. They managed to complete the test and get all the data they needed.
We went back inside, and Eric showed us Chamber B, or the little chamber.
This chamber is used for small tests and for human testing. The top slides sideways and they use cranes to lower the equipment inside. People enter through an airlock on the side. They can get the same temperature and vacuum conditions as in the big chamber.
This airlock door is the one where the astronauts enter. The space suits weigh around 150 pounds, so they use a spring-loaded system suspended from an overhead track to carry the weight of the space suit, allowing the astronaut to move around the chamber more easily.
When we saw the facility, they had the Little Chamber set up to do testing on space shuttle tile repair in orbit. Here you can see the tiles set up on the table.
It was a really cool tour, and Eric and Mary were great to work with. So far, I've managed to see the Neutral Bouyancy Lab (the big swimming pool where the astronauts train), and land the space shuttle (simulator). Now all I need to see is Mission Control.
Thanksgiving with the family
Daniel and I flew home to visit my family the week before Thanksgiving. My brother and his family were going to Florida the next week to visit her family, and we all wanted to be together. It was an awful trip getting home. There was snow in Chicago, which messed up all our flights. After 12-13 hours, we finally made it to my parents' house. Man, next time, I'm taking that direct flight.
It was fun to see everyone again. Garrett's getting big, and Devon's so much fun to tease. You can tell a four-year-old anything and they'll believe it. :) I don't know how he does it, but somehow Mom's cat lets Devon chase after her and pick her up, and even carry her upside down, and she never complains or scratches him. Anyone else though, and she runs for the basement. Here's Devon and Gizmo, although she doesn't look at all happy to be held.
That weekend, the one before Thanksgiving, was the first weekend of deer season. Both my brother and my dad hunt, and they have for years. My dad was going out on Friday, so on Thursday, I asked him if I could try my hand at target shooting. He set up a target about 50 yards away. He shot and hit about an inch from the Center. Of course, he's been doing this for years. I tried, and my first shot landed about 5 inches away. Not bad. :) I tried two more times, and I hit 2 inches, then just 1 inch from the center. Woo! Of course, it's a lot easier to hit a paper target than a moving animal, so I'll leave the hunting to him. Here I am taking aim.
We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner. As I said, it's fun to tease little kids. Devon didn't want to eat his noodles, but he was all for having his cake. So we told him that we'd made a noodle cake, which greatly distressed him. He didn't want to believe us, but he wasn't sure we were lying. Finally, his mom let him have a piece of the 'other' cake, the non-noodle one. He's a cute kid, and looks just like his dad and his granddad.
Garrett and Devon both loved playing on my Gameboy DS, although Garrett liked the games, while Devon just wanted to draw pictures on the screen. It was a nice visit home.
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Update on the house sale.
Well, here it is November 29th. I submitted the paperwork on Nov 12, but Cendant mucked around with the audit of our sale. They found out a sewer was being installed in the neighborhood, so they waited and investigated that for about 10 days. During that time, the counselor I'd been working with quit. So I had to start working with a new one, but she's been really helpful and nice.
Finally, I get a semi-maybe-kinda offer from Cendant, but they say they're going to hold back $5,000 from our final offer because of the sewer hookup. Now I'm upset, because we don't have to pay for a year (or so I was told), and it wasn't going to be $5K, it was going to be more like $1,300. So we go back and forth some more.
Finally, today, I hear from them again. Turns out it was closer to $5K and we'd have to pay the bill by the end of June, but Cendant apparently decided they could resell the house by then, or that it shouldn't be our responsibility, or something. So they made us an offer without taking out the $5k. Hurray!
Then I get a call from our agent back in Virginia. I thought she had stopped working for us, but apparently not. I don't know. I'm confused. She said our house was being shown for the third time to the same couple today and they were all excited about it.
-If- they made us an offer, and -if- it didn't fall through, and -if- it was for the full amount, we would have made an extra $6,000 or so on the sale of our house compared to selling it to Cendant. But our Cendant offer expires on Friday. We talked about if we should wait or not. Took about five minutes to come to a decision. We sold it to Cendant. So they should buy our house officially tomorrow morning and we'll be somewhat rich!
Finally, I get a semi-maybe-kinda offer from Cendant, but they say they're going to hold back $5,000 from our final offer because of the sewer hookup. Now I'm upset, because we don't have to pay for a year (or so I was told), and it wasn't going to be $5K, it was going to be more like $1,300. So we go back and forth some more.
Finally, today, I hear from them again. Turns out it was closer to $5K and we'd have to pay the bill by the end of June, but Cendant apparently decided they could resell the house by then, or that it shouldn't be our responsibility, or something. So they made us an offer without taking out the $5k. Hurray!
Then I get a call from our agent back in Virginia. I thought she had stopped working for us, but apparently not. I don't know. I'm confused. She said our house was being shown for the third time to the same couple today and they were all excited about it.
-If- they made us an offer, and -if- it didn't fall through, and -if- it was for the full amount, we would have made an extra $6,000 or so on the sale of our house compared to selling it to Cendant. But our Cendant offer expires on Friday. We talked about if we should wait or not. Took about five minutes to come to a decision. We sold it to Cendant. So they should buy our house officially tomorrow morning and we'll be somewhat rich!
Saturday, November 12, 2005
We sold our house
Finally, we sold it. Not to a prospective house hunter, sadly. We took our safety net option and sold it to Cendant, our relocation company. Part of the relocation contract with NASA was the offer for them to buy our house if we couldn't sell it to anyone else.
Originally, we thought we wouldn't have any trouble selling our house. This was mid summer and the housing boom was booming away. When we first met our agent, we were hoping for a mild price increase of $60K over what we bought our house for. She suggested $140K, causing our jaws to hit the floor. Cool!
One reason we wanted to sell it to another buyer was that Cendant offers an incentive of 3% of the value on top of the sale price if we sell it to someone else. So we went to the trouble of updating the bathroom and keeping the house spotless until we moved.
However, we weren't getting many showings, so we dropped the price, then after a month, we dropped it again, to the appraised value. That was still a nice chunk of change, but disappointing after we thought we might get so much more.
Well, we waited and waited, but nothing. Bob told us that none of the other houses on the street have sold either. What's most frustrating though, is that 10 minutes away, townhomes are selling for $325K. Why buy a townhome for $100K more than a house, especially when the townhome is in an area that's getting horribly congested?
So Thursday we threw in the towel and sent off the paperwork to Cendant. While we won't make that $140K in profit we initially hoped for, we're still pretty happy. We might even be able to pay off our house here in Texas in full with the profits. Not bad for living in a place for three years.
Originally, we thought we wouldn't have any trouble selling our house. This was mid summer and the housing boom was booming away. When we first met our agent, we were hoping for a mild price increase of $60K over what we bought our house for. She suggested $140K, causing our jaws to hit the floor. Cool!
One reason we wanted to sell it to another buyer was that Cendant offers an incentive of 3% of the value on top of the sale price if we sell it to someone else. So we went to the trouble of updating the bathroom and keeping the house spotless until we moved.
However, we weren't getting many showings, so we dropped the price, then after a month, we dropped it again, to the appraised value. That was still a nice chunk of change, but disappointing after we thought we might get so much more.
Well, we waited and waited, but nothing. Bob told us that none of the other houses on the street have sold either. What's most frustrating though, is that 10 minutes away, townhomes are selling for $325K. Why buy a townhome for $100K more than a house, especially when the townhome is in an area that's getting horribly congested?
So Thursday we threw in the towel and sent off the paperwork to Cendant. While we won't make that $140K in profit we initially hoped for, we're still pretty happy. We might even be able to pay off our house here in Texas in full with the profits. Not bad for living in a place for three years.
I know I should really update this thing more often. I always thing about it, usually when I can't get to it, like at work, or when I'm off to the gym, or out shopping. When I get home, there's always a video game calling my name, or projects to work on, or other interesting things.
Lately, I've been on a home improvement / painting kick. I took two weeks off work to stay at home, burn up some use or lose leave and genally relax for the first time in eight months. Last year I was traveling 3 weeks a month to Alabama and couldn't really take any time off. Then I applied for and got a new job, which meant packing up and moving halfway across the country. Then I felt like I couldn't very well report in and then take a week or two off from my new job, so I wanted to wait a month or so. And then we had Hurricane's Katrina and Rita to deal with. Blah!
So the end of October came and I said enough. The temperature finally dropped below 90 degrees, allowing us to open the house up. I love have the windows open as much as possible, or I did until I realized our neighbors have a hound dog that howls at anything and everything. God I hate that dog. Now I know why people poison their neighbor's dogs. I wouldn't do that; I love animals too much. But I do yell at it. And grumble at the neighbors.
Anyway, I was in a painting mood. I took an old bookcase and painted it ivory, then scuffed it up and distressed it, then stained it brown. Gave it that old, country cottage look, and I think it turned out quite nicely. I was on a roll and decided my other bookcase needed something, but what? I thought and thought, and visited a half dozen different stores and lots of websites looking for ideas. I thought I could paint it a Moroccan theme, or Mexican, or put petroglyph paintings on it. I debated mosaics or decopage. Finally, I found it. In an import store, I saw a beautiful antique cabinet and decided to copy it. The bookcase was a plain dark wood, nothing fancy, but pretty and in good shape. I painted the entire thing a bright (shockingly so) turquoise blue. Then I sanded off as much as I could without tearing up the grain. After several sheets and pads of 60 grit sandpaper, I had most of the paint off and the remaining paint was nicely settled in the grooves of the wood. I like it. I think it's quite pretty. Now I just have to repaint the room it's in so it doesn't clash so badly.
Civilization 4 also came out while I was on vacation. I lost a good 4-5 days to that game. I've always loved sims and city-builders and this one didn't dissapoint. It's got a few bugs still to work out, like the fact that nukes do practically nothing to your enemy, but I'm sure they'll put out a patch or an expansion pack.
And last weekend, we went to the Texas Renassance Fair in Plantersville, TX. It was nice. It was probably a third larger than the Maryland Ren Fair. The weather was nice, althoug a tad on the hot side. It's the first weekend in November and the temperature was around 90 degrees. Sheesh. We saw Tartanic, a bagpipe rock group, and I picked up their CD. We watched the Mud Show, which turned out to be a very entertaining half hour of them asking for donations. We wandered around for several hours, snacking on empanadas, alligator bites, cinnamon pecans and various sundry faire food. The parade at noon was fun, and I saw some really nice costumes, along with some really bad ones. One lady had a full-length peacock feather cloak, and another guy was wearing a gorgeous red leather armor outfit.
Monday morning came, and after two weeks of sleeping in, the last thing I wanted to do was get up at 6 am. I gave serious thought to calling in sick, but ultimately dragged myself into work to accomplish a few things. Next week - Texas Recycles Day. Then off on another vacation to visit the parents for an early Thanksgiving. They're going to forget why they hired me.
Lately, I've been on a home improvement / painting kick. I took two weeks off work to stay at home, burn up some use or lose leave and genally relax for the first time in eight months. Last year I was traveling 3 weeks a month to Alabama and couldn't really take any time off. Then I applied for and got a new job, which meant packing up and moving halfway across the country. Then I felt like I couldn't very well report in and then take a week or two off from my new job, so I wanted to wait a month or so. And then we had Hurricane's Katrina and Rita to deal with. Blah!
So the end of October came and I said enough. The temperature finally dropped below 90 degrees, allowing us to open the house up. I love have the windows open as much as possible, or I did until I realized our neighbors have a hound dog that howls at anything and everything. God I hate that dog. Now I know why people poison their neighbor's dogs. I wouldn't do that; I love animals too much. But I do yell at it. And grumble at the neighbors.
Anyway, I was in a painting mood. I took an old bookcase and painted it ivory, then scuffed it up and distressed it, then stained it brown. Gave it that old, country cottage look, and I think it turned out quite nicely. I was on a roll and decided my other bookcase needed something, but what? I thought and thought, and visited a half dozen different stores and lots of websites looking for ideas. I thought I could paint it a Moroccan theme, or Mexican, or put petroglyph paintings on it. I debated mosaics or decopage. Finally, I found it. In an import store, I saw a beautiful antique cabinet and decided to copy it. The bookcase was a plain dark wood, nothing fancy, but pretty and in good shape. I painted the entire thing a bright (shockingly so) turquoise blue. Then I sanded off as much as I could without tearing up the grain. After several sheets and pads of 60 grit sandpaper, I had most of the paint off and the remaining paint was nicely settled in the grooves of the wood. I like it. I think it's quite pretty. Now I just have to repaint the room it's in so it doesn't clash so badly.
Civilization 4 also came out while I was on vacation. I lost a good 4-5 days to that game. I've always loved sims and city-builders and this one didn't dissapoint. It's got a few bugs still to work out, like the fact that nukes do practically nothing to your enemy, but I'm sure they'll put out a patch or an expansion pack.
And last weekend, we went to the Texas Renassance Fair in Plantersville, TX. It was nice. It was probably a third larger than the Maryland Ren Fair. The weather was nice, althoug a tad on the hot side. It's the first weekend in November and the temperature was around 90 degrees. Sheesh. We saw Tartanic, a bagpipe rock group, and I picked up their CD. We watched the Mud Show, which turned out to be a very entertaining half hour of them asking for donations. We wandered around for several hours, snacking on empanadas, alligator bites, cinnamon pecans and various sundry faire food. The parade at noon was fun, and I saw some really nice costumes, along with some really bad ones. One lady had a full-length peacock feather cloak, and another guy was wearing a gorgeous red leather armor outfit.
Monday morning came, and after two weeks of sleeping in, the last thing I wanted to do was get up at 6 am. I gave serious thought to calling in sick, but ultimately dragged myself into work to accomplish a few things. Next week - Texas Recycles Day. Then off on another vacation to visit the parents for an early Thanksgiving. They're going to forget why they hired me.
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