Friday Morning, Early

Posted Fri Aug 20, 2010 in

GingerI woke about an hour ago, rolled over, and tried to go back to sleep. No joy. So, I rose, chided Young Son for still being up, and sat down at the computer to finish the install of my jailbroken 4.0.1 iPhone firmware. All that was required was a restore and then update all of my software.

There is a reason for the update. HDR Pro was just updated and it’s a tool that I find interesting. I use my iPhone for most of my photography (it’s an easy carry-camera) and find HDR photography interesting. Many of the scenes I see are high dynamic range — beyond the capabilities of most sensors (but not human eyes). So there is usually a choice to be made — highlights or shadows. HDR photography combines two (or more) images to expand the dynamic range of the composite image.

My iPhone software is reinstalling now… I should be back up and running in a few more minutes.

The week was a challenge. Today is leg-day for training. I just finished laying out the morning exercises. The cardio workout yesterday wasn’t as good as Tuesday, but I’m on-track there, I think. Trikes and pects are sore this morning — another good sign that what I’m doing is working.

Although I do not enjoy the lactic-acid burn and the mental game of working through that to the point of momentary muscle failure, I know that is where the work gets done. It’s those last couple of repetitions that break down the muscle and force the adaptive change. I’m retraining the mental game to believe this struggle is just for me and will get me to the point I want to be — stronger, more healthy, more energetic, and better equipped to face what is before me.

Part of the mental game and what I really need to get ingrained is that this pain is a good pain. It’s the goal because it will take me where I want to be. It is a small struggle to get past and it isn’t real pain, the kind that means hurt!; it’s the kind of pain that represents growth.

There’s the head game. The body says You must STOP this because it is built-in to resist change. The mind says Keep GOING because I know, intellectually, that this isn’t a bad thing but a deliberate stretch toward personal growth.

So, this time around, I’m working on my head game. I want my head in the game and to restructure my internal dialogue to understand that the discomfort is only temporary and will result in gain. I need to restructure my internal dialogue that I’m not doing this because I need to (which I do), but because it is part of my time to do something just for me. I don’t do a lot of things just for me, that being something I struggle with. But, I do a few things just for me because they are rebuilding.

So, although I’m struggling with this change, I believe it’s necessary. Instead of spending my early-morning time on the computer, I’m spending part of it (most maybe) working on the physical part of myself to support the mental and spiritual parts of myself. I’m doing this because I believe it’s the right thing to do. I want to be strong enough to spend the remaining portion of my life doing the things that need to be done as well as those that should be done.

Those things are a topic for another time.

Edit: Imaged added later… just because I wanted an image in the entry. The image reminds me of the mandrake root from Pan’s Labyrinth. Yes, it’s the visual equivalent of a non sequitur.

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Body for Life (Reprise)

Posted Mon Aug 16, 2010 in

After ten years of being off the program, I’m returning to the Body for Life program. It is time for me to get active, get focused, and drop this weight I’m carrying. I don’t like the way I feel and there are health issues that need to be addressed through a combination of improved fitness and reduced weight.

I worked through most of a 12-week transformation way back in 2000. Now, ten-years later, I need to take up what I learned and practice it. I can do this.

I’ve used weight training off and on most of my adult life. I started when I was a 20-something with a cheap set of concrete-filled plastic plates and a cobbled together bench in my friend’s garage. I read Strength Training, by the Experts because a red-headed friend of mine recommended. It showed me how to use a simple inverted pyramid to improve strength in an organized, thoughtful method. I learned to emphasize the negative portion of the movement to improve muscle breakdown to benefit the recovery portion of the cycle.

Enter the year 2000 and a bunch of negative energy in my life. It was so bad that I really thought I might die. Much of that story is told here so there’s no reason to retell it. Suffice it to say that the BFL program gave me some focus and I needed it.

So, to make a long story short, I’m working on the program again. I need to make these changes for me and for my family. I made it through the first week. This week is the lower-body week and will complete a full cycle through the program. The exercise routine is three strength training session and three aerobics sessions per week. Strength-training days alternate body segment (upper and lower) to provide enough time for the muscles to fully recover. So, the weeks break down into upper-body weeks and lower-body weeks. It requires two weeks to get through an entire cycle.

The full cycle will give me a data point from which to make adjustments to my routines and give me a baseline to measure strength-training progress. So, I’ll know more next weekend after I have a chance to analyze the week’s work.

So, off we go. <looks over shoulder> Jim said he’d be watching me…

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Travelin'

Posted Wed Aug 11, 2010 in

In deference to Jim, I decided to abscond with the words I parked there and put them here, with maybe a bit of elaboration. First go read what Jim had to say. It’s good.

Now that you’re back, I posted a comment there that you’ve probably seen.

It’s been awhile since I parked any words here. Hmm…

I also am a traveler. I want to see stuff, but I want to experience it my way. I prefer to travel by motorcycle. There’s no way you can travel by motorcycle and not be part of the landscape. At the end of the day, you’ll smell like you’ve been there.

When I get home, the cats take 10-15 minutes to sniff my jeans. I can tell they’re thinking “where you been???”

I carry my sidearm with me wherever I go. I pray I never need it; it’ll be there if I do. I also carry a blade or two, just in case. Steel never runs out of ammunition.

A wise old man, when I told him I was travel by motorcycle alone, said to me “I hope you’re carrying a piece. Them damned ***!#$%% will roll your ass and heave you over the edge of the embankment.”

I thought about it for awhile, then decided he was right. It was irresponsible for me to go totally unprotected. So, I don’t.

I did an Iron Butt ride twice. The first time with a friend. He’s still my friend but he no longer rides with me. The second time I did it just because. I think it’s time for a Bun Burner (1500m in 36h). Why? Just because I want to. I saw a lot of stuff both times, but I think the second solo ride was better.

I figure if it’s something I want to do, I better get it done. I ain’t getting no younger and there are fewer years in front of me than behind me.

That’s motivation for you…

In thinking about this a bit more (and correcting a few typographical errors — it was late when I wrote it), I like to travel but I don’t like touristy stuff. If it’s a tourist-trap, I’ll avoid it. I’d rather go see other stuff and I really enjoy finding places the locals go.

I’d rather travel the U.S. Highway system than the Interstate, unless I gotta get there fast. The U.S. Highways (sometimes called the blue-line highways) pass through America. They do it in such a fashion that you can’t help but see what’s there, good or bad. The Interstates channel you through without showing you much.

I like the secondary system too. We called them Farm-Market roads in Texas, but they’re really state highways. They have a lot of interesting stuff along them.

I’d much rather sit with a bunch of blue-collar folks than with the social elite. They speak my language and I understand them. I might not be into sports, but I still love talking about hunting and fishing, even if I don’t do much of either anymore.

It’s interesting where a few words can take you. I’m going to go crawl into my memories now.

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What's Happening?

Posted Sun Jul 18, 2010 in

We’re well into the month of July and I haven’t been writing regularly for some time. It isn’t that I don’t have anything to say. Neither is it that I don’t have time to write a bit of something almost every day. I think what it’s been is that I haven’t known exactly what I want to write about and consequently didn’t have the energy to just write about anything.

So, for those who give a shit, here’s a bit of a synopsis of what’s been happening in the Ruminator’s life.

First (big first), we’ve been cleaning out the garage. That means going through something approaching 30-years worth of accumulation, deciding what to do with, then doing that something with it. Many things were auctioned on eBay. I sold off a bunch of old fantasy role playing materials I’ve been carrying for almost 30 years. I brought some coin and we used that to pay a couple of bills. A lot of stuff went to Goodwill or the other re-use-it shop in town. Some went to the landfill. A lot of paper was recycled.

Second, I’ve been busy with work-related stuff. Usually, by the time I get home, I’m pretty well used up. There isn’t a lot of energy left over. I do play World of Warcraft a bit — I hang out with a group of like-minded folks in a guild and sometimes we run a dungeon, sometimes we just banter. It’s a good way to unwind and I enjoy it, but I’ll never be a hardcore WoW player. It’s just not that important to me.

Third, I bought an iPad about a month ago. I thought a lot about a netbook computer, but didn’t want to abandon OS X as an operating platform. I was reluctant to buy an iPad, but decided to give it a try and bought one from Best Buy because I have return privileges there.

I don’t think it will be returned. It is so much more usable than my iPhone for the things I want to do. It’s actually large enough to be readable. In fact, I’m writing this on my iPad through Safari — with my Bluetooth keyboard acting as the input agent. The device is plenty capable for much of what I do. There are only a few things that are part of my work I could not do on my iPad.

Fourth, I don’t really know what I want to write about. I don’t have anything in particular that’s motivating me to write, at least on my weblog. I write a lot in my paper journal, but most of that I would not put here.

Maybe this is common for someone who runs a weblog as long as I do. I’m coming up on my ninth blogversary. Maybe there’s a bit of writer’s block flowing through my brain.

Fifth, if I can figure out what I want to write here, then I will get back into the groove. I own the domain for a long time and don’t really want to give this up. So, I think I’ll write here off and on for awhile until I figure out what comes next… or finally recapture my muse, who seems to be MIA.

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Selling a Life

Posted Mon Jul 12, 2010 in

StrawberriesI’m working through my personal things. There are things I carried for many years, some of the 20-years or more. But, many of them — in fact, most of them — are going up for sale on eBay.

It’s an odd feeling sometimes. It feels like I’m selling my life. Most of the things, including the games, the guitar equipment, the miscellany of computer equipment that have all gone on the auction block, are things that meant something to me at one time or another. It’s a little sad to see them go away, although I believe that going is a good thing.

The things I’m no longer using will be used by someone else. I hope they create good memories and fill a need that I no longer have. The cash will go to pay down a few of our bills and to buy things that will serve us.

This is a good thing, but it doesn’t always feel that way. I think this has something to do with not allowing my possession to possess me. It’s an important thing to me, because I don’t want to be defined by my things, but by my character.

What an odd place to be, at least emotionally.

The image? That was an image of some strawberries we bought at the local farmer’s market. They were really good. So were the peaches and so were the blackberries. I love fresh fruit.

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Ending a Weekend

Posted Sun Jul 11, 2010 in

Blackberry CobblerWell, the weekend is coming to an end. I intended to write this morning, but the morning got away from me in so many ways. In the end, I didn’t get my writing done before Wife rose. We made breakfast and then set up her iPad. By that time it was time to make the blackberry cobbler we planned, get the fire started to grill, and get the cooking done.

I watched a little television this afternoon (we’re working our way through the first season of the X-Files), napped, and then watched Top Shot on History Channel. Although I can’t believe I’m watching a reality show, the shooting problems posed by the producers are interesting. It’s worth watching, although the drama is something I could do without. However, without said drama it wouldn’t be much of a reality show, would it?

Now I think it’s time to write a little in my off-line journal and then call it a day. I’ll probably be up at 0400 in the morning and want to get at least a few hours of sleep. It will be a short week this week because we head for Lubbock next weekend for another week of meetings.

My suspicion is that this is the last big Lubbock trip. Any other trips will be for only one project and that won’t justify a week’s worth of travel. I’ll probably just fly out for a day or two and then fly back home. It’s a little sad to watch the end of something, but there are new beginnings here.

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end…”

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Helen Thomas

Posted Fri Jun 11, 2010 in

I meant to write something about this earlier in the week, but have been remiss on writing here. I write a lot, but mostly in my off-line journals. Some things just shouldn’t be aired in a public venue.

While reviewing the morning email, my weekly summary from Technorati showed up with a link to this article on Helen Thomas’ comments.

I don’t agree with Ms. Thomas’ comments. However, that she lost her position for those comments is deplorable. She has every right to her opinion and the right express those opinions. That is something guaranteed by our Constitution. She was not passing her comments as fact.

The comments on Mohit’s weblog are appropriate. We need hard-headed journalists like Helen Thomas to ask hard questions of our government. We must keep track of what they are doing and expose abuses of power (and make said government smaller).

Mohit’s ancillary comments about shoes and body-scans are also appropriate. What are we coming to as a nation?

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