August 8, 2013

• News and Notes for August 2013

  

  HEALTH, WEIGHT, EXERCISE: 

  Although in actuality, I'm doing quite well, I got disgusted at my fluctuating weight amounts. Over the July 4th holiday, drunk in celebration over a small bonus we received at work, I think I deliberately spilled some of my drink on the digital display of the scale in my guest bathroom, frying the electronics. I tossed the device, and haven't purchased a new one.

  However, without the constant "need" to check my weight (sometimes two or three times a day) I'm actually losing more of it. Can't tell you how much, and I don't care, but my belly is a lot smaller, and people are noticing. Below is the first of my "profiles" I'm taking to give me a chronicle of this latest weight loss. All I hve to do is get rid of the "spare tire" and my new abs will show through the fat.

  

  I had to delay my weight training right as I was about to increase weight amounts last weekend, because I'm feeling a bit of pain in my left arm. On Saturday I finished my training, and was a bit sore, but that's to be expected. I make sure I don't overdo it, and then I went down to the pool, ostensibly to soak in the hot tub. I just couldn't be at the pool, however, without swimming a few laps, and exercising on the chrome access bars leading to the pool. The soreness increased, and the next morning, I was hardly able to lift my tea cup. Weird to think I was lifting 15 pound dumbbells and a 50 pound barbell in two sets of 15 repetitions just the day before. I've been taking it easy since, not sure if the pain was returning nerve damage or muscle fatigue. It's now Wednesday morning, and the pain is largely subsided. I won't be working out again till Friday, if the pain decreases completely, and I won't increase weight amounts until I'm sure this doesn't happen again. Here's some "before" and "after" photos taken about a year apart. Can you see the difference I can feel?

  

  

  I've reduced my diet to a bowl of ramen noodles and a sandwich and a half plus a banana at lunch. Dinner is a (largish) salad. I can feel my upper body bulk, and now I actually get "hungry" at mealtimes. If I feel like breakfast (on weekends, usually) I'll have a bowl of oatmeal. I post "instagram" like photos of my salad concoctions on Facebook, where they are pretty popular. The only meat I'm eating (besides thin deli cuts of turkey for the sandwiches.) is fish, usually on Sundays. I've always liked to cook, and am begining to become a pretty good one.

  It's time for an eye examination, and that will happen within the next couple of months. I looked around on the internet to see if I could find anywhere selling the black plastic hornrim frames I used to wear (I call them "Buddy Holly glasses") I'm quite tired of aviator frames, and the "glass" area seems to get smaller every time I get a subscription changed. Well, wonder of wonders, those old black frames are "back". They call them 'geek chic' on the LensCrafters website. I'm gonna go for an entirely new look. Might even shave the beard again. And perhaps even the mustache.

  WEALTH:

  I got a raise last week. (Only 4%, but anything helps) My credit card consolidation loan is down to under 7 grand (from an amount close to 40 grand borrowed back in 2008) I'm in the process of refinancing my car, attempting to lower the rate from 4.5% (currently) to 2.99% (which is what the flyer for rategenius.com advertised) Hope to hear from my loan officer with good news today.Things are looking up, and the light at the end of the debt tunnel has never shone so bright! (I've already begun making vacation plans (a two week Danube River cruise) and home improvements (a screened in porch for my "weight room", and a fence between my home and the loud neighbors), possibly a 65" HDTV upgrade on Black Friday this year too!) I just have to make sure I don't acquire any more debt, and only purchase things with my own money!

  XANGA AND THE INTERNET: 

  Xanga didn't close down. I didn't think it would. I already weighed in (my Voice of Reason column below) on my thoughts. I did pay for a subscription upgrade, and will continue blogging here. I am also in the process of upgrading my personal website. I've only done a couple of weekends on new pages, but the front page is much more streamlined. I can't use my old Dreamweaver program to edit my old pages, but I can code HTML,so I'm updating and fixing the code on the older pages. Check it out at www.allthingsmike.com

  Back when Webshots closed down, I think I was more upset than even when Xanga announced it's possible shutdown. I've constantly bragged about my rating as #6 of over 16,000 users posting photos of California. I switched to Flickr last year, but never really concentrated on adding photos and themed folders as I did on Webshots. I'm doing that now, and at last count, have nearly 8000 photos posted in 27 folders. I'm trying to average two or three folder uploads a night, and I'm adding tags for SEO. I'm also going to create folders with my "best of" photos. I'm adding links to my allthingsmike site to the Xanga photoposts. Next week I am planning on going to Santa Cruz and take a train ride up into the redwood forests in an open car. Should make for some great nature photos.

  I've revived my old "ElectricPoetry" group on Facebook. I really like their group structure. Anyone who reads me who writes poetry and has a Facebook account is invited to join. It's a closed group right now, with a little over 50 members. But I'll add you if you message me or let me know you're interested either on FB or in comments here on Xanga.

  Someone recently told me they really missed the old blogrings (as do I). That only fuels my fire. I may post an Internet Island entry sometime soon. Just have to find the proper subject. 

  I guess that's it for now. I'm a bit irked that Xanga is still quite buggy, and at a time when I'm doing lots of upgrading and creative endeavors on the internet, the site is so slow and hardly works at times. I understand that is going to change at the end of August, and I'm looking forward to the "new Xanga" as a platform for my ever increasing "electronic experiment in art" online.

  August 07, 2013 7:06 AM

  • 2:05 pm
  • 52 Comments