09 May 09 Mission BMI: Road to 25
Last year I had a goal to lose some weight. That was a wash. This year, I am going to lose that weight. I would love to get down to a normal BMI of less than 25. In my case, that would land me about 205 pounds. It’s about 45 pounds to go. It’s a long way, but there is some good news!
At the start of this year, I clocked in at about 286 pounds, a BMI of 34.8. As my Wii Fit always tells me, “That’s obese.” I’ve been losing weight using calorie counting until about a month ago when I switched over to Medifast. It’s bee a grand success so far. Overall, I am currently down to 249 and getting damn close to not being obese any more.
My current trends are getting me down about 3-4 pounds a week. If I keep on my current rate, I should hit my goal around the end of July. Once the weight is tackled, the fitness will be the next focus of interest.
Here’s to keeping on pace!
Cheers,
04 Apr 09 Saturday Observations
Here are some not so random observations from my Saturday in New York.
1. I am thankful that the cabbie had his brakes in good repair.
2. When ever I go see a red panda, all I get to see is their butt.
3. I really like zoos, big or small.
4. I now appreciate Vilas Zoo so much more. They are an awesome deal. All you people in Madison go there right now! They are going to get a donation when I get home.
5. TKTS is an awesome way to get Broadyway tickets at half off. Though get there early.
6. Even if her lips start to turn blue, my wife still thinks she’s warm.
7. They did a great job on Shrek the muscal.
8. I just discovered that hitting the spacebar twice inserts a period.
9. The next time I go to the candy store, Dylan’s Candy Bar, I should set a budget before going in.
10. Being able to get anything delivered is Awesome!
Tags: vacaction
02 Apr 09 Clouds Defeat New York
We are finally in New York.
The flight was quick (in geological terms) and scenic (if you like staring at clouds). As an added bonus, we were treated to a lovely tour of the Chicago-O’Hare tarnac holding area.
New York’s airports found out that they are no match against the all mighty low lying cloud. They ran in fear like Rincewind from slight danger. [See the Discworld series of books for those who are lost on that referance.] For two hours, we pondered the meaning of parked until we got on our way. On viewing of My Name Is Bruce (gotta love movies on the iphone) and two holding patterns later, we arrive!
Our last transportation adventure of the night was a silently insane cabby. Turn signals were a signal of defeat and he flashed his brights at anyone within 400 yards. I do have to give him props, he got us here in a flash!
All this and we are now in bed drifting off to sleep. Well, Leah is. I am killing my fingers typing this on my iPhone (forgive my typos).
Time to get sleepy by reading, night!
02 Apr 09 Dog Clown Car
Have you every tried to three huskies into a 2 door hatchback? It’s a fun experience. Here’s Ulric in the clown car.
02 Apr 09 New York, New York
I love half days! Just about done with work and then off to the airport for vacation.
Stay tuned for notes, pics, and ramblings.
31 Oct 08 Halloween 2008 Liveblog!
It’s time for live blogging! I’ll chronicle the night of Trick or Treaters all night long.
Note: For those reading this through RSS readers, it might not mark the post as new when I update it. If you want to keep up to date, swing on by and keep hitting that reload!
5:16 pm - Computer is setup, dogs are fed, can see people getting prepped outside, but no candy yet. It’s in the wife’s car, so have to wait till she gets home to officially open for the night!
5:40 pm - Wife is home with FOOD! (for me) and candy (For Me! OK, for trick or treaters too)
6:13 pm - In a repeat of last year, the light wasn’t on! I gave it a stern talking to and it assured me it would stay on this time.
6:17 pm - First visitors of the night! A fairy, a bride, and Harry Potter! Ulric gave them a greeting of champions when they arrived.
6:26 pm - New York Yankees and Michigan fans, along with a mini vampire DOG OF DEATH!!! (From it being a well known fact any pets put into a costume automatically want to kill you out of embarrassment. That or the dog was dressed like a vampire. )
6:29 pm - Not Halloween related, but there was a commercial of a puppy running in a field with the text saying it was a “Political Ad Break” I would beg to differ, the cats are planning an attack ad in response!
6:39 pm - Vampire, skeleton, and a wagon made up like Herbie the Love Bug. Mad props for the Herbie! (Ulric bark count upon their arrival, 3)
7:00 pm - Slow night so far, but means more candy for me! Also notes for costumes for next year, Mr Clean or a Superfan.
7:05 pm - A pop tart and an elf! (Ulric’s Bark Rating: 11)
7:27 pm - Yugio, a witch, a baby in a pumpkin outfit, and a queen! (Ulric “Barky Bark” Schaab’s # of greetings: 19)
7:41 pm - A gaggle of uncostumed teenagers. Save one, she was in a weird baby getup.
7:45 pm - A ghost and a princess. Also Ulric has decided to go as a broken Home Security System this year!
7:47 pm-Count Chocula, a Pirate, and the Pope! I am a bit disappointed the Pope was not trying to kill or exorcise the Count. He’s a vampire for heaven’s sake!
8:15 pm- That’s it for the night! A slower year than last, but I get more candy now! Good night and Happy Halloween!
31 Oct 08 Just Testing
Just testing how the new Zoundry raven posts.
Testing some more
- Bullet List
- Bullet List
- Bullet List
- Numeric List
- Numeric List
- Numeric List
Tags: Test
16 Sep 08 Vets, Work, and Weddings
It’s a busy week for me as the big work conference is this week and some of my friends were married this past weekend on RI. I wasn’t able to make it out there for the ceremonies, but they are having a reception this weekend I am really looking forward to. Congrats you two!
The other big news on the home front is we have a new pet. Yea, another one… Though this one is all L’s doing. 
The newest furry edition to the house is Q (Queens) the cat. A rescue from the humane society who is a little too hissy for my tastes, but for some psychotic reason loves me. When I sleep at night, he sleeps right next to my head or almost on it. He was sick when we got him with a cold so it was lots of trips to the vet and one very very messy cat. He’s better now, though I still refer to him as Snot Face.
As if we didn’t get enough of the vet taking Q to see them, we got in another trip this week with one of the dogs, Freyja. At the dog park yesterday after day one of the conference, she starts limping and not putting weight on one of her back feet. Freyja did not get the best in the back leg department as she has already had knee surgery on both legs. Now with the limp, it got me thinking she wanted to go in for a three-peat. Turns out it is just a pulled muscle so she should be as right as rain in about a week. In the mean time, it’s leash rest for her. The saving grace this time is that I don’t have to carry her up and down the stairs like when she had her knees redone.
28 May 08 The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round
I’m back to being a bus commuter. The trip now is about 2-3 times longer than at my old job, but it is relaxing. The end result is more time traveling with the benefit now of having a fairly solid I-can’t-work-any-later-than-this time.
With the extra time comes a need for something to do. I have a few podcasts I listen to, but they only run about an hour each. The podcasts only last for a single one way trip and I have only enough to last about half the week. I have 5 hours or so of time to fill up. Reading is a possibility, but reading on a moving vehicle can result in a sick feeling I would like to avoid.
So what I would like from my readers our there are some podcast or audiobook options. I am pondering getting an Audible subscription again, so anything off of Audible.com would be an option.
12 May 08 Ulric Remakes There Will Be Blood
The dogs got a special treat today, a trip to doggy daycare! The wife was going to be gone all day and I was at work, so it’s an nice treat for them to be able to play with other mutts all day long.
Ulric had a good time. Maybe a little too much of a good time. I got a call from the doggy day care that he was bleeding from his paws. Bleeding a lot. Since Ulric is still a bit scared of being touched by people, they were not able to check on what was wrong. They called me, but I couldn’t do much due to work. (grumble grumble) The wife called them and got on the way and got Ulric to the vet. Turns out Ulric was playing so much, he wore his claws down to the quick and thus bled a lot. He left blood paw prints all over.
Don’t fret though! He is a mighty trooper. He didn’t seem to be in pain at all. In fact, he was his normal happy self around other dogs still.
The vet got him patched up with green gauze that makes him look like he has some booties on his back feet. Bleeding has stopped, but Ulric has to take it easy for a while so he couldn’t partake in the fun of doggy day care. He was relegated to the world of day time boarding so he could rest up and recover.
All in all, an exciting day. On the plus side, the day care didn’t charge us for the day due to the drama. They are a good bunch of people over there.
08 May 08 Dairy Free Day 2
A few temptations today. I normally have some breakfast with cheese on it. Today, I had to sadly peel the cheese off of em before eating.
Dairy free today, and breathing clear. Maybe there is a connection.
07 May 08 2 Week Trial #1: Dairy Free
In an attempt to be a bit healthier and to be able to breath better, I am starting my first 2 week trial. It will be a two week trial to see how it works. At the end of the test, I’ll see if it’s something I want to keep doing.
This one is going to be hard. No dairy. Here are my rules:
- No direct dairy, cheese, milk, ice cream, etc
- Butter is OK if it is part of the recipe, not spread on things
Not too complex. I’ve already got some soy milk to replace milk and it tastes pretty good. Day one has been smooth and dairy free. I don’t feel majorly different, but I am able to breath a bit better today. There are some mixed reports that dairy can cause excess or thickened mucus production. Some folks say that is the case, some say it has no affect. This trial will see if it works for me.
The benefits for me if this works will be better sleep. I am having problems being able to breath clearly at night thus resulting in me not being able to sleep well. My wonderful nasal pathways did not follow the general plan to be an appropriate size for someone of my build/size. Even a little bit of nasal blockage makes it damn hard to breath, the passage is rather small. The goal is to reduce the mucus, make it easier to breath, and to hopefully be able to sleep better.
Now I could just try to use decongestants to get by to breath easier. I have tried that, and the side effects unfortunately are not worth it. Pseudoephedrine works to clear the nose, but it gives my face muscle spasms that just feel wrong. It also make me sleepless. The over-the-counter alternative phenylephrine doesn’t work for me. Nasal sprays are not meant for long term use and make the blockage much much worse after it wears off. What is left is a quest to find the source and fix the issue. The dairy free test is an attempt to find the source.
More updates as they come!
17 Apr 08 Sickness sucks…
It sucks being sick. It’s nowhere near fun to have a migraine, fever, huge congestion, and general feelings of crappiness. But what really takes the cake for me, and makes no sense, is that what is most annoying right now is that my eyes hurt. If I move my eyes in any direction, they don’t hurt. If I try to move my eyes to look far to the left, right, up, down, any direction, and it hurts like hell. It feels like I pulled my eye muscles somehow. It sucks.
09 Apr 08 I’ve got an odd urge
to run down the cube halls of my office shouting the rocky theme while doing the victory pose with my arms raised up in the air.
Oddly enough, thinking of this causes me to grin like a mad man and increases the urge to do it.
Maybe it’s just cause it’s a slow day and nice outside and I would like to be home with the mutts.
08 Apr 08 3 Years Today!
Today marks our 3 year anniversary! While our marriage has been anything from normal from how we met and married to the current health challenges we face today, it’s been a fun ride. Here’s to many more and good health to follow!
07 Jan 08 Clear Context V4
I started a new job on November 5th. On that day, I received a welcomed email in my inbox; Clear Context V4 had been released unto the masses! It was a joyous day for me. If you have read this blog before, you know I really like Clear Context for managing email. You can checkout my posts on Version 3 and Version 2. I was so impressed at Version 3 that I ended up using Outlook for my email. The Linux guy using Outlook, yikes!
It worked great for my work account. I was downloading my email and sorting through it in no time. Compared to my personal accounts which have somewhere between 2-5k emails in the inbox, my work account rarely got above 50. Clear Context was to thank for that. Now if Outlook were not a complete idiot when it comes to IMAP mail, my personal accounts would enjoy the same fun I am sure. However, since Outlook hates IMAP, Clear Context is not able to effectively handle my IMAP accounts.
Now in my old job, I chose to use Outlook to be able to use Clear Context. Now with my new job, I have to use Outlook. Clear Context makes it so much easier to manage and the happy coincidence of the new version being released on my first day of work makes me a happy man. jeu de la boule casinoslot machine 98bonus gratuites de casinocasino franceall slots flash casino,slots royale casino,casino slotsvideo slot machinejeux casino comwww jeux casino comcoupons bonus casino770www netpartners groupe casino frcasino jeux toulouseat black jackles jeux de casino gratuites ,jeux de casino gratuit,jeux de casino gratuites sans telechargementcraps onlinejeu de video poker gratuitescasino supermarché en lignejeu de poker casinotelecharger video poker gratuitesblack jack und nuttencasino barriere en lignewww casino on netjeu slots casino gratuitescasino machine a sous gratuitscasino 10 bonusblack jack kabel einskeno gamele meilleur casinoslot machine,slot machine jeux fr,slot machine gratuitesplay baccarat onlinejeux casino 10 euro gratuites ,casino en euro,casino eurocasino virtuel,jeux de casino virtuel,meilleur casino virtuelmeilleur casino francaiscasino video pokerblack jack bettingroulette de casinoregole blackjackjeu flash casinojeux de roulette en ligne,roulette russe en ligne,roulette en lignejeux keno en ligne gratuitesonline casino gamescasino on net gratuitesjeux casino gratuitescoupon bonus casino770casino en ligne sans depotroulette gratuitementwww jeu casinowww casino folies combonus gratuites casino770le baccaratcasino island blackjack The newly released Version 4 of the software builds on it’s already solid foundations. In my Version 3 review, I spoke of the minor issues it had with it’s unsubscribe feature. Thankfully, those are all fixed. The one big and one small feature that I wildly enjoy in this release are the new IMS Dashboard and the new Do Not Disturb button.
The Dashboard is a wonderful piece of work. It brings in all of your emails, tasks, and appointments into one area for review. This makes it so much easier to see everything related to big projects you are working on. It also is great for those working on a GTD setup. You can see everything you need. It blows the Outlook’s Outlook Today feature out of the water. I’ve found it’s been a great feature that helps me get on track in the morning and plan out my day.
The small feature that I love is the Do Not Disturb button. Normally if you want to disable the new mail popup in Outlook, it is buried in the badly disorganized Outlook options window. Now to disable it, just press the DND button and you are set to go. If only I had this button when I was a trainer, not as many trainees would have seen my email accidentally popup on the screen. A small, but useful, feature.
Now although I can not imagine working through all my email without Clear Context, there is one sticking point: The Price. When I first got Clear Context, it was a reasonable $30. For the price, it was a great deal. I felt that even at $40, possibly $50 it would still be a great deal. Now the price for a new version has jumped up to $90. If I had not tried Clear Context before, I would have passed on it at this price point. I feel it is a bit too high of a price. Outlook 2007 itself is $87, I don’t think an addon product should be more than the product it enhances. In general, most software over $50-$60 I feel is overpriced unless it is a key need for your work. With Outlook and Clear Context, they are useful, but not 100% essential. I think they both might be able to get more customers with a lower price point. I know a few people at my company that like Clear Context, but are balking at the price. It is useful, but the price point is the deal killer.
Clear Context does help out a bit on price though. With each new version, they offer a reduced cost or free upgrade path. So after the initial investment you could continue to use new versions of the product by getting the free upgrades. This is how I have been upgrading my Clear Context version since v2. This I believe is a novel approach they use and helps get the word out about their product. So there is a balance between the initial purchase and the reduced or no cost upgrade paths. However, if the initial price path continues to increase as it has, I think the balance will tip unfavorably.
Overall, I continue to be impressed with Clear Context. The product is solid, they offer excellent upgrade prices, and have wonderful service and support. However, they do need to keep a close eye on the price.
Download Clear Context 4 TrialÂ
31 Oct 07 Halloween: Live Blogging!
It’s Halloween! So I’m sitting downstairs, listening to NPR, Hattie is licking my head, and now I am attempting to prove how uncool I by live blogging Halloween! While folks come to my door, I’ll document it here as it happens. Stay tuned!
6:01 pm After realizing that the motion light out front was not on after seeing folks pass the house by, the light has been turned on.
6:03 pm First trick-or-treater of the night! A trio of three young girls with no costumes. Took a few handfuls of treats.
6:16 pm Four more, a grim reaper, a packer fan, a witch, and a no-costume. Surprisingly, Ulric has not been as barky as I thought he would be.
6:49 pm Another trick or treat! A few toddlers dressed as a super monkey, giraffe, tigger.
7:00 pm Two ghouls, Ulric in full barky mode
7:13 pm Group of 5, two young toddlers and a few middle school age. Mostly skeleton costumes. Got a shout out from one of the trick or treaters for supplying Nerds as a candy.
7:14 pm Out back-yard neighbor came by as another Tigger!
7:21 pm Teenagers attack! Well, came for treats at least. Good thing is they actually made an attempt to dress up. Well, all but 2 of ’em.
7:22 pm Wife comments on the bad spelling and grammar on the live blogging. Fixed up a few bits.
7:24 pm A farmer girl! Complete with little stuffed pig and spider
7:33 pm ELVIS! Had an Elvis (with a mic!), dancer, two witches, and a toddler as a chicken
7.41 pm ninja & witch. Ninja did not attempt to kill me for the candy. Was kind of a disappointment. Would have got more bonus points if I couldn’t see him and he appeared in a puff of smoke ninja style. That too much to ask?
7.42 pm buzz lightyear, two other middle-schoolers, and an infant as a lion. The infant made me forget what the other two middle schoolers were dressed up as
7.43 pm A princess and a witch! Witches are pretty popular this year
7.44 pm Broadway’s best playing on the laptop to give some background. They’re playing the complete cast recording of Phantom of the Opera. Good stuff for Halloween.
7.46 pm A gypsy and a pirate. Pirate vs. Ninja battle is now even at 1-1
7.54 pm Witch, pirate, and a factory. Yeppers, a gal dressed up as a factory. Mega points for originality. Bonus points as their dog was dressed up like a ghost too. Pirates now up 2-1 vs Ninja. Well, ninja that I have seen. They are tricky folks.
8.17 pm Two little fairies
8.27 pm Probably the last group of the night, 5 cold trick or treaters. How did I know they were cold? They had coats on over their costumes. It looked like some orange was involved somewhere in the costume, but the coat hides all.
8.30 pm Last call has been sounded, that wraps it up for Halloween 2007! I am off to go get a wicked sugar high off the left overs. 
11 Aug 07 A Letter for Those Asking for Tech Support
Here’s a letter for those asking for tech support. He says it much better than I ever could.
An Open Letter to Anyone Asking Me For Computer Help
10 Aug 07 Cleaning Fun!
So with dogs becomes accidents. And with messy accidents comes a wife telling you to clean them up. She does have a good excuse there.
So we got some cleaning tools to help us out. We needed a replacement dust buster, ours stopped taking a charge long ago. We picked up a Dirt Devil Scorpion Turbo at Home Depot. I like it. It works great, has a lot fo power, and gets the job done. Only real downside I see is the exhaust vents on the side of the have some high winds coming out of them. If you are vacuuming something that can be blown around easily, use the extender attachment or the dust is gonna fly everywhere.
For the messier… well.. messes, we got a Spot lifter PowerBrush Handheld Deep Cleaner. Gonna have to say avoid this one if you can. The biggest downsides are a small liquid cleaner tank. Seriously, why would the pickup tank be about 4x the side of the cleaner tank. Plus to deploy said cleaner onto said stain, it’s a manual sprayer. You can get better coverage with a pump bottle with more liquid cleaner available. The suction and scrubber is good, but in the liquid deployment area it is very weak.
Both tools will help for spot cleaning. Though my wish list is to get a good wet cleaner that has some good brushes on the end of it. We borrow the local parents steam vac, but it doesn’t have any scrubbing action. It cleans, but takes a lot more passes on the carpet that I think is needed. A good steam vac with some good scrubbing brushes at the bottom would work wonders.
On the dry cleaning side of things, the wish list item is to get a vacuum with a bagless system that I can see how full it is getting. The current vacuum takes bags and it’s hard to tell how full it gets. Plus with how much hair we have in the house (3 huskies and 4 cats, hair-o-rama), it fills up fast so it takes a lot of bags. Something like this Bissell vacuum might be a good option. It has pet specific attachments and a clear dirt bin.
02 Jul 07 Good Start To The Day
It’s a great start to the day waking up with the cats right next to ya and the smell of the dogs as they come inside from their morning outing.
It’s the little things that start the day out right.
