Reason #43 Why I Don't Have a Cat
posted by Ted @ 13:52
7 Comments
Monday, April 14, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
In the Balance
We're 6 days into my new diet, and I've lost 5 pounds. That leaves me with very little to complain about. But complain I shall.
The worst part about low-carb diets, in my opinion, is the attitude adjustment that goes on in the first week. What Atkins calls "induction" generally induces some sort of malaise. I've heard it described as insomnia, flu-like symptoms, or, in my case, depression. I seem to be weathering this bout better than the last time or three I've decided to offload some tonnage, but still, it's no fun.
To make matters even more exciting, there are many additional stressors in my life. Buying a new house--we started packing today. The Wife is feeling poorly. No exercise today, as I topped 4 miles total for the last two days; don't want to push to hard and wind up with tendonitis or somesuch (it's happened before). Oh yeah, and I did my taxes today.
Boy did that suck. I used an online freebie service (actually, I used two, but HR Block kept insisting that I had an error in my return. I couldn't find it, became convinced it was a bug in the program, and went to a different service and started over), which was relatively painless when compared to doing taxes on paper. Let me add that I will never do my own taxes again. I did 'em this year because 1)this year's taxes are fairly simple. They're going to get very complicated next year; 2) my tax preparer just retired. Recommendations for tax prep in N'awlins would be appreciated about now.
The worst part about low-carb diets, in my opinion, is the attitude adjustment that goes on in the first week. What Atkins calls "induction" generally induces some sort of malaise. I've heard it described as insomnia, flu-like symptoms, or, in my case, depression. I seem to be weathering this bout better than the last time or three I've decided to offload some tonnage, but still, it's no fun.
To make matters even more exciting, there are many additional stressors in my life. Buying a new house--we started packing today. The Wife is feeling poorly. No exercise today, as I topped 4 miles total for the last two days; don't want to push to hard and wind up with tendonitis or somesuch (it's happened before). Oh yeah, and I did my taxes today.
Boy did that suck. I used an online freebie service (actually, I used two, but HR Block kept insisting that I had an error in my return. I couldn't find it, became convinced it was a bug in the program, and went to a different service and started over), which was relatively painless when compared to doing taxes on paper. Let me add that I will never do my own taxes again. I did 'em this year because 1)this year's taxes are fairly simple. They're going to get very complicated next year; 2) my tax preparer just retired. Recommendations for tax prep in N'awlins would be appreciated about now.
posted by Ted @ 02:07
1 Comments
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Weighty Issues
A week's worth of road food and minimal exercise during the road trip to NC has left me feeling awful. I consulted with the scale when I got back and really didn't like the results--I've put back almost half of the weight I lost after my surgery. So I've started a pretty strict diet: chicken breast, fish, fresh veggies (green peppers are very tasty right now), and a bowl of oatmeal every morning for breakfast. Snacks are some unsalted nuts or a couple of sticks of celery with hummus. Drinking a lot of water and (unsweetened) iced tea. Basically I'm trying to eat as low-carb, low-fat as possible without sacrificing essential nutrients. I'm also trying to walk two miles a day, which will ramp up over time.
Details as events warrant.
Details as events warrant.
posted by Ted @ 14:14
5 Comments
It Can Be Done
Apparently a Pizza Hut delivery guy was recently held up. With a gun to his head, he managed to draw, fire, and hit his assailant 3 times; he apparently escaped injury. One wonders what sort of carry he uses.
posted by Ted @ 13:41
0 Comments
Monday, April 07, 2008
Road Trip Debriefing
I got off-duty at 3pm on Monday and The Wife was waiting for me. I changed into people clothes in the parking garage (thankfully without getting arrested) and we hit the road. It was sleep-eat-drive for about 10 hours, Atlanta traffic managed to be awful even at midnight. Why the powers-that-be in Georgia decided that 2 miles of 2-lane traffic followed by 2 miles of 4-lane traffic followed by 2 miles of 2-lane traffic should be repeated for half the state I will never know. I just know that it was stupid.
We hit South Carolina and realized that we were on schedule to reach the interesting parts of NC at about 4am, so we crashed out for a few hours in a hotel instead. Rolled into Meg's at about 10, said "hi" to the dog (which took about 3 hours) as well as Meg, Russell, and the Interchangeable Emmas* and hung out for a bit. I took a nap while The Wife played dog games and then we all went out for some very acceptable Italian at a place called Barreca's.
The next two days we spent in Charlotte hanging out with YJ and Jenny and the Geezers. It was very low-key as the kids were sick (and thus only moving at Mach 1). Halley met Jack the Cat who did not like her one bit. I ate way too much, slept a bunch, and generally had a good time.
The trip back was uneventful until Bay St. Louis, where we hit a fairly impressive thunderstorm and I decided to pull off and wait it out. Anybody who has driven with me knows that it takes a lot to get me off the road, and this certainly did it. Fortunately, it was just a feeder band so by the time we found an exit, pulled over, and fueled up the weather had cleared up again. The Wife had the foresight to check the weather, which indicated that more bad was coming in an hour or two, which gave us just enough time to hightail it back to N'awlins and unpack--I literally grabbed the last of the luggage just as it started to pour.
*with thanks to Terry Pratchett--see _Night Watch_
We hit South Carolina and realized that we were on schedule to reach the interesting parts of NC at about 4am, so we crashed out for a few hours in a hotel instead. Rolled into Meg's at about 10, said "hi" to the dog (which took about 3 hours) as well as Meg, Russell, and the Interchangeable Emmas* and hung out for a bit. I took a nap while The Wife played dog games and then we all went out for some very acceptable Italian at a place called Barreca's.
The next two days we spent in Charlotte hanging out with YJ and Jenny and the Geezers. It was very low-key as the kids were sick (and thus only moving at Mach 1). Halley met Jack the Cat who did not like her one bit. I ate way too much, slept a bunch, and generally had a good time.
The trip back was uneventful until Bay St. Louis, where we hit a fairly impressive thunderstorm and I decided to pull off and wait it out. Anybody who has driven with me knows that it takes a lot to get me off the road, and this certainly did it. Fortunately, it was just a feeder band so by the time we found an exit, pulled over, and fueled up the weather had cleared up again. The Wife had the foresight to check the weather, which indicated that more bad was coming in an hour or two, which gave us just enough time to hightail it back to N'awlins and unpack--I literally grabbed the last of the luggage just as it started to pour.
*with thanks to Terry Pratchett--see _Night Watch_
posted by Ted @ 17:10
2 Comments
