So returns the lust

You just cannot imagine the wellspring of emotion experienced when I ran across this item. I was like a twelve year school girl realizing my middle school crush was going to show up unexpectedly at my door. Yes, it was exactly like that.
This shirt will actively display the signal strength of any wifi spots in range. If I were the designer, I would take it a little further and add a scrolling led displaying the net names and which flavor of 802.11 the detected net is utilizing. New levels of geek love, let me tell you...
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On another note, the seventy pound mark for my weight loss still evades me like that last dill pickle at the bottom of the jar. After chasing that little mother with a single-minded abandon of a meth addict looking for a score before burning through my current stash, i still can't make that connection. And the current head of steam is starting to finally burn dry. I have been working hard to not pay attention to my waning enthusiasm (hell, it's been three years).
I went on a little bender after missing the mark at last weigh-in and starting looking to hook up with as many carbohydrate laden foods as possible. Good times.

-nn

Down another 1.6

Yikes! Six days without a post? Unheard of.
While I have been slacking off on posts, the workouts continue. The running has not become routine yet, so I think I will continue for a while. There is something comforting about the rhythm created by my feet. Once I get settled, it feels like I could actually do two miles without stopping. This from a man who has never run more than a half mile in one shot. In my entire life.
So I dropped another 1.6, bringing the total to 63.4 pounds. Yee haw, it looks likes I finally jumped off the plateau of 60 pounds. The challenge, as always, will be keeping it off.

- subject change -

So I took on this super ambitious project of building lofts beds for my girls (seven and three). Having pored over available plans I finally settled on some plans and starting collecting the few woodworking tools I did not already have (a table saw, some clamps, abrasives, general what not). I will not bother listing the huge number of mistakes I made while paring down the pile of lumber into usable bits. I will not bother you with the number of times I made THE SAME mistake nor how costly they were.

I will just submit a list of things I have learned:


- no matter what pictures you find to show the finished product, be prepared design changes that will add significant time to the project.

- it is not enough to measure it twice. make sure you are using the correct measurement to begin with.

- smooth wood, regardless of type, is expensive.

- measure it again.

- square your tools with the same gauge. a sixteenth of an inch on one could be different than another.

- make sure your sixteenth of an inch is accurate.

- add 20% to all your time estimates. this will keep you from having to work all night because the paint booth is only available on Tuesday and Thursday.

- add 15% to all your material estimates (includes consumables: abrasives, glue, et al.). this will save time going to the hardware store.

- power sanders rock.

I am sure there are more things, they just have not occurred to me yet.

- nn

Goal attained: 60 pounds finally!

I am aware it has been an entire week without a post. Work hit me hard and missing my elusive sixty mark last week killed my creative streak. Imagine my surprise when I discovered I finally broke the into the 60-65 pound weight range! I weighed in last thinking I would have just barely made the .6 pounds required to hit sixty. Lo and behold, my weekly total was 2.6 pounds. The sweat and work is paying off and know I am thinking I could actually make my published goal weight of 179 (but don't hold your breath for that one).

I have stepped up the resistance for my fifteen minutes on the bike:
Old settings:
- 3 min @ level 8
- 12 min @ level 10

New settings:
- 2 min @ level 8
- 11 min @ level 10
- 2 min @ level 12

The weights have gotten progressively heavier, favoring more weight and and fewer reps, rather than the multiple dead slow reps I started out with. Talking with trainer M helped more than he knows.

Additionally, I started finishing up with a three minute pilates session which concentrated on my abs. Of which I can for the first time in twenty years.

-nn

Aftermath

The evaluation went better than I thought it would. I could actually walk (although shakily) without any noticeable pain afterward. I actually received some validation on a few of the routine things I was doing. Like increasing the time and resistance at regular intervals while on the bike. One thing that caught me off guard was having to leg press 300 pounds. I was definitely NOT expecting to push that much weight. I only had to press it five times, but man it felt more like 10 reps.
Gravity was not my friend.
The trainer went all hardcore on my abs, which felt great but there was a time when I thought I my back muscles were going to go on strike and walk out on me. I was sweating like a pig.
I did not do any arms and chest today, which left me oddly disappointed. I cannot explain as to why.
The short story, my reps are too slow. I should be doing faster reps, which will raise my heartbeat and burn more fat. I should be working in at least three sets of lower reps and higher weights.
On another note, I fricking gained weight again and will be sweating out another workout tomorrow in order to catch my elusive goal of 60 pounds of weight loss by tomorrow nights weigh-in.

Day of rest

I worked out three days straight (Mon, Tues, Wed) in an effort to overcome a MASSIVE and FRIED meal I consumed over the weekend. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED EVERY BITE. But I could not bring myself to accept the weight gain associated with it. So I worked up the gumption to actually get to the gym three times in three days. So how do I feel about it? Tired! For this week, I went down -0.8.
The ISO audit drew to a close yesterday and the verbal report is glowing. There were no significant findings and the auditors were recommending the company for certification. In auditor-speak, this is a seal of approval. So what can we do with it? Personally, I can post this accomplishment as another feather in my resume (never hurts). For the company, it allows us to bids on RFPs (Request For Proposals) internationally much quicker. Where before we would have to produce reams of supporting documents, now all we have to do is check a little box and enter the certification number. In the simplest terms, think of it as a significant paper reduction.