So I started the P90X work out routine yesterday. I started with the "Core Synergistics" workout and today I woke up very sore. Yes...you'd expect a nearly obese man of my age to be sore after almost any workout...but this is my blog and I'll complain just as much as I deem necessary.
Last year just before our 10 year anniversary my wife and I did this workout together and we both lost quite a bit of weight. After we got back we both sort of quit the workout and over the ensuing six months I put on most of the weight I lost. That's what happens when you have a desk job and you don't do any exercise and don't adjust your diet to your sedentary lifestyle. So less than a week into my diet and workout efforts I have lost two pounds. Not bad for starters.
My experience with this workout is that it works. I was impressed with how I could do the work outs week after week and not get bored. I was impressed that Tony, the instructor, didn't get annoying with his cheesy puns and strange motivational tact. The workouts are Tough with a capital T and invigorating / tiring sufficient to let you know you're accomplishing something every time. The pounds will drop and the toning will come if you follow this workout program (including the diet...although I personally have my own diet to go in combination). I have suggested this program to everyone who says they want to lose weight. So now I'm suggesting this workout to literally everyone within the sound of my virtual voice. Let P90X help you with your personal fitness goals and you'll succeed like you never have before.
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Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Kickin' it old school: "Clear and Present Danger"
I stayed up last night and watched "Clear and Present Danger" for the first time in quite a few years. This show was first in the theaters in 1994 and at the time this suspense thriller was very modern. Technologically speaking the show was contemporary and maybe even bleeding edge tech. Watching it last night (late night) I was as much entertained by the tech as I was the great acting and the story. Harrison Ford is a classy actor and he "is" Jack Ryan of the Tom Clancy series. This intelligent series still is entertaining no matter how dated some things may be.
The monochrome "green" screens and the floppy discs were there and almost as entertaining were the "Star tac" cell phones. It's amazing how far we've come. The "floppy" discs have infinitely more capacity and are a fraction the size of the 1.44MB discs we put our word perfect documents on in the mid-'90s. The screens generate millions of colors and we walk around with cell phones that have more computing capacity than the space shuttle. To me it seems like the '90s just ended. With over 15 years passed since this movie was first screened it's astonishing to see just how far we've come. Still I'm entertained immensely by this movie because the story is compelling and the acting nearly flawless. I dare not burden you with the recap since most of you have seen it...but I will encourage you to watch it again and wonder at the awesomeness of technological progress.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Pathfinder by Orson Scot Card
It's been a while since I last read a book cover to cover. Largely because of life taking most of my library into boxes while we prepared to and actually moved. Christmas cured this problem because my wife got me an awesome book, Pathfinder by Orson Scot Card (my favorite author of all time). This book is about a young man (13 years old at the start of the book),Rigg, who is raised by a man who is a trapper. This trapper however spends every waking moment of the boys life teaching him things that have almost nothing to do with trapping. He teaches him languages, astronomy, rhetoric, politics, finance, math, and other non-trapping things. The boy absorbs the teachings like most kids would when given no alternatives and is spectacularly intelligent because of the teachings. (This should start sounding very familiar...think Ender's Game) While being exceptionally intelligent is important to the story the most remarkable thing about him is the fact that he can see "paths" of people from the past. He knows where animals, plants, and people have traveled based on the path they leave behind. He doesn't fully understand the meaning of the paths but his Father teaches him enough to eventually begin to understand what they mean. When his Father passes in a tragic accident, Rigg must start a journey that is full of twists and turns that will keep your mind reeling at the possibilities. Rigg, together with Umbo, a childhood friend, start off together and eventually find that they both possess remarkable "skills" that when combined cause time and space to not work the way we come to expect...and that is when things get VERY interesting.
This book is perhaps every bit as good as Ender's Game which for me is about the highest praise I could give a book. The thought provoking dilemmas and the awesome characters come together to be every ounce the greatness of Ender's Game. While solidly in the Fantasy genre...it crosses borders in ways that make it equally Science Fiction. I can't recommend this book enough. If you want to get it I've tried to make it easy by giving you a link to Amazon.com. Let me know what you think after you've read it...I can hardly wait for the next part of the series.
This book is perhaps every bit as good as Ender's Game which for me is about the highest praise I could give a book. The thought provoking dilemmas and the awesome characters come together to be every ounce the greatness of Ender's Game. While solidly in the Fantasy genre...it crosses borders in ways that make it equally Science Fiction. I can't recommend this book enough. If you want to get it I've tried to make it easy by giving you a link to Amazon.com. Let me know what you think after you've read it...I can hardly wait for the next part of the series.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Oh the drama and stress...
So it's been a while since I posted last and life as usual has been the barrier to my posting. We decided that we were going to put our house on the market to sell shortly after my last post. Since then we have finished some over due projects and put our house in order to sell. We have also been searching actively for a home. All of this culminating in the last two weeks of insanity.
First we fell in love with a house and got serious about selling our house. We had a guy come by and then he brought his wife and they indicated that they were going to give us an offer after their real estate agent got a chance to look at it...and that is where things get frustrating. We get this news on a Thursday before an awesome camping trip and we're very excited about the potential offer all weekend. When we get home we're looking forward to having the agent come by and look at the house. She does so and totally sours our deal. So instead of making an offer on the awesome house we found we instead sit on it and wait until we have someone else who is interested in our house. This happens about a week later. A lady drives by while we're out in the yard and slows to a stop to get a flier from our flier box. I invite her in and give her the tour. She's clearly excited about the house. This is when we start thinking now is the time to get an offer in on the perfect house we like. So we have our agent draw up paperwork and submit our offer. Only to find out a day later that the house we placed an offer on is no longer available because the day before that the seller decided to extend a 1 year lease to the current occupants. We become very bummed. So we start looking again...just as the lady who wants our house decides she wants to give us an offer for our house. We're now excited again because now we have an offer and we just need to find a house. So we find a house and we call our agent to set up an appointment to view it and likely place an offer on it only to find out that it is already sold. So now we've lost two perfect homes. Which brings us almost up to date. So now were looking for additional homes to look at and we find a couple of run down places that we want nothing to do with and finally find something that is nice, comfortable but ultimately a short term solution. We're ready to make the offer Friday night after leaving our agent and talking a bit. Then we get home and see an automated email showing a NEW listing. This house looks awesome. So the next morning after an awesome event at the Adventure Challenge we drive by and meet the owners doing some last minute cleaning and ask if we can view their home. They oblige and we fall in love all over again. This home is AWESOME in so many ways. We decided to forget the home we were going to make an offer on and instead place an offer on this house. Again this is Saturday (11th). We give them 24 hours to respond to the offer (full price). So Sunday we are waiting to hear and then just before church we get the call that they accept and we're ready to go. Just before church ends I get another call telling me that they have taken their counteroffer off the table to view another offer. This is where dreams are destroyed. About 8:50 pm Sunday we get the call that they accepted the other offer (under suspicious circumstances on behalf of their agent). So we now have no home and an offer that we have accepted and are ready to move on. Which brings us to today...searching for a home while finalizing the documents needed to start the lengthy process of selling our home.
It has been a roller coaster three weeks. Elation, frustration, disappointment, excitement, and ultimately stress that we didn't want or need. The selling of our home has been smooth and simple (so far). So we're just going to play things by ear and see where it all goes. I suspect we'll find a short term solution and start saving money for the "Perfect" home in a couple of years. However, another "perfect" home could pop up tomorrow and we start the roller coaster all over again. Heaven forbid
First we fell in love with a house and got serious about selling our house. We had a guy come by and then he brought his wife and they indicated that they were going to give us an offer after their real estate agent got a chance to look at it...and that is where things get frustrating. We get this news on a Thursday before an awesome camping trip and we're very excited about the potential offer all weekend. When we get home we're looking forward to having the agent come by and look at the house. She does so and totally sours our deal. So instead of making an offer on the awesome house we found we instead sit on it and wait until we have someone else who is interested in our house. This happens about a week later. A lady drives by while we're out in the yard and slows to a stop to get a flier from our flier box. I invite her in and give her the tour. She's clearly excited about the house. This is when we start thinking now is the time to get an offer in on the perfect house we like. So we have our agent draw up paperwork and submit our offer. Only to find out a day later that the house we placed an offer on is no longer available because the day before that the seller decided to extend a 1 year lease to the current occupants. We become very bummed. So we start looking again...just as the lady who wants our house decides she wants to give us an offer for our house. We're now excited again because now we have an offer and we just need to find a house. So we find a house and we call our agent to set up an appointment to view it and likely place an offer on it only to find out that it is already sold. So now we've lost two perfect homes. Which brings us almost up to date. So now were looking for additional homes to look at and we find a couple of run down places that we want nothing to do with and finally find something that is nice, comfortable but ultimately a short term solution. We're ready to make the offer Friday night after leaving our agent and talking a bit. Then we get home and see an automated email showing a NEW listing. This house looks awesome. So the next morning after an awesome event at the Adventure Challenge we drive by and meet the owners doing some last minute cleaning and ask if we can view their home. They oblige and we fall in love all over again. This home is AWESOME in so many ways. We decided to forget the home we were going to make an offer on and instead place an offer on this house. Again this is Saturday (11th). We give them 24 hours to respond to the offer (full price). So Sunday we are waiting to hear and then just before church we get the call that they accept and we're ready to go. Just before church ends I get another call telling me that they have taken their counteroffer off the table to view another offer. This is where dreams are destroyed. About 8:50 pm Sunday we get the call that they accepted the other offer (under suspicious circumstances on behalf of their agent). So we now have no home and an offer that we have accepted and are ready to move on. Which brings us to today...searching for a home while finalizing the documents needed to start the lengthy process of selling our home.
It has been a roller coaster three weeks. Elation, frustration, disappointment, excitement, and ultimately stress that we didn't want or need. The selling of our home has been smooth and simple (so far). So we're just going to play things by ear and see where it all goes. I suspect we'll find a short term solution and start saving money for the "Perfect" home in a couple of years. However, another "perfect" home could pop up tomorrow and we start the roller coaster all over again. Heaven forbid
.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Ooops! Haven't Posted in a while
So I've been so caught up in work and life in general that I haven't posted in some time. As this is my catch-all blog I will try and catch up the many happenings in a brief (for me) post. Hopefully I will get back on the two or three posts a week schedule soon.
Alright since my last post on Sarah: Women of Genesis I have completed that series and must admit that Orson Scott Card is hands down my favorite author of all time. For the women who follow my blog this series is a must read. There is reportedly a follow up to Rachel and Leah but no word on when it will be finished. To all the men who follow this is a must read so you can learn how to recognize your spouse for the incredible being that she is. I gained a whole new level of respect for the lives that women lead in secret from men. How a man could write these novels is beyond me...lots of research and a wife over his shoulder no doubt.
I also read Last Song by Nicholas Sparks...yup. Now that the men have stopped laughing I will continue with my review. It seems to me that Nicholas Sparks has a real talent for tragedy turned happy ending. His writing at times was very juvenile and perhaps that was to match the main characters personality because as the seriousness of the book became more clear the youth of the writing became more sober and a little more adultish. I didn't cry...although I almost did. I found the story to be predictable like most Hollywood situational romances which at times made for a boring read. If I were to give it a rating on a scale of 5 I would give it a 3 for entertainment value and certainly not for quality of writing.
Now moving on past the book reviews (I really haven't read much lately). Since my last post I have acquired new gadgetry! Yup I finally got an Android phone. I stuck with AT&T so my choices were quite limited as their contract with Apple has made it unnecessary to delve deep into the Android market. I got the HTC Aria which has the Sense UI. I love it. It's the right size (I could have purchased the Samsung Captivate but it was BIG) and price. The apps that I've downloaded make life easier and it sure is nice to have organization right at my finger tips. All the "neat" things that smartphones do, make me, a tech geek, just go crazy. In fact I accidentally went over my Data usage plan...$15 mistake. Now I have to be more careful and watch my data more closely. I'm quite happy with almost all of the features of the Aria (probably because I don't know what I'm missing with the iPhone or something else) but one of the things that doesn't seem to be working properly (well) is the gyroscope doesn't register when I've turned it portrait or landscape consistently. This can be a problem occasionally but I deal with it and still love my Aria. It scores a 4 of 5 from me. I'm anxious to get the most recent Android update (2.2) soon so I can enjoy Chrome to Android features. I may geek out about this phone again at a later date.
Alright since my last post on Sarah: Women of Genesis I have completed that series and must admit that Orson Scott Card is hands down my favorite author of all time. For the women who follow my blog this series is a must read. There is reportedly a follow up to Rachel and Leah but no word on when it will be finished. To all the men who follow this is a must read so you can learn how to recognize your spouse for the incredible being that she is. I gained a whole new level of respect for the lives that women lead in secret from men. How a man could write these novels is beyond me...lots of research and a wife over his shoulder no doubt.
I also read Last Song by Nicholas Sparks...yup. Now that the men have stopped laughing I will continue with my review. It seems to me that Nicholas Sparks has a real talent for tragedy turned happy ending. His writing at times was very juvenile and perhaps that was to match the main characters personality because as the seriousness of the book became more clear the youth of the writing became more sober and a little more adultish. I didn't cry...although I almost did. I found the story to be predictable like most Hollywood situational romances which at times made for a boring read. If I were to give it a rating on a scale of 5 I would give it a 3 for entertainment value and certainly not for quality of writing.
Now moving on past the book reviews (I really haven't read much lately). Since my last post I have acquired new gadgetry! Yup I finally got an Android phone. I stuck with AT&T so my choices were quite limited as their contract with Apple has made it unnecessary to delve deep into the Android market. I got the HTC Aria which has the Sense UI. I love it. It's the right size (I could have purchased the Samsung Captivate but it was BIG) and price. The apps that I've downloaded make life easier and it sure is nice to have organization right at my finger tips. All the "neat" things that smartphones do, make me, a tech geek, just go crazy. In fact I accidentally went over my Data usage plan...$15 mistake. Now I have to be more careful and watch my data more closely. I'm quite happy with almost all of the features of the Aria (probably because I don't know what I'm missing with the iPhone or something else) but one of the things that doesn't seem to be working properly (well) is the gyroscope doesn't register when I've turned it portrait or landscape consistently. This can be a problem occasionally but I deal with it and still love my Aria. It scores a 4 of 5 from me. I'm anxious to get the most recent Android update (2.2) soon so I can enjoy Chrome to Android features. I may geek out about this phone again at a later date.
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