Another Milestone

"Thank You to the people, spambots and NSA Agents."

Well, yet another milestone happened yesterday. My blog topped 10,000 page views. I'm not sure why that's important, but it's kinda fun.

It's been a while sine I said, "Thanks" to the people who actually follow my blog and read it now and then. My blog is really just a journal, and I think I probably enjoy reading it now and then more than anyone else. Some of the individual posts are OK, but more than that it's fun to relive a year of Momentum and retrace my steps towards Wellness and Strength. I don't mean to be so self centered, but my blog is for my own benefit and entertainment more than anything else.

But having people actually read it is encouraging too, and I want to let whoever reads this know how much I appreciate it. I hope that overall it's not too boring.

Thanks again.

Is It Football Season Yet?

"Close Enough!"

I Want One!

"I never knew that George Jetson's car was called a Gumdrop." "

OK, Here it is. The future of personal transportation. Analogous to the Model T for Jetson's flying car of the future, this thing looks cool. It can take off and land vertically, fly up to 10,000 ft, and cruise at 60mph for an hour and a half. It can land in a driveway and slide into a garage. Wow. Sign me up.

For the record, I am the perfect candidate to beta test this bad boy. I work around 4 miles from home over a populated area, but not too bad. Oklahoma has all kinds of weather so if it can work here, it can work anywhere. And if a mostly blind guy can fly it to and from work, land it safely in the backyard and maneuver it, anyone can. And, we're in the Aviation Parts business, so we can help sell and support it. Sounds like a match made in heaven. Finally, now that I've lost some weight I bet I can actually fit into the thing.

So, I'm volunteering to risk life and limb and try one of these things.

For more info, see www.flythegumdrop.com.

198.6!

"I like not being a fat old man anymore."

For the first time this century, I weigh less than 200 lbs.

I've been working on it for months, and weighed in yesterday at 198.6 lbs. I actually got off, reset the scale and reweighed just to make sure. I used the scale at work today just to confirm. It's Official!

I started at 221.5 lbs, so some quick math means that I have lost 22.9 lbs. since I started paying attention to my theme this year of Wellness and Strength.

My former trainer told me that my ideal weight for my age and height is 178 lbs. I told him flat out that I couldn't even begin to see that far down the road. I would be happy with anything south of 200. He said we needed to put 178 as the goal anyway. I told him to go for it, but it didn't mean anything to me. 221 to 178 is too much for me to get my head around.

But now that I have broken through 200, and have lost almost 23 lbs, 178 is just 21 lbs away. I still can't imagine what I would look like at 178. I weighed 185 in high school.

But for the most part, I'm excited to find out. But I need a new plan.

So, here's what I'm thinking now. The 221.5 lb fat guy died. He doesn't exist anymore, and never will again.

Now I'm a 200 lb guy who needs to weigh 180. What do I need to do to get there?

I'd Rather (Not)

"There are a lot of things I'd rather do. Choosing between them is the challenge!"

I’d rather be at home drinking a Coke and watching the Rangers play baseball.
I’d rather not be too fat and all that goes with it.
So I’m working out instead.

I’d rather have pizza for dinner.
I’d rather not wake up at night with acid reflux.
So I’m eating grilled chicken and salad instead.

I’d rather have a cigarette.
I’d rather not have trouble breathing and all that goes with it.
So I’m Vaping instead.

I’d rather go to work at 10:30 and take a nap in the afternoon.
I’d rather not be so far behind and all that goes with it.
So I’m there early tomorrow.

I’d rather spend money and not worry about it.
I’d rather not be up to my eyeballs in debt.
So I’ll save up and pay cash.

I'd rather keep the money I earn and let the rest of the world fend for themselves
I'd rather not live in a world where hunger and poverty are the norm.
So I'll give when I can with a heart to help.

There are a whole lot of things I think I’d rather do until I think through the consequences, the long term results of habits and behavior that I participate in without question. Then I realize I’d just rather not. We don't usually have to choose between doing the right thing or the wrong thing. I'm not 14, and I'm way over that. Now I just have to choose between the things I'd rather do.

I’d rather be healthy, well, strong, financially stable, on top of my responsibilities at work and in my relationships with others. I’d rather eat right, work out, clean house, breathe deeply and sleep soundly. I'd rather be a good friend and a man of faith. I'd rather earn the respect of the people who know me (whether they give me that respect or not). I'd rather hear, "Well Done..." at the end of it all.

We all need to think about what we'd rather do.

(HaHa, I know...I'd rather not too.)

Two Cool Things:

"It's fun when more than one great thing happens at once."

This weekend, I had the honor of watching this hummingbird feast on one of my potted flowers in my yard. I couldn't see him very well, so I got my camera to zoom in a little. I must've watched this beautiful little guy for at least 20 minutes. That was cool.

And it was even more cool that I had the time to actually sit there and watch - without worrying about what I needed to be doing instead or how far behind I am right now.

Life is Good! That is all.

Bixology

"Eating in San Francisco is a pleasant adventure!"

I ate too much really good food from all kinds of places in San Francisco to highlight any particular venue or restaurant. So I decided to write about the dining experience overall. It was wonderful.

I ate everything from ball park food at the Giants game to seafood (which I avoid in Oklahoma due to some irrational phobia about how far we are from the nearest ocean). I enjoyed food from mobile trucks that set up for lunch at various locations to places I should have dressed nicer to go in. There was 'diner' fare, complete with delicious breakfasts and rude waitresses. There was bar food from the Irish pub just down the street from my hotel where I had the best fish and chips I've ever eaten and not one but three Irish Coffees for desert.

"Don't leave San Francisco without going to The Bix", says my cousin who lived there for many years.

The Bix is a dinner club with a jazz flare in some inconspicuous alley somewhere that I would have never found without a recommendation. And it was a really cool place. I didn't eat dinner, just their Crab Rolls. I had the Crab Rolls and two Grey Goose martinis, and my friend had two Scotch concoctions and the bill was $73! Not exactly fast food prices. But the food was good and the club was incredible.

But so were a lot of other dining establishments.

The story that makes The Bix unique happened a couple of days later as I browsed through a local store looking for souvenirs. I tripped on to a book called 'Bixology', written by the cofounder. He tells the story of the club, how it came to be, who they intended would eat there, etc. He also tells the story of their specialty drinks, and drinking in general. Then he starts in on their food, the music they bring in and the concept of how all of these work together to create the experience they intend.

It's cool to find a good place. But it's even more cool to find a book about that place that explains what it is to eat there and all about the kind of people the Bix was designed for. I'm very much enjoying being inside the head of the guy who created this awesome place.

And Bixology is the perfect "Thank You" gift for my cousin. What else could I get her from SF that she doesn't already have after living there so long. She will love the gift - and will receive it promptly, right after I finish reading it!

I'm Not A Fiddle. Don't Play Me!

"San Francisco has more social services than anyplace I've ever been. Why so many homeless?"

"Do you believe in Karma?" The homeless guy following me down the block toward my hotel in San Francisco last week obviously didn't care whether I did or not, he just wanted me to give him money. He didn't appreciate my pointing that out, but I hate to be played. Ask me for something and I'll answer 'yes' or 'no', but don't manipulate me into doing what you want, then get mad when I won't play along.

That was one of many encounters I had with the panhandlers and pigeons during my five days in SF. The pigeons were actually more fun. The pic above was taken during my day hike through the city. We stopped for lunch and ate outside. The pigeons were all around. As it turns out, they were just waiting for us to get up from the table. We didn't make it five steps before they invaded. It was like an Alfred Hitchcock movie.

I'm not really comparing homeless people to the pigeons, even if their actions were similar. Neither were the least bit afraid of us, or bashful about engaging us to get what they wanted. But I do have a heart to help people who are having a hard time in life. I worked for a year with the homeless on Wednesdays, taking them food and such.

The odd thing is that San Francisco has a vast array of social services. They will help people there. But, of course, with strings attached. They'll help people find jobs, get educated, break their addictions, etc. But not the ones who stay on drugs, etc.

I get that. There's a big difference between a hand up and a hand out.

It's a worldwide, culture wide, history wide, human conundrum. What do we do with people who can't or won't do what they need to do to get by in life?

One guy said, "I just do two things: Drinkin' and women. That's it. Just drinkin' and women. I'd really appreciate any contribution you could make."

"Yeah," says me. "I should support you so you can drink and chase women? Good luck with that." I don't think the poor guy had a clue why I wouldn't give him money.

Anyway, the gauntlet of homeless folks, brave enough to engage people repeatedly, tenacious enough not to accept 'no' and genuinely expecting people to give them money was both annoying and depressing. I really hate being hard hearted and callous - almost as much as I hate being played like a cheap violin.

Walking Tall

"I'm 50 years old. I guess it's time I learned to walk."

Speaking of Habits for Wellness, and on the heels of my trip to San Francisco, I realize that I need to learn to walk. I walked miles and miles last week in SF. There's no way I could have survived that a year ago. As it is, I was worn out every day.

But as I walked my poor feet off, I began to notice how other people walked. The guide on the walking tour I took had a beautiful walk - and never got tired. But he grew up in SF and is in his 20's. Still, there was something about his walk that got my attention, so I started watching the others on the tour, then others after the tour. I observed that most people don't walk very well but some do. There really is a difference.

We all learn to walk when we're one or two years old. But we learn to get it done. We are never taught to do it right. It makes sense that there are bad walking habits just like there are bad eating habits or bad social habits. Hmmm...I might need to learn to walk better.

I did some research on it, and discovered that I'm not the first person to notice this. But every article I read on the subject said something different. Now, that's strange. Doesn't anybody know how to walk correctly?

If there is a general consensus, it starts with posture. The general idea is to walk with shoulders back, chest out (but not too far), tail untucked (whatever that means) feet pointing forward instead of out, etc. Basically, just the opposite of everything I do.

In general, it was easy to see who lives in SF and who the tourists are. And the Europeans tend to do a much better job than Americans. And fat people really screw it up, probably necessarily.

I (along with most Americans) rely primarily on my quads for walking. This evidently leads to dominant quads, weak muscles in the back of the legs and butt, hip issues, lower back issues and knee problems. Shoot! All this time I just thought I was too fat. Now I need to learn to walk? Cool. I'm in.

So I've been experimenting with walking better. Amazing results already. Sightseeing in San Francisco, I learned that something I've done wrong every single day of my life without thinking about it can be easily improved.

But I still wonder how to it right!

Good Habits Bring Good Luck

"Wellness and Strength is much more than weight loss."

As my 2013 emphasis is 'wellness and strength', I have been focusing on the physical side of life...weight loss, not smoking (so much), etc.

But the physical fitness picture is only a small part of wellness and strength. I've also been reading more, working hard to implement some long overdue changes at work, and a ton of other activities that lead to good results.

I just finished "Rich Habits - The Daily Success Habits Of Wealthy Individuals", which is a short, easy to read, concise overview of a thousand other self-help books out there. For me, it served as a good reminder of the concept that good habits lead to successful outcomes. (The book is not nearly as much about money as the title indicates. It's about life.)

The concept is this: There are four kinds of luck. Random good luck and random bad luck just happen. But our daily habits (good or bad) put us in the right place at the right time for situational luck - good and bad.

For example, random had luck might mean that I get hit by another car while driving. Sometimes, that's just random luck.

But if I am texting while driving, following too closely, fumbling with the radio or other electronic equipment, etc., my chances of being in an accident go up exponentially. That's different than random bad luck. An accident that happens in part because I am using bad driving habits is situational, not random.

If I am using good driving habits, I very possibly avoid the accident that would have been inevitable if I was busy texting or fighting with someone while driving.

All of life is that way. Good living habits by definition help avoid situational bad luck. And good living habits create a fertile environment for situational good luck to flourish. It's a simple concept, but easily overlooked when life gets busy and we operate mostly on autopilot.