Celebrity Sighting

Kate Holmes just walked passed me with Suri running ahead into Whole Foods

Day 2

Yesterday was Day 1. I was surprised by the relatively easy first day setup and furniture moving.

Today the plan is unpacking, cleaning, and organizing materials.

Quick Entry

Today was a rainy day.  Much to my surprise, I managed to go for a run inbetween heavy downpours. I ran for about 50 minutes. I could've ran for my regular hour, but it started to rain. Also, I organized a local hiking activity for my social networking groups. The strange thing? It is a hiking group.  I planned a hike and only one person signed up. Even even stranger was that in the two Weeks my event was posted, no one visited the site. How do I know? When you click on the member's tab, all members can be grouped by date they last visited.  Is this more proof that I have the power of invisibility?

The hike will be about 6 hours long.

Today, I spent about $36 dollars. I used my dollars and cents pad to keep track of each financial transaction. I really need to know where my money goes. If I can keep it up for a few months, them I should eventually be able to t start budgeting.

Bedtime, long hike tomorrow.

Quick Entry

I haven't been jogging in several days.  Here in NYC, we are in the middle of a heatwave.  However, I wouldn't know, I've slept through most of it.

Today (Tuesday, July 17th) I went to a book club meeting.  The theme of this club is sci-fi/fantasy.  The discussion was held in a midtown bar.  I arrived about 15 minutes early.  The hostess suggested that I wait for the group in the bar section and "have a drink" while I wait.  Even though I don't really drink alchol, I bought an apple martini.  No, I didn't drink it.  I didn't want to sit for fifteen minutes without buying something.  The drink came to $9 plus $2 for a total of $11 for a 3 oz drink.  Then, upstairs, the group met.  My dinner was a $20 turkey burger with dry bun and hard fries.  The conversation was ...okay.  However, the members seem to take their sci-fiction waaay too seriously.  Instead of having a simple discussion about liking or not liking the book and why, most of the discussion was philosophically focused making comparisons to real world.  After two hours, the group meeting ended.  The first thing I did was go to McDonald's.  I ordered two apple pies and a smoothie.  Headed home, I stopped to play Lotto, bought cookies from Subways, and bought milk.  I remembered to bring my "dollar and cents" memo book to keep track of any and all things I buy.  I was very annoyed with myself for forgetting to bring a pen with me.  However, I did manage to record all expenses for this day.  The plan is to stick with keeping a daily log at least for 4 or 5 months so that I can learn where my money goes each month, and learn how much I spend each month.

I Need to Get Back on Track

I think the title says it all.  Lately, I've been very frustrated that my finances are a messy shambles.  I've been getting very tired of living paycheck to paycheck, having no clue where my money goes, or how much I spend in any given day, week, or month.  Scrounging around for loose change to tie me over until next payday was really hitting the bottom of the barrel.  Today, I finally paid my cell phone bill, so now I have access to the Internet on my cell and tablet.  AT&T has been a real "pill" about their bills.  They shut off my service with the bill only 15 days late.

On the left is a photo of book similar to one I bought at Staples today.  Starting tomorrow, my goal is to record ANY and ALL expenses made on a daily basis (anything from bills paid, to buying a daily newspaper.  I need to know where my money is going.  How is it a single guy with my car, family,  addictions, or other expenses, can't seem to keep money in the bank.  I'm getting older now, I need to keep better track of how much money I spend and where my money goes.  Right now, my goal is to carry this booklet around (the way I do with my calendar booklet).  Hopefully, if I keep track of all of my expenses for 4 or 5 months, I should begin the Year 2013 being able to create a realistic budget, and a better understanding of my finances.  I do know one of the things I'm going to have to stop doing is spending hundreds of dollars on school supplies and resource books.  Every school year, I start off spending 1 ~ 2 thousand dollars on classroom materials and supplies.  I'm not doing that this coming school year....I can't afford to.

Exercise has been another inconsistency.  Although, I've been running from time to time, I haven't been consistent with it.  Strange that my body has adjusted to the hourly runs so quickly, but hasn't shown real results. 

I just finished reading "Daemon" by Daniel Suarez for a book club I joined recently.   The book was okay.  It turns out the 617 page book was only the first part of a two part book.  Even though it ends with a bit of a cliffhanger, I have no interest to read the other half of the book.

I could go on, but it is past midnight.  I need to get up early so that I can do my morning run.     

Quick post

I'm still cut off from the AT&T network until I pay my bill. I am posting a blog entry with the benefit of free wifi. It is true, you get what you pay for, but in a pinch, beggars can't complain.

Anyway, after two days of being very lazy and doing nothing but eating junk food, I managed to force myself to do my one hour jog...midday no less. But I managed to do it without any injury, pain, or discomfort.  Midday really isn't the best time to go running, but I really needed to break the lazy, hazy spell I've been under.  Tomorrow, the plan is to try to run first thing in the morning. I will be joining a social networking group trip to the movies to see "Prometheus" and "Ted". Personally, I would've passed on seeing"Ted", but for some strange reason THAT is the movie that's getting the most buzz. Afterwards, the group will be heading to a BBQ restaurant. I already have fried onion rings on my mind.

190lbs.

Dental Update

Today, I had my appointment to adjust my braces.  This was about my fourth or fifth time having them adjusted.  However, today was the first time that a new assistant did the adjusting.  I think she may have tightened the braces too tight.  This is the first time that I feel discomfort.  She also seemed to have been having some difficulty getting the wire in the way she wanted to.

After the dental appointment, I went to the petshop to spend more money on the class hamsters.  It turned out none of the students wanted one.  Plus my coleague kept the males and females together.  I think she had about nineteen hamsters in the tank.  Whenever, there was a conflict within in the tank(a fight), or one was looking fairly raggedy, I would offer to take one with the idea that students would want to adopt some of them.  Well, that didn't happen.  So now, I kind of feel responsible for the hamsters that I offered to take.  Right now, I have 6 hamsters.  Two of the hamsters are from my colleague.  One was the pregnant female I didn't realize was pregnant when I offered to take one.  Of her litter of 7, only 3 survived.  Now, the living arrangements are male and female containers.  I also need to separate "Raggedy Andy"(the old hamster). from the younger males.  It got to the point Andy was viciously attacking the other males.  The last fight was so bad that I (stupidily) put my hand in to try to break up the fight, only to have Raggedy Andy bite me.  His teeth were so sharp they went through my hand like a hot knife through butter.

Diet

After my lazy morning, I was able to go for a midday run today.  I ran for an hour and 5 minutes.  Unfortunately, I lost the benefits of the run with a high calorie dinner with a slice of cake and a pint of Haagen Daz ice cream.

Tomorrow, I have my 6 week check up with the dentist.

After the diet

Quick entry.  On the last day, I broke the diet....hard.  Since then, I've been on a bit of a binge.  KFC, MacDonald's, etc... On Friday, I easily had about 3,000 calories.  McDonalds "Big Breakfast", A club sandwich with chips and soda for lunch, and Subway sub for dinner.  Hopefully, I can get back on track on Monday.  I managed to end the school year with nothing but compliments about my weightloss, and now, I'm inching back up in the weight gaining dept. 

In fact, I think I'm going for my morning run.  Even though it is almost midday, and we are in a bit of a heatwave, I need to get out of this chair.  It would be nice to do an hour, but I will have to settle for my regular 30 minute.  Starting on Monday, I'm going to have to really get my act together.  I don't want to return to work having regained all the weight that I've lost. 

I also need to go pay my bills.  AT&T has cut off my service for a 15 day late bill.  Unfortunately, I've grown accustomed to having a smart phone.  My diet program, Foursquare, and other social networking apps, are on my phone and tablet.  Strange -- in a good way, I haven't been obsessing about the lack of mobile connection.  I miss the programs, but I having been going stir-crazy, nor have I been motivated to get off my rearend to go pay the bill.  I guess in a strange way, that is a good thing. 

Time to go do my run.  I'll try to post an entry this evening about whether or not I did the run.

Normally, I power down and turn off my desktop computer, but having the speed and convenience of a smartphone, I don't feel like waiting the 7 or 8 minutes for my desktop to turn on, so I'm going to put it in sleep mode. 

Time to run and see if I can loss at least one pound.

To be continued...

Diet Day 8

Morning run, yes. I'm doing a two week liquid diet.

Two and a half days before summer vacation. This was one crazy (at times disturbing), successful year.

Quick Entry - From my mobile phone

I just downloaded the Blogger app. With a smartphone AND a tablet, I rarely use my desktop.

Shopping

Quick summary.

Again playing procrastinator. I was going to update yesterday's entry, but ended up falling asleep. Now while my clothes are washing, I'll try to do a quick entry.

Yesterday, I did my morning jog with a light breakfast - banana (90cal), 8oz. orange juice (110cal),  and 4 prunes (100cal).  Headed to the mall to buy my usual meal at the Panda Express now called China Max...

I had to stop.  I couldn't finish on my tablet.  Whether it was me, or my tablet, it was more trouble than time saver.  Of course I will continue using my tablet, but probably not for blog entries (or at least not long entries.

Anyway, yesterday I had my usual meal at the mall.  The difference is that I counted the calories this time.  Each item was between 1 and 1.5cups:

Broccoli Chicken - 180cal.

Fried Rice - 570cal.

Orange Chicken 400cal.

Snapple Fruit Punch - 200cal.

In total, my single plate of food came to about 1,350 calories.  I was a bit annoyed with myself for the two steps forward, two steps back situation I seem to keep finding myself in.  To make matters worse, I went to another mall and being thirsty, I ordered a Wild Berry Smoothie (330cal) from MacDonald's. And I still hadn't eaten dinner.  To try to salvage my motivation and avoid finding comfort in a pint of Hagen Daz (with the false promise of starting again next week -- as I've done so many times in the past). I decided to walk part of the way home (30 minutes), and calculated the mall walking I did to add another 350 calories to my calorie bank remainder (157cal.).  So, I was able to go home with about 500 calories available for dinner.  I ended up eating Tuscan Vegetable Medley (80cal), a Greek yogurt(140cal), and a couple of fruit cups.

Today, there was suppose to be a rain storm, so I was a bit worried about not being able to do my morning jog.  Luckily, the rain held off.  It was windy and very chilly, but with my long underwear, sweats, and knit cap, I was very comfortable. 

I also went food shopping today (about $98) poorer.  The plan was to purchase food that I could create my own "single-servings" and see if that helps.  One of the things was a pack of baby carrots and a bottle of "0 calorie" ranch dressing.  I'm going to try to put 2 tablespoons of dressing in a snack bag, and I'll put a few carrots in another snack bag so that I have something to munch on tomorrow.  I also bought a few Health Choice Meals.  Next week, I want to try to having the Healthy Choice Meals for lunch instead of dinner, and see if I can lose weight that way.  Yesterday, I also want to drop the orange juice for a week and see if gives me a few extra calories to play with.  Lately, I've been buying the 8oz. 6-pack(110cal. each).  However, a single orange is about 70cal. each. 

I gave myself a two week commitment to jog in the mornings before work.  Hoping that I will be able to stick with a routine.  Next week will be the second week.  By May 1st, I want to take the workout routine up a notch.  The plan is to continue the morning jogs, but I want to start strength training.

I think that's enough for now.  Hopefully, I will be able to update this blog sometime during the week.

I'm going to attach a photo of my new lunch bag I bought at the mall yesterday (about $10 at Wal-Mart).  This new one is a bit larger than the green one posted here a few months ago, but not as large as the Polar Bag also posted here.  It is large enough to hold the full meal Healthy Choice, and my Klean Kanteen aluminum (1qt.) canteen with room for yogurt, fruit, and ice. 

Procrastinator

The procrastinator has returned! I'm on a 30 minute bus ride to the mall. Since I forgot my book, I thought a quick blog update would be good.

So, the work week has been the usual stressed out adventure. Everyday last week, by the time I returned home, it was late, I was tired, I would be asleep within 20 minutes. The only positive is that I managed the stick with my morning jog. My goal is to stick with it for two weeks and hope the route takes hold. it meant barely getting to work on time, and needing to take a taxi each day, but I think it was worth it. I haven't been dieting, but I have been watching my portions and (sort of) counting calories. I haven't lost weight so much as tightened up a bit. I had to put on my 36in pants because my 40s were too loose. People have been complimenting me on my weight loss, but I've been hovering at 202lbs for the last coupe -- I can't see the screen on my tablet. I'm typing blind. I tink that is my cue to end this entry. besides, I'm almost at the mall. I goung to Barnes &  Nobles to pick up the next book the book club has assigned. I also want to pick up a beginner's runner book.Now that I have the 45minute run under my belt, I need to take it up to the next level. The bus has arrived.

Quick Entry

This will be a tablet entry, so it should be short.

Today was day two of my lite jog in the park. it was hardee to get started, but once I was in the park, I enjoyed the run. today I did a modified version of stage 3 (walking for 3 minutes, running for 2 minutes, and repeat).

Let's Try It Again

Hello Readers, if there are any here.

It has been awhile.  I've been a bit out of it.  This will be a ramble to get the ideas out as quickly as possible.

Braces
I've had the braces for a while, and I am starting to get used to them.  A few times I've needed the dental wax, but I think my mouth has adjusted to the scraping. I'm still annoyed at the cheese-grater like fell of these things.  It doesn't matter how careful I chew, food gets stuck so easily.  Pain, well other than the heavy-handedness of the dental assistant putting in the wires and ties, I haven't really felt pain, just discomfort.  My dentist told me a couple of days ago that she isn't ready to close up the gaps yet because my teeth still need to be repositioned. 

Philadelphia
I was lucky enough to be invited to an educational convention in Philadelphia.  It was a nice experience.  I upload some photos...eventually.

Hamsters
A colleague at work, had a litter of hamsters, one an impulse, I offered to take one.  I ended up spending about $95 dollars on equipment for the little guy (or gal).  We agreed that I wouldn't take one of the hamsters until after spring break.  I finally set up the cage, which was a pain in the neck to do. It looks really cool...from a distance.  However, up close, it has that cheap "Made in some third world" quality.  I'll need to buy some needle nose pliers and wire to secure the cage.  Well, in my excitement to make sure my hamster would have everything, I forgot the buy a water bottle, bedding, and a food dish.  So, with the pet store across the street from my dentist, I went shopping for the hamsters -- The hamsters had another litter of babies right before the vacation and again on an impulse I offered to take another one, so my hamster wouldn't be lonely.  When I left the store, with the few items (water bottle, bedding, food dish and a few chew toys), I spent another $50.

American Museum of Natural History
Basically, it was an informative experience. Not what I was expecting. The museum didn't do a very good job of providing information for the different events. Once paid for, the only information provided on the receipt was the "showtime" and a partial title. It turns out the "show times" were just times given for crowd control purposes. The extra exhibition fees were basically for the decorations accompanying the 5 ~ 10 minute video clips that repeated every few minutes. A greater attempt to let customers know the locations of the special exhibition would have been very helpful. Oh, and avoid the elevators if you can, they seem to be always crowded and move as slow as molasses.


Movies
I'm currently on spring break vacation/recovery.  I went to a couple of movies recently:
John Carter in 3D
The Lorax

Mirror, Mirror
It was a fairly entertaining movie. I didn't laugh as much as others did in the theater, but I did laugh a few times. I thought the movie was a great starring movie for Julia Roberts. I thought Julia was better in the movie than Nathan Lane. I don't know why, but his character really annoyed me. I also thought the actor playing the prince (Armie Hammer) did a very good job. I thought all of the actors really enjoyed working on this movie, I just think Roberts and Hammer did better jobs with what they had to work with. Lastly, I wasn't too fond of the evil queen's "ending", but I suppose when that queen is played by an internationally known movie star, They don't want to out right kill her off -- unless the actress wants the character dead.

Wrath of the Titans in 3D
 This was an enjoyable movie. It wasn't great, but it was entertaining. I believe there was a lot more action in this movie than in the first one. As long as you can suspend belief in what you're watching, I think you will enjoy the movie. My main complaint is the lack of consistency with maintaining the "god/human" balance in Perseus (Sam Worthington). Although, the movie tried to show that Perseus was human by the excessive amounts of moaning and groaning he was doing and the wounds he received.  After awhile, I lost count of how many superhuman feats Perseus went through. I can't even guess at the number of walls he was thrown against or through. A nice movie if you enjoy fantasy movies. After the movie, I was flying solo for dinner at Dallas BBQ across the street. The food was good. The service was also fast. When I was done there, I went across the street to the Venus Diner for a banana split and a slice of apple pie.

Exercise/Dieting
Until today, I was eating like there was no tomorrow, all the while with the idea (lie) that I would start exercising.  If you've been following me on FourSquare, you will know that for the last few months, I've had dinner at one fast food place or another.  And about 3 times per week, I would end with a pint of Ben & Jerry's or Haggen Daaz ice cream.  Today however, was the first time in almost a year, I went to the local park to do a bit of lite jogging.  I followed the plan from the book, "Run Your Butt Off".  It felt good to be back in the park, I'm going to try to keep it up this time.  Today, I did the walk for 4 minutes, and run for 1 minute for 30 minutes (Stage two).  I also ended up jogging for another 6 minutes afterwards.  Tomorrow, I'm going to modify Stage three (walk for 3 minutes and run for 2 minutes). 

Braces - Day 4

Today was the first day back from the midwinter recess.  The strange thing is that despite sleeping most of the recess away, by the end of today, I was exhausted. However, I was pkeaed that I was able to leave early enough ( for me) to be home by 5pm. Unfortunately, having wasred the midwinter break, I had a couple of loads of laundry to do...or go clothes shopping. Unfortunately, with these braces, I'm broke until next payday, then I'll just be almost brokefor the forseeable future.

Speaking of braces the wax was a pain to try to put on, so I'll try to do without. Today was also the first day I was able to "field test" my braces. I don't think anyone noticed, no one said anything.

Tapping out this entry on my tablet was not the smartest idea, very time consuming. It wiyld have been faster on my desktop.

Braces

This entry won't take long. I slept the day away. As for the braces, my teeth are less sore. The thing bothering me now is the eating. The sore teeth is one thing, but I am getting grossed out by the feeling (and look) of food getting stuck in my braces.

Day 3 with the braces

Not off to a good start.  I missed yesterday to blog about my braces.  And now, it is well past the time I should have been in bed.  I'll try to wrap this up quickly.

So far, the braces seem to be okay.  Yesterday, I was still in my baby mode.  To avoid any pain, I ate grits and sardines a couple of times and oatmeal another time.  I was expecting the pain to be so severe that I would be losing weight because of the pain.  I was told by a colleagues that she lost weight due to the pain.  She said that it took her weeks to get over the pain.  Others had my stressed out about how the dentist would need to tighten the wires causing pain.  But so far, no pain.  Oh, I received a call from the dentist yesterday, she just wanted to check up on me and asked if I had any pain or discomfort.  Nice.   I managed to go the whole day without any discomfort, so of course I had to be Mr. Risky.  I thought that eating an ice cream bar wouldn't be a problem.  However, while eating the ice cream, one of the wires on the left side of my mouth gave me a very small cut.  Up until that point, I didn't think I would even need the wax, but now I know I will.

Today, I sleep most of the day away, but then I decided to go food shopping to buy some soft foods.  I ended up spending about $140 on food.  Things will be lean for the time being.  I paid about $1000 to get the braces, pluse there is another $4800 remaining on my bill.  My insurance will pay for some, but I'll have to pay the rest. Anyway, this evening on an impulse, I went for Chinese food at a local restaurant.  Not the best idea.  Saturday is their busy day.  I ended up waiting about 20 minutes for a small wonton soup and a small egg drop soup.  I also bought a Hostess cherry pie.  I got through the soups with no problem, but esthetics.  It was so gross looking at food caught in the braces that I think I won't be eating any solid foods for lunch.  I can't see myself having time to get that food out of the braces in the usually limited time I have for lunch.  I have a bad habit of using my lunch time like a prep period.  I'm thinking oatmeal, grits, and cream of wheat as my lunch time meals.  Much easier to rinse after those foods than some of the other foods.

What about the pie? Well, I'd forgotten the no hard food warning.  The crust on the pies were a bit hard.  Mild discomfort, but I was able to eat the pie....that is until I was about half-way through the second pie.  My braces clicked on something.  Luckily, no damage was done.  I don't want this metal grill in my mouth not a second longer than it needs to be. 

Well, I better go.

Day 1

Well, the braces are in. This is also my first attempt to write a blog entry on my tablet.There was so discomfort being the big baby that I am, but most of the discomfort was in my mind. there was no pain. however, the dental assistant was a bit heavy-handed with putting the wires in. 90 minutes later the braces were in -- no pain just discomfort.the dentist told me that the pain won't arrive until a couple of days from now when my teeth start to shift.  on the way home, I decided to stop and pick up dental materials so that I can start taking care of my teeth correctly. I lwft the store about $35 poorer. With a mouth full of metal, I decided to walk for an hour or so.  Now home, I'm starting to feel my teeth stiffening up a bit. And they are starting to feel sore when I rub my tongue over my teeth.

Ramblings

Wow, it appears Blogger has made some improvements.  When last I was here, if you accidentally moved from the draft page, you lost what you were typing.  However, it seems that now it is saved automatically.  Great!

Below is original...skip it.  I'll just delete the second one

It has been awhile.  I've been so out of it that I seem to just be making matters worse.  Also, there are the purchased that I wanted to write about, but as the list piled up, the procrastinator in me kept putting it off.  There were shows that I also wanted to write about.

Well, this is getting long.  Long story short, I'm going to try to resume blogging from this moment.  I'll try filling in past comments as I remember then...if I remember them.  I now have a tablet and a smart phone which will let me blog part of the way on my commutes.  Also, tomorrow, I will be getting braces for my teeth and I thought that blogging about the pain might be useful.  No, just kidding...sort of.  I just thought it would be interesting to keep a journal about the process.  I was told that until my mouth adjusts to the braces, I will lose some weight. 

I saw a few Broadway shows over then last few months (including Adams Family with Brooke Shields, How to Succeed in Business..with one of the Jonas Brothers, and Sister Act). 

Today I went to see The Lion King on Broadway.  Below is a cut and paste of my review of the experience:

If you are a diehard fan of Broadway, then I don't think you will be disappointed. Since I'm learning to be a fan, I still have a way to go. I thought the production was great, the costumes too. I thought the actors also did wonderful jobs. Unfortunately, not being a big fan of musicals, I got a bit bored at times especially when the slow songs started. I also thought the finale was a bit of a let down when the previous number(s) seemed so much better. I thought the scene when Simba's father talks to him and Simba realizes that he has to return was a more exciting part of the show, more exciting than the finale. I was also a bit annoyed that in a modern theater that made the rows more spacious from the next row in front. However, they still designed the seats too closely packed together. Even when your hands are in your lap (and elbows are NOT on the arm rests), you are still rubbing against the person next to you. Crazy!