Two Days in a Row, or Look! More Internet Pollution!

So, I came up with a new resolution yesterday.

You know those social apps that automatically post updates to Facebook or Twitter? Applications and websites like Get Glue, Miso, Foursquare, Gowalla, CardioTrainer, Runkeeper, Sparkpeople, and the like? Well, I don't use ALL of those, but I use many of them, and I realized something.

If most of my feeds on social network sites are auto posts from these, that means I'm really doing it wrong.

Now, I didn't have many that did that, but I am trying to make sure NONE of them do that, unless I have something that I think is worth saying to go with them, like a witty comment about a show I'm watching, or a new personal best on an exercise app, or something, and even those will be few and far between.

Second, remember how I mentioned that I need to be more active on those blogs I run? Yeah, was reminded by my webhost (who does NOT support SOPA, BTW) that one of my domain names and my hosting will be up for renewal at the end of January. That's a hundred and thirty-odd dollars for something that I'm not sure many people are reading when it IS up, and I haven't really had up for half a year. However, I figure I'm going to give it one more year, and if not, I'll throw in the towel on it. All I want is for enough people to see it that the advertising for it let's it cover it's own bills.

Finally, hit the gym last night. More chafing. That is all.

Tony

Oh hey, I forgot you were here, or Brace Yourself: New Year Resolutions Are Coming

The New Year is coming.

That’s right, 2012. It’s that time of year. That’s right, be ready: The resolutions are coming.

At this time of year, leading up to January 1^st, workout dvd’s, Wii Fit’s, Kinect workout games, and scales are selling out across the country. Self Help websites are probably seeing their hits grow. Nicorette Gum and the patch are flying off the shelves. People are making themselves promises that they never intend to keep, but it makes them feel good.

Honestly, I can’t say I’m not one of them.

Now, I’m not going to fly out there with a Facebook status update, or put it up on Twitter with some trending hashtag, but I do have some ideas on what I want to get done next year. Oh, and no, I’m not going to put them all up here either. But there are a few things that I want to get out.

First, and something I’ve touched on here, I want to get into shape. Seriously, I need to get into shape. My wife has been doing awesome, and has dropped 50 lbs so far in 2011, and is pushing to drop more in 2012. Me? Well, even with me eating everything she isn’t during the holidays, I’ve pretty much maintained my weight. I haven’t had a chance to get to the gym/workout center/walk, I’ve been inconsistent with little easy things like push-ups and crunches. I need to just be more consistent. Plus, I need to watch what I’m eating. Right now, I’m “cleaning” the fridge; taking care of those tasty morsels that are left over from X-Mas so they don’t go to waste. Once that is gone, I’m back to healthy stuff. I’ll be partaking of some frozen diet meals for lunch at work, and chowing down on baked chicken breasts and vegetables at home. So there is that for 2012. I’m not setting a specific goal, I’m not saying I need to drop XXX amount of pounds, I just want clothes to fit better, and to be able to keep up with my little girl without being out of breath.

Also, I have a lot of different online “presences” that I need to pay attention to. Seriously, I haven’t had much to Geek about as of late, but the current state of both of my Geeking blogs is deplorable. Ever since I upgraded Wordpress, SoCal has been working but the state where I currently live, Indiana, has been down. I haven’t been able to figure out how to get it back up, so it’s discouraged me to the point of not exploring and adding new content. I need to learn how the back end of the site works, and get it back up and running so I can update content there, and continue my presence for those accounts on Facebook and Twitter, and why not make a Google Plus page for them as well? Plus, I just want to keep adding inane material to here. Be it something about exercise, video games I’m playing, or adding a photo album so I can show stuff of, I just really need to evaluate what I’m doing, and whether I want to continue doing it.

Finally, homebrewing and knitting. I’ll just leave that there for you to think what you will.

Now, I’m not trying to brag that I am going to do THIS and I’m going to do THIS. I really don’t know what I will accomplish in 2012. Life gives me plenty of excuses not to do any of this stuff. I’m a big fan of not resolving to do something in the New Year, but to actually DO something in the New Year. However, I do believe that getting it into writing makes it more “real” to me, and since I really don’t have anyone reading this blog, it’s a pretty safe place to put this up as a reminder to myself what I want to get done.

Not sure what will happen, but I do know that when I get home, I’m walking down to hit the treadmill.

Tony

Downsides...

No matter what you do, there is going to be a downside. For example: I'm trying to get in better shape. I've been trying to exercise more, eat better, so on and so forth. However, when pushing myself to do better and better on the treadmill, there is one thing someone forgets about, someone doesn't even think about until they're done.

Chafing.

Ow.

That is all.

Oh yeah, I forgot...

I hate it when I don’t do any writing for a while. Seriously, it’s been a week.

So, how are you doing? Did you make it here okay? How’s the wife and kids? Good? Let’s carry on then.

Last week was a wash when it comes to exercise. Every time I looked at the fitness center, there was no treadmills open, and I am NOT motivated or hard core enough to walk around Castleton, at night, in the cold and rain. However, last night I was able to get a treadmill. Didn’t do Couch to 5K, I’m not really sure that I want to go that far after all, but I did knock out a hair over 2 miles in 35 minutes, averaging 3.51MPH, which was a fairly brisk walk for me.

So that extra time went into Arkham City, right? Well, yes and no. Left work at a hair after 7PM on Wednesday, found the center packed, so I went home ready to cook a light dinner and play it. Then I open my mailbox, and there was a package containing Doctor Who Series 6, Part 1 on Blu Ray.

Geek World Problems.

So, I ended up watching the first two episodes of Doctor Who after dinner. I was thrown off a bit by how much better the picture looked than previous Series’, until I realized I had watched Series 1-5 on Netflix Instant Streaming, and 6 was on Blu-Ray. Yeah, I’m special.

THEN I finally started playing Arkham City. What can I say about it that hasn’t already been said? It’s Arkham Asylum done on a fairly large map. It’s more of the same, which is a good thing. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I didn’t have any issues with DLC codes for Catwoman, and it’s playing through smoothly.

Also to add to the Geek World Problems, a friend is temporarily loaning me the Star Wars boxed set on Blu-Ray for my Lord of the Rings Extended Edition boxed set on Blu-Ray. Since I haven’t watched those films in a few years, which is a major geek fail, I’ve been digging into them pretty hard. Watched A New Hope, which doesn’t look 34 years old, and Empire Strikes Back, along with Star Warriors, a documentary about the 501^st marching in the Rose Parade a few years ago. Very good, must buy, will watch again; A++++++.

Other than that, I work and I sleep. I live an exciting life.

T

Aimless Ramblings on Failure

Yeah, well, last night was a total bust. Went past the Fitness Center at the complex after work, and almost every machine was occupied. Seriously? Seriously? So doing any walking was scratched out. I guess I could have actually walked OUTDOORS, you know, if it wasn’t thirty-odd degrees and raining.

Great, you say, so this means you had a chance to play Arkham City? Well, no. See, I knew that if I started playing it at 9:30, then I wouldn’t be in the mood to stop at 11 when I had to get to sleep to be up at 6 this morning.

So here I sit, at work, here for the next 11 hours. When I leave at 7, I am going to attempt to make it to the center for my day 2 of Couch to 5K, and then if I’m feeling it, I’m playing Arkham City. I don’t have to be at work until 11 tomorrow, so I can stay up and actually enjoy it.

And that is my inane ramblings for this morning. Aren’t you glad you read this?

T

Arkham City Midnight Release

Last night wasn’t about exercise, it was about Geekery, plain and simple. Last night was the midnight release of Batman: Arkham City, the follow-up to the excellent Batman: Arkham Asylum. Now, while I’m broke, it doesn’t mean I don’t have ways of getting games. You just have to be selective, because you can’t get many of them, and patient. In this case, it involved trading in games we don’t play any longer, plus Gift Cards received from doing surveys at E*Rewards. Yes, occasionally those survey sites are legit.

I had finished paying off the game on Sunday, and when I was there, I was asked if I would be back Monday night/Tuesday morning for the midnight release. Hell, I get off work at 10PM, it started at 10PM, so why not? Even though Monday wasn’t necessarily the best day, and it was cold and rainy when I left, I still headed on over to see what was going on.

Bit of history; last midnight release/event of any type I did was for Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, so we can see how low my expectations were. Well, when I walked in there was already a decent sized crowd there, and the person who told me about the release was bouncing around the back of the store, in a Robin “costume” which consisted of tights w/green shorts over the top, and a Robin Shirt and cape, daring people to shoot him with a Nerf gun. Every time the door opened, the crowd greeted the newcomer with a “HEY!” in the same vein as Norm entering the bar.

The night consisted of random drawings, a costume contest which made the costume geek in me wince, rounds of Simon Says, and a trivia contest for Arkham City Posters and a standee, with runners up given digital downloads of the Arkham City soundtrack. I was able to procure one of these when they went off on a tangent about Pulp Fiction, and “Robin” asked if anyone knew Samuel L. Jackson’s speech on Ezekiel 25:17. So sue me, I listened to the soundtrack a LOT a few years ago, and it was one of the tracks. Nothing funnier than watching a fat white guy attempt a Samuel L. Jackson impression, but I digress…

Overall, it was a fun evening, with people walking out with Downloadable Content, Posters, import Batman figures, standees, and digital albums along with their games. The actual game line was well done; at about ten minutes until midnight, we all went outside the store and we were told the swiftest way to pick up our games. I meandered to the end of the line, and I had my game at about 3 minutes after midnight.

For those who are curious, I picked up the standard X-Box 360 version, which had pre-order bonuses of a Batman Animated Series skin (for Powerup Rewards members,) a Joker’s Carnival Map, and a download code for a streaming version of the cartoon Batman: Gotham Knights, which I’m STILL trying to figure out how to use since the instructions on the receipt are very, VERY vague. Add that to my free digital download of the soundtrack, and I think I had a good haul.

Now, you are probably wondering how the game is. In all honesty, I haven’t even broken the shrink wrap yet. I got home at about a quarter after midnight, I grabbed a quick snack, and I passed out because I had to be up at 7AM to be “on call” for some desk side support work, that I ended up not having to do.

Oh well, Wednesday night will be here soon, and then I’ll be able to take a look. But tonight, back to the grind of Couch 2 5K.

T

Today has been fun

Oh my, what a wonderful day I'm having.

Spent the first two hours getting my PC at work set back up after it was wiped out late last week.

Get finished with that, okay, I'm back taking calls.

Find out a business trip I'm taking on Halloween weekend is actually THIS weekend. Halloween weekend is after a pay day. This weekend is not. And did I mention that we don't get an allowance? All of our food and gas is reimbursed AFTER the fact?

So I'm looking forward to the midnight release at Gamestop tonight, and then I find out that I'm on call between 8-10 AM because I MIGHT need to go to a location and do desk side support, something I am NOT trained on, for a client who I have NO idea who it is.

I'm ready to go home now.

T

So how did today go?

Well, I said I was going to get back in the saddle, and I rode it hard. You know, hard for an obese geek.

Did 2 sets of 10 push ups. Not really worried about muscle tone right now, but damn gym class has stuck in my  head that any workout requires push ups.

Did 25 jumping jacks at random because Boston came on the PC while I was stretching, and all of a sudden stretches turned into jumping jacks. Damn you, Boston!

Finally, completed day 1 of C25K. Look at my earlier entries about failure on this. Went an extra few minutes walking, because my previous Runkeeper records are based off of 35 minutes, but ended at 1.92 miles with a mixture of walking and slow, ponderous "jogging" that would remind your average onlooker of Dudley Dursley chasing after a cake.

Made sure to wipe the machine down as I finished, because I was sweating like a woman of ill repute in a holy place, and then got home, did stretches to cool down, and then took a shower, because even though I'm the only one here... ugh.

Tomorrow? Tomorrow will be an off day. Probably do something to add to my points on Fitocracy, but just push ups, stretching, perhaps some crunches and jumping jacks. Mainly watching my intake, trying not to sit at my desk all day, and then going to the midnight release of Batman: Arkham City to pick up my copy (paid for with gift cards from surveys and trade ins, remember, no money?) for the 360 and see if I can score some DLC codes.

Now to relax, enjoy a cup of tea, and pass out.
T

Back in the Saddle

Okay, break time is over. I'm feeling healthy again, I am restless, and I am not at my best right now. I need to do something, something other than sitting on a computer all damn day, since that is what I do for work. However, most of the hobbies I enjoy involve money, money I do not have. So, what am I to do?

Time to jump back into exercising.

I have had a hell of a time with this the last few weeks. Sickness, exhaustion, work hours changing... every excuse in the book I can come up with, I have. No more. I found out that the exercise center is open later, so instead of trying, and FAILING, to get out of bed early, I'm just going to stay up late. Do what it takes.

No more Porkins in the flight suit.
T

Dash it all to heck...

The best laid plans...

My first week at work on the new schedule hit me hard, and my body is having a heck of a time adjusting to the change in the schedule. So, between that and not exactly feeling up to par (aka, don't take me too far from a toilet) meant that getting any walking/jogging/anything that compresses the stomach done was so far out of any realm of possibility it wasn't even funny.

However, on the upside, I still got stuff done. Weeded out some of Mary's busted books and toys, got an invite to Pinterest, which looks interesting, and, well... yep. That's about it.

Oh, and I got a haircut. That happens so rarely that it is news. The stylist at Sports Cuts on 96th St. didn't believe me that I normally have it trimmed short, and I had to pull out my work ID to prove that I have, on occasion, kept it short.

And that is the sort of excitement that I deal with on a daily basis.
Thanks for stopping by.
T

And I'm going to be sick...

So I'm feeling pretty good, going into the workout center this morning. Stretched, looking forward to improving my time.

Whoops, there are actually people in there. No treadmills available, but that's okay. I just try the bike out for a bit until one opens up.

10 minutes later, a treadmill opens up and I jump on while reviewing my Couch to 5K instructions.

"5 Minute brisk warm up walk, then alternate between 60 seconds jogging and 90 seconds walking for 20 minutes."  Yeah, I can do this.

The walk was easy, did what I normally do, feeling pretty good.

Then I bump up the speed to jog for 60 seconds. Oh wow, I haven't done that in years, I'm not sure I like that.

Okay, back down to a walk for 90 seconds. That wasn't bad. I can do this.

Back up to a jog. Heart rate is severely up. I really think I'm going to throw up on the treadmill, which is not good and will probably come out of my security deposit, if I have any left after my toddler is done with my apartment....

Walk for another 90 seconds, urge to vomit not gone, heart still going crazy, so I stop. The goal is to live to see my daughter grow up, not die when she's 2000 miles away.

Trying again tomorrow.
Tony

How do I get suckered into things...

So somebody I joke around with on Twitter dropped a general message out about doing the Couch to 5K workout, and perhaps getting a group to run a marathon soon.

Here's the info, I'll give you a minute: http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

Are we good? Good. Let's continue.

I jokingly respond to him that if it wasn't for my bad knees (think: won't stay in socket) I'd be more than happy too. He replied that it's not that bad, choose your own pace, and am I in?  Well, being the sucker that I am, and looking for any motivation I can get right now, I decided "Sure, why not?"

So here I am. I have that link bookmarked on my browser, I'm starting the workout tomorrow morning, seeing if I can handle it on a treadmill, or if I have to think about doing this outside.  A couple suggestions have been the service road surrounding Castleton Square Mall, and the Monon Trail.

To give you an idea where I'm starting from:
- I'm 269.2 lbs.
- 35 minutes on a treadmill will get me 1.91 miles.

Bear in mind: 35 minutes just happens to be when I stop. Up until this point, I was trying to improve my time in that time frame, first time around was 1.61. Now, I have a new focus. Something new to try.

Cross your fingers.
Tony

Something different, for me, anyway.

And now for something different.
A blog just for me.
Not my family, not for reviewing shops, although I could if I want to...
Just someplace to keep track of what I'm up to, put my random thoughts in case I want to revisit them someday, and just, you know, write.

I will keep track of my exercising, I will keep track of what I'm reading, I will keep track of what I'm listening to.

I will rant.

I will rave.

I will try not to swear.

Tony