Mikey

Year in Review - 2009

2009-12-14T18:21:53Z

Another year almost over:

My weight was hovering around 270 in January. I started working with Kat Fieler, an awesome and inexpensive personal trainer, twice a week this year and am down to around 240 now. If I can get down to 200 by the end of 2010, I'll be very satisfied. Even as it is right now, I'm happy with the weight loss, muscle gain, and extra energy I've had recently.
Besides working out, part of the reason for my weight loss has been the changes to our diet. While we have been gradually altering what we eat since well before 2009, it really kicked into high gear when Tammy started seeing her nutritionist, Tracy Neely, this year. We've now started incorporating a lot more organic foods, a larger variety of vegetables, much less processed foods, green smoothies in the morning, etc. It's been a lot more about finding things we like to eat than forcing us to stop eating something altogether. Eating healthy doesn't mean our food is boring or flavorless and Tammy has become a kick-ass chef. I'm sure I could have lost the weight without the dietary changes we made, but I have no doubt it would have been slower.
Our honeymoon trip to Alaska was fantastic. We got to see the sights, do the hikes, paddle the kayaks, ride the planes, and hug the statues. While it's hard to imagine topping this trip, it has raised the bar for anniversaries. This year we went ziplining. Next year we'll climb Everest or wrestle a polar bear.
Our first year as a married couple brought a lot of other "first (blank) as a married couple"; first date night as a married couple, first valentine's day aamc, first time grocery shopping aamc, first odometer palindrome aamc (odometer palindromes amuse me, no idea why). We're getting ready for our second Christmas as a married couple and I couldn't be more content.
My blurred vision in my left eye (a pretty accurate depiction) ended up being Multiple Sclerosis. This finally explained other mystery symptoms that cropped over over the last 6 months that my Dr ordered all kinds of tests for, but was never able to diagnose before they seemed to clear up on their own. I've got a ton to say about this subject in general, but it will end up being another post sometime in the near future. In the end, I'm not losing any sleep over MS, it's just a name to what I've been frustrated by for the last 6 months.
Our house fell apart a little bit more this year. We've replaced entirely too much plumbing in it. Tam and I both have a love-hate relationship with the house. We love that we are lucky enough to have one at all, but hate that it's so small, falling apart, and has lost about 60% of its value since we bought it at the height of the bubble.
Probably the highlight of 2009 has been preparing to become foster parents. We completed the training and home study, got the baby room all set up and stocked, and are just awaiting my fingerprint clearance letter from the FBI so that we can get licensed. We're both as ready as we can be, now we just have to sit and wait.

Overall, a very satisfying year.

LJ becomes obsolete

2009-09-08T15:33:47Z

Now that I'm on Facebook, I've mostly stopped posting on LJ. With LJ, I feel like I need to have something important to say, which I usually don't. Twitter's inane one-liners and jarring, disjointed reply-to tweets were just annoying. Facebook strikes the perfect blend of promoting unobtrusive, minimal conversations/pics/links/whatever that are kept in a logical order.

So many more friends use Facebook over LJ as well, so I'm pretty much abandoning ship and just reading/commenting on LJ from now on. Look me up on Facebook if you want: http://www.facebook.com/mikeycooper

Mental Acuity Fail

2009-08-25T17:26:29Z

My ability to focus seems to have diminished significantly over the last few months. I find myself forgetting things more frequently and arguing points others aren't even trying to make. I will do something and then need to go back and look at what I just did to see what I'm supposed to do next. In the past week alone, I've forgotten my car keys at the bank, argued against imaginary code designs because I misread IM conversations (twice), forgotten to marinate dinner, forgotten to pack lunch, and left my ATM card in the ATM.

I dunno what happened to distract me so, but it's starting to become very frustrating. It's not like I have all that much on my plate (and apparently not a whole lot going on in my mind). Whatever the cause, I need to figure out how to get back into the swing of things.

Honeymoon Roundup

2009-07-02T16:03:22Z

Tam and I embarked on our honeymoon last week. We took a 7-day cruise to Alaska that was jam-packed with excursions. Pictures of it can be found on my Picasa album.

Juneau
Our first stop was in Juneau, where we took a nice float plane tour. We got to see a number of forests, mountains, and glaciers up close. The blue glacier ice was especially visible in Juneau. Eventually we landed at the Taku Lodge. We walked around the forest trails there for a bit before getting treated to a delicious salmon feast and learning the history of the lodge and its past owners. When all was said and done, we took another float plane ride back to Juneau.

Skagway
Our next stop was in Skagway, which unexpectedly became the highlight of the trip. Our excursion here was booked with Packer Expeditions. After taking a short train ride on the Yukon Route Railway, we were dropped off in the middle of nowhere next to the Tongass National Forest. Our guides led us on a 3 hour hike across some mildly rugged terrain. We hung back a little bit with Brooke, one of the guides, who pointed out various off-the-trail paths to explore, great photo spots, plants that could be eaten, and general information about the trail. It felt a bit like having our own private tour of the forest.

My favorite photo was from this excursion, for those who don't feel like looking through the 300 pictures in the album:

Ketchikan
After Skagway was Ketchikan, easily the town with the most charm and character of the three we visited in Alaska. Other than the harsh winters, it was the one we could see ourselves most enjoying if we lived there.

In Ketchikan, we did a kayaking/float plane combination excursion. We kayaked around a bit and our guide found and handed us various starfish and talked a lot about the surrounding forest and the necessity for conservation. We also saw a pair of bald eagles guarding their giant nest up in the trees.

Afterward, we had a nice salmon and hummus lunch on the boat before a float plane landed and pulled up. After boarding the float plane, we were flown around the Misty Fjords National Monument. The cliffs and waterfalls were gorgeous and we briefly landed at a small float plane dock to take some pictures. Out the windows of the plane, we were able to see a few pods of orcas at various times during the flight.

Victoria
Our last stop was in Victoria, B.C., where we visited Butchart Gardens, a garden built on top of a former limestone quarry. One of the largest limestone excavation sites was turned into a two-story-deep pit of flowers and plants called the Sunken Garden. Other parts of Butchart are parceled out into theme gardens, such as the Rose Garden, the Japanese Garden, and the Italian Garden. It rained for most of the time we were there, which allowed Tammy to capture some gorgeous close-up shots with water droplets on the flower petals.

Seattle
We got back into Seattle at 8am and our flight didn't leave until 11pm, so we decided to check out the Seattle Aquarium and Woodland Park Zoo. On our way to the zoo, we ran into a Seattle gay pride parade. We hung around for awhile, enjoying the costumed revelers, casting aspersions at the protesters and their "God hates fags" signs/rhetoric, and enjoying the absurdity of the anti-protester protesters and their "God hates fun" and "Marching is a sin" signs.

We also noticed several people running for office marching in the parade (one for Mayor of Seattle, I believe), which was surprising to me. Linking yourself to a gay-pride parade would be a death sentence here in Florida.

...so that was our honeymoon in a nutshell. We both had a blast and it's the first all-about-us extravagant vacation we've been on. I'm hoping it's not the last. This trip made me want to get out of Florida that much more.

Seattle

2009-06-21T14:25:11Z

I've almost forgotten about LJ ever since finally joining Facebook.

Tam and I started our long-awaited honeymoon vacation. We flew into Seattle yesterday and today we'll be boarding the Norwegian Pearl for a 7-day cruise of Alaska.

While taking our bus to the hotel, we noticed what most Floridians notice when they visit anywhere else in the world... elevation. There are hills everywhere and downtown Seattle is built on a pretty steep hill. Driving in, we had Puget Sound on the left, while on the right were skyscrapers arranged like stadium seating at a movie. Every single street seems to be lined with trees and many of them are marked with posters declaring them protected. Seattle takes its nature preservation pretty seriously.

We're staying at the Hotel Max, which is even more interesting than I'd hoped.

It is decorated with hundreds of works from local artists and each room has unique pieces displayed.

The front door of each room features a different local performance artist. We're right next door to the Darth Fiddler room, which is right next to the Spoonman room.

Even the key cards are decorated.

When dinner time came, our concierge recommended we try the Palace Kitchen for dinner ("It's a Tom Douglas restaurant, the guy who won on Iron Chef"). While we were eating (delicious!), a pig roast was being set up on the corner across the street for a wedding party. It was a bit surreal.

Afterward, we made the requisite stop at the Space Needle and took tons of pictures. You can see the trees lining the blocks (and a random park taking up an entire block). Very cool and very worth the cost of admission, but it's one of those things you'll see once and then never need to revisit.

I need to learn Photoshop to fix my closed eyes in this pic...

We stayed up late to adjust to Seattle time, but I ended up rising at 4am anyhow. Today we get checked in on the ship and depart for Alaska.

Post-season wait

2009-06-06T00:57:10Z

Back in March, Burn Notice, easily the most enjoyable of the relatively few shows I watch anymore, closed out season 2 with a very satisfying finale that could have worked just as well as the series finale.

This week, three short months later, season 3 started. I wish some of these other shows that take a year or longer to pick back up would figure it out already. I've already forgotten what most of Lost was about, save the last few episodes.

My goals

2009-06-06T00:26:30Z

Someone asked how I achieved my fitness goals and the answer was too long to fit in the microscopic reply box. So I'm linking to my answer here instead... cut for those not interested.

First and foremost, I haven't achieved my fitness goals yet. I've lost over 20 lbs from where I was back in August of last year (and even more than that from my high back when I was drinking all the time). However, I've still got about 100-120 lbs to go.

So instead, I can tell you how I got to the point I'm at now: eating better and exercising.

Eating better
We switched our eating habits over the last few years. We rarely use butter, occasionally some olive oil, but mostly Pam and non-stick skillets. We've cut out creamy, calorie-dense items and started making healthier versions of the recipes we like. Pastas are almost always whole grain. White rice has been supplanted by brown rice and we haven't missed it one bit. We always eat a vegetable (or at least a side salad) with every meal... steamed broccoli or green beans & mushrooms are sides in just about everything we eat.

I tracked my food intake meticulously for few months and started changing the things I ate. I started eating tons of fiber and trying to get more protein. I cut down on salt wherever I knew I wouldn't miss it. As we started eating healthier, I began to lose my taste for junk food. Potato chips are just too greasy now, even the Lightly Salted ones I used to get just aren't appealing. My old best friends Take 5 and M&Ms taste a bit fake and processed now. I rarely add salt to anything at the table. My fat & carb intake were(/are) a bit too high, so I've tried to cut down on them while increasing protein. I began increasing my fruit intake... I eat 3 apples a day, typically. Blueberry yogurt is yum. A banana a day helps with muscles on workout days.

Tracking your food will open your eyes to how even things that seem pretty good for you are really just empty calories. No need to cut back from junk completely (I still occasionally have Cookies 'n Cream Skinny Cows for dessert), but there are probably things you can find satisfying substitutes for or won't really miss when they're gone.

Exercise
The weight started coming off more noticeably as I began to exercise, particularly cardio. Couch-to-5K is great for helping beginners ramp up on running. Especially when you're not conditioned for it yet, running will burn tons of calories! Robert Ullrey made some very nice podcasts to go along with the C25K plan that tell you when to start running and when to stop, so you don't have to keep watching the clock.

I struggled with the plan at first and failed a few times, but eventually I was able to plow through it and run 25 minutes straight. If you only do one thing, make it C25K. I think it will be the fastest way to see (and feel) results, which will help keep you motivated. There aren't many 5Ks going on with the oppressive summer heat, but later in the year sign up for 5Ks at Track Shack. Even if you walk most of it and only jog for a few minutes here and there, you're still getting good exercise. That they're scheduled events makes me stick to them, vs just trying to run on a particular weekend morning. If you have a competitive streak, increasing your time will motivate you to do better and stick to something like C25K. And hey, free t-shirt.

I also do strength training. Many women used to be afraid of lifting weights, thinking it'd give them bulky-looking guy muscles, but I think it's becoming more common knowledge that that's just a myth. Women typically don't have the testosterone to build bulky muscles. Instead, you'll build nice lean muscles. Even if you gain muscle and don't lose fat, the muscle helps tighten up the overlying areas and firms parts up so they're not as saggy. Everyone seems to be jumping on the P90X wagon and it looks pretty intense, but something like that where you're doing a different type of exercise each day helps.

Challenges
Luckily I don't have much of a problem controlling what I eat. My biggest challenge is making the time for working out. I work from home so it seems like it should be easy, but I usually get sucked into one emergency after another with my clients. When Tammy and I used to workout together, it made us accountable. It's a lot harder for me to say "eh, I'll get to working out later. for now i need to fix this bug" when someone else is expecting you to workout.

To work around that now, I have an awesome, inexpensive personal trainer that I go to every Tuesday and Thursday morning. That rigid structure keeps me on track. She also shows me good form, explains what I should be feeling where, and she switches up my routine regularly so I don't adapt to any particular exercise. I still have problems getting around to doing cardio or yoga on my off days, but I'm still working with it.

Holy long post! That's about all I do. It's not any groundbreaking insight, but when I do cardio, my weight goes down, when I don't, my weight starts to float back up.

The haul

2009-05-02T21:30:38Z

Our favorite local steakhouse, Barney's, shut down last month. I won a restaurant.com gift certificate for Barney's about 9 months ago that we never got around to using. Contacted restaurant.com customer service and they gave me a $25 credit the next day.

While shopping around, I noticed they had added a lot more local restaurants we frequent. I also found a 50%-off Mother's Day discount that expires tomorrow. Between the $25 credit and the 50% off my order, I managed to get a $25 Taste (tapas restaurant) gift certificate, a $25 Melting Pot cert, 2 $10 Urban Flat certs, and 2 $10 Maria Bonita (our new fav Mexican restaurant) certs, all for $11.

If you want some dirt cheap gift certificates to local restaurants, check restaurant.com out soon. The 50%-Off Coupon Code is "MOM" and it expires tomorrow.

Sleuths

2009-05-01T22:34:29Z

On my list of "Games You Never Want To Play": Find The Mess

The game starts when the sound of a cat puking drifts down from upstairs. The objective is to figure out where the pasty pile of partially digested cat food is.

So far, I'm losing this round miserably.

Run for the Trees 5K

2009-04-25T14:33:08Z

I'm a month late with it, but I finally met my goal of running a 5K in under 40 minutes this morning. Chip time was 38:50, a new PR for me.

Training

2009-04-23T00:56:55Z

I started working out with my new personal trainer, Kat Fieler, a few weeks ago. When she's not making me do thousands of squats, lunges, and crunches, she's busy with much more noble ventures like leading free fitness classes for women recovering from breast cancer. She's quite selfless and inspirational.

I've made pretty good progress so far, ramping up quickly in weight and reps as well as flexibility in our yoga cool-down sessions. My calf cramped up pretty hard last Thursday though and it's been nagging me here and there ever since. I had no problem running 20 mins on Sunday, the calf ache going away after a few minutes, but today it just kept throbbing and I gave up before getting 12 minutes in. My hope for our 5K this coming Saturday was to be able to run as much of it as possible, finishing in under 40 minutes. Now I'm not so sure that's going to happen.

Fitness victories

2009-04-13T21:24:43Z

I joined a weight loss support community on LJ last week to help stay motivated and post my accomplishments, but it turned out to be a lot of plump women being overly LJ-dramatic and catty. So instead, you guys get to hear it instead.

Today I had two very empowering fitness victory...

The first was making it to the 20 minute straight run of Couch-to-5K and completing it without much problem. I'm only running at 5mph on the treadmill, but it was still 1.67 miles straight which is more than I've ever ran continuously in my life. Our next 5K (and probably our last of the season as it gets unbearably hot) is in two weeks. If I'm able to keep that slow-and-steady pace for 3.1 miles, I should be able to easily beat my 40-minute goal and finish the 5K in under 38 minutes. The Florida heat may have other ideas.

The second victory was weighing in on Wii Fit, our glorified scale.

I hit 261 lbs today, my lowest since I plumped up from the boozing days years ago. My highest was back at the end of August 2008 when I got up to 282 lbs, so I've shed almost 7.5% since then. I'm 1.00 BMI away from being able to drop the "morbidly" off my "obese". I'm feeling a little braggy today. :)

Nomenclature

2009-04-12T11:00:27Z

I take random surveys to get Seasons 52 Gift Cards. I took one last night with the following question:

Apparently "Broccoli" isn't the correct answer; I was disqualified from the survey after choosing it.

Walgreens Photo Kiosks will eat your pics

2009-04-06T22:13:16Z

Be wary when using the in-store kiosks at Walgreens photo centers. I brought in the high-res version of this image to be printed on an 8x10 (two copies on a USB drive... one landscape, one portrait orientation):

I unplugged and replugged the USB drive several times to confirm the pictures copied over correctly.

When I tried to print the images using the kiosk, the photo specialist pulled the pictures up on the print lab to see which version looked proper and both were screwed up. The landscape version clipped off some of the bottom of the picture, replacing it with a gray bar:

The portrait version clipped off everything except the top of the image, replacing most of the image with a gray bar:

When I got home and looked at the images on the USB drive, I found that the kiosk had overwritten my files with the hacked up versions of the photo above, blowing away the originals. So make sure to back up the contents of your USB drive before bringing your photos in... whoever wrote the kiosk software thought it'd be a good idea to silently overwrite the contents of the drive.

Cell and Fitness

2009-04-06T15:07:08Z

Switching my service from T-Mobile to to Net10 can now be officially declared "a good idea". After the initial battery charge, my phone went two weeks before finally needing to be plugged in today. With most of my phone calls being business-related and happening in my office, using Skype for unlimited outgoing calls for $3/mo means I've only spent about $6 for half a month of service.

I found an inexpensive personal trainer with her own home gym setup, so I've decided to start doing that to try and lose more weight. I lose motivation too easily, but having some rigid, scheduled appointments with someone I don't know will make it harder to say "eh, I'm not in the mood". When I *do* put forth the effort, the weight comes off slowly but surely, so I have high hopes. The money saved on my cell phone bill and the Sprint card for my laptop (purchased back when I actually left the house regularly, before working for myself) will cover a little less than half of the monthly cost, so it's totally worth it.

Spring Break

2009-04-06T14:49:36Z

Today was Tammy's first day back at work after spring break. Our camping trip was great, in spite of the water gushing out from the kitchen wall upon our return. When we arrived on Saturday, we set up shop, fumbled around for an hour before the campfire finally caught, had some yummy grilled chicken and veggies and smores. As we prepared to retire to the tent for the evening, it started getting stormy. No sooner than we had zipped up the tent did it start raining. We woke up in the middle of the night with a thunderstorm hanging out right above our tent. Lightning, thunder, and torrential downpour is REALLY LOUD in a tent, and we eventually sprung leaks.

We spent the next morning draping our blankets/towels across the car to dry in the sun. Tammy managed to clean up the muddy mess in the tent with a ton of elbow grease. The thunderstorms from the night before took all the bad weather with them when they rolled out, so Sunday was cloudless and in the 70s. We did some relaxing canoeing on the dinkiest lake ever and took 3 mile hike on a few scenic nature trails that went up, around, and through a huge ravine in the park. The evening was spent relaxing, smoresing, grilling steaks and corn, and some riveting "Guess Who?" action (fun for exactly 3 rounds). We ended the evening huddled up in our sleeping bags against the 48 degree night.

Overall, it was a vacation win. Now it's less than 3 months until our Alaska cruise. We took some time after camping last week to finalize our plans, research and book all our excursions, buy all our tickets, etc. At this point, there's nothing left to do but stare at the calendar, waiting for June 20th to arrive. We've got two floatplane tours lined up, a kayaking adventure, a hike and railway ride through the Sawtooth Mountain Rainforest, and several hours to roam around a 50-acre floral garden in Canada. Thanks to everyone who contributed to our honeymoon registry and helped make all of that possible!

The Money Pit

2009-03-31T21:22:03Z

Tam and I had an awesome camping vacation this weekend, only to return home to a clogged kitchen sink that eventually turned into an exploded pipe in the wall that leaked all over the floor.

The plumber ended up having to cut away a good chunk of the exterior concrete wall to get at the pipe...

The t-fitting had two rather large holes in it and we now have a nice hidden passage into our storage closet from behind the fridge. Hate this house.

Net10 Take 2

2009-03-23T01:55:19Z

I had a rather terrible experience with Net10 when I first tried to switch to them six months ago. After two DOA refurbished phones from them, I gave up on them and stuck with the carrier I already had.

After another spat with f-ing T-Mobile, I decided to try switching to Net10 again today. This time I just ponied up for a new phone at Best Buy. It activated without incident and my number was ported from T-Mobile in about an hour. This evening I've been finding all kinds of ways to avoid using up minutes. Looking over my cell bill for the last month, most of my calls were to 800 numbers while sitting at my desk. While Net10 still charges airtime for calls to toll-free numbers, they're completely free with Skype. That will shave about $13/mo worth of minutes off my bill.

For times that I do need to make long calls to non-free numbers, Skype offers $0.02/min calls and the new 4.0 version has improved call quality. I've already been slowly moving incoming business calls away from my cell and over to my SkypeIn number so I can use my headset while typing notes/researching code. I've also started using the "click to call" feature most business websites have where I can plug in my SkypeIn number and have them call me to avoid further cell charges.

In the end, it looks like my monthly cell usage will drop to about $20/mo from the $54/mo I was paying with T-Mobile. The more I work the numbers, the more I'm glad T-Mobile was boneheaded to the point that I left them.

Also, it seems every new phone is now intentionally loaded with the most obnoxious ringtones possible in an attempt to get you to buy a decent one from the carrier.

Unintentional Cliff's Notes

2009-03-12T12:58:19Z

Over the past few weeks, I've been trying to plow through Ayn Rand's enormous and verbose "Atlas Shrugged". I was finally starting to see some of the main mystery forming with industry grinding to a halt, the composer who vanished but still somehow composed, etc. Unfortunately, most of Colbert's program last night revolved around the novel and ended up giving away the plot before I got to it.

Need to pay better attention to my "spoiler alert" instinct.

Dollhouse

2009-02-22T03:18:06Z

Just finished watching the second episode of "Dollhouse", Whedon's new series. I tried very hard not to compare it to Whedon's short-lived work of art "Firefly", but that's easier said than done given how "Dollhouse" falters through so many key elements that "Firefly" got right.

Eliza Dushku is adorable and believable, making her a great choice for her imprintable agent character, Echo. Echo's mind is a clean slate that gets imprinted with a personality for the show's assignment and then wiped clean at the end. It's an intriguing concept, but it means Echo's personality is pretty much static from the start of episode 1 to the end of episode 2. After the novelty of her becoming someone new every week wears off, Echo's rather boring and uninspiring. Any growth and character development you see in her is essentially lost by the end of the hour, save for the small fragment she remembers. It just not enough to get attached to.

Harry Lennix is perfectly cast as Echo's guardian angel... conflicted about how Echo is treated. He wears his traits on his sleeve though and his character doesn't seem very complex. His back-story adds very little depth... so far he seems to be exactly who you think he is.

Everyone else seems to follow the same pattern as Lennix's character, basic wooden archetypes with no real depth. The egotistical computer nerd. The compassionate overseer who believes her work with the agents is for the greater good. The angry head-of-security who complains about how much trouble Eliza's character is, inevitably setting up an episode arc with some sort of betrayal twist, I'm guessing.

All the characters have a common theme, they're all DULL. I was completely drawn in by how incredibly complex and flawed all of the characters from "Firefly" were. Now I can't help but expect that from any other Whedon vehicle. "Dollhouse" just fails to deliver at all in that regard and characters are really what I watch Whedon for.

Kayaking

2009-02-14T21:50:42Z

Tammy and I went kayaking near Thonotosassa today. It was much more beautiful than the other two places I've gone.

Perfect way to spend V-day.

Random

2009-01-27T14:38:02Z

I use Windows Notepad frequently to jot down random notes throughout the day... business TODO reminders, personal lists, random musings, whatever. The next morning, I'll wade through the 10-15 I have open and try to act on them or close them out. Every once in awhile, I come across one that I have no idea what it is referring to or why I jotted it down. Today, the winner was:

This comic is about how dumb John Roberts is.
Except remove "about how" and "John Roberts is".

It's not as clever as I'm sure I thought it was when I jotted it down and I have no idea what prompted it. The only John Roberts I can think of is the Chief Justice and I know he isn't a part of QC, Dr. McNinja, or GWS, the only comics I really read anymore. Last week's note was just "moose burgers".

The Ritual

2009-01-15T20:26:03Z

An 18-wheeler on a crowded highway has their blinker on, trying to get into your lane to pass a slow car ahead of them. No one wants to be stuck behind the slow truck, so they don't let it over. You slow down and flash your hi-beams several times to let the driver know you're letting them in and it's safe to come over. Once the big rig is in your lane, he flashes his hazards a few times to show gratitude. Once he's passed the slow car and moved back over out of your way, you accelerate past and flash your hazards a couple of times in parting. The trucker flashes his hi-beams once in acknowledgment.

I've always been fascinated by this dance, a silent exchange of random politeness between strangers symbolized by nothing more than blinking lights. There's a beauty in how simple and functional it is. While it rarely plays out in its entirety, when it does I always feel like I've connected in some small way with the other driver. Last night, after a few hours of pretty heavy conversation with a troubled friend over dinner, I completed the ritual with a trucker on the interstate. I was still smiling by the time I reached home.

2009 Q1 Resolutions

2009-01-03T21:05:15Z

Year-long resolutions never work for me, so I'm breaking them down into quarterly resolutions. So by the end of March 2009, I'd like to:

Hard - Run a 5K in under 40 minutes

This one's pretty self-explanatory. It's more of a way to measure my general "Get Healthier" goal. It seems like it should be easy to shave a minute or two off my time, but it's harder than I thought it would be. Tammy helped me set up a schedule for walking and working out to get me back into the routine, but I proceeded to get immediately sick afterward.

Easy - Pay off some debt

Now that my finances are pretty stabilized from my switch to self-employment, I'd like my Amex card to be about half the balance it is now within three months. It's a relatively low balance, my mortgage went down $220/mo this year, and I'm getting a big fat escrow refund from all the overcharges from last year. This should be a cakewalk.

Impossible - Get rid of my car

I hate my car. It's a big waste of money for something that I barely use. I've put less than 2500 miles on it since I started keeping track in April for tax purposes. I figure I spend over $4k a year on it when taking into account car payments, gas, tolls, insurance, maintenance, etc. My loan is still upside down for another year, so I can't get rid of it. I'm hoping someone will accidentally drop a dumpster on top of it and total it. That will also free up more money for Resolution #2. I have very little hope of succeeding at this resolution.

That'll keep me busy for the next 90 days.

Pet Semetary

2008-12-22T22:06:47Z

Today we received a letter from the Army Corps of Engineers letting us know our property is on an ancient Indian burial ground or something and they'll be testing soil and water in the area next month:

Dear Property Owner,

Our records indicate that your property is on the former Orlando Range and Chemical Yard (ORCY) Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS). [...]

If any of these chemicals start reanimating dead, buried house pet corpses who claw their way out of their shoebox graves, I *BETTER* get some money for this stupid house.