Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Call CAA Next Time

This is one of the funniest things I've ever seen in a long time...mainly because it didn't happen to me.

Take the two minutes needed to watch this video and learn why you don't ask a buddy to pull your car out of a snowbank when you're stuck.

It might seem like a simple little task but in the end you may end up disliking your friend and having to get a tow right to the body shop.

Just a small warning that the video contains some foul language and is rated PG.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

To Diet or Not To Diet

That is a tough thing for me to consider. I really hate the word diet because to me it has seemed impossible. Well, maybe not impossible but certainly challenging.

I find myself wondering if I should give it another try. Sure my head is willing but I know I'm just setting myself up for failure one more time.

I've had some success in the past. Back in my senior years of high school I got serious for a few months and had some positive results. I was counting my calories and keeping a written record of everything I ate each day and how many calories I consumed. I can't recall what I set my limit at but I believe the most I was allowed in one day was 1400 calories. Heck, I can consume that many in one meal if I wanted to. But I stuck to it and I had some results. Now I see if I tried that, I'm actually allowed to eat a lot more calories and still be able to lose weight. There is a God!

I've never been one to weigh myself either. I have a rough idea or guess at how much I weigh at this very moment and it lets just say you don't want to try and lift me. Even when I was on that diet which was 20 years ago I didn't weigh myself, I was only concerned with how I looked and if I was looking thinner. I did lose some excess flab and people noticed which was positive but then I got off the diet. I don't recall why exactly but my grandfather passed away around that time and I took it pretty hard and that might have led to my relapse and return to my old ways.

Over the many years since then, I've had moments where I tried to control my eating habits and make some changes but they never lasted either. I'm not a Richard Simmons fan so you can forget about me Dealing a Meal or Sweating to any Oldies. I don't have anything against Billy Blanks but I won't be using Tae Bo anytime soon either. I'd probably pull my groin muscle if I tried a kick.

I'm not one who will join an aerobics class either. The last thing I want to do is be in a fitness club with all kinds of hot women in skimpy workout clothes doing lunges to crappy music. I do remember riding a stationary bike at the gym in college once and watching those ladies though. I worked up quite a sweat doing that.


No, if I'm going to take this seriously, I have to either do it my way or pay a personal trainer to whip me into shape, and I can't afford that. Actually, I don't eat a whole lot but the foods I do eat are not the healthiest. I don't think there's a diet where all you eat is pizza, meat and potatoes, French fries and Big Macs. I can't stand fruit. I won't eat any kinds of fruit at all. I wish I liked fruit because that would at least give me something healthy to snack on. So I just need to control how much I eat and when I eat it.

Exercise is my biggest problem. I don't get much of it at all. Even if I could get myself out of the house to walk around the block once a day, that would be something at least. But instead I park my butt in front of the TV or computer and come up with excuses why I can't go walking. It all comes back to willpower again. I need to get the willpower to force myself to do it. Either that or I need a 23-year-old beautiful blond to come and get me each day and be my walking and exercise partner. Yes indeed, that could be all the encouragement I need.

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Holiday Hoopla Over

Congratulations everyone, we made it through another busy holiday season.

Like most of you I'm sure, I made it to another new year with only minor injuries from my assault on the local mall and walking through the family gathering minefield.

I guess I make it sound worse than it really was but I make no secret about my disdain for the season or at least certain aspects of it.

I truly enjoy spending time with family over the joyous season and especially this holiday with my brother Scott and his wife Erin making the trip north from Florida to spend time with us.

The one main aspect of the Christmas season that truly drives me batty is shopping. It's not like I have a lot of people to buy gifts for but I can do numerous laps around the mall and still leave without buying anything for anyone but me. It's easy to shop for myself because I know what I want and I can just run in to the store, purchase the item and then leave.

When I'm shopping for family, the only thing that snaps me out of my trance as I blindly wander with the rest of the herd of shoppers is when I pick up the scent of the pizza in the food court. Time to take a break and regroup with a slice and sit and watch the other lost souls going by.

In the end I did manage to find a couple of gifts for my parents that I think they were happy with. Scott and Erin were the toughest challenge as they have everything they need and anything I thought of had to fit in their suitcases to fly back home. In the end I'll admit I just gave up and went shopping at the bank. Cash isn't the most personal of gift but I know my eyes always light up when someone hands me money. Not to mention I think I got the right size.

The one other hurdle to jump this year was spending time with family members I haven't seen in quite some time. I guess the real problem is that I like sitting at home and just spending quiet times playing cards with my immediate family. The thought of having to dress up (take off my track pants), hop in the car and go visiting isn't normally something that appeals to me and I wasn't too eager to do it this time either.

But I actually didn't mind it in the end. It was nice to talk with some of my cousins I haven't seen in quite some time and a Christmas meal with about 20 people at my cousin Stephen's was very nice. It may be a little selfish, but I was kind of glad that my mom was able to take Christmas off and just enjoy it. She helped out in the kitchen but she certainly didn't have to run the show like she would have at home and I think she appreciated that as well.

In the end the holiday hoopla wasn't too bad this year. Perhaps as I get older I'm learning to appreciate the time I get to spend with my family and extended family more because there will come a day when all we'll have are memories.