2532 Truth and honesty are not the same thing

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

You know you're in law school when you consider dropping out of school approximately every hour, but after that first semester you realize you are already in too much debt to be anything but a lawyer.

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The movie last night was "500 Days of Summer". I have no positive or negative recommendation. If you like that sort of thing you'll like it, if not you won't.

There were seven of us, all female. I was surprised to see a few scattered men in the theater. Date night, I guess. Can't imagine a man choosing that movie for himself.

We went to a faux-Thai restaurant next door after the movie. For once, I had an actual thought about the movie that I wanted to express, but I never had a chance. Five of the women knew each other from other meetups, another woman and I were the new folks, and that other woman monopolized the dinner conversation, completely. Utterly. We heard about her move from Florida, her job interviews, the garden she's planting, how she gets lost even with a GPS, her husband and his naval career, everything. Everything. She had that loud excited way of speaking that takes over and brooks no interruption, and I found her very annoying.

One funny thing happened. Several people mentioned that it was a bad neighborhood, that they were glad there was a security guard in the parking lot. We were sitting on the patio, and noticed a heavy police presence, constant cruisers up and down the street. Between ordering and the arrival of the food, I lifted the chain around the patio and stepped out to the corner where there was a trash can, to have a cigarette. I was watching the traffic on the street when a police car pulled up across the street, and sat there for a bit. Then the policeman, without getting out of the car, got on a loudspeaker or something, and said something, it was so loud and distorted that I'm not sure what he said, all I could understand was "rumble rumble rumble come over here rumble rumble".

I looked around and couldn't see anyone he might be talking to. A few older people sitting on their porches enjoying the slanting sunlight. No kids on the sidewalks or in the street. I couldn't see inside the car to see what direction he was looking. And then it hit me.

I put the cigarette out, lifted the patio chain, went back to the table, and sat down with my group. And the cops left.

Learned: When in bad Albany neighborhoods, do not stand on a street corner next to a lamppost watching the traffic go by. You will suffer sexual harassment. From the cops!

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My observation from the movie:

Truth and honesty are not the same thing.

Guy falls in love with new coworker (Summer) at first sight. She says she doesn't want a boyfriend, that they should be just friends. She says it many times, every time he starts getting too romantic. But she kisses him, dates him, sleeps with him, plays house with him, feeds his fantasy, until she meets another man and drops him.

It bugged me that it was obvious that we weren't supposed to be angry with her. After all, she "told him the truth!" The guy has a too-wise younger sister who points out that he shouldn't have fallen in love with Summer, because she told him right from the start that she didn't want a boyfriend, just a friend. So "it's your own fault."

By the way, I think the little sister was wedged in to tell us what to think.

Well, I AM angry with Summer. Yes, she told him the truth, but then she acted differently. She knew he was falling in love, and she played with his feelings. She was not definite enough, she allowed him to hope, and she knew it. And I don't think she cared.

Truth and honesty are not the same thing. Summer may have been truthful, but she was most definitely not honest.
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2531 Three days?

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

T.S. Eliot: "Some editors are failed writers,
but so are most writers".

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I haven't updated in a while. I've been busy moving archived emails from AOL to Gmail, and in the process, I'm rereading them. Fascinating. And we've had a few days without rain, so I've been walking. I'm still eating under 1,000 balanced calories per day in five or six "meals", but I'm still stuck at 10 pounds lost and 15 or 20 to go, so every day it's not raining, I walk.

I'm going to a Meetup movie and dinner tonight in Albany. We're to meet in the theater lobby at 6:00, and I don't know exactly where it is, or what rush hour traffic might be like. The GPS says the drive should take an hour, so I figure just to be safe, I've got to leave here a little after 4.

It's not raining, so I want to get a walk in before washing my hair and dressing.

Bye.

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A few minutes later: Wow! Google maps is helpful! The GPS would get me there, but I still wondered where I was going, so I looked it up.

Then I looked at the street view, and my heart fell. The theater fronts on a street full of businesses, with a store abutting on each side. Albany is famous for parking difficulty. I didn't see any sign of a parking lot or lot entrance next to the theater.

So I looked at the satellite view. Bingo! There's a large parking lot immediately behind the theater reached by turning in at the next side street.

GPS wouldn't have told me that.
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2530 Music

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Scott Adams: “The most ineffective workers are systematically moved to the place where they can do the least damage: management.”

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I don't like hearing music on others' blogs or websites, because their choices are never my choices, and I find it annoying. Of course, MY choices are perfect. Everyone will just love it. Or lump it.

Over there on the left. Pink block. Playlist. Hear the music? Too loud, probably. Haven't figured out how to make it softer. DIY.

The website to build the list has links to MP3s for thousands of selections entered by users. Unfortunately, not everything is there (and some are just ringtones - watch the "minutes" notation when selecting). Click on "pop-out" to see my complete list.

Almost everything on the list has some meaning to me:

• The Kingston Trio was high school boyfriend Obie's favorites, although the specific favorites don't seem to be available.
• Buffy Sainte-Marie was my first album. "My Country 'Tis of Thy People You're Dying" was my favorite, but the link is broken. BTW, "God Is Alive, Magic Is Afoot" is supposed to sound like that. There's nothing wrong.
• John Wolford broke my heart in eighth grade. My last dance with him was to "To Know Him Is To Love Him". When I hear it, I still remember the scent of his woolen sports coat.
  
• It was BNL that provided the connection to The Man.
• "Norwegian Wood" is connected to Warren Roscoe, my still wondered-about lost cause.
• Tracy Chapman speaks to my heart, my childhood fears and desires.
• M&P's "Dancing Bear" is just plain beautiful.
• Johnny Mathis got me through many college study nights.
• Judy Collins and Joan Baez, well, everything.
  

... and so on for the bulk of the list.

I suspect only someone my age will fully appreciate the collection.
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2529 Bits

Friday, July 31, 2009

Common in Paris: “[That] is forbidden. But possible.”

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I did a volunteer stint at the tourism booth at the county fair (the next county over) yesterday. Man, that's a sad fair. It's really just an overblown carnival, very little on the usual county fair offerings. Mostly just rides, lots of "bad-for-you" food, and those knock down the clown and win a teddy bear booths.

I came home to change and wash and eat before going to the movie last night, and found no electricity. With a well, when there's no electricity, there's no water. And no microwave for the Nutri-dinner. So, I didn't go to the movie. House was hot, so I went to the diner in the village and had tea and a sandwich.

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Stupid commercial for a whole-grain cereal: "Studies have shown that people who eat mostly whole grains have a healthier body weight."

False implication of cause-and-effect.

By the same logic, since people who live half the year on their yachts are wealthy, if you want to be wealthy, you should buy a yacht.

People who want and work for health are simply more likely to eat whole grains.

People who have more money are more likely to buy yachts.

People get paid for this kind of lying-by-implication? Nobody had the courage to say, "Uh, that's not honest."

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I'd like to remind folks who complain about bailout/stimulus money about the "bailout/stimulus" efforts of the past administration. In January of last year, Bush gave 53 billion dollars in advanced weaponry to seven Islamic nations, some of whom are already the richest nations on Earth. There's an article here that talks about part of it.

Note that "sales" doesn't mean the US gets paid. The purchase price is discounted and is a loan which will be forgiven. I don't have the links anymore for the rest of the $53B.

Who was he bailing out, and what was he stimulating?

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In an effort to get out more, I signed up for several Meetup groups. The two I enjoyed most - a dinner group and a dinner/movie group - are dying. They've both been very active for literally years, but the organizers of each has decided to resign, and no one is picking up the reins.

I don't know about the dinner group, but the movie lady is sick and tired of getting emails from people who were too stupid to be on time, or too dense to know that the ten people standing in the middle of the lobby WAS the group (they expected a sign), or who didn't like the movie and restaurant choices. As the group got larger, the proportion of inconsiderate idiots went up.

But gee. The groups have been around for ages. Why now? Is it ME? Kiss of death?
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2528 Music on blog.....

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Ben Franklin: "In wine there is wisdom,
in beer there is freedom,
in water there is bacteria."

(This seems to be The Man's credo, too.)
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I've added music. It's the pink block over there on the left. I can't find a volume control on the block, but you can turn it off if you don't like it. It's set for random, but if something you like shows on the tiny screen you can click it, and it will play.

It's a few of my favorite things. Some play all the way through, some seem to be cut short. Sometime when I have time I'll try to tweak it.

I'll be volunteering at the tourism booth at the county fair tomorrow, and then going to a movie tomorrow night, so - see y'all Friday, probably.
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2527 Enforcement

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Abraham Lincoln: The philosophy of the school room in one generation
will be the philosophy of government in the next.

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I've heard people say,"I deplore rules and laws that cannot possibly be enforced."

Does that mean the speaker won't obey a law or rule unless there's someone standing there with a stick to make them? Unless there's punishment? What's wrong with having rules or laws that one is expected to obey simply for a well-ordered society?

To quote an acquaintance, "When we act based on what's right, rather than on what we can do without getting caught, we act as mature adults, members of a community."
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2526 Bits

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Scott Adams: "All meetings last longer than they should."

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I can't believe it's Wednesday already. I'm starting to panic. Tomorrow is shot - I'll be volunteering at the Ulster County tourism booth at the county fair. Saturday I want to go to Red Rock mountain to visit Jay, and then Sunday to the top of the mountain to see if there'd be anyone I know at the Lopez Old Home Day. And then it will be August. What the devil happened to July?

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Nutrisystem report: I'm still at 10 pounds lost. The food is mostly ok. Not great, but ok. I do have a few complaints:

1. Most of it is to be heated in the microwave. The cups or trays are sealed very tightly with plastic, which is understandable because the meals are not frozen, but have real meat in them, like canned in the trays. I have great difficulty peeling that plastic off! And if there's a sauce in there, I end up squirting or spilling it all over trying to wrestle it open. I gave up. Now I run a knife around the inside edge and just cut a hole in it.
   
2. When I chose my 28 breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks, I went through the lists and chose everything I thought I'd like, then went through and ordered multiples of certain things, because there was nothing else on the list I wanted to eat. The plan I chose included seven free days-worth of meals that they would choose for me. It never occurred to me that they'd choose from the ones I didn't order. Yuck. Wouldn't it have made more sense to double up on things I'd already indicated I expected to like?
3. I have always been very regular, once a day every day, usually late morning. On this stuff it's four or more times a day, not diarrhea, but urgent anyway. Is it possible to have TOO much fiber?

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Something I don't understand. The government is taxing cigarettes heavily because they're not good for people, so they want to discourage purchase. All that means is that poor people have to cut out other stuff (like food) to buy cigarettes.

Now there's a "let's fix obesity" movement afoot to heavily tax "bad" food, like fast food, rich food, fatty/sugary snacks, to discourage people from buying them.

I don't know if you're aware, but grocery stores in economically depressed areas are very small and very expensive. Fruits and vegetables are outrageous in those stores because of delivery and storage problems and the lack of bulk discounts to the stores. Fast food and snacks are not only cheaper, they're convenient! When you work two jobs, convenience and opening times is important, as is keeping the kids happy.

So taxing fattening foods is only going to take money from the economically stressed. It doesn't solve the basic problems of availability, expense, ignorance, and convenience.

The other thing I don't understand is howcome universal medical care is "bad" because it's socialism (I don't see that socialism is all that bad, actually), and cameras at traffic lights are "bad" because they're a privacy intrusion when you want to break a law, but taxing things to discourage people from buying them is ok. It's not. It's a government fine on a legal lifestyle choice (especially egregious because some people don't feel they have that much choice). Isn't that "Big Brother"? And an even bigger privacy intrusion?

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My season of twice-a-day annoyance is starting. The Saratoga racetrack season opened today. That means fully 1/3 of the local TV news time will be devoted to Saratoga every day until it closes. As if nothing else is happening in the world.
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2525 Eve and Adam

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Scott Adams: "In any group of three people,
there's generally at least one disruptive moron."

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"Lord, I am lonely, and I'm sick to death of apples."

"Well, Eve, in that case, I have a solution. I shall create a man for you."

"Man? What is that, Lord?"

"Man is a flawed creature with many bad traits. He'll lie, cheat and be vain; all in all, he'll give you a hard time. But he'll be bigger, faster and will like to hunt and kill things. I'll create him in such a way that he will satisfy your physical needs. He will be witless and will revel in childish things like fighting and kicking a ball about. He won't be as smart as you, so he will also need your advice to think properly."

"Sounds great," says Eve, with ironically raised eyebrows, "but what's the catch, Lord?"

"Well," says God..."you can have him on one condition."

"And what's that, Lord?"

"As I said, he'll be proud, arrogant and self absorbed, so you'll have to let him believe that I made him first. And it will have to be our little secret...you know, woman to woman."
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2524 No show

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Scott Adams: "To mediocre minds,
a brilliant idea and a stupid idea sound identical."

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It's been only three days on the thyroid supplement, and I'm already pulling my head out of the hole and looking around. What I'm seeing will send me back in the hole. What a mess this place is! I don't know where to start.

I got washed and dressed today, even washed my hair and put makeup on, and headed for the antiques fair that I couldn't go to yesterday. The gates were closed, and the lot was empty. The fair was yesterday only.

Huh? It's never been only one day. It's usually Friday through Sunday. The dealers always have huge old furniture pieces that need to be unloaded, unpacked, put together, displayed in a suitable setting, and then at the end, if not sold they must be disassembled, repacked, and reloaded. I can't imagine anyone doing that for a one-day show.

I am disappointed.

Oh, another thing growing since I started the thyroid pills - I'm getting hungry.
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2523.5 No surprise, no prize.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Life is uncertain. Order your dessert first.

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I'm watching the Chris Matthews show (political discussion). I am surprised and frustrated to find that they seem surprised that it's starting to come out that over the past eight years, there were effectively TWO White Houses, one had the name, and the other had the power. They seem surprised to discover that Cheney was running things.

I've been saying that for nine years!

Cheney wanted to be president, but he knew he'd never win an election, so it was Cheney who pushed for Bush. Bush, because he knew he could control him.

Sheesh.
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2523 Health care

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Theodore Sturgeon: "95% of science fiction is crap.
Come to think of it, 95% of *everything* is crap."

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I just watched Frontline's "Sick Around the World", an examination of health care systems in other developed nations. It's in five parts of about 11 minutes each, which can be watched individually. I highly recommend it.

I haven't been following what's been going on with health care reform here, but I do hope whoever's looking at recommendations has examined what's done in other countries, as Taiwan did - rather than allowing profit-making entities like insurance companies, hospitals, and drug companies to have the major input.

(The cynic in me says nah. Americans seem to think they know best without bothering to look at what others do. Arrogance is an American "virtue".)

Without having looked at it carefully myself, it seems to me that most Americans seem to think that the major problem is that too many people are under- or uninsured, so they want to fix availability of insurance. And that's about it.

I'm not sure that's the problem. The major problem in my opinion is that too many entities are in the health care field to make a profit. Maybe I'm betraying my hippie tendencies, but health care doesn't strike me as a place where profit should be the major determinator of decisions.

It also strikes me that people yelling "socialism!" haven't examined other systems either, and have no inclination or desire to do so.

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[Later - I wrote the above before watching the last segment, on Switzerland, wherein they make the same observation I did - that during the last election, everyone talked about health care reform, but nobody mentioned the lessons to be learned from other democracies.]
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2522 Steam shovel? Earthmover?

Saturday, July 25, 2009

“Unquestioned answers are more dangerous than unanswered questions.”
Put another way,
“Unanswered questions may be frustrating,
but unquestioned answers are dangerous.”

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I've been on Nutrisystem 4.5 days now, and the scale now shows 10 pounds lost since 6/17. That's 5.5 weeks, so that sounds pretty good.

I read comments and forums before I started the Nutrisystem, and quite a few users mentioned headaches, flatulence, and diarrhea.

Today I've got one of them. There's some kind of very loud machinery working in my belly. I've heard growls before, but not as loud as these, and not as constant. And it doesn't seem to realize that my exhaust system doesn't have a muffler.

Now there's a puzzle - where's all the "air" coming from? We're talking about 25 cubic inches every 40 seconds for the past five hours. We've gotta eventually run out of whatever it's making it from, don't we?

I got up early to go to the recycle center, come home and change, and then go to the antiques fair. I did go to the recycle center, but for the rest of the day I plan to sick close to the bathroom.

Just in case I develop the other side effect.
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2521 Not my car, darn it.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Every great idea I have gets me in trouble.

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I opened an email about an hour ago from the auction house I frequent, and found this:
It's a Porsche 911 SC. The email didn't say anything about it other than the photo. It will be auctioned off Saturday evening, Aug. 1, along with a few hundred other items. I could tell from the photo that it's out back behind the auction hall.

This place regularly auctions off things like three-year-old BMWs for much less than $20,000. The furniture goes high, but the cars are always a steal, because they come from estates, there's no warranty, and you have to pay for it that evening.

My mind went into overdrive. I was trying to figure out how I could get my favorite mechanic to look at it, wondering if I'd be allowed to take it for an hour or so to get it up on a lift (probably not), if I alerted Piper on Monday would he be able to cut me a check from the money market account in time for the auction, and at the same time I was pulling a shirt on and heading out to look at it. It was parked only two miles from my house.

Sadness. It's at least 20 years old, possibly more. The interior smells of motor oil. They have it covered with a tarp under a stretchy sweater, because it's sitting there with the top down. (Of course I crawled under the tarp.) Top down is a bit suspicious, especially with all the rain we've been having. From the rear it looks sexy, but the front is weird looking - the hood drops straight down and the headlights look like they're in torpedo tubes.
Nah, I'll pass. But it was nice thinking about it.

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It's raining as I write this. Just started. The thunder is so loud the house actually, literally, jumps from it. Scary.
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2520 Thirty-first question

Friday, July 24, 2009

I tried to be good, but I got bored.

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On the 30 questions post, I invited commenters to ask questions. Becs asked, "What's the best decision you ever made in your life?"

I've thought about it for 28 hours, and I'm still thinking. I went over all kinds of decisions I'd made. Places where a big decision made a difference in the course of my life, and others that weren't so big. A few were good decisions, but most of them proved to be VERY bad, with ramifications through the rest of my life. In fact, almost all of the good decisions turned out to be corrections of the very bad ones, many of them forced. It was very depressing thinking about it. Hard to accept that I'd messed my life up so badly at every opportunity. It seems like every choice was wrong. What's worse, I sort of knew it at the time.

There are only two good decisions that weren't half-assed corrections of bad decisions. One, of course, was loving Jay. But that's not the best decision.

The best was starting psychotherapy with Dr. K. in 1977, working hard at it, and sticking with it for four plus years until I found me.

Giving up would have been easier, but without it, I wouldn't be who I am now. I might not even be alive.

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I suspect that almost everyone who examines their life will find a lot of bad decisions. I suspect that I'm making bad decisions still. I suspect that The Man is one of them, but I'm determined to play out that hand.

When I look back at all those bad branches, and think about how things might have gone had I taken the other path, I'm not all that sure that things would have been any better. Different, but most likely not better.

The only thing I'm sure of is that without Dr. K., I wouldn't be who I am now. And I might not like who I would be.
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2519 A diagnosis, I hope

Thursday, July 23, 2009

If you don’t know who the “mark” is at the table, it’s you.

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After Jay died, I gained a LOT of weight over the next three years. In 2005 I woke up and started losing. By early 2007, when I met The Man, I still had 15 pounds to go, but I was looking pretty ok.

Over the past year and a half, the weight started climbing again, and I wasn't eating all that much. Other things were happening, too. Like, I seemed incapable of starting or finishing anything. I was tired a lot, but not sleepy tired - just inertia tired. My mind wasn't working well. Thinking, formulating opinions, it was all so hard. Memory was going. I'd find a note on the counter in my handwriting, like "RSVP Susan 345-123-4567". It would be written on the back of a grocery receipt from only two days before, but I'd have no memory whatsoever of having written it, or why, or who Susan was and what I was supposed to RSVP for. Stuff like that.

I'd go back through the journal/blog of a few years ago, and I was amazed at the things I thought about. It's just too hard to think about things now.

I hadn't seen a doctor at all since 2000, except for a UTI in 2007. I probably wouldn't have this year if it weren't for the breast scare.

I've been eating carefully for five weeks now. Partly for weight, and partly for blood sugar. I lost some pounds the first two weeks, but nothing since.

Tuesday I had another blood test, and it WAS the thyroid they were rechecking, and yeah, I've got a sluggish thyroid.

If true, it explains everything.

I start the thyroid hormone pills tomorrow, should see some effects within two weeks if that really is it. Blood tests (aaaagh!) every six weeks for a while to adjust the levels.

I hope that is it. I was afraid it was just age, ye olde hardening of the arteries.
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2518 Burning calories

Thursday, July 23, 2009

T-shirt: “If I’m mean, it’s because you’re stupid.”

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I walked today. I had done some research. It's a common theory that whether you walk or run doesn't matter, that it's the distance that matters, that since you're moving the same weight over the same distance, the same amount of energy, i. e. calories, is expended. Walking just takes longer, and doesn't have the same cardio advantages.

Of course not everyone agrees with this, there are arguments both ways. It's not an easy thing to measure. But I did find something interesting, with good arguments to support it, and I choose to believe it:
Walking quickly burns more calories over a mile than walking slowly.
Walking quickly burns more calories over a mile than running!
A 20-minute walking mile burns more calories than a ten-minute running/jogging mile.

The argument with walking slowly versus quickly is that more muscles are used when walking quickly, the body moves more. And with running versus walking quickly, entirely different sets of muscles are used. In one you are lofting and momentum helps move you, while in the other you are in continual contact with the ground, with little or no momentum. In running there are fewer steps per mile than in walking.

Makes sense to me.

So today I walked the same route as yesterday, but instead of taking an hour, I did it in 40 minutes. The first 3/4 of the loop went quickly, but my thighs were complaining on the last quarter. I plan to keep doing that until I can do the whole distance in 30 minutes with no problem, then I'll increase the distance.

(I stopped at a farm stand halfway through the loop and bought cucumbers, peaches (soft ones!), and blueberries. Carrying them may have been what killed the thighs. I do better when I can swing my arms and hips freely.)

When I got home, I found a message on the home phone from my doctor, which may detour this whole weight loss attack. Next post....
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2517 Thirty questions meme

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Arthur Schopenhauer: “Talent hits a target no one else can hit;
Genius hits a target no one else can see."

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Today is Daughter and Hercules' third anniversary. Congratulations on finding each other, kids. Have many more.

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A meme going around:

30 Things You Wouldn't Think To Ask

1. Have you ever been searched by the cops?
Beyond the general airport thing, and purse peeks at government buildings, no.

2. Do you close your eyes on a roller coaster?
No.

3. When's the last time you've been sledding?
Good Grief! I don't remember, which is sad, because I like it. At least 30 years ago, I guess. I think I got less enthusiastic when I realized that dragging a sled uphill just to go down again makes as much sense as golf - hit the ball into a pasture, walk around searching for it, and when you find it, hit it away again.

4. Would you rather sleep with someone else, or alone?
With a chosen man, of course. Otherwise, alone.

5. Do you believe in ghosts?
Not the usual definition of ghost. I do believe that persistence of cohesive energy, and the influence thereof, is possible.

6. Do you consider yourself creative?
Not in the usual sense (the "arts"). I do find very unusual and efficient ways of doing things.

7. Do you think O.J. killed his wife?
I really do not have enough information to form a belief. Suspicion is not belief.

8. Jennifer Aniston or Angelina Jolie?
Huh? I guess I'd rather talk with Jennifer. She seems more real.

9. Can you honestly say you know ANYTHING about politics?
Enough to form general opinions.

10. Do you know how to play poker?
How, yes. Do I? No.

11. Have you ever been awake for 48 hours straight?
Yes. Often, even occasionally at this age.

12. What's your favorite commercial?
The old Kodak commercials with the "Turn Around" song. Nothing current comes to mind.

13. Who was your first love?
John Wolford, in first grade. Obie Philpot in high school.

14. If you're driving in the middle of the night, and no one is around, do you run a red light?
No.

15. Do you have a secret that no one knows but you?
There are a lot of things I know that no one else knows, but they're not secrets. Just ask, and I'll tell all. (There are a few things I know that are someone else's secrets, that I won't tell, but they don't count.)

16. Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees?
Eck. I don't care.

17. Have you ever been ice skating?
I practically lived on skates until my mid-twenties or so. I still love skating, but I hate rinks, and otherwise it's difficult to find safe available ice. Too many pond owners are afraid of lawsuits.

18. How often do you remember your dreams?
If you mean how often do I have a dream I remember, it's about once or twice a month. I'm sure I dream more than that. I sleep pretty soundly.

19. What's the one thing on your mind?
Snort. I have a thousand things on my mind. But The Man is almost constant. Positive thoughts, negative thoughts, frustration, wondering what the hell I should do about him.

20. Do you always wear your seat belt?
Yes.

21. What talent do you wish you had?
I wish I had more confidence in the few talents I do have.
Later: Came back to this one. I own about ten different musical instruments. I wish I could play any one of them.

22. Do you like Sushi?
Only with The Man. He likes it a lot.

23. What do you wear to bed?
Summer: sleep bra & panties, or nothing. Winter: sleep bra, panties, and T-shirt, or nothing if there's a male bed warmer.

24. Do you truly hate anyone?
I'd like to say no, but I have to say Dick Cheney.

25. If you could sleep with one famous person, who would it be?
No one springs immediately to mind. I like to look at some ( like Taye Diggs, pant pant), but I'm more into mind than appearance, so I don't have the "want" reaction. Well, ok, maybe Sean Connery.

26. Do you know anyone in jail?
Not currently. I know a few that have been.

27. What food do you find disgusting?
Scrapple. Can't even stand the smell of it. Pennsylvania will reject me as native-born.

28. Have you ever made fun of your friends behind their back?
If I make fun of someone, I can't count them as a friend.

29. Have you ever been punched in the face?
No. Slapped hard and backhanded, but not closed fist punched.

30. Do you believe in angels and demons?
Not by the usual religious definitions. But I do believe in dimensions and influences most people are unaware of.

Anybody have a question they'd like to ask in the comments?
Remember, you can comment anonymously.

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From the Nutrisystem dessert wrapper last night, in the list of ingredients: "..., evaporated cane juice,...".

Uh, don't we less sophisticated folk call that "raw sugar"?
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2516 Blah and Bored; Diet Digest

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

A relationship is about give and take. Love is all about giving.

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I am fully switched over to Gmail now, and I LIKE it! It's so much easier to find and keep things, very nice. Because it's easier to see what needs attention, I've been writing notes to people I've owed correspondence for forever. Playing with mail and writing notes has taken up much of the day.

I drove into the village today and measured off some walking routes. I've got about four routes now, so I can vary them. I also walked for an hour.

Diet synopsis for the past week:
Wed 07/15 - 1228 calories (It was a BLT that blew that day)
Thu 07/16 - 960
Fri 07/17 - 935
Sat 07/18 - 930
Sun 07/19 - 865
Mon 07/20 - 715
Tue 07/21 - 910

Weight lost since 6/17, 8 pounds, from 150 to 142. Goal, somewhere between 130 and 120-ish, depending on how well it goes. I don't dare try smaller than that, or my skin will drag on the floor. My "ideal weight" is supposed to be around 109 (4'10" tall), but that doesn't take the big bust and wide hips into consideration.

I decided to try Nutrisystem. I was going a bit crazy trying to find suitable things to eat, and they lay it all out for you. My order arrived Monday afternoon. You get breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert in microwavable packages. You're supposed to add some dairy, fresh veggies, and fruit with the meals and as an afternoon snack, so you eat five times a day.

The portions are tiny. If you've ever been in the hospital - yeah, like that. And yet I'm satisfied. The meatloaf was pretty good, and the macaroni and cheese with beef, but mostly it's pretty blah. Not a big deal, I'm not a gourmet.

I think it can get a bit boring, though. There's an awful lot of pasta in various yucky tomato sauces. Guess what's my least favorite food (although the cheese tortellini was good). I got to choose what I wanted (28 from the breakfast column, 28 from the lunch...), but the choices were mostly heavy on pasta. A little rice or potatoes here and there, which I would have preferred more of.

Folks on the forums say that, within reason, you can have a free day once a week without messing it up. Just choose wisely and watch portion size.

So, heading into Month Two.
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2515 Cold!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.

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I'm freezing. I looked at the thermostat. It's 72 degrees F in the house. But I'm freezing! Sweater and everything.

I don't understand.
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2514 Gmail - friend or foe?

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Some people are like a Slinky, not really good for anything,
but you still can't help but smile
when you shove them down the stairs.

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A little while ago I decided to try Gmail. Right now my email addresses are on AOL and Yahoo. I dislike Yahoo, and don't have a lot of confidence that AOL will be around forever, and their programmers seem to be bottom of the barrel. I set up an account, and then used a Gmail facility that allows you to transfer the contents of the AOL inbox to Gmail - leaving a copy of the email in the AOL inbox. Sounded good to me. You can also ask it to transfer AOL email to Gmail as it arrives, again leaving a copy with AOL.

It sorta worked. All the AOL email (I had about 550 items) appeared in the Gmail inbox. However, when I went to AOL, about 20 of the oldest items had disappeared. They weren't in "Deleted" or in "Old Mail". They were simply gone.

The next day when I went to AOL mail, I was shocked to discover I had only four items in the inbox, mail that had arrived overnight. The other 500+ were in the "Old Mail", which is bad, because they are automatically deleted after one day. If I'd been away for the weekend, they'd have disappeared. So I pressed the "Keep as New" button 500+ times to put them back in the inbox.

Once Gmail "grabs" a copy, AOL apparently considers it read, not new, and trashes it 24 hours after it becomes "old". Telling AOL to "Keep as New" should fix it, right?

Next morning, same thing.

I don't understand. Why is AOL ignoring the "Keep as New", on mail Gmail hasn't grabbed again?

So I went to Gmail and changed the option so it would no longer "grab" new mail from AOL. At all. In theory, Gmail doesn't even know about the AOL address any more.

Problem solved, right?

No. AOL is still trashing email that Gmail originally copied, over and over, every day.

Worse, Gmail is still grabbing copies of email from AOL, but not every piece. It seems to be random, and it's NOT leaving a copy with AOL. I wandered over to Gmail this morning, and found several bits of email sent to the AOL address over the past few days that never showed up on AOL.

[Sorry, Sister. I wasn't ignoring your travel confirmation. AOL was. I'm glad you're going, I'm sure you'll both feel a lot better.]
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