A little over two years ago (I can’t beleive it was that long ago!) I started Operation Fat Ass and I have to admit, it didn’t go as well as I had hoped. I’m not going to lie, it was my own failure. Dieting is hard, not so much because I eat a lot, because I don’t do that any more, but becasue I don’t eat right and I definitly do not get enough exercise. Both of these issues are due to both time and money, two things I don’t have enough of. Well, today I am reinstating Operation Fat Ass! I joined a 13 week Weight Watchers at work program. Once a week we will have meetings in the office and have our weigh-ins and discussions. It cost me $150, but hopefully it will be worth it. With this course, and an honest attempt to be more active when I can, I am hoping to finally start losing some weight. The program starts one week from today, and I am going to do my best to follow its guide lines, and hopefully, learn to change my life style for the better. In addition to wanting to lose weight and improve my life, I also have a monetary investment in this, so hopefully that will also be a driving force to keep me motivated and on a positive track, because I hate to waste money! Here’s hoping for a good change!
Category Archives: Ed
Motorcycle update
I got a phone call from the insurance company yesterday and they told me they had finally finished the estimate on the motorcycle. While an initial estimate had been done months ago before it was even taken to the shop, at the shop they performed another crash inspection and they found damage that the insurance adjuster had missed, so the insurance company had to go out and verify this new damage and write a second check. Now that all the estimates are done, today I went over to the shop and finalized all of the parts selections and talked to the parts guy, Joe, and the sevice technician, Sid, to get everything finalized. Now I just have to wait for all the parts to come in and the work to be done. With any luck all the work should be done by the end of May, probably before I am back from Philadelphia and New York, but I won’t be able to go pick it up until after then. While I will have and already have missed a couple of nice riding days, I will still have at least 3 months of ride time. Hopefully I can put some miles on it.
Touring Ann Arbor
Today Melissa and I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and go take some pictures of the University of Michigan campus, mainly around the Law Quad due to how much I like the old stone buildings. We didn’t realize that this was also the weekend that they were having there open house for incoming freshman. This was actually a good thing, as we realized that the Michigan Union was open and got to go in and walk around the union as well. It was a nice time and I think the pictures came out pretty nice too. I took a couple of sets to try and make some more HDR images, and I like the way most of those came out too
Daddy, I like your new face
I was getting ready to shave today when Kylie came in and asked me what I was doing. So I proceeded to explain to her that I was going to shave and what that meant. Seeing as I had grown out my beard for about a month I was happy she was going to be here to see me shave so she wouldn’t be to shocked the next time she saw me, mainly because I have heard stories of kids crying after their fathers had shaved due to not recognizing them. I admit it wasn’t a huge concern as she was used to seeing me with less facial hair then what I had pre-shave anyway. During our conversation she said simply “Your not going to shave this are you?” and reached out to scratch my beard, or more specifically my chin. She has always like scratching my chin hair ever since she was very little, and I think it gives her a sense of comfort. Even though I had no intention of shaving this I said to her “Do you not want me too?” Of course she said “No” so i told her that I wouldn’t, for her. The a thought occurred to me and I said “Kylie, what should I shave?” She thought for a moment and started pointing to areas I should shave, resulting in me shaving everything but my chin. When I was all done she looked at me and said “Daddy, I like your new face.” It was incredibly cute, and I actually think I look a little younger now. I think I like the new look and will keep it this way for a while.
[Update: 4/14/2009]
Here is an image of Kylie and Daddy with his “new face.” Clicking the image will bring you to the album containing all the images from 4/14/2009
Daddy, this is the best surprise ever!
Last week, when Kylie first saw her new wagon she was very excited, exclaiming “A Wagon! WOW!” Today we got to use it for the first time. Kylie, Melissa and Daddy all took a walk to the park, and Kylie got to ride in her new wagon. While we were taking our walk, and when we were about half way to the park, Kylie called out to me. So I stopped walking and turned to her and said “Yes Little Bit?” to which she happily replied “Daddy, this is the best surprise ever!” This, of course, brought a very large smile to my face, as she often does. I have to say I am very, very pleased with the reaction to her new wagon and I am very happy I was able to get it and make my little girl happy. I am looking forward to many wagon rides and park visits this spring and summer!
Kindle 2, I Want One
I really want one of Amazon’s new Kindle’s! When the generation one Kindle came out a year ago I thought it was pretty neat, but I purposely held off looking into it. Then a buddy at work showed up with one, and I was hooked. There are, of course, a few things preventing me from getting one of these little gems. Firstly, the $360 price tag is a little out of my budget at the moment. The other, and most major, thing stopping me is the crippling DRM that Amazon throws into there books. It would be great to be able to share books with other Kindle user, and I know I am not the only person who feels that way. This thing has a ton of great features and improvements over the first version, and perhaps I will get one some day. -sigh-
A Wagon Received
Today I was able to acquire, thanks to the Ann Arbor eCycle list, a Step 2 wagon. I was hoping to get a wagon like this so I would be able to bring Kylie to the park now that the weather will be getting nicer. We have a pretty nice park a little under a mile away, and Kylie really enjoys going there, but she doesn’t like to walk that far with me for some reason.
So about a week ago I began searching for a wagon that I could use to pull her to the park. It is my hope that this will server three purposes: 1) It will get Daddy a little exercise by walking to the park and pulling Kylie, 2) It will allow us to go to the park without using gas in Daddy’s truck, and 3) It will help build nice memories for both Daddy and Kylie. The wagon is a sightly older version of this one, but very similar in appearance to the image to the right. The main difference is that the one I have does not have the drink holders like the one in the picture, otherwise it is pretty much identical. It does have a little bit of weight to it, and the large wheels are sure to help it go over uneven terrain.
I am really looking forward to Kylie’s reaction when she sees this surprise, and I am hoping that she enjoys riding in it when the opportunity arises.
Motorcycle Repairs Begin…Sort of.
With the help of my buddy Chuck I brought my motorcycle to Nicholson’s today and spent almost 2 hours working with Joe (the parts guy) on picking out new handle bars, yep just handle bars. If everything goes well, and the measurments that Joe and I came up with are accurate, the new bars will almost be drag bars coupled with 4 inch risers. This is due to my need for a set of bars with little pull back so my wrists aren’t forced to turn out while holding the grips. This one adjustment should add a lot of comfort and enjoyment to my rides. I will need to go back at a later date after the crash inspection is completed to see what else I am going to replace and with what. I am really looking forward to riding with the new bars, and hope they provide the enhanced comfort I am expecting.
Truck Estimate
As I mention earlier this week my truck was damaged and the adjuster was coming to give me an estimate today. He arrived at about 8:45am and began looking at it. He told me that the repair will be covered under my broad form collision policy as it was obvious from looking at the damage that I was not at fault for the damage. When he was finished he gave me the estimate, and I have to admit I am more than a little surprised at the bill. To fix my mirror and remove some scuff marks from the door is going to cost $524, I would not have imagened that there was that amount of damage done. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised considering how much damage was done to my motorcycle.
Truck Damages
I was over on U. of M. campus today watching Melissa’s little brother in a wrestling tournament at the Indoor Track building when an announcment was made that half the people needed to leave due to fire regulations. I figured I would at the very least go and move my truck, and if they didn’t let me back into the event (as I had heard someone say they weren’t letting anyone in now) i would just leave and meet everyone at the restaurant. When I got to my truck i found that the driver side mirror had been struck and broken. It doesn’t look to bad as far as broken mirrors go, the casing is shattered at the outer bottom corner and the mirror is completly broken off, but the casing is still attached to the vehicle for the most part. I have already placed a claim and an adjuster will come and look at it on Tuesday. Such is life I guess.