I don't hate everyone, but close.

Not dead

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:33:08 GMT

I got sucked into Facebook, even though I had successfully avoided it for so long (blame Eric Englehorn for getting me to try Mafia Wars, the bastard). Not that I post all that often to FB, but it seemed a bit redundant to do a blog and maintain a facebook page.

I was looking around for a photo today and ended up finding here in an really old journal entry. I got to looking around and reminded myself that a/ I enjoyed posting things here, especially using it to keep track of my weight loss progress and B/ that facebook really isn't doing the job of replacing that function.

So, I'm going to get back in the habit of posting here. I have no idea if anyone is ever reading this stuff, but that's not really important anyway. I also need to get back to keeping a semi-public record of my weight loss progress. Not doing that has contributed to a general slacking off. I've even gained some back.

Time to reengage and refocus.

Oh yeah, and I just got an iPhone, so I can post anytime, anywhere.

The Scott Project — Weeks 112 & 113

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 06:07:08 GMT

10.10 - 10.23

Workouts: 7/7
Workout String: 3 weeks
Total Weight Loss: 160 lbs. (official, as of 7/30)

My ability to keep up with doing this blog every week hasn't returned, but at least I've been able to get a couple of 7 day workouts the last two weeks.

The Scott Project — Week 111

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 02:05:26 GMT

10.3 - 10.9

Workouts: 6
Workout String: 1 weeks
Total Weight Loss: 160 lbs. (official, as of 7/30)

I tried hard to get my 7. Hard.

But work got in the way. On Tuesday, I worked a 16 hour day, got home at about 1:30 am and got to bed a little before 2. Determined to get my 7, I had The Woman get me up at our normal 4:30 to go to the gym.

Wednesday night, I worked a 15 hour day, left work at about 12:30 am and got to bed by about 1:30. The Woman woke me up at 4:00 to ask if I wanted to go to the gym, but I had to say no.

So, I only got a 6 instead of 7.

The Scott Project — Weeks 95 - 110

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 03:28:53 GMT

6.19 — 10.2

It's been awhile — a good 3 and a half months since I've updated this journal. During that stretch, I've been sick enough twice that I was off exercising for a week each time, The Woman and I went to China for the Olympics and ended up missing 3 weeks of exercising (although we did walk our asses off, averaging 5 miles a day with a 10 mile and 15 mile day in there), and then lots of off and on exercising that added up to a dwindling routine.

I decided last week that I'd had enough messing around and it was time to reboot the system. Time to get back on track.

So, starting last Friday, I rebooted. No more missing workouts. Back to 7 days a week.

Before the journal blackout, The Woman and I had started working with our trainer together. We're still doing that. We are with him for an hour three times a week with 45 minutes to an hour of cardio afterwards.. On the other days, we're doing an hour of cardio.

I'm also rebooting my food intake. I'd let things slide a bit. The travel helped with that, but I'd started falling into the trap of allowing success to translate into a more lenient food attitude. No more of that either.

I'm also rebooting this journal. It's interesting that as I let my habit of regularly writing about my progress slide, so did all the other aspects of my progress slide.

So, all settings are back to zero. I still have between 60-80 pounds to lose and I mean to lose them.

The Scott Project — Week 93 & 94

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 18:16:44 GMT

6.6 — 6.19

Workouts: 7 & 6
Workout String: 15 weeks
Total Weight Loss: 150 lbs. (official, as of 5/30)

The Woman and I have started doing joint trainer sessions so that we are working out with him for an hour together instead of a half hour separately. We're doing a kind of boot camp routine that mixes weight lifting supersets with lots of all-over exercises. Starting next week, we're going to be doing that 3 times a week along with an hour of cardio each day. We're hoping that this will jack up our individual progress.

The Scott Project — Week 91 & 92

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 22:50:35 GMT

5.23 — 6.5

Workouts: 4 & 7
Workout String: 13 weeks
Total Weight Loss: 150 lbs. (official, as of 5/30)

So The Woman and I decided to take Memorial Day weekend off from the gym and I took a 4 that week. No worries though, because on Friday the 30th, I stopped by my doctor's office and did an official weight on his scale.

I've finally hit the 150 lbs. lost mark.

To celebrate, The Woman and I did a "triathalon" on Saturday — an hour at the gym, 2 hours kayaking, 90 minutes biking and then poker with the Vag Pack. After a full day of activity, the only side effects were slightly sore butts from the bicycle seats and me out $10.

Images from Mars

Mon, 26 May 2008 02:05:07 GMT

Watching the first data download from the Phoenix lander at the Mars North Pole live on NASA Web TV. As the images came up on the display, they were almost instantly uploaded to the Phoenix mission website:

http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/images.php?gID=309&cID=7

The Martian tundra, courtesy of the Phoenix lander:

Incredible.

I love technology

Sun, 25 May 2008 22:33:35 GMT

Watching the Phoenix probe's entry/landing on Mars live via NASA tv on the web right now.

Kayaking!

Sun, 25 May 2008 17:23:08 GMT

The Woman and I went kayaking yesterday for the first time. We rented a couple kayaks and went out for a couple hours with friends Leighway and BirdJack. Both of us did really well and, thanks to our trainer, were able to go from the UW all the way around Lake Union and back without getting tired or sore.

Besides doing something I've been wanting to do for years and checking that off the list (we're already talking about buying kayaks), this outing had some added high notes for me.

No one at the rental place hesitated at all when we got up to the counter when we asked to get a couple kayaks. I didn't get "the Look™" or any questions about how much I weighed. They handed me a life jacket that fit and they didn't have to dig around trying to find one. We went out to the dock, got in the boats and paddled away. Like normal people. That was almost better than the whole part out on the water.

The Scott Project — Week 89 & 90

Sun, 25 May 2008 17:16:16 GMT

5.9 — 5.22

Workouts: 5 & 5
Workout String: 11 weeks
Total Weight Loss: 143 lbs. (unofficial, as of 5/2)

A mix of sick days (The Woman and I got our immunizations for China and I've had 3 separate reactions since that put me out for a day each time) and long work days have made it very hard to hit 7 days a week.

On the good news front, I've gone down another pant size, a shoe size (never saw that one coming) and I can definitely see that my body is changing. There are actually spots that ripple instead of jiggle.

I also tried jogging for the first time since I was a teenager. I was on the treadmill and, following the instructions from both my trainer and physical therapist, walked for 4 minutes and jogged for 1, walked 4, jogged 1, etc. for an hour. I had to work hard on my breathing to keep my heart rate down and I had to concentrate on relaxing to keep everything from reflexively clenching. I had one knee twinge, but otherwise no significant pain. I really look at this as my first step on the road towards my first marathon.

The Hair

Sun, 18 May 2008 06:54:50 GMT

Almost can't contain myself

Sat, 17 May 2008 19:23:30 GMT

I think I posted about this before - on Stormfans.org, we did a donation drive to buy 20 season tickets that would be donated to area kids and youth groups. As an incentive, I said that if we met our goal, the person who donated the most could pick my hair color for opening night.

We met the goal. They picked. I went to VAIN yesterday. I have pictures.

But...

I have to wait to unveil my head until the game tonight.

It's so hard to wait.

Backyard Macro

Sat, 17 May 2008 00:11:03 GMT

Finally a nice day.

Lola Shreds

Tue, 13 May 2008 03:10:54 GMT

And is very pleased with herself.

Sickly-ish

Mon, 12 May 2008 00:48:17 GMT

The Woman and I got our first round of vaccinations on Friday for our China trip. I got 5 shots, 4 of which came with the potential for fever, headaches, soreness, body aches and nausea. What do you know, but Saturday night I had most of them. We had planned on hitting the Emerald City Comic Con today, but although I'm feeling better we decided to stay home and take it easy. So, it's basketball and Indiana Jones movies with a healthy dollop of popcorn and photo work (still need to finish my photos from the last derby bout).

Me and Wendy do the Storm

Mon, 12 May 2008 00:44:34 GMT

My first Storm game with the 1D (aka Wendy). Since it was a preseason game, I decided to push the settings a bit and try some new things. I went with a high ISO, which usually produces horrible noise but since we're talking the 1D Mark III that's not an issue, and a much higher f-stop than usual. It seemed to work pretty well.

I am noticing some focus issues however. Before I chalk it up to the auto focus production problem that plagued the 1D mk III when it was first released, I'm going to try a Canon telephoto lens first. I'm using a Sigma lens now. It's good enough, but it doesn't seem to fit very well. There is a little rotational play even after it is mounted on the camera body. I can twist it ever so slightly and that makes me wonder if the focus issue isn't due to that. When I have other Canon lenses on the body, I'm not noticing that twist action nor am I seeing the focus issue. If it is the lens, that's another $1800.

I had to yet again talk fast to get into the Key with the camera. I'm getting so tired of that crap. I've contacted the Storm's PR office to talk about getting an actual press pass, but I'm not optimistic. I'd hope that my 8-year track record through Stormfans.org would count for something, but since we're not a traditional media site I'm not holding my breath.

The Scott Project — Week 87 & 88

Sat, 10 May 2008 22:14:30 GMT

4.25 — 5.8

Workouts: 6 & 7
Workout String: 11 weeks
Total Weight Loss: 143 lbs. (unofficial, as of 5/2)

Looks like I'm plateauing out in the mid-140s. A month of working out pretty hard got me all of 2 lbs. On the other side, I went down another pant size and a shoe size. I wasn't expecting the shoe size, but I'll take it.

Logically, I understand that because I'm doing much more resistance/weight training than I did before my knee injury, I'm most certainly adding muscle mass that is "masking" any overall weight loss and I've most probably lost more than 2 lbs.

I hate logic.

My problem with that is I still have a long way to go before I get close to my goal weight. Having my muscle gain match my fat loss isn't something that can continue. I don't want to be 50-60 lbs. overweight, either because of muscle or fat.

Lola Videos

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 23:38:58 GMT

Yes, we bought a Flip Video camera. Yes, I'm flooding YouTube with videos of our dog.

The Scott Project — Week 86

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:55:05 GMT

4.18 — 4.24

Workouts: 7
Workout String: 9 weeks
Total Weight Loss: 141 lbs. (official, as of 4/7)

I got my 7. I didn't do so well on controlling the extra food.

Another Macro Opportunity

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:48:16 GMT

So far, we've nearly burnt down our house and have now had a near break-in and both have presented irresistible macro photography opportunities.

I really don't want to think about what kind of near disaster may inspire me to whip out the macro lens next.

We had a window repair guy out yesterday to give us a quote: $320.

We have an alarm company coming out tomorrow.

We didn't lose any real property from this break-in attempt, but it's still going to cost us a lot of money we don't have, not to mention the sick paranoid feeling we both have every time we come home and expect to see the place ransacked.

Broken Glass and Frayed Nerves

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 04:49:54 GMT

Someone tried to break into our house today. The Woman found a broken window and a couple screens removed from windows on the back side of our house. We have double paned windows and only the outside pane was broken. Someone must have heard the would-be burgeler because they didn't break the inside pane.

We called the cops who came out and took a look. They took down our info and gave us a case number - not much else for them to do unless there was a witness who can describe the robbber. We're going to make the rounds to the neighbors to let them all know to be watchful.

The cops said that it is very rare for a house to be re-hit after a failed break-in attempt. One of the two policemen said that he'd never been called back to the same house in his 13 years. While that is a little comforting, we're both still freaked out. We're going to take our portable, high-ticket items out of the house tomorrow, just in case.

Meanwhile, we have a window to replace and an alarm company to call.

The Scott Project — 4.24

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 04:41:57 GMT

Workout: 60 minutes, AMT
Workout: 45 minutes, physical therapy
Extra food: popcorn
Total calorie intake: approx. 1900

The Scott Project — 4.23

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 04:22:28 GMT

Workout: 60 minutes, AMT
Extra food: popcorn, peanut butter w/ fat free chocolate ice cream bar (south beach approved, but extra nonetheless)
Total calorie intake: approx. 2100

The Scott Project — 4.22

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 04:22:00 GMT

Workout: 40 minutes, trainer (upper body)
Workout: 60 minutes, AMT
Workout: Core - planks
Workout: 45 minutes, physical therapy
Extra food: popcorn
Total calorie intake: approx. 1900

A heavy workout day. I was pretty wiped once I got to work.

The Scott Project — 4.21

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 04:20:23 GMT

Workout: 60 minutes, AMT
Workout: Core - planks
Extra food: popcorn, protein bar
Total calorie intake: approx. 2100