New Year's Memories

I will attempt to access some childhood New Year's memory which will be difficult because New Year's is not a "kid" holiday but I managed to fire up a few brain cells and think of some memories.

Firstly, though, why is New Year's on January 1st? What signifies one year from another? If we keep track of the year with Jesus' birth, why isn't December 25th New Years Day? Huh? What about that Calendar keeper guy? Let's see what wiki or google has to say about that - I'll be back in a few minutes - discuss among ourselves...

Ok back after a quick look at some websites. Well, not much interesting there - Julius Caesar changed the date from Spring to January 1 without explaining it. January is named after a two headed god named Janus - one head looks forward and one looks back. There was still disagreement about New Years day until 1582 when Pope Gregory made it official. Thus our Gregorian calendar with Julian dates. Nothing real interesting or new there.

1582 seems relatively recent to me - in the vast context of things. Anyway, let's look at another year that I can remember - I think so anyway - New Years Eve 1976.

The girls are staying with downstairs Granma. Rob and I get to stay home but are within earshot of Gram - for safety and food and what not. I do not remember much but I can seem to recall laying on the couch and listening to a Top 40 Year End Countdown on the radio. For some reason, the song "Moonlight, feels right" is playing on the radio. I looked it up and yep- 1976.

I looked up the other top hits of 1976 and here are the top 5 of 1976.

1) Wings - Silly Love Songs - this song always makes me think of Le Mans Speedway. I have this specific memory etched in my brain of listening to this song in front of the change booth they had at Le Mans. I got some change and went to watch people play that giant pinball machine Hercules. It is a very specific memory and I remember every nuance of the place, the smell of the electric discharge in the air from the bumper cars, the sparkling lights, the change booth, the colors, everything. It's weird how the brain just holds on to a random memory like that.

2) Elton John- Don't Go Breaking My Heart -with Kiki Dee

3) Johnnie Taylor - Disco Lady - huh?

4) Four Seasons - December 1963 (Oh What a night) Someone had this album.

5) Wild Cherry - Play that Funky Music - remember this from a Midnight Special or Don Kirschner's Rock Concert

Anyway, I seem to remember listening to the radio and watching TV and of course "Moonlight, feels right" by Starbuck in case you were wondering.

The other New Year's Memory involved upstairs Gram aka Granma Patch. Nothing too clear as far as memories go but I remember watching a Dick Clark Special at her house. Also remember watching Carol Burnett after she went to bed because she thought Carol Burnett was filthy. They said "damn" during the Mama's family sketches. "Heathens!"

Those are the only memories I can seem to conjure about New Year's.

Anyway, Happy New Year and go out a create a memorable New Year's. Congrats to Pam and Dan who are making a memorable New Years by getting hitched.

Christmas Past

Our family placed a big importance on the tree. At some point, we decided to go to a Christmas tree farm near Half Moon Bay. My aunt, uncle, grandma, and our entire family would schlep over the Coastal hills in search of a tree. The tree farm was actually quite pretty. I remember the planted trees were next to these giant eucalyptus trees with Spanish moss growing in them, like a green spider web or mold. Anyway, we would hunt down our tree and make our kill, tie the tree up and strap it to the top of the car. Sounds very traumatic for the tree.

Once we got the tree home, it was time for the decoration ceremony. Only certain albums could be played - Andy Williams or Barbra Streisand. The tree was decorated with mainly homemade ornaments, mostly made by Mom, although a few home made ornaments by the kids made it up there - most memorably a bright pink elephant that Jennifer made. It was the brightest pink you ever saw and was made out of some kind of stone and weighed over 3 lbs.
After the lights, came the garland. Seems very 70's now but red garland completed the tree. The lights blinked in some sections and were solid in others. When I was in bed, the lights reflected slightly off the white paint of the bedroom door that was slightly ajar and it was very comforting for me to see those lights blinking. I would fall asleep watching the lights and waiting for Christmas to come. I remember waking up early one Christmas and got up to go to the bathroom. In the living room the tree was blinking and tons of presents were spread around the tree, including a bike for me. I looked at the name on the bike but didn't touch anything else and went back to bed to wait for the morning.

Ahh good times. Merry Christmas!

Before and After

I started this blog as a log of my gym goings and hopefully keeping track of it would encourage me to go more often and with more zeal. Well, "FAIL". Yes, I failed. I know the lame Hallmark saying "If you never quit, you never fail" or something but I feel like I failed. And, that's ok. Thank you Stuart.

I still go to the gym. I still exercise but just not to the degree I need to. I want to. I am capable of it. I have the time but something is holding me back -- that thing is the treadmill. Oh how I hate that contraption. Maybe I should run outside - yeah, 40 degrees outside in the dark. Yeah, sign me up.

Anyway, failure is not an option and I plan to crank her up. (remember those road signs that advised truckers how to drive on the way to Reno "Let 'er drift" "Hill ahead - crank 'er up")

So to encourage me I have found some before and afters of some famous people.

For the Love of Fark

I am a big reader of Fark - a news aggregate web site that posts news articles and then has forums where you discuss the article in question. What's funny about Fark is 1) the headline and 2) the comments.

Here is todays sample: There is an article in some Florida newspaper about how the Obama Transition team wants to get an update from NASA and here is the headline they posted:
"Barack Obama's transition team is all "NASA, what's up?" NASA is then like "GTFO" So Obama's team is all, "WTF?" NASA: "I told you GTFO, you don't know shiat"

GTFO = get the f*** out

As usually happens with Fark, the link to the article gets overwhelmed with views and crashes. They call it "link is farked". So I go to the forum to see what the article is about and there is a lot of confusion because some people read the article and some couldn't - leading this guy to comment:

"This thread makes me pee out of my butt."

And another comment:

"I can't RTFA article; it's like getting slapped in the face by a dick made of words.A big, throbbing, verbose dong."

RTFA = read the f-ing article

So people post their pithy comments and I chuckle at the word choice people use.

I guess it is one of those "you had to be there".

Well anyway, I enjoy it and that's all that matters.

Go Fark!

Dream Time!

Had some real crazy dreams last night. So here they go:

I am at a mall and there are people looking for volunteers. I agree and they say they would like me to film what I see for a documentary. I agree. They had me a camcorder and ask me to film away. I have no idea how to use the camera.

There is a program button and I touch it. A screen pops up and says "Jesus and Mary Chain - Sociological experiment" I hit "ok" and the action starts.

The action as it turns out is like a 60's Comcert with trippy lights and people dancing and wiggling about. I try to capture the action but have lots of issues with the camera. While I am filming I am wondering what experiment they - the Jesus and Mary Chain people - are trying to prove.

I put the camera down and prepare to walk out of the mall. As I do, I realize that the "experiment" was just getting the volunteers. Here is a random pic of the Jesus and Mary Chain

The other dream dealt with driving. I was on 880 and trying to drive to work. A friend was in the car with me. As I was driving, I realized that I was sleeping behind the wheel. I am awake enough to know that I am asleep behind the wheel but too sleepy to do anything about it. I tell my friend that I have fallen asleep and he has to grab the wheel and drive the car. I try to open my eyes but I can't - my eyes won't open. I can move my feet and hands and try to steer the car to the side of the road. I am scared that I will crash because I can not see anything. I try to force myself to wake up to drive. I succeed and open my eyes and drive to work.

Weird dreams!! No more late night eating for me. On the training front, some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I am still going to the gym and 3x weekly I do some aerobics. The bad is that they do not involve the treadmill. I hate that machine!

So I am set back a little on my progress chart but still think I can hit 3 miles by the end of the year. After my car got broke into, I had to walk to work for 3 days, so that was 4 miles each day.

Finally, I heard about a webcam from this guy who lives in the Tenderloin. He lives across the street from Glide Memorial Church and runs a live webcam from his apartment. It is fascinating to me to watch and just be a fly on the wall. Check it out at http://adamsblock.com

Holiday Aftermath

Hope Turkey day went well for you. I had a good one. Both of my sisters used the day to announce their weddings and I am happy for both of them

On Sunday my car was broken into. 4th time in a year if you want the count. I am beyond angry or upset but I do have to move faster than I thought. Got to get out of the ghetto. They got nothing by the way. Good day sir!

So I made the best of it and walked to work tiday. So I got some exercise and refuse to let it get me down. You know the saying when life gives you lemons. Go get some tequila and salt.

The hand pic is just because

Bar peoples

I am sitting in a bar waiting for a friend to show. People are loud and in various stages of sobriety. My own state. Two drinks no waiting. Somewhere near tipsy and sober. People share inane details of their life with whoever will listen. Jukebox blaring. People yelling. All trying to drown the quiet desparation of their own lives. The show will end at two am whether people are ready or not

Holden

Holden loves to be brushed. Here is my big boy with his brushes

The fading light

As pretty as everything was- light became an issue and my phone cam could not adjust to it. So here are the rest of the pics. The church is the old st marys in chinatown and the sandwich was my lunch in north beach. Yes those are fries sticking out

Still walking

On this mobile version I don't know how to upload multiple pics but after the Ferry building I walked to pier 39. and hopefully the rest of the pics so far

SF by foot

Ok so I got off bart and walked to the Ferry building. Walked up the stairs and took this shot with my phone

SF by foot

Ok so I got off bart and walked to the Ferry building. Walked up the stairs and took this shot with my phone

Hike to SF

Its a beautiful day so I am going mobile. (Thanks to the Who). I am going to use bloggers mobile feature and detail my walk in the city here's the first post. Let's see what happens

Ron Awakes from his Coma

What a delay! Wow! Work has been insanely busy as we get ready to close this shop down and move it to India. Yes I am a victim of offshoring - well not really, I keep my job but my site closes. So a quick review of everything that has been happening-

Obama wins- Yeah! America gets it right. An intelligent, reasonable, articulate guy gets elected over the Senior Citizen and Moose Hunter. I saw this on line and thought the slogan was lame but the picture is kinda cool

So good luck Mr. Obama - you get the right to inherit all of the problems of this country and get blamed if you can't fix them in four years. What else - Jen, my sister, had an ultrasound and sent out the first picture of her baby:

So cute! Those ultrasounds have better resolution now. I remember looking at one of my co-worker's once and it looked like a Rosarch blot. "See that there - thats the arm" "That? Oh ok, I see it now". But now you can see clearly.

In my exercise battle, I have 2 miles conquered now this week I have to hit 2.5 miles. I jogged around Lake Merritt the other day. A very nice park in the otherwise kinda dreary city of Oakland.

I have been hitting YouTube a lot lately just clicking on random videos and watching things for the hell of it. There is a comedian on there who is funny. His name is Kevjumba. He is a high school kid who listed himself as a comedian and now has millions of page views. For fun, I recommend his video "I love my Dad" where he interviews his father. I laugh at it everytime.

I also found a really cool video of the Concord Blue Devils doing their warm-up routine called "Space Chords". I think it is amazing and really demonstrates a foundation of music called Chord Resolution. Your ear expects dissonance to resolve to consonace and when it happens there is a reaction. Listen to the chords near the end and when the chord resolves - people react. It is amazing:

There are some great DCI clips too. I was watching the Madison Scouts Alumni corp do a version of Malaguena that rocks. Search for Malaguena DCI and watch the 2006 Madison Scouts. It is awesome. Finally, here is a great video of Maynard Ferguson, my favorite trumpet player, performing "Give it One". It was done in 1977 which if you remember my other posts - a great year in music. In fact, in 1977 our high school jazz band went to Reno and we saw Maynard perform at the Pioneer Theatre - so this was the band we saw. Check out all of the facial hair.

I heart the 80's

So, didya see Holden? That is my kitty. He's a good cat, likes to talk, loves to be brushed/pet/touched, loves to sleep next to me. Likes to play and do his boxing manuever and then bite me on the hand.

His too cute thing is when he sleeps next to me he likes to grab my finger with his paw. He curls his paw around my finger without any nails and falls asleep that way. He likes to hold my hand when he sleeps. Awww too cute.

Anyway, MTV decided to upload every video ever made onto their website http://www.mtvmusic.com/. The videos are free and very few ads. Not every video is loaded yet -I looked for "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and it wasn't there. So, I thought I would list my top 5 80's videos. I wanted ones that I remember watching and the degree of difficulty: no Duran Duran or Wham! My sister watched those videos over and over so they don't count.

So here they are, in no particular order:

Love is a Battlefield - Pat Benatar - great video, bad dance sequence but good shoulder shimmy.
Safety Dance - Men Without Hats - very Ren Fair. One of Homer Simpson's favorite videos,although he says "Safety Dance, Safety Dance, everybody look at my pants"
China Girl - David Bowie - I just remember this one shot where the Chinese girl has this crazy look on her face and I watched that video to see that one expression.
Separate Ways - Journey - not sure why this video stands out in my mind. Maybe the invisible instruments
Mexican Radio - Wall of Voodoo - classic video


In exercise news, I hit 2 miles yesterday so that milestone is reached. Now 2 weeks for 2.5 miles. And finally, I am a pretty even tempered fellow - not too high or low - but my moods run pretty consistent. When I got my sister's news about her expecting a baby, I will admit I cried- here - at work - in my office - like a baby - like watching "Old Yeller" and "Bambi" at the same time. I am so happy for her and Beto (and my Mom) and they will make such great parents and grandparents. The saying "bundle of joy" was always a cliche to me but I get it now. I couldn't be any happier for them. Congrats Jen and Beto!

Holden

Macabre Macrame

Halloween is fast approaching and I was thinking back to when I was a kid and Trick or Treat was the ultimate holiday. You had to wait until it got dark then turned loose on the streets for the sugary treasure. When we got home, Mom would confiscate all the candy and "inspect it for razorblades". Apples -out, bags of popcorn - out, unwrapped candy-out, Baby Ruth mini-bars - might have a razorblade and she had to taste to make sure. We got back a little less but much safer bag of candy back.

I can also recall the annual trip to Walgreen's to pick out the costume. No hand made refrigerator box costumes for us, we wanted the ones that came in a convenient box. It had two parts, a plastic poncho thing with a printed costume and a plastic mask. Let me see if I can find a picture of one in a box..back in a sec...

There! One stop costume shopping. I am trying to recall one that I wore andI can't remember any specific one. I think I had a Fred Flinstone one but not sure.

Another random 70's memory. I was walking down a street the other day that had a jasmine bush out front and it was very fragrant. My mind raced back to a particular summer where the smell of jasmine was in the air - no that Seals and Croft song - Summer Breeze- but close. So the jasmine was in bloom, the smell of a dying bbq, the front door open and a speaker was pointing outside and three albums were played over and over and over again:

These albums would play over and over while we played hide and seek or whatever. I read somewhere that the sense of smell invokes the strongest memories - probably left over from our cave men days. I think it's true because the smell of that jasmine bush took me directly back to that memory. Let's try to guess the year by the albums.

Hotel California - released 1977

Aja-Steel Dan - released 1977

Blue Bayou - released 1977

Wow! What a great year in music considering that was the height of disco. What were the top albums of 1977 you ask? Good question, let's take a look

1. Rumors - Fleetwood Mac (31 weeks at #1)

2. Songs in the Key of Life - Stevie Wonder

3. Star is Born - Streisand

4. Hotel California - Eagles

5. Boston - Boston

What else was popular in 1977 in our household/world?

Beer Can Hats - You couldn't go anywhere without putting on a beer hat. (goofy expression was optional)

LeMans Speedway - Southland Mall with birdcages, fountains, sculptures, giant dripping oil lamp in front of Sears, totem poles, Shibui Gift Emporium, a paradise on Earth.

Ponchos were the height of fashion and when combined with a pair of gauchos - fashion nirvana. And lastly:

No home was complete with a twisted rope sculpture of an owl. Macrame. Yeah! We started with Halloween and ended with macrame. The 70's were a great time in American history and even if you looked liked a hippy back then you could still be something later in life. Just ask these two:

Week 5

Entering Week 5 of my quest to reach Week 6. I am concentrating on mini-goals - goal setting so small that it is hard to fail. Mini goal like "go to the gym at least every other day". I like small goals that will hopefully roll up into bigger outcomes.

This weekend went by fast. Spent some time with friends drinking and hanging out. Lots of election talk. I am so over this election and can't wait for it to end. Unless of course Obama loses. If he does, then I think we can expect riots and political unrest. I did hear a funny but unrepeatable joke about Sarah Palin.

I was talking to a friend about karma and he was really into it. All of these levels and progressions of humanity. We talked for at least an hour on his beliefs on karma and the divine spark and all of this stuff. Not sure if I buy it but to hear people who can share their belief system without proselytizing is cool. I remember an old boss who was a devout Seventh Day Adventist and he asked me if we could talk about religion one day. I agreed on the proviso that we keep it at a historical/literary level. So he would give me the history of pagan rituals - Halloween, Christmas, Easter, even the days of the week which a good Christian would never use as they are named after pagan gods (Twi, Woden, Frigga). In fact the Quakers just said "fourth day" for Thursday , for example, because of the pagan origin.

Wow! Another post about pagan rituals. It all comes back to pagans. I must meditate further on this subject. I think there is something here. Some Grand Unification Theory and it involves pagans.

Update

According to my master plan, I should be at 1.5 miles by now with a short term goal of hitting 3 miles by December 31st - then the real work starts. Here is the progress chart-

I am still on track (no pun intended) to make the December goal. The 1.5 mile goal was pretty good actually - stretching was really the trick and the alternating speeds - 3 minutes jog, 2 minutes walk repeat 4 times and I was there.

Once I hit the 2 mile goal, I plan to leave the cozy confines of the gym and start on the hard ground. Running on the ground is a much different experience - it's less cushy, and with wind and elevation changes it cuts about half the treadmill pace. It is important as the pounding of the pavement actually builds up the muscles faster and bone density increases. Men get osteoporosis too and I do not want a hump back.

Now for the trivial knowledge moment of the day:

I was listening to KFRC and they replay Casey Kasum's Top 40 from the 70's with his commentary and long distance dedications,etc. Anyway there was a disco song in that was based on "Also Sprauch Zarathustra", the 2001 Space Odyssey theme but this one was set to disco and I vaguely recalled it. What interested me was the title - never knew what it meant. It is German for "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" which is German for Zoroaster. Strauss wrote the melodic poem based on Nietzche's book "A Book for All and None" which used a fictional Zoroaster as the main character.

Nietzche was apparently struck by the teachings of Zoroaster (600 BCE) that taught about the duality of man but not good and evil but more like chaos and order.

A cental theme of the book is the concept of "ubermensch" literally translated as superman or overman. He talks about the transition of man from ape to this concept of ubermensch. Think back to the opening scene of 2001 Space Odyssey - it is a transition of man from ape to space (over man) that is the basis of the movie.

So 600 BC Zoroaster teaches about a religion of duality which in the 19th Century Nietzsche reads and adopts to his philosphy. Strauss was impressed by Nietzsche so he writes this symphony based on the book which Kubrick/Artur C Clark uses in a movie about the themes of good and evil and the evolution of mankind from ape to superman. Wow, my head just asploded.

Take on Me! Literally

These guys remade A-Ha with literal lyrics instead. I though it was funny.

Enjoy the weekend!

Growing Up- Hayward Style

I grew up in Hayward, CA. A blue collar city in the San Francisco Bay Area between Oakland and San Jose. My family and I lived a lot of those years on Tehama Ave. It was in unincorporated Hayward which means that there were no sidewalks and if something caught on fire you had to call the County Fire Department.





Here is a Google view of the 'hood:


That square at the top of the picture is an apartment building that used to be a field when I was a kid. It caught on fire every year. I guess the County Fire Department would respond. We lived across the street- about where the "a" is in "Tehama" from the pic. There is a large parking lot directly behind the house that served as a short cut to the nearest store, the school and the church parking lot itself which proved to be a playground. It was a blacktop parking lot and in the summer the heat would build up and make being barefoot nearly impossible and I was barefoot a lot during the summer. I remember trying to cross the parking lot one day in the summer and it was so hot I couldn't take more than a few steps. I had to take my shirt off and throw it ahead a few steps then jump on the shirt and repeated that to cross the molten tar of that lot.

Anyway, what got me thinking about the old neighborhood was an article I was reading about a vice bust at a massage parlor. When I was a kid, there was a massage parlor near a liquor store on the corner of South Garden and A Street. I was called "Suzi's School of Sexual Awareness". My buddy and I were eager to learn what went on in Suzi's school. When I was at his house, we used to look up the number in the phone book and call over there "How much for a massage?" "Can I enroll in a class there?" "Is your refrigerator running?"

Invariably, they would ask us how old we were and then hang up on us. They never gave us the salacious details we craved. So we would go to the store and then as we passed SSOSA we would rap on the window and run to the nearby laundrymat awaiting our sexual awareness. We expected to see someone (Suzi herself?) come out in scantily clad lingerie and look to see who knocked on the window. She should have then invited the bold window rappers inside and show them around the school. Sadly, this never happened and one day Suzi closed up shop and moved.

What became of Suzi is anyone's guess.

Let me google it

As anyone who has spent some time with me will attest, I love Google. When a trivia comes up that stumps me or the group I'm with, I'm the first to say "Let me google that". The site is fast to load and fast with the answer. Google has a cool thing on it called "Google Trends". You type a word or two and it shows what city in the world has googled that term the most. So, I ran some terms through it and let's see how it makes sense:
Term City
Baseball and hot dogs--------- St.Louis, Mo - makes sense. Tons of baseball fans and lots of hot dogs
jobs and unemployment-- ----Thomas Ditton, UK - Unemployment in UK is high, real high I guess
bars and churches-- ------------Dallas, TX - search totals were pretty close. Chicken and egg thing happening.
gambling,bankruptcy-- --------New York
pizza, yoga -----------------------San Diego,CA
peace,love----------------------- Edmonton, Canada
peace,war------------------------ Brisbane, Australia
music,hearing aids -------------Irvine,CA
McDonalds,gym ----------------Brisbane, AUS - all that war and peace talk makes em hungry
party, rehab ---------------------Miami, FL
marathon, shins----------------- Minneapolis - I thought San Leandro would be #1 with all my googling
shoes, socks ---------------------New York
silence, lambs------------------- Montreal - mental note: do not bring any plus sized girls to Montreal
dating, divorce -----------------Copenhagen, Denmark
prostitutes, free clinic ---------Dublin, Ireland

Wow- that was fascinating. I learned so much and I am richer for the experience. Most importantly, I killed 30 minutes at work. Back to work and then treadmill tonight. I can do it!

More Shins than a...

I have been looking up shins and shin related injuries today. Fascinating stuff. Most pain in the shin is caused by not warming up or over exertion. In my case, I am guilty of not stretching and warming up the shins before hopping on the old treadmill. But first some more shin related info:

The word shin is an Indo-Iranian word and from the same root we get shank which makes sense.
The shin is actually the tibia bone which is paired with the fibula. The fibula is smaller and gets second billing.




The common site there is where my shin pain is. It is caused by inflamation of the pere-something or other that connects the tendons, muscles and bones together. Which brings up a good question: what's the difference between a tendon and a muscle? Do you know? No googling. Muscle is tissue that has the ability to expand or contract to produce movement. A tendon (fibrous tissue) connects a muscle to a bone. A ligament connects a bone to bone.

Anyway the best shin exercise is to extend your leg and spell the alphabet with your toes, rotating your ankle to spell the letters.

Last night, I attempted the treadmill to do my mile. Man , when the body doesn't want to work out, it will let you know. I didn't think I would make it but managed to complete my mile. I also found a training calendar and it matches my handy graph that I created, here it is:


Hmm, another small chart. Anyway, by January I need to be at 10 miles per week. Yikes that a lot of walking/running.

Don't tell my shins that they have a lot of work ahead.

Training Calendar

So Saturday I did a mile in 16 minutes for the third time. Yeah for me, give me a cookie. I am still wheezing more than I would like and my shins hurt (more stretching), but I am making progress and seem to working towards that 1.5 mile goal.

I know I want to do the San Diego Marathon (May 31st) and that's 26.2 miles. When I trained last time, the most we ever trained to was 22 miles and that was two weeks before the event. So, I worked my way backwards from there to come up with this wonderful graph:

Hmm..a little small but working in increments of two weeks, I need to be at 4 miles by the end of December and increase 1 mile per week after that. Not entirely impossible.

So, I'll keep this graph going and post the progress. Now that I see it, I am not as intimidated as I was when I decided to start this thing.

I was checking around and there is a Half Marathon in April in Atlanta, so I may go and visit my sister and compete. Pam -this is your notice that I might be popping by. If I do, please be prepared to make that Chicken Pesto Pizza- it looked delicious. For the recipe, check out her blog at adailycowboy.blogspot.com.

Weekend went ok. Went to my Dad's for his birthday and watched a lot of sports on TV. Going to the gym tonight to try for 1.5 miles. Let's see if my shins hold up.

Match Game

Let's play the Match Game

Here's the question - "Did you hear about the Sarah Palin's fundamentalist church in Alaska? They call themselves the ________"

Let's go to our first celebrity - Debra Lee Scott - what did you put down?

"Gene, I said they call themselves "the IdidaGods"

Good answer, Debra Lee Scott but wrong. Let's go to Brett Somers - Brett, what did you say?

"I am sorry, I don't think this is a match I said the "Jehsnowvah Witnesses" See what I did there. Snow."

Cute Brett, but wrong. Last chance for a match. Let's go to Charles Nelson Reilly. Charles?

"I think I have this one. They call themselves the "Holy Polars".

Audience - groan. This concludes this episode of the Match Game. If you have a better answer, post it.

Open Letter to my Fellow Gym Goers

I have read other people's rants and raves about going to the gym and I thought I would add my rants and raves


1. Here's to you Mr. Yell at the Top of your Lungs Guy

You lift a lot of weight and want people to know it. What better way than to yell/grunt at an ear piercing volume when you complete your set. Science has shown that yelling improves your capacity by 0.2% and by gum, you want every advantage possible. Also, lose the MC Hammer Pants and Bad Boy Muscle Shirt.


2. Here's to you Mr. I use three pieces of equipment at once so don't even ask to work in guy

You need to complete your superset and need three pieces of equipment simultaneously. If someone approaches one of your unused machines you let them know "I have one more set there". In other words, I need to use this equipment sometime tonight and your presence upsets my flow.

3. Here's to you Marathon Mamma

You use the treadmill or eliptical trainer for hours on end. You occasionally reset the timer in case someone takes a look at how long you have been on. In those two hours, you have covered a distance of 2.3 miles. Way to go, tortoise. You're the same person who circled the parking lot for half an hour to find a close spot.

4. Glandular problem guy

Most people sweat at the gym. There is a sign a my gym that says "Sweating is optional. Towels are mandatory". Your body pours sweat from everywhere leaving the machine for the next guy a disgusting mess. There isn't enough Purell in the world to sanitize the bench after you have drenched it in your body fluids. Ewww

5. Multitasker guy

Your workouts can only take up so much of your precious day, so you must continue to talk on the cell phone while working out. You also read the paper and watch TV. You do everything but move on to the next machine so I can do my bicep curls.

Ok enough of that. You get the idea. I could on - naked guy, inappropiate workout clothes lady, smelly old guy, mirror staring guy. I guess there is a good case for working out at home but I think that going to the gym is part of the effort. "I drove all this way. I might as well work out".

In spite of all those annoying people, I managed to work out last night and even did 30 minutes on the eliptical trainer.

Last post, I talked about "Iron Horse" as a metaphor for a train that I never picked up on. My sister commented in the section about a song our mom and grandma used to sing about an iron horse. Choo Choo was an iron horse and he wore an iron shoe. I literally used to picture an iron horse running through a field. I swear the whole train thing never hit me. By the way, Lou Gehrig was known as the "Iron Horse". He played in all of those consecutive games as a Yankee and then ironically enough he was afflicted with "Lou Gehrig's disease". Also a 1924 movie by John Ford was called "Iron Horse" and a winery and a song by Motorhead and a bar in Houston. Viva la Google!

More School House Rock!

Any child of the '70's knows School House Rock. It was an ABC thing between cartoons. Some of my favorites:

- Verb! That's where action is

- Lolly get your abverb here

- Three in the family

- I'm just a Bill

- Conjuction Function

I remember in Junior High we had to recite the Preamble and everyone in the class song the song "We, the People" from School House Rock. Ah Good times. Do kids have to memorize stuff anymore? With all of their gadgets and gizmos, I would think that memorizing things would seem outdated and unnecessary. Why memorize when you can Google/Youtube/Wikipedia it.

On the exercise front, I exercised on Saturday (20 minutes treadmill - hit the 1 mile in 17 minutes). On Sunday and Monday, I rested. Last night, I was raring to go and did a mile in 15:30 - yes! I was like the Flash - now you see him - now you don't. I was wheezing quite a bit but got through it. I talked to my sister about calorie counting - and while the idea seems abhorrent to me, it makes sense and I plan on incorporating it in my overall scheme to run the marathon in June 2009 - San Diego.

I think I can push it to 1.5 miles this week. I think I can - choo! choo! Sidenote - I had no idea that the term "iron horse" referred to a train. For whatever reason, my brain thinks in a very literal way - so I pictured "iron horse" as an actual giant iron horse, kind of like a Trojan Horse. I can't remember when exactly I figured out that "iron horse" was a term for train but I know it was recently.

The Hobgoblin of Little Minds

What is that saying? ____is the hobgoblin of little minds? Let me google it and report back to you............Ok back. The quote is foolish consistency by Ralph Waldo Emerson. I was thinking about a title for today's mental outpouring and I thought about consistency in going to the gym and sticking to a plan, being consistent and that saying popped in my head.



Let's look at what it means. The rest of the quote says "adored by little statesman and philosophers and divines. Here is the story to illustrate the meaning (btw doesn't the term "little statesman" automatically invoke monkey man President George H W Bush).

For their first Thanksgiving, a loving wife cooks a ham for her husband. He notices that the ends of the ham are cut off. He asks why she cut off the ends and she says "I don't know that's the way my mother always did it". So the husband asks the mother-in-law and she says the same thing. So he calls the grandmother and she says "I had a small oven". His wife and mother-in-law were being consistent but without a reason other than tradition and repetition.



I loathe to bring up politics but the abortion issue is a prime example of "foolish consistency". Fundamentalist Christians believe that every human life has a predetermined destiny set forth by the big guy himself. An abortion interupts the divine plan of predestination and is therefore opposed. No woman should be allowed to interfere with divine predestination even in cases of rape or incest. A foolish consistency and Emerson knew this when he mentions "divines".



Wow! so off topic. Let's bring it back to me and my trips to the gym. Going to the gym everyday is consistent but going without a plan is foolish. Therefore, abortion should be legal. Huh?



Anyway, the good: ran a mile on the treadmill in 16 mins (yeah), lifted weights and other stuff (yeah), drank more water than ever in my life (yeah). The not so good - had a big cinammon roll for breakfast (boo).



Also, the day I didn't blog - I walked to work - and then walked home. A total of 4.4 miles. Wow! Awesome! Random word association with "Wow!" Here it comes -- School House Rock-



When Reginald was home with flu, uh-huh-huh,The doctor knew just what to do-hoo.

He cured the infectionWith one small injectionWhile Reginald uttered some interjections..
Hey! That smarts!Ouch! That hurts!Yow! That's not fair givin' a guy a shot down there!
Interjections (Hey!) show excitement (Yow!) or emotion (Ouch!).

They're generally set apart from a sentence by an exclamation point,Or by a comma when the feeling's not as strong.
Though Geraldine played hard to get, uh-huh-huh

Geraldo knew he'd woo her yet

He showed his affection

Despite her objections

And Geraldine hollered some interjections...
Well! You've got some nerve!Oh! I've never been so insulted in all my life!Hey! You're kinda cute!
Interjections (Well!) show excitement (Oh!) or emotion (Hey!).They're generally set apart from a sentence by an exclamation point,Or by a comma when the feeling's not as strong.
So when you're happy (Hurray!) or sad (Aw!)Or frightened (Eeeeeek!) or mad (Rats!)Or excited (Wow!) or glad (Hey!)An interjection starts a sentence right.
The game was tied at seven all, uh-huh-huh,When Franklin found he had the ba-hall.He made a connectionIn the other direction,And the crowd starting shouting out interjections...
Aw! You threw the wrong way!Darn! You just lost the game!Hurray! I'm for the other team!
Interjections (Aw!) show excitement (Darn!) or emotion (Hurray!).They're generally set apart from a sentence by an exclamation point,Or by a comma when the feeling's not as strong.
So when you're happy (Hurray!) or sad (Aw!)Or frightened (Eeeeeek!) or mad (Rats!)Or excited (Wow!) or glad (Hey!)An interjection starts a sentence right.
Interjections (Hey!) show excitement (Hey!) or emotion (Hey!).They're generally set apart from a sentence by an exclamation point,Or by a comma when the feeling's not as strong.
Interjections show excitement or emotion,Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah... YEA!
Darn! That's the end!

Weekend Motivation

Ugh! I am tired. I went to bed too early and woke up too soon (3AM). I couldn't go back to sleep until 6AM and had to wake up at 8AM to go to work. Why does the body punish you for trying to get more sleep? You would think that it would be grateful for the break. Bags under the eyes would magically disappear, skin would tighten but no, I am more tired and have a slight headache.

Enough bellyaching! I went to the gym on both weekend days and here is the breakdown:

Saturday - weights, abs only. Abs really fought me hard and did not want to crunch. I even cramped them up somehow. A cramp in the ab region is not fun, I didn't know how to relax them. I just bent backwards a little and they were ok but I stopped. You won this round abs!

Sunday - I did the eliptical trainer while watching football. I used the machine with handles like a cross country skiing thing. I did the workout in the three minute increments so for 3 minutes I used no hands, for the next three minutes I grabbed the non-moving handles in the middle of the machine that take your pulse and for three minutes I used the swinging handles.

It made the 30 minutes go by fast. I like this concept of micro goals. On the treadmill, I use the same system - 3 minutes fast and 2 minutes slow, etc.

This blogging does influence how I did. I ate sensibly and exercised on both days so that I could honestly blog about it. I thought of a few things I would like to add and even a new invention:

How about a scale that tracks your weight loss without actually telling you your weight. So the first time you step on it, you push a button to tell it that this is your starting weight. When you weigh again, it will say "-1 lbs" so just your weight loss (or gain) but not the starting number and no math to do.

I also want to add a graph showing weight loss with the same concept. No starting number, just the progression of loss.

Wow! I added a picture. Yes! Give me an H, a T, a M, a L. Anyway, this chart sh0ws progress without seeing the y axis and that number glaring at you.

Now all I need to do is either invent the scale I was talking about or actually step on a "regular" scale and start tracking. Next week's goal - get on a scale.

Gym Results - 30 minutes on the eliptical trainer. Got my sweat on! Did some weights and abs but tried (there is no try) focusing on cardio.
I prefer going to the gym as opposed to working out at home. Mainly, being at home provides too many distractions and excuses to stop. Also, there is something about the effort of driving to the gym, changing clothes, etc that prepares the mind for working out. Whatever works.
I watched a few before and after videos on Youtube earlier. Sorry haven't quite figure out how to embed a video or even a link yet. Good stuff. When those infomercials come on for some kind of magical weight loss and they show before and after pics, I always change the channel. I am not interested in seeing someone's success, especially when they weren't fat to begin with. There is one for "P90X" or some such thing. 90 days of intense exercise that transforms a body. The people in the before are all skinny and at the end of 90 days the have muscle tone but are still skinny. No thanks. Congrats skinny people.
Weekend plans - gym on Saturday and major walk on Sunday. Eat normally and don't drink too much.

False Inspiration

As I workout again, I like to look around and see what inspires me to work out. For example, the first day I took a step class I wanted to walk out and pass out. The instructor, Teresa, could see that I was struggling and ready to quit. She pointed out this old guy in the class who seemed to be handling the exercise. She said that if this 86 year old guy can do it, so can you. He was a really cool dude. Did push ups on his finger tips, kept up with steps even though he had a hearing aid. He owned a cattle ranch in Colorado and travelled there to do a cattle run once per year.


I was inspired to keep going but not because of the old guy. Teresa inspired me to go on because she saw that I was failing and wanted me to keep going. Her encouragement was the real inspiration to me that day.


Yesterday, I did 30 minutes on the eliptical trainer and decided to sit in the jacuzzi afterwards. As I was sitting there, a kid in a wheelchair pushed by his mother came in to the pool area. I am pretty sure he had Cerebal Palsy. His arms were pretty twisted and he had only use of this upper legs from what I could see. He hopped off his wheelchair and onto his knees and got himself in the pool unaided.



He started doing laps in the pool that amazed me. One lap he did freestyle, then the backstroke, then that one stroke that looks like a frog (breast stroke?). He may have been trapped in the wheelchair but in the water he had all the freedom in the world. Other swimmers offered him encouragement. "Great job!" "Wow, you are fast". The compliments didn't do much for him, he was busy swimming and being a regular kid.


From my vantage point in the jacuzzi, I could also see the sauna and the glass door separating the pool from the sauna. Through the door, I saw his Mom watching him swim freely in the water, looking like ay other kid in the pool. Although she tried to hide it and was smiling widely, every few seconds she was wiping tears from her eyes.


She was my inspiration that day. It takes a lot of guts to take a handicap kid in public and face the stares of others. "Non-handicapped" people go the gym and face the same the stares. Pretty much anyone who is not "gym-perfect". Whether anyone stares at me like that, I don't know but on those days when I am feeling extra fat and bloated, I'll think of the mom of this kid and her willingness to push her son through the gym to get to the pool and let him overcome his handicap and be a regular kid for a while.


Was that too corny? Too Hallmark? Too metaphoric? Too "Extreme Home Make Over"? Oh well, it was genuine and really happened, except the wheelchair part - I made that up for dramatic effect. Just kidding, it was real.

The Aftermath

No exercise at all last night. I was too stressed from all the employee meetings I had. Our site is closing in November and I will continue working for the company in another capacity. I think I have survivor guilt.

I even ate some Pringles! I wasn't supposed to eat those delectable freeze dried potato food products but I did. Thats like several hours on the treadmill. Beware the shame spiral!

Sidenote- One of my favorite movies of all time is "Foul Play" with Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn. In one scene, a dying man at a movie tells Goldie Hawn to "beware of the dwarf". She tells her landlord, Burgess Meredith, about the story and at some point he repeats the warning but changes the words "beware of the midgets, they're taking over the world". I love that scene. I don't know why but it does lead to me my next non-sequitur topic. My Most Watched Movies Of All Time and why. I am sure no one cares what my most watched movies are and an even smaller group cares why but I won't let that stop me.

In no particular order:

1. The Hunt for Red October
Sean Connery as a mad Russian Sub commander with a really bad Scottish/Russian accent- need I say more.
John McTiernan directed. He also did "Die Hard". A good Clancy book that I have read thousands of times.

2. War Games
The movie that taught us if you are ever trapped near a phone booth with no change- just look for a tab from a soda can and you can make a call. Very McGyver! Favorite line "Can we cook the corn and take a pill?"

3. Godfather II
I prefer the sequel to the original. I like the Senate Hearings and I especially like Hyman Roth played by Lee Strasberg, the famous acting teacher and director of the Actors Studio in the 50's.

4. Empire Strikes Back
We meet Yoda and learn that "there is no try. Do or do not" Later to be repeated by Mr Miyagi in Karate Kid.

5. Karate Kid
We learn that in order to be good at karate, you must first remodel a man's house and wax several old cars. Ralph Macchio was like 23 when he made this movie but he looked 15.

6. Silence of the Lambs
A great movie from beginning to end. There are no throw away or filler scenes, well maybe those creepy dudes playing cockroach chess or whatever but not much else. We learn that even canibalistic murderers will help a young FBI agent catch a kidnapper if she has an interesting story to tell and cheap shoes.

7. Birdcage
Nathan Lane as Barbara Bush - so great. Ally Mcbeal as an 18 year old freshmen who someone would want to marry - not so great. If it was anyone besides Nathan Lane I don't think this movie would hold up. We learn in this movie that Republicans know nothing about Florida drag club performers/owners and vice versa.

8. Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
Another drag movie with a heart of gold. It's quirky, funny and well made. I love the ending with the blow up doll ending up in China.

9. Foul Play
See above. Also it was shot in San Francisco and Cyril Magnin was the Pope in that one scene. Dudley Moore was great too.

10. Arthur
Dudley Moore is great. Vey funny. Gielgud is great "Good Luck in Prison".

Well, that's the list. I checked IMBD and the most recent movie I listed above was made in 1991. So I'm 17 years behind the times. Get off my lawn, ya whippersnappers!

Earth Wind and Fire

I've always wondered what that 70's group had against "water". They had the other three ancient elements in there - Earth, wind, fire and water is the fourth. Would "Water Earth and Fire" sound so bad? Maybe "Wind Water and Fire"?



Why the thought of EWF anyway? Well, I was thinking of that song "Do you remember the 21st night of September?" But today isn't even the 21st? Well whatever, viva la random thought.



Exercise Results


Let's get those out the way. I ran on the treadmill last night. Did a mile and some change. Felt ok. Still need to hit the goal of 1.5 miles in 20 minutes. Gotta keep plugging away and building both speed and time. Incremental improvement is the only way to get there and patience is required.



Dreams



I have crazy dreams. Always have. The weirdest thing about my dreams is the repetition of the locations. For example, when I dream about High School (common dream) - it's always about the same location, layout, buildlings, etc. but the dream setting is nothing like the high school I went to. My brain somehow conjures up this imaginary high school with every dream. The imaginary high school is better than the high school I went to. It's also in Oregon somewhere. If I go to Oregon and see this High School, I think the space-time continuim will collapse.



So I visited one of my repeat dream locations last night. A golf course. Never been to this dream course before but it follows a logical course layout, except for the living room that you have to putt through and the backyard that my ball always lands in the dream.



In the dream, I can not figure out how to hit a golf ball. My grip seems wrong, like I am holding the club with the wrong hand on top. My elbows also do strange things and flare out like they're on my body backwards. I try this dippity do swing and miss the ball and can't figure out how to swing and when I do hit it, it goes into this backyward.



So the backyward has those corrugated plastic sheeting coverings and some palm trees. I can see the dead palm fronds and other junk in the corner as I am searching for my ball. Once I find my ball I have to pitch it over the roof of the house.



Once I finally reach the green, another group is putting. I have taken so long in the backyard that my group has moved on. I panic and try to catch up to with my group but can't find them. Long story short - a common stress dream.



Plans



More drama at work so I don't know if I will get to the gym today.

Blue Moon on Monday

Not a Duran Duran fan blog, just a thought on this gray overcast day in a city by the bay - San Leandro. I guess "the" city by the bay is San Francisco but San Leandro qualifies although, I do not know the difference between a town and a city in the strict definition sense - population, square mileage, Andy Taylor is the sheriff - let me google and I'll be right back.....Well, that was fascinating. I actually googled that right now and the difference is legally defined as having a city government as opposed to county. There is an older definition that a city has a cathedral and a town has only a church. I assume Catholic. A town without a church is a hamlet, a godless hamlet full of heathens. Another random thought - in Roman times, people in outlying villages had their own customs and superstitions - a pagan literally means a "village dweller". When the Romans were busy Christianizing everyone they deemed anything non-Christian to be pagan which evolved into the meaning today of almost Satanic.

Enough trivia but that is how my brain works. From city to town to village to pagan to Satan. I think that everything is six degrees away from Satan - forget Kevin Bacon. And when you say Satan you must picture the Church Lady.

On to my exercise diary-
Saturday - did not take that mammoth walk because I overslept. I did go to the gym and did 30 minutes on the eliptical trainer while watching football. Also did some weights and sit-ups. Foodwise, I did ok until....I had a few drinks with friends. I decided I needed some pizza to sober up - two slices. Yum.

Sunday - did some laundry but that is not really aerobic it is aromatic. Anyway, ended up at the gym and skipped the treadmill again. I went for 30 minutes on the trainer and sat in the hot tub and steam room for a while. Food intake was pretty good I must say and no alcohol today.

I watched the History Channel's documentary on 9/11 where they used archival footage and left out the lame commentary of the talking heads. It was fascinating and I was engrossed. Up close like that, you really get to see how heroic the emergency personnel was. Truly heroic.

I fully expect this week to suck so I am preparing myself mentally for the week. If I exercise at all, it will be a triumph. Bad job news is coming and I have to tell the staff that most will lose their jobs.

Weekend Doth Approacheth

Let's review my Thursday goal and actual results.
30 minutes on some form of machine - check
So I was waiting for a treadmill to open up and spotted one near an open window. This has two things I like - 1) No mirror looking back at you huffing and sweating 2) Fresh air to keep the funk down to a minimum. There were these girls working out side by side on the very treadmill I was eyeing. Fine, I'll just ride the stationary bike until they quit. Can't take too long. Well, 30 minutes later these chicas were nowhere near done - even with the evil thoughts and bad mojo I was casting their way.
I eventually found another treadmill near another open window. Those girls can still be there for all I know.

So, bike 30 minutes. Now to the goal of 1 mile on the treadmill. I did it! In a blazing time of 16 minutes. This is a 3 minute improvement on Tuesday's time. Next goal 1.5 miles in 20 minutes. Dare I dream!

Weights and abs-check. My gym routine was complete.

Tattoos

New subject. I have some tattoos. I like them. I get the whole personal art vibe of tattoos. What I don't get are neck tattoos (prisoner), face tattoos (crazy prisoner), butt outline tattoos (horny crazy prisoner?).

Neck tattoos - usually look like a stain. Most likey it's someone's name written in some lame cursive writing. Maybe their child or baby mama or baby daddy. Maybe "Viva la raza' or something like that. Nothing says pride in your race like a cursive tat on the neck.

Face tat - just ick. People will avoid you, mothers will shield their children when you approach, people will cross the street to avoid you (see the life of Mike Tyson for more details)

Butt tats - These are some arty outline of the lower back or upper butt. Who is this tat for? You'll never see it without several yoga lessons. Your proctologist or urologist? Your lover? The target audience is just too small to justify the pain of adding an artsy fartsy (ha) frame of your nether regions. Butt tats - don't do it!

Weekend Plans-
Long walk on Saturday - probably through San Francisco. Maybe a stop at Giardino Bros bar for a beer. Go to gym and hit the weights. Watch the food intake and stay away from junk.
Sunday - treadmill, gym, stretching, resting

Thursday's Plan

Looked over Thursday's schedule. Seems doable.


20 minutes on the treadmill. I jog at 4.5 so gotta keep that pace going.

30 minutes on another machine. No problem just go for time not really for speed.

Some weights and abs. Right - let's see if I survive the jogging.


I will replenish my fluids with the goodness of Sugar Free Rock Star. I loves me some Rock Star but interesting side light. Rock Star was created by the son of the worst talk show host in history Michael Savage Weiner. So I can't help think that when I drink Rock Star I am benefiting that sleaze ball talk show host. Hopefully not.

I had some Thai food today for lunch. Not sure if is healthy or not. Tasted good, so probably not. Skipped the candy, chips and ice cream so I got that going for me.

Today is September 11, so naturally the mind wanders back to that fateful day in 2001. I remember I had fallen asleep on the couch after working late and had CNN on when I fell asleep. I remember dreaming something weird about an attack (probably the sound of the TV affecting my dream). When I awoke, I saw the first tower come down on CNN. How surreal was that day? I went to the WTC site in 2003 and talk about surreal. You could still feel the emotion of the place. I think I wept a little.

The Starting Date

Let me explain the catchy title. I was reading one of those Men's Health magazines (Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Men's Health and Fitness, Men's You'll never look like this). Invariably, they have a before and after section where some slob starts out as Peter Griffin and ends up as Matthew Mcconaughey (sp?).


I thought I needed to get back in shape so this portion is the "during" portion of my before and after. Since this is the first post, I suppose technically I am still at the "before" stage.


So what better way to get in shape than to share it with the world and track my progress, trials, triumphs, setbacks, etc.


Since I want this to be an honest tracking of my progress. I plan to list what I am doing, how I am doing, the progress or regress, my true portrait of my descent into madness!!


You can help. Leave comments and tell me to keep working, to keep going to the gym, to avoid Pringles and Doritos, to stop trying and start doing. You know, standard motivational stuff. You don't necessarily have to care too much - comment anyway. Just don't make fun - I'm a delicate flower that bruises easily and any negative comment will send me into a shame spiral and I will be forced to eat several Jumbo Jack's.


I plan to post photos of my progress, an exercise diary, my food choices, and whatever else pops in my mind.


The goal - enter and complete the 2009 San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon. Yes 26.2 miles of exercise and one I finished in 2004. Yes, I completed this marathon in 2004 when I was at the height of my previous fitness craze. What a fast fall it has been into my current state.


What is my current state?

I completed 1 mile on the treadmill last night. And it was tough. I was wheezing and breathing harder than I should be but that is my starting point. My next mini goal - complete 2 miles on the treadmill in 25 minutes.


I exercise currently about 4 days a week. Mainly weights and machines. Not much aerobics. My arms are bigger and chest is strong. I can bench 205 with no problems. I barely pass that test of - does your chest stick out farther than your belly. So I have a lot of ab work to do and more aerobics.

Plans for Week

Wednesday - No gym today so have to watch the food intake and limit the junk

Thursday - Gym. 1 mile on the treadmill in under 20 minutes. 30 minutes on another machine (eliptical or cross trainer), weights for a little bit and 15 minutes of abs.

Friday - Gym. Just weights and maybe some abs. See how they feel

Saturday - Go for a long walk (2+ miles). Gym, treadmill 1 mile and no weights

Sunday - Gym. Weights only, stretch. Get drunk.

Let's see how it goes.