The Saturday Update: 05/10/2008
DIET DIARY
STARTING NUMBERS (Before I started the diet)
Blood Sugar: 287
Weight: 355.0
NUMBERS FROM TODAY
Blood Sugar: 77
Weight: 285.4
Fat Percentage: 48.6
Water Percentage: 29.9
Muscle Percentage: 34.6
I now know how floor mops feel. Especially that kind. Although I’m jealous. At least when that one has been used up it’s “head” can be replaced. I want to replace my head. But I can’t. However, for now, it’s all over.
“Tiii-iii-iii-iime is on my side… yes it is.”
My finals are done. My final homework is done. So the semester is over. I just need a new head. But that also means I will have more time for everything else I want to do. Yay!
But tonight, I’m about to pass out. So I’m keeping this short. Look for some cool stuff in the next week though. Oh, and I’d like some comments on this post, so I’m going to leave you with a question:
Should a kindergarten child be suspended for talking? (After a few comments I’ll explain why I’m asking your opinion.)
(For more information about my dieting and weight loss, click here. For more information about the specific foods I eat, click here. For the diet I follow, click here.)
Trust? On the Internet? Go figure.
Trust. It is hard to come by in this day and age. Everyone mistrusts just about everything. And with the Internet and the tons of information available to people these days, who can blame them? But I’m getting ahead of myself.
I live in a small town. Really small town. Don’t get me wrong. I chose this town on purpose. I’ve lived near New Orleans for most of my life, so living in a small town was a dream of mine. But being in a small town means you have to deal with small town rules. One rule is I have to park on the opposite side of the street every Tuesday. Why? Because the street cleaner comes by. Street cleaner. That’s how small the town is. They have a street cleaner that visits every street. Another rule that I recently found out about is that have to have some form of sign on my fence gate to let people know a dog might be back there. Here’s my dog:
I just didn’t think a “Beware of Dog” sign fit for this particular canine. Do you? So I went looking for a different kind of sign. I found one. AVM Publishing puts out dog in yard signs. And I mean that literally. They say “Dog in Yard” or “Dogs in Yard” and come in brown, blue, or green. (Color is not a personal preference for me, but my wife loved the blue.) Comes with brass screws or plastic cable ties depending on what you need. Both are weather proof. (Listen to me. I’m starting to sound like an advertisement.)
There was only one problem. They don’t accept credit cards. They only accept checks. However (and this is a big “however”), they don’t ask for payment up front. They sent me the sign before I even paid for it.
“Wait. I think I’m going blind here Mike. I swore you just said they sent the sign without even having payment for it.”
Well, that’s not exactly how I said it, but you’re right. They call it the “Good Karma Policy.” They ship your sign and expect you to send your check just as fast. And speaking of fast, I had my sign in two days. It actually got here before they even received my check. Trust is so refreshing. I swear, if I ever need another sign like that, I’ll definitely do business with them again. I mean, shipping before payment. For the common consumer, that is unheard of. I wish more people would trust each other like that. Of course, I also wish more people would give reasons for that trust too.
But check it out. Here’s the sign on my gate:
Now the city is happy. I’ve followed their rules without making my cute, fluffy, little white dog seem like a monster. “Dog in Yard” sounds so much better than “Beware of Dog,” don’t you think?
Absence of the body, the spirit, and the mind.
Body:
I know. I know. I’ve been quite absent the last few days. My blog is suffering from it. Not nearly as much traffic. But that’s ok. I’ll be providing more content starting this weekend. Between ordering some cardboard boxes to help a friend move, substituting at the local middle school, and dealing with final exams and papers, I’ve been rather busy. All my free time has been spent with my family since I haven’t had very much of it the last week or so.
Spirit:
Speaking of my family, my daughter had her first sleepover far from us the other day. She went with the STLP team because they won first place in the district competition. She went to Lexington, Kentucky to compete at the state level. Her mother and I were quite nervous and missed her terribly. But she did well. They didn’t win, but that was kind of expected. Not because she didn’t do a good job, but at the state level they pit all grades against each other. So her elementary school was up against high schools in the state. It makes the competition really tough for the younger kids to win. I’m still quite proud of her. I heard she did her part perfectly.
Mind:
With the work I’ve been doing, my brain fell out this morning. Anyone know a good brain mechanic? I think I crossed a couple of nerve endings putting it back in.
The Saturday Update: 05/03/2008
DIET DIARY
STARTING NUMBERS (Before I started the diet)
Blood Sugar: 287
Weight: 355.0
NUMBERS FROM TODAY
Blood Sugar: 86
Weight: 281.8
Fat Percentage: 49.3
Water Percentage: 29.6
Muscle Percentage: 34.5
I figured it was too good to be true. The weight is still the same. But that’s ok. Today I was in spending mode after getting a little extra cash. I bought some extra ram for my PC and I paid fully on my pre-order of a Wii Fit. So in a few days my computer will be healthier. In a few weeks, my body will start getting healthier. I’ve been reading and researching the Wii Fit a lot. Looks really good and seems like it might really be the exercise option I’ve been looking for (i.e. something not boring).
As for the website, well, not much to say. I’ve been slacking in that department. But I have my last college final on Monday. Also, regular school ends at the end of this month. So I’ll have 2 months off with tons of time to spend on the website and a few other projects I really want to do.
Now I’ll leave you with this video, that although it attacks the very product I’m intending on buying, I still laughed my… well, you know:
(For more information about my dieting and weight loss, click here. For more information about the specific foods I eat, click here. For the diet I follow, click here.)
“The mind is a terrible thing to close.” - Saphrym
I remember when the only thing I had to worry about was whether the other kids liked me or not and whether I had acne that day or not. Yes. They were odd years. Being a teenager is tough. But ignorance is also bliss. There are so many things I didn’t know then and sometimes wish I could unlearn. Of course, today is different for teenagers. With so many “anti-something” groups, there’s always some controversy about something.
Even today’s teenagers have to figure out whether they want to use a regular acne treatment or a natural acne treatment. Or whether they should have regular beef or the torture free variety. As I recall, the beginning college years is when all of those choices become “important” to us. This brings us to my point. There are so many “yes” or “no” choices out there that people have really made it impossible to like each other:
- “Oh my. You were such a nice person but then I found out you don’t care if your beef is tortured or not.”
- “I love you. But you’re a Democrat. I can’t love a Democrat. Goodbye.”
- “You’re Southern Baptist. I’m Free Will Baptist. It just wouldn’t work.”
- “Your mom worked for the steel mill. I can’t stand feminists. We can’t be friends anymore.”
- “Wait. You’re from Texas!? I can’t be seen with you.”
“But Mike. Those are absurd. I’d never be like that.”
Really? Are you sure. Have you ever seen someone with a tattoo and immediately decided they were “bad news”? Or maybe someone with a Mohawk haircut walks by and you get freaked out? Or maybe you read my “thoughts” post and decided you didn’t like me? These are only examples, but you should get the point.
The problem is people don’t have tolerance anymore. According to Merriam-Webster, a definition of “tolerance” is:
2 a: sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one’s own
What’s wrong with other people’s beliefs? Do they affect you? Is the fact that someone somewhere believes in reincarnation going to affect your own beliefs of what happens after you die? Tolerance is necessary to become an informed individual. I know. I know. I said there are things I wish I could unlearn. But that was a fib. I like knowing things. I think knowing things is important. How can you truly say that you don’t agree with someone else’s beliefs if you don’t even know or understand those beliefs? Isn’t it possible that your beliefs and theirs are more alike than you may think?
I’ll give a quick religious example:
- The Hindu religion is based on reincarnation. A quick way of saying it is that if your soul has not learned everything it needs to learn it is sent back in another physical form to learn more. Once your soul is fully knowledgeable, it goes to live with God.
- The Christian religions believe there is a hell that people who are non-believers go to when they die. Hell is a place of suffering. They also believe there is a Heaven where people who believe go when they die. There is no suffering there.
With those two concepts in mind, wouldn’t coming back to live on Earth be a form of suffering? And if you’re always a non-believer and never learn enough to believe (in any of your lives), would you not suffer for eternity in a physical body on Earth? Couldn’t hell be what we experience in our physical bodies? And then when we believe, we go to Heaven?
I’m not expressing my own beliefs here. I’m playing the “what if” game. But there is a possibility that those things could be true. I think it scares people to think that their beliefs may be “wrong” and it makes them go nuts when someone challenges them. But, again, “what if” there’s no such thing as a right or wrong answer?
I’m not saying I’m right. What I am saying is I’m giving you something to think about. Have a mature debate with your friends about it. Listen to what they say. Listening is a really good skill to use to gain knowledge. Speaking of listening, the next time you see a tattooed guy with a Mohawk, try asking him what he believes. He may surprise you.