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Let the Madness Begin
2006-03-10, 1:05 p.m.

Days 564 & 565 Let the Madness Begin

Brother in law is headed to Florida this weekend to help Cindy�s Dad get things ready for moving north. We were comparing notes and just making sure he had all the paperwork I had tracked down for doing taxes, etc. Things were relatively sane and we were aware that Cindy�s dad (Bob) would eventually be moving up here. That was at about 6pm Wednesday.

By 9pm, we had learned from Cindy�s uncle that her dad had, in fact, sold his house and his anticipated closing day was April 21. Cindy went from zero to warp in about 12 picoseconds (that�s really, really fast)

She was back on the horn to her brother so fast, trying to make arrangements, planning on what to pack, already getting the kitchen packed (in her head at least), volunteering me to go down & help & maybe drive the truck back, etc. Me going down and packing is fine. Driving a truck (Uhaul) back is not fine, but I had previously agreed to it anyhow, �cuz I�m such a nice guy.

Where things went wrong is when I said �but he doesn�t have to move until April 21, why pack the kitchen tomorrow?� Shoot me dead now, please.

Of course, Cindy�s reaction was to tell me I didn�t have to help at all, she�d just walk down there, load the house contents on her back and walk back with them. Well, not quite those words, but she made it clear that my opinion and efforts were neither needed nor appreciated.

I hadn�t made the leap in understanding, and it was never said out loud to me that Bob could move up here well before April 21. I figured his closing was to be 4/21, that�s when he had to be out. Well, duh! No reason he has to be there for the closing, of course. He can hire an attorney to do it, or in Florida, maybe the realtors even act on their clients behalf � I have no clue. But there is apparently no reason to not go down there this weekend and start packing. If a truck is available, so much the better.


There�s that time passing thingy again.

Bowled last night. Not super, but managed to squeak out my average. Lane conditions seemed tough. Hard to find a consistent path to the pocket. Team-wise we ended up with a 4-4 split. Have one �official� week to go and we�re 8 points out of first, but also 8 points ahead of third. We get to bowl the first place team next week. If we manage to sweep all 8 points from them, we�ll tie for first. Then in 2 weeks, during our singles tournament, we�ll bowl them again to break the tie. If we tie again that night, I have no idea what the tie breaker will be. Maybe we�ll just say screw it and split the prize money & championship.

All that talk is kinda premature anyhow. There�s still the minor matter of getting into a tie with them first. Taking all 8 points from the first place team is never easy. We really need to worry about just taking even 1 point to lock up second place.

Spent some time with Cindy re-discussing her Dad�s situation. Things are much better between us on that now and we are both working on the same page. It was just a little communication snafu the other night that got things kinda excited. There�s also some basic differences between how each of us manages a given situation. I tend to try and stay on an even keel, gather as much information as possible and make a decision generally aimed for longer term goals. Cindy like to crisis manage � or at least manage everything like it�s got to be done right this second. So we don�t always see eye to eye on how and when some things ought to get done. Add to that her need to always feel in control of a situation, plus my own desire to work independently and there can be a little friction generated now & again. Over the years, we�ve learned a few tricks though. There are some areas where Cindy won�t try to assert control � generally areas where I have experience or expertise � carpentry, plumbing, demolition, math, science, other �guy� things, then there are areas where I just let Cindy take the lead and run with it � generally organizational type stuff, cuz she is much better at it than I�ll ever be. Heck, in 25 years you gotta learn a trick or two or you�d kill each other.

Work out this morning sucked. Cross trainer would not maintain a decent heart rate reading, so it didn�t adjust the resistance levels very well at all. Seemed like it thought my heart rate was either 80 or 160. What I was shooting for was to keep it around 142. I�m starting to think that we�re getting a residue build up on the HR monitor pads and the circuit is having a hard time picking up the pulses. I�m thinking it�s from a combination of sweat & oil from peoples hands and the �no-rinse� anti-bacterial cleaning goop. I�m going to try wiping down the grips with alcohol pads one of these days and see if that doesn�t improve the readings. Got to be careful and not let people catch me doing it though. They�ll end up thinking I�ve got some Howard Hughes type bacteria phobia. Don�t think that would go over well at a gym.

Oh. The other part of the sucky workout. The chest press machine has been off line for maybe 10 days. Came back on line earlier this week. I think they hosed up the calibration on it. I noticed the first time I used it since it was repaired that it felt unusually difficult to complete my reps � and I was at the same settings as before the machine went down. Even this morning it seemed difficult. I dropped the weight 5lbs for the last set and it still kicked my ass. That carried over to the fly machine next, where I really had to struggle to complete my usual 3 sets. I blame it on the chest press ragging me out so bad. On a good note though, I kicked butt on the ab cruncher this morning. Coulda done another set. If that keeps up, have to bump the weight up another 5 or so. Like to set it so that I can barely finish the third set.

I�m on dinner cooking detail tonight. Our menu: Grilled salmon, maybe with a sherry/orange pan sauce, grilled asparagus (surprisingly good, no steaming or anything) and a nice fresh tossed salad with all sorts of veggies thrown in (iceberg, romaine, radicchio, broccoli, radishes, carrots, sweet peppers, red onion, olives, green onion, sunflower seeds, cauliflower, pepperoncini, what ever. Just empty the veggie drawer & chop it up) We make up a huge batch, then eat it for 3 days or so. Such a pain in the ass to make it every day.

Looks like I�ve busted through what ever weight plateau I was stuck on. No one big thing contributing to it, just a bunch of little things all coming together. Workouts haven�t changed, but with Cindy more serious about dieting lately, it�s easier to stick to my own plan. She�s still jealous that I can eat 2400+ calories a day and still lose a pound a week, but I spend more time on just the damn cross trainers and in aerobics than she spends at the gym total.

Oh. Yeah. Plateau. Gone. Also, weight - - under 200 for the first time in probably 20+ years. Oldest son is 21�, and I think I first crossed over 200lbs back when he was born. Now I have dead aim on getting down to what I weighed when Cindy & I got married, lo those many years (like 25!!) ago.

Yes, still thinking about her anniversary present. I looked on line at ring prices. Yikes!! For something in the 0.75 carat range that�s not black as coal, it�s looking to be near $1000. Time to start moonlighting. Anybody need a landscaper/gardener?

Updated stats:

Weight start: 206.5 on 1/1/06 (265.0 on 1/15/05)
Current weight 199.25 on 3/10/06 (More progress!!) (yeah, I cheated and weighd myself early again. I felt lucky)
Target: 180 by 7/1/06
Next weigh in: 3/11/06

The Keep on Truckin goal: (idea stolen shamelessly from Marn�s Big Adventure)
Miles at speed 2/9/06: 189.2
Miles with cooldown: 208.5
Target for 2006: 1000 miles


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