Reportedly, nothing to report
2005-10-04, 4:58 p.m.

Day 408 Reportedly, there�s not much to report.

Started another of those �100 things� lists that was included with a little update. That was a week ago. The list is still not complete and the update I did then is completely meaningless now. So. Time to start fresh. Not scrapping the �100 things�, but I�ll keep it off to the side till it�s ready to roll.

The update part:

Workouts � going very well. Keeping the frequency up, but I really need to get better at getting there by 5:30 (am). It�s brutal. My alarm threatens to go off at 5:10. I usually beat it and get it shut off before it wakes the house (i.e. Cindy). Then I kinda laze around, half asleep, not quite half awake, one eye peeking at the clock. Somehow, when 5:35 rolls around I�m always surprised.

Eventually get to the Y, on a CV machine of some sort by 5:50 Do 30 � 35 minutes, then go hit the weight machines. Upper body one day, lower body and core muscles the next. Alternate, rinse, repeat.

Lately, I�ve been skipping Wednesdays. Aerobics on Tuesday nights just kicks my butt enough that there�s no point to even thinking about doing another CV workout 9 hours later. Not enough recovery time. Sucks getting old like that.

Bowling has been going way too well. The first week, I was scared off by how easy it was to bowl a 226 my first game. So I threw a couple of 160�s after that, kept my average down to a reasonable 182 or so. The second week, I couldn�t help myself, bowled 3 games all over 200 and raised my average to exactly 200. The third week, I was helpless. Again. Bowled the highest 3 game set I ever have. 671. Consequently, my average after that was up to 208.

All through this, our team has been doing really well too. Won 18 points, lost 6. Sitting in 4th place out of 24 teams. Pretty sweet. Last week, we bowled a bunch of guys my brother has been friends with for 20+ years. Kicked their butts. My brother finally had his little epiphany and started throwing the ball like he�s got a pair. Finally bowled the way he�s capable of. He actually beat me for the first time this year. (That�s just wrong. He should have beaten me every week so far, not just 1 of 4). Fortunately for our team though, I did bowl over my average again, raising it to a new all time high of 209.75. I also now have a streak of 9 straight games over 200.

Starting to think maybe this 200+ average crap is sustainable. I think it�s due to a bunch of things. Me being in better shape, new synthetic lanes, new line for throwing the ball, and actually throwing the ball a little slower, letting it grip the lane and curve a bit. All these things have combined to raise my average 35 pins from last season (that ended in March). This change has taken more people than just me by surprise. But like I said, I think it�s sustainable. I even think there are some really high scores possible. Maybe my first 700 series. Who knows? It�s just time to stop being afraid of bowling too well, and just bowling as well as I can. Plus, if one lays off the beer, it can be a pretty good workout.

Things with Cindy are quiet. A good kind of quiet, I think. She�s drinking still, but it seems not quite as much. She�s also been better about getting to the gym � maybe 3 times a week. I�m trying to be quietly supportive & encouraging about that. Still, she has a long ways to go. Her self-image is horrible. Until that�s improved, ain�t going to be no nooky happening. Kind of a selfish notion, I know, but it comes from years of forced celibacy. I�m about ready to start looking for a little side action. That won�t complicate things much, will it?

The bowling and working out are helping dissipate some of that energy. Unfortunately, the more working out that gets done, the more of that intimate kind of energy there is to dissipate. The good thing about bowling � mostly guys. There�s a cocktail waitress, and some women in the league that bowls next to ours, but no temptations. The gym, on the other hand, is full of interesting people. I�ve been getting the eye from a few women. At least I think I have been. Probably has more to do with my unkempt morning hair than any true interest on their part. Plus I�m all hot & sweaty, my shirt clinging to me in my own little wet t-shirt contest. So yeah, not the eye so much I guess. I mean, I wouldn�t be giving me the once over, so how could I expect some poor woman I don�t even know to do the same? I�ll leave it at that for now.

So, other updates, hmmmm � OH! In spite of my divisions horrible year so far (profits are only up in the single digits, not double digit growth like some manager promised), it looks like my R&D group isn�t a target for downsizing. That means another year of wondering of next year will be it.

When I started with this company in 1982, there were 63,000 or so employees in this city and 125,000 or so worldwide. Since then, those numbers have done nothing but get smaller. Now we�re down to around 16,000 in this city, maybe 85,000 worldwide. Realistically, I need at least another 8 or 9 years before I can safely consider retiring. Even then, I�d be only in my mid 50�s, but retiring then might be the best way of protecting the pension I�ve built up.

Ah well, those are worries for another day. At least for now, I can figure on working for at least the next year. Might better start networking a bit more though. Need some more potential contacts to hit up for information, should the need arise.

Well, better go get to this work stuff. Enough for one lunch time, ya think?

408 days down, 9 years of work to go.

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