2005_11_30
2005-11-30, 9:29 a.m.

Day 465 So Far . . .

Here�s some interesting stats:

Your Quit Date is: 8/22/2004 7:00:00 PM
Time Smoke-Free: 464 days, 16 hours, 23 minutes and 57 seconds
Cigarettes NOT smoked: 9294
Lifetime Saved: 2 months, 10 days, 23 hours
Money Saved: $1,897.20

That money saved part is based on $4.08 for a pack of a generic brand, which is what I was paying just before I quit. I have no idea what they cost now, but I am sure they cost more. Cindy still smokes a �name brand� variety that costs upwards of $5.50 here in NY. (When I catch up the check book at the end of the week, I see her receipts for the debit card. Sometimes she�s paying >$6 a pack!!)

More stats:

Weight as of Jan. 15, 2005: 265
Weight as of Nov. 21, 2005: 206

Wish I had similar good news on the cholesterol front. On Sept. 15, 2005, I was at a record low of 137mg/dl total cholesterol. Ratios were great, HDL was up, LDL down, trig was where it belonged. Went 2 months with no lipitor. Now, total cholesterol has risen to 194. Ratios are worse, but still acceptable, barely. HDL is higher more than before which is good, but LDL is up too - which would qualify as bad. Looks like I�ll be back on lipitor again, and soon. Of all the things there are to be good at, why do I have to be good at making cholesterol? Darn liver.

Managed to actually hit up the gym every other day over the Thanksgiving break. Took Zach (the 21 yr old) with me one day and hit up the ellipticals. Think I surprised him a bit. Actually kicked his butt pretty bad. Over the same 30 minute period, I was able to go farther and faster than he did while keeping my heart rate well below his. I�m hoping this will show him that his sedentary student lifestyle ain�t good for him. Plus, he now out weighs me for the first time in his life. That really has him interested in dieting and getting in shape I think. He�s even going to look into the YMCA near him in Syracuse and see if maybe there�s a student rate/membership transfer option available for he & Jill.

Eric had no interest in the Y at all. Disappointing, because he needs it more than anyone (with the exception of Cindy, actually) He�s always been a �big� kid, and I think he�s grown to almost accept it. Maybe when he gets done with college he�ll start working on it.

Good Thanksgiving overall. Got to spend good time with the boys and their girlfriends. Met Eric�s� girlfriends parents on Sunday. Very nice couple. Little early to decide if Eric and Kelly are going to go the distance. I know it�s Eric�s first serious relationship and may be Kelly�s first too. They�re both only 20 and each have at least another year and a half of college left. Who knows where this relationship will go? Certainly not me. I�ll just sit back and watch it grow. (They do make a cute couple though. Eric, built along the lines of a 6�2� bulldozer and Kelly � all 4�11� of her, trying to not get crushed)

Zach and Jill on the other hand seem to be moving into more serious territory. A �promise� ring has been presented. They are shacking up while studying in Syracuse this year. (Great gig too. Wonder why I never thought of getting my parents to subsidize my rent in the name of college so I could shack up with my girlfriend and have white hot monkey sex every night?? Oh yeah � I went into the Army. Brilliant.) They are starting to formulate plans for beyond college. All very grown up things. Plus, Jill is a sweet girl. Kind of how we�d hope our own daughter would have turned out if we�d had a girl. Might just be a wedding in there future in a few years. Never know.

Can�t wait for bowling tomorrow night. Didn�t bowl last week due to the holiday, so it�s been a two week wait. Tough to endure. Got to remember to trim my fingernails tonight. They�re not actually all that long by most standards, but the middle & ring fingers of my right hand will get torn up by my bowling ball. Absolutely shreds the nail, then it tears all funny leaving a raggedy edge that drives me nuts.

I just measured. The white end of the nail on my right middle finger is a whopping 2mm long. That�s just enough to get caught on the edge of the finger hole on my bowling ball and get shredded. I had really better remember to trim those monsters. I hate trying to bite them off while bowling. And of course, no one has trimmers on them when you need them most.

Made it out deer hunting for all of 4 hours. Think that might be it too. Sucky season. At least the family room is finished and 90% of the molding is finished. Plus � and this is BIG news � the garage is emptied out enough that we can actually park both of our own vehicles in there. For the first time in 3 years. No kids car being over wintered in our garage. All the carpet remnants are gone. No saw horses, table saws or piles of lumber. No paint buckets or ladders. Nothing but room for vehicles. And the snow blower. And a 32 gallon Rubbermaid bucket with fish in it.

Decided to yank the fish out of the pond this winter. Started out with 3 Shibunkins. They�re a calico colored goldfish derivative. Were a whopping 4� long when we got them. Over the summer, they grew to about 6�. Somehow, two of them managed to get together and have puppies too. Late summer we started to notice 2 little tiny fishies, maybe an inch long. They never really got to far from the water Hyacinth roots. Good hiding place I guess. Now, we have that 32 gallon bucket in the garage with 5 fish in it. Also have a bubbler (aerator) going, and this funky looking heater donut thing that�s supposed to maintain an area free from ice so waste gasses can (evaporate, dissolve, boil, dissipate, something) get out of the water. Last year we found out that heater donut thingy doesn�t work so well under 2 feet of snow. Lost 5 fish � 2 comets, 2 shibunkins and a fancy fan tail. This year we decided to try the indoor tank option. As long as the water stays under 50 degrees the fish are not supposed to require food. In our garage, over winter � I think we�ll be doing good to keep it free of ice. We�ll see. We�ve invested a total of $27 to save fish we spent $20 on. That�s not counting the $40 I spent last year on the heater donut that doesn�t like snow. These fish better make it through the winter.

Guess that�s what one should expect after not updating for 12 days � a whole lot of nothing that doesn�t seem to coalesce into a cohesive looking pile of crap. Might have to go dig out my list of peeves and stat a rant or three. (But not the one about a certain someone and their drinking habits. I�m tired of that one. Not that it�s changed any either, but I�m not going there.) Traffic, bad drivers, right wing conspiracies, people that think everything is a right wing conspiracy, rednecks, (got stuck out there on the right a bit, eh?) Fortunately for you, the list is hiding under the keyboard of the PC in my office, currently about a mile down the road from where I�m working right now. Since I should really be wrapping this up and getting back to work, I needn�t worry about it anyhow. Maybe next time.

Oh � I owe at least a bowling update Friday. Plus maybe I�ll have a fun story about how I ended my � nah. That�s a secret.

465 days down. Still isn�t easy, this not smoking stuff. I�ll keep practiv cing

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