Long neglected LJ
Been a while since I've done anything here, so I might as well do the POWER WORD BLAH thing.
Lj-Cut for those who don't care.
As I'm sure you've noticed, my online presence has gone to near zero. Real life has taken over, but its not a bad thing. Work is work, and nothing changes that, so my weekdays are more or less the same as before. Financially, the economic downturn has largely passed me by without incident. Being a Federal employee, the government will keep working come hell or high water, which means they can't afford to let people go, so I keep getting paid. Fine by me. Getting that kind of job security is almost impossible these days, so I'm damn glad to have it.
As of late October, my blood sugar levels have been creeping back into the 'pre-diabetic' zone, so once again I've been making more adjustments to my lifestyle. I've begun seeing a diabetic nutritionist (I'll be going back for a follow-up session in March) and have been working on several things. Not just the whole 'changing the diet', but something as simple as 'how to eat'. I know that makes me sound like a moron, but its true. I want to learn things like:
How to eyeball what a 'serving' of something is.
How to recognize what a 'balanced' meal is.
How to recognize the signs my body gives in terms of what it needs to eat, rather than what it 'wants' to eat.
When looking at pre-packaged food, to be able to not just read the label but to understand what its saying.
How to recognize forms of sugar in all its many disguises.
In addition, finding more ways to get more exercise in my days has been a big struggle. On the advice of my doctor, I've been working on making small changes. When parking a car, park farther away from where I want to be so I have farther to walk. Taking the stairs instead of the elevator whenever possible (and feasible). The biggest adjustment is that I now have a membership at the gym at work. I'm still doing limited work with the machines due to my doctor's instructions, so right now I'm limited to the cycling machines for increments of five minutes, three times as day, five days a week. I'm also trying to enforce the habit of getting up and walking a circuit around the floor every twenty minutes while at work (each one takes a little over 5 minutes assuming a brisk walk).
The good news, is that the changes made so far are paying off. When I started this work back in late October, I weighed almost 280 lbs (127kg), and now I've dropped to 260 lbs (118kg). The loss isn't very noticeable in my body (at least to me), but my face is thinner than it was before. I'll be having another blood-sugar level test soon in March, so I'm hoping for some progress. We will see.
As far as any gaming, I do still game, although its more limited than before. I do have a once-a-month tabletop game with IRL friends (which entertains me on many levels). I'm still an avid fan of City of Heroes/Villains, even if almost everyone else I know who used to play the game is gone. Console gaming has gone to the back burner. Its gotten to the point where if its not an RPG, I'm not interested, and if the game becomes more work than fun, I drop it like a hot rock. I do not own a PS3 or an X-Box 360, and the current state of RPGs on the Wii is a complete joke. I do have a DS, but handheld gaming like that just doesn't satisfy me in the same way. I do the occasional LetsPlay with your friendly neighborhood Lucca1, and that's always a hoot. Arianadream has gotten in on it too. Share and enjoy!
Longpost is long.
On the social front, I spend several days on Saturday or Sunday each month over in Sacramento to visit with my brother, his wife and thier son (my nephew). He may be less than two years old, but his vocabulary is pretty good, and his ability to focus on a single thing for extended periods of time is damn impressive. Once he gets an idea in his head its very difficult to shift it. His favorite gift this last Christmas was a mini broom and dustbin set, bought from Bed Bath and Beyond. It was pretty hysterical to watch the kid go, 'screw the toys, I demand satisfaction with domestic labor'! Of course he wasn't using the broom and dustbin QUITE the way they were supposed to be used, but at that age who cares?
Another routine I've come to enjoy is the monthly 'bad movie night' with friends. I've always had a soft spot for bad movies, as well as extensions of them like MST3K, RiffTrax and Cinematic Titanic. And many of my friends have similar sensibilities. So now we pool our efforts each month and one or two films are randomly pulled from the pile of awful and we suffer collectively, to our shared delight (complete with pot-luck dinner). Anyone who hasn't yet seen 'The Return of Captain Invincible' must do so, if only to see Christopher Lee's song-and-dance routine (and no I'm not kidding). Although I've been outright threatened with being drawn and quartered if I bring out 'Manos: the Hands of Fate', I have a library of other movies that will do just as nicely. And considering the collections of my friends, we won't be running out of bad movies anytime soon.
The house-hunting front has hit a snag. I'm still aiming for a condo, as they are generally cheaper to get into than a house (even in this market). Every purchase requires a down payment, usually between 10-20% of the final cost. For the property values in my area this translates into $30-40K, which I do not have. So that means on top of the normal loan for the house, I have to get specific kind of second loan for the down payment. However, to get that special second loan, the condo complex must have a minimum 'owner-inhabited' percentage, or no lender will allow the loan. For the properties in the areas I'm looking around in, the market has gone so sour that any place I can afford doesn't have that minimum percentage. This means that I have to:
A. Consider moving into someplace farther away from where I work
B. Consider moving into an area I don't want to live in
or
C. Keep stockpiling money so I can afford the down payment on my own and ditch the second loan.
For the moment, I'm aiming for option C. Its going to take a long while to stockpile that kind of cash, but I am in a financial position where I can do that without forcing me to eat instant ramen three times a day. And considering there's going to a wave of foreclosures coming up in the future (assuming nothing changes to correct it), the market's not going to be getting markedly better anytime soon.
The ultimate result of this post-plosion, is that I'm keeping my head well above financial waters, I'm making improvements to my life and health, and I remain content. So, how about you?
Lj-Cut for those who don't care.
As I'm sure you've noticed, my online presence has gone to near zero. Real life has taken over, but its not a bad thing. Work is work, and nothing changes that, so my weekdays are more or less the same as before. Financially, the economic downturn has largely passed me by without incident. Being a Federal employee, the government will keep working come hell or high water, which means they can't afford to let people go, so I keep getting paid. Fine by me. Getting that kind of job security is almost impossible these days, so I'm damn glad to have it.
As of late October, my blood sugar levels have been creeping back into the 'pre-diabetic' zone, so once again I've been making more adjustments to my lifestyle. I've begun seeing a diabetic nutritionist (I'll be going back for a follow-up session in March) and have been working on several things. Not just the whole 'changing the diet', but something as simple as 'how to eat'. I know that makes me sound like a moron, but its true. I want to learn things like:
How to eyeball what a 'serving' of something is.
How to recognize what a 'balanced' meal is.
How to recognize the signs my body gives in terms of what it needs to eat, rather than what it 'wants' to eat.
When looking at pre-packaged food, to be able to not just read the label but to understand what its saying.
How to recognize forms of sugar in all its many disguises.
In addition, finding more ways to get more exercise in my days has been a big struggle. On the advice of my doctor, I've been working on making small changes. When parking a car, park farther away from where I want to be so I have farther to walk. Taking the stairs instead of the elevator whenever possible (and feasible). The biggest adjustment is that I now have a membership at the gym at work. I'm still doing limited work with the machines due to my doctor's instructions, so right now I'm limited to the cycling machines for increments of five minutes, three times as day, five days a week. I'm also trying to enforce the habit of getting up and walking a circuit around the floor every twenty minutes while at work (each one takes a little over 5 minutes assuming a brisk walk).
The good news, is that the changes made so far are paying off. When I started this work back in late October, I weighed almost 280 lbs (127kg), and now I've dropped to 260 lbs (118kg). The loss isn't very noticeable in my body (at least to me), but my face is thinner than it was before. I'll be having another blood-sugar level test soon in March, so I'm hoping for some progress. We will see.
As far as any gaming, I do still game, although its more limited than before. I do have a once-a-month tabletop game with IRL friends (which entertains me on many levels). I'm still an avid fan of City of Heroes/Villains, even if almost everyone else I know who used to play the game is gone. Console gaming has gone to the back burner. Its gotten to the point where if its not an RPG, I'm not interested, and if the game becomes more work than fun, I drop it like a hot rock. I do not own a PS3 or an X-Box 360, and the current state of RPGs on the Wii is a complete joke. I do have a DS, but handheld gaming like that just doesn't satisfy me in the same way. I do the occasional LetsPlay with your friendly neighborhood Lucca1, and that's always a hoot. Arianadream has gotten in on it too. Share and enjoy!
Longpost is long.
On the social front, I spend several days on Saturday or Sunday each month over in Sacramento to visit with my brother, his wife and thier son (my nephew). He may be less than two years old, but his vocabulary is pretty good, and his ability to focus on a single thing for extended periods of time is damn impressive. Once he gets an idea in his head its very difficult to shift it. His favorite gift this last Christmas was a mini broom and dustbin set, bought from Bed Bath and Beyond. It was pretty hysterical to watch the kid go, 'screw the toys, I demand satisfaction with domestic labor'! Of course he wasn't using the broom and dustbin QUITE the way they were supposed to be used, but at that age who cares?
Another routine I've come to enjoy is the monthly 'bad movie night' with friends. I've always had a soft spot for bad movies, as well as extensions of them like MST3K, RiffTrax and Cinematic Titanic. And many of my friends have similar sensibilities. So now we pool our efforts each month and one or two films are randomly pulled from the pile of awful and we suffer collectively, to our shared delight (complete with pot-luck dinner). Anyone who hasn't yet seen 'The Return of Captain Invincible' must do so, if only to see Christopher Lee's song-and-dance routine (and no I'm not kidding). Although I've been outright threatened with being drawn and quartered if I bring out 'Manos: the Hands of Fate', I have a library of other movies that will do just as nicely. And considering the collections of my friends, we won't be running out of bad movies anytime soon.
The house-hunting front has hit a snag. I'm still aiming for a condo, as they are generally cheaper to get into than a house (even in this market). Every purchase requires a down payment, usually between 10-20% of the final cost. For the property values in my area this translates into $30-40K, which I do not have. So that means on top of the normal loan for the house, I have to get specific kind of second loan for the down payment. However, to get that special second loan, the condo complex must have a minimum 'owner-inhabited' percentage, or no lender will allow the loan. For the properties in the areas I'm looking around in, the market has gone so sour that any place I can afford doesn't have that minimum percentage. This means that I have to:
A. Consider moving into someplace farther away from where I work
B. Consider moving into an area I don't want to live in
or
C. Keep stockpiling money so I can afford the down payment on my own and ditch the second loan.
For the moment, I'm aiming for option C. Its going to take a long while to stockpile that kind of cash, but I am in a financial position where I can do that without forcing me to eat instant ramen three times a day. And considering there's going to a wave of foreclosures coming up in the future (assuming nothing changes to correct it), the market's not going to be getting markedly better anytime soon.
The ultimate result of this post-plosion, is that I'm keeping my head well above financial waters, I'm making improvements to my life and health, and I remain content. So, how about you?