2017 Fall November 30 Thursday

2017 Fall November 30 Thursday

42 desgrees this morning, 35:17 minute walk.

Actually felt relatively warm this morning.  Dressed way too warm for the actual weather, regardless of what the temperature said.  

I think air was a lot dryer this morning, yesterday the moisture in the  air definitely made it feel cooler.  

This was one of those few mornings when I had to tell myself “one step at a time” or “you eat an elephant one spoon full at a time”etc.  Not sure what the difference is, but t least most moorings I am positive about the entire walk

In spite of that, my pace was 17 seconds slower than my goal, which actually is relatively good lately.  

My current goal is probably correct, since I meet it, but not too otern.  

Yesterday, I mentioned my concerns about “privatization”, at least the concept that privatization is good overall  It is good for some things, but not all.  

It isn’t quite as bad as some of the “public-private partnerships” I have seen lately where the public pays all the costs and the private entity gets all the benefits.

Not the way it is supposed to work, but…. too many times that is the result.

Still haven’t gotten my Nest Thermostat.  I don’t blame Next, I think the problem is with FedEx.  A perfect example of a company that has gotten too big and /or hasn’t handled the growth.  

Just heard a comment that one problem with internet shopping is “too much choose?   The theory is that they’re is so much choice, the  customer can’t  make  a decision.  

Winter will still official not be here for 20 days or snow, but it is coming,     Of course, what is so bad about that, is that Winter officially lasts for another 3 months!.

While Winter isn’t that bad here, it still….

 The “new” Camry will soon have 50,000 miles on it     I am alway  wondering at what point a new car becomes “old”.  It is definitely a gradually processī, but one day you suddenly look at an item and realize it is old or at least no longer “new”.

Of course I have a lot of clothes and other items that I suddenly realizedI have had for 30 years.  Don’t mean I’m not going  to keep using them, but  surprised on how long I have had them!    

That’s it for now, Thursday, November 30, 2017  

2017 Fall November 29 Wednesday

2017 Fall November 29 Wednesday

47 degrees this morning, light rain, no walk.

Happy 18th Birthday to Kali, my Granddaughter!  How time does fly!  A really special birthday to a really special person.  

As I mentioned last week, the Nest Support sent me a replacement thermostat.  This was last Thursday, November 23.

It was “2 day shipping” on FedEx.  The scheduled delivery (which I don’t really believe) is now Thursday at 8:00 p.m.

I was surprised when I found that the original scheduled delivery was 8:00 p.m. Tuesday.  2 day shipping?  I checked on the Tracker and it was actually just leaving Memphis at 8:00 p.m. Tuesday.  

It seems that something like a thermostat in Winter would assume more importance.  As noted, fortunately  I had a second  thermostat  and the faulty one started working again!

Of course, I have long disliked FedEx for their sneaky fees, poor service and high costs. They have lost contact with their original mission.

Not that United Parcel Service is any better, they arbitrarily changed delivery an important item from  “guaranteed” Friday  delivery  to a Monday, and only suddenly found they delivered on a Saturday to this area after I called them about it.

So far the United States Parcel Service looks great compared to the two private delivery companies for decent service, reasonable cost and customer care.  Most of the time USPS items arrive before they are due and they don’t respond to complaints or questions with a shrug of indifference.  

I was disappointed in Nest that the thermostat didn’t ship until Saturday, 2 days after I contacted them, or it could be that that is when FedEx got around to picking it up even if hey had the package ready Thursday.

That is one reason I think we need to be cautious about “privatization” of public services.  You really don’t have a lot of control over high costs, sneaky fees, poor service etc.  (I am talking about the local level for the most part, although delivery is a national service.)  

On the other hand, I am a strong proponent of competition, so maybe competition will take care of FedEx and UPS.

Didn’t really mean to make this entire post on delivery service, but I guess that is on my mind! 

That’s it for now, Wednesday, November 29, 2017.

2017 Fall November 28 Tuesday

60 degrees this morning, windy.  Walk 34:52 minutes

A “cold” 60 degrees this morning!  When I first started walking, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to continue based on how cold the wind made it feel.  Fortunately, within  a few hundred yards I was active enough to at least not notice how cold it seemed.

Pace was 6 seconds faster than my goal, which is good.  I’m not sure how much the perception of being cold helped!  That is actually about 25 seconds a mile faster than I have been walking.  

I have been writing (at least since yesterday) on the need to evaluate my exercise (and eating) patterns.  

A Faithful Reader (FR)  commented I might try interval training, at least for part of my exercise.  A good idea and I am going to slowly incorporate this into my routine.  

I probably will make it a separate routine, although I am still thinking about the best way to do it  Since it is only about 20 minutes, it seems I could find 20 minutes in the day!  

I’m debating incorporating in my walk, except I have found that routine valuable.  Doesn’t mean I couldn’t improve on it, but I’ll need to think about it.  I may use the back half of my walk for the interval training.  

As usual, the main thing is to do something, even if it is wrong! I can always change it.

Also, I have been reading a book/s on changing my pattern in eating, (a recommendation from the same Faithful Reader!)  I will report on it here and my results on it  I am still waiting on one book from the library on it. and have downloaded one I need to start reading again!

I plan on start listening to “Dark Money”, the book about the influence of the massive amount of money in politics.  

I read where a Senator or Representative was basically saying he didn’t like the tax bill, but their “donors” had said either pass it (with the billions of dollars of tax $ shoveled to them on the backs of the low and middle class) or the “spigot will be turned off”.

Strange, I thought this was what an illegal bribe was, “pay for play”, where money is “donated” in return for specific legislation that rips off other taxpayers for the benefit of a company or individual.  

Also, the threat to “turn off the spigot” if specific legislation isn’t passed is extortion and both parties should be in jail instead of wasting billions of tax dollars at the lying coward clown lunatic’s hotels and “resorts”.

Anyway, I am going to start concentrating on gradually changing my exercise and eating patterns.  I have found I do much better with incremental changes.

Speaking of changes, December of 2017 is almost here and we are currently in that period when major changes or projects are postponed with the “after the holiday’s” decisions!  

That’s it for now, Tuesday, November 28, 2017.

2017 Fall November 27 Monday

55 degrees this morning. 35:32 minute walk

Walk seemed cooler than 55 degrees this morning when I first started.  I am always surprised how much the “actual” temperature can vary with the same temperature!

Pace was 19 seconds slower than my goal pace.

The long awaited 4 day weekend is over, back to work today.  Like any long awaited event, it seemed to speed by.  It was a good weekend overall.

Aliene is still on a walker/scooter etc. and can’t walk on her foot.  Hopefully this Friday she will get she sort of walking cast.  It as beenn a long time since October 20 (when she fractured her foot).  

The whole thing emphasized to me just how fragile our life can be.  If I got an injury like that I literally couldn’t do my job, at least the “field” part of it.  

Aliene did an amazingly amount of her normal activities completed.  She will be so glad to be able to walk again.

I am reading a book (don’t recall the title) which emphasizes both body and financial health as you get older.  While I already knew a lot of the information, it contained some real nuggets of information.  

I marked (not literally) some of the information I wanted to go back and implement.  

Fortunately the public library here adopted a more liberal book check time, so I have plenty of time to review the books and can buy them later if I really need too.    

Some of it concerned eating, which I already knew but need to keep reminding myself, as far as what to eat and not eat, much of it contained informant on habits.

While I exercise some (especially walking, and weights), I am well aware I need to expand my exercise some. 

I have avoided “exercise” such as calisthenics and balancing exercises ever since high school because I thought they were boring and possible did more harm than good.    While I liked to walk (and used to jog), bicycle, and lift weights, I limited my calisthenics type exercises to sit-ups (40 per day).

After reading the book, I probably will need to reconsider and possibly even get a trainer who has a knowledge of older people.  I still don’t plan on doing any calisthenics but a training probably can provide better ways of using weights, machines etc. 

No problems right now, but I want to avoid them.  I recently had several (fortunately short-lived) aches and pains, probably resulting from sitting in one position too long and an increased amount of driving and sitting in my new territory.  That scared me enough I want to prevent any such future pains and aches as long as possible!  

I can remember when I was young, I always heard people around my parents say “if you have your health, you have everything” and I can understand that now!  

While I can’t prevent aging, I can try to deal with some of the effects of it!

That’s it for now, Monday, November 27, 2017.

2017 Fall November 26 Sunday

40 degrees this morning, walk 35:43 minutes

Cool walk this morning, slightly overdressed for the temperature, but I noticed the cold anyway!

Pace was 28 seconds slower than my goal,, but at least I am walking!  I’m not too worried about my “pace” during the winter, it normally is slower due to the heavier clothing and the cold.

It has been a great Holiday weekend and the best thing is it still has one day!  

As usual, I had great plans to just eat until I got full, which I promptly did not follow, so I ate too much.  It all tasted so good I had to try everything and then go back for more!  

I don’t really think it is all that bad, although  to follow the “feast and famine” pattern, I now need to fast for at least 12 hours !

Overall, just a good holiday weekend in addition to the food.

Reading a book where the author emphasizes that change and habits are frequently changed by small, short spurts, not trying to do everything at once.

In this case, he was trying to explain how “busy people get things done”  and it basically was by making use of short periods of time, “eating the elephant one bite at a time”. so to speak.  

This allows you to get something done, even it is just  a little, instead of waiting for a substantial block of time (that you probably will never have), it makes use of small blocks of time for reading or whatever.

In addition, reading a small amount of information allows you to absorb what you learned and provide a base for additional information, rather than have one long information dump that you probably won’t absorb anyway. 

I have been using this for some time, and I think it is effective, except I have to use it even more and try not to allow a lot of short time segments to be “piddling time”.  

The book provided some refinements I can gradually try to incorporate into my routine, on a gradual basis of course!  

Of course, having short segments of time when you can just relax are important also.

Also read about how to approach exercise (especially as you get older).  While I exercise some already (walking, weights), I want to start on some other short exercises for balance etc.

Again, the concept of “balance” and incremental advancement rather then trying to do everything at once is important, especially for physical exercise.  

Going to enjoy my last day of a 4 day holiday!  While I do enjoy my job, I was ready for a 4 day weekend!

Thats it for now, Sunday, November 26, 2017.  

2107 Fall November 25 Saturday

50 degrees this morning, walk 35:10 minutes

Weather seemed relatively mild during my walk.  Weather yesterday (and Thursday) was beautiful, perfect for the holiday weekend.  

Pace was 18 seconds longer then my goal.  For some reason I thought I was walking at a  a faster past, but I have found it is impossible to judge. 

May have mentioned, “Nest” is sending me a new Nest thermostat.  Of course, shortly after I called and they advised they were sending another one, the defective one started working!

I figure something is wrong with with the one Nest “head” when it didn’t update, so I am going to install the new one.  

I did find out it is easy to put the Nest head on, literally just push in or pull out.    Of course, right now the “hallway” is the “upstairs” and vice-versa.

I also noticed the new iPhone replacement was losing batter rapidly , so after resetting it several times, and verifying that the  battery was going down fast.  So I called and they are sending a replacement phone. 

Of course, literally minutes this message pops up that the phone is still trying to “restore”.  As soon as I stopped it, it stopped drawing the battery.  

In the case of the iPhone, I am going to try to, (assuming it still isn’t using battery)   rather than mess around with changing phones.

In just one month, it will be Christmas 2018.  Pulled in the Thanksgiving/Fall decorations yesterday.  We don’t decorate on the outside of the house, at least nothing big.

Listening to “Leonardo Da Vinci” .  I was thinking it will be after Chrisms when I finish listening to the book.  

So far it has  been an interesting book about someone I know very little about.  I am always amazed about how so many   of the recognized geniuses displayed their brilliance early.  

I have to assume the environment was there for them to flourish.  

That’s it for today, Saturday, November 25, 2017           

2017 Fall November 24 Friday

52 degrees this morning,  walk 35:11 minutes

Overall good walk this morning, wind was down, so good wasn’t real noticeable.

Pace was 14 seconds slower than my goal.  I had hoped I was walking faster than that.

Thanksgiving Day was good.  As normal I ate more than I planned, altl the food was wonderful and deserved to be enjoyed!

I have learned not to be too uptight about holiday meals, just enjoy them and don’t worry about dieting.  I just try to be reasonable and not eat more than I want just because it is there!

For some reason, the Nest thermostat gave out yesterday.  The support personal I talked with thought it had gotten stuck during an update.  They are sending out a new one.  

Fortunately I have a second one upstairs and, if I understood him right, I can just take the face off the other one and put it on the downstairs ne if I absolutely have to have it.

I was a little disappointed in the Nest, but pleased at their support. 

There are a lot of areas where I’m trying to decide if I want to proceed with “new technology” or keep the old.

One is my wifi routers.  I think of the Apply one as being “new”, but it is actually almost 4 years old.  The other (main) router is provided by the cable/internet service, and you know what that means.

I am supposed to have “whole house’ wi fi, but they couldn’t get it too work.  

I am considering the Google “whole house” wi fi, but only thinking about it and reviewing t the reviews on it.  I always think “who am I going to call” if something goes wrong, which stops me on a lot of the the new technology items.   A lot of the old technology also!

Another item is the security system.  We are going to get a new one this year and I am trying to determine what type of new one to get.  

As normal, if some of the promises are valid, it would be simple, but I doubt that they do everything they promise to do and I need to be able to call someone local if something goes wrong.

The hypothesis  that “anyone can do it” does not apply in my case.  I am mechanically challenged and know better than to try to do something mechanical, it always makes it worse.  

I can usually do most simple items, as long as I closely follow instructions and know when I am really out of my league and need to call someone.  

Friday after Thanksgiving, a vacation day.  I plan on enjoying the day!

That’s it for now, Friday, November 24, 2017.

        

2017 Fall November 24 Thursday

2017 Fall November 23 Thursday

39 degrees this morning, walk 35:26 miles

Hope you are all having a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Cool walk this morning, wind was’t high, but felt colder than I expected.  However, as usual, I overdressed so I was fine.

Pace was 27 seconds slower than my goal.  To be honest, in cold weather I don’t really care.  In addition, it takes a lot longer to dress in cold weather, no matter how much I prepare the night before to make sure I don’t piddle.

I took a break from taking photo’s for my Hot Wheels cars, I was trying to figure out how I could start taking better pictures of them.

However, I decided I need to look at the purpose of taking the pictures.  I wish they could be better, but the purpose of taking the pictures is to record what I have-not to take good pictures.  

Anyway, I will start taking pictures  again while I continue to look forays to get better pictures.  

The problem is the light, it is difficult to get the light just right.

The store that made the “t-shirt quilts” is out of business.  Probably too many people like me who “planned” to do it but never got a round tu it. 

I think there are other places that do it, so I will continue  to weed out t-shirts.  I hope I can find a place that can incorporate t-shirts and the written parts of “giveme” hats.  

We used to live where we were never home on Thanksgiving or Christmas.  Now we are “home” every Thanksgiving and Christmas, which is actually nice.  We have Thanksgiving and Christmas activities with family like the years we traveled away from home to our “other home”, but now we go home instead of to a hotel!

Actually, I don’t dislike hotels, I actually like hotels, but experience is that home is better!

Our planned cruise is less than 90 days way, while means I am going into a frenzy of planning to find the “best” hotel to stay at the night before, the “best” flight and the “best” transportation between the airport etc!  

Sometimes I wonder if I enjoy the planing as much as the actual travel!  

I actually have a hotel room reserved (free, on a credit card freebie).  

Not quite as lucky on the flight yet, I thought I had a good flight and then realized I had made a reservation coming back on the wrong day, or at least not the day we planned.

That is always a question, are your going to take some time while you are in a place you are visiting to see the area or are you going to be anxious to get home?  My experience is you are normally ready to get home after the end of a vacation!  

However, the way the flights are, it is actually much cheaper to get a motel and leaver early the next morning, so we may just enjoy the free time!

At least it will be someplace warm.

That’s it for now, Thursday, November 23, 2017.

2017 Fall November 22 Wednesday

31 degrees this morning (felt like 22 degrees), walk 35:37 minutes

Walk this morning was obviously cold, but I bundled up so didn’t really feel it at all.  There was no wind (that I could feel although there must have been some wind to have a wind chill of 22 degrees with a 31 degrees temperature).  

This is the type of weather I am really glad I have some discretion as to my “office days” and “field days”.  I don’t really care how cold it gets, but if it gets snowy or icy I don’t have to go out in the field, but can do an office day.  

Pace was 20 seconds (per mile) slower than my goal.  Not bad considering the weather, but it seems like I could somehow eke out 21 seconds per mile to meet or beat my goal!  

Perhaps the fact that if I consistently exceed my goal, I’ll just set a harder goal is part of the problem.  If I am going to just move the goal, my subconscious mind may just say the heck with it, it is doing just fine now!

Perhaps I should set the goal that I want, and just stick with it, even if I never meet it.

Kind of reminds me of working in a factory when I was in college, if we exceeded out quota, they just raised the quota!  (If you exceeded the quota, you got a higher rate of pay, I don’t remember exactly how it was figured out.)  

I met a lot of nice people working in the factory, but it really helped me commit to finishing college, so I could do something else the rest of my life!  

Listening to “Leonardo Da Vinci” this morning.  I don’t think I will have any problem being bored, he was an interesting person and so far I like the approach and style of the writer.  

The main thing about him was he maintained his curiosity his entire life and never lost what I call “the wonder of childhood” before life seems to take over sometimes.  

I hadn’t really realized he was so cross-disciplinary in his work, again it emphasizes the benefits of melding various disciplines together to be creative.  Kind of like Steve Jobs, design and brilliance (? maybe genius is a better word) meant a lot of creativity.  

Another aspect the author mentions is that Florence at that time was accepting of a diversity of behaviors and cultures, which encouraged creativity and invention, a lot at the time.   Kind of like some of the same ideas such as Richard Florida has and the “creative city” and “creative class”.  I have had the good fortune to hear him speak several times.

The author notes that Da Vinci was born outside of marriage, which, in those times,  meant he had a lot more freedom to be creative since basically nothing was expected of him.  If he had been a “legitimate” child, he would have been a Notary, an important position in those days.

I don’t think there is anything wrong with a Notary (which almost sounds more like an Attorney in those days), but I think the world is a lot better for what he turned out to be!

After today, a 4 day weekend. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

That’s it for now, Wednesday, November 22, 2017.