2018 Summer July 14 Saturday

82 degrees this morning, walk 35:03 minutes

Actually the weather for the walk was somewhat coolish this morning in spite of the heat.  Well, it wasn’t a smothering heat anyway like the last few days.  Moon wasn’t viewable, and there were some clouds in the sky. 

As I sit on the patio, this is one of my favorite types of weather.  It is hot, but there is a cooling breeze, which makes it very enjoyable.  

Pace this morning was 10 seconds slower than my goal.  

I try to think in a positive note  “I have 3 more months I can sit on the patio!, rather than the more negative “I only have 3 more months to sit on the  patio…”.  As they say, “it is what it is”.  

Probably my favorite of the cultural expressions that pop up (“it is what it is”, throw him/her under the bus” “drink the kool aid” “back in the day” etc.)  is “Whatever”, of course said with a vacant expression and a sigh.  

“Whatever” is one word that can convey a lot of meaning, of course, depending the the expression, how used etc.  

I have added some meat to my eating, not without some misgivings, but without any real consequences that I can tell.  Now I need to cut the “fast carbs” out.  While I don’t believe in the extreme “low carb” diets, it is the one way I have managed to lose weight, other than severe (probably unsustainable) restrictions on food and high levels of exercise.  

Exercise itself doesn’t really burn that many calories, unless you do a highly intense exercise or an extreme amount of it.  

I am trying not to get my hopes too high, but it appears that the treatments and the exercises I have been doing may be having some affect on my coughing.  There are still episodes, but it appears to be less frequent.

I have just started on some intensive new exercise involving my voice, voice box etc.  (I don’t pretend to understand all of that), that may help even more.  

My main concern is simply making or taking the time to do the exercises.  They really aren’t all that time consuming, but sometimes small tasks impact your life like “death by a  thousand cuts”, where the little bits of time add up.

It also happens with money, where “a little bit here, a little bit there” adds up fast.  I try to look at my credit card statements for the little “small” charges I may not be aware of, the “automatic renewals” etc.  

Automatic renewals can be convenient, but I think they should require a notice prior to the end of the opportunity to cancel an “automatic renewal”, especially when the price increases with every “automatic renewal”.  

Nothing infuriates me more than some of the “automatic renewals” that require you to cancel six months in advance etc. or be “automatically renewed” for another year, 3 years etc.  Most of the home security companies are infamous for this unethical action.   (I decided I was’t going to get a security “contract” this time, I am so angry at the abuses of this tactic.)

I first noticed it with magazine subscriptions and soon stopped most of my magazine subscriptions except for Consumer Reports, which by the way, notifies me of all renewals in advance and provides the opportunity to cancel.  Since the subscription includes the on-line Consumer Reports, it is a good deal, at least for me.

“Whatever”, that’s it for now, Saturday, July 14, 2018.