#2600, Thursday, February 5, '21: Good Day, Sunshine

Post 2600

- 10 years and 35 days since I started this blog -

February, 2020, in Cuenca, Ecuador

Daily Comment

This was a feel-good day.

The sun was shining, the sky was clear and warm-looking, and the temperature was above freezing for the first time in days - and felt warmer.

I took the car to the mechanic to get my pain-in-the-ass-for-years wheel fixed - I've had some kind of air leak in one tire for a very long time. For years it just meant getting air in it every couple of months, but this year, in New York's Winter for the first time since the problem showed up, I'm having to go every few days, and in the cold and snow/sleet/rain it's no longer tolerable.

The repair went smoothly, and was very quick. I talked to my friend Harris in Dingle, Ireland, whose gloomy friendship did not diminish my spirits in any way. 

How nice to gather the sunshine and allow it to lighten everything.

I'm very grateful for another beautiful day.

Food and Diet 

Today's Weight:                    201.7 lbs.

Previous Weight (2/3/21):          200.8 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                     + 0.9 lbs.

Diet Comment

Such a small variance amounts to noise, but it's noise in the right direction, right?

Food Log

Breakfast
12:15pm:

LEO (lox (smoked salmon), eggs and onions) on riced cauliflower. Not shown: Toasted Ezekiel 4:9 Flax sprouted grain bread and butter.

Lunch
7:35pm:

Burger on guacamole with coleslaw. Not shown: Brussels sprouts with Grandpa's Sauce.

Dinner
11:20pm: Macadamia nuts and a Quest bar.

Liquid Intake

   Espressos: 2;   Coffee: 24 oz.;  Water: 84+ oz.; 

 Please leave a comment when you visit my blog.
Thank you!

#2599, Wednesday, February 3, '21: Weather report

Post 2599

- 10 years and 34 days since I started this blog -

February, 2020, in Cuenca, Ecuador

Daily Comment

If it were Southern California, the weather report would be sunny and 70s, day in and day out.

But it's Winter in Syracuse, so, day after day, it's snowy and cold - teens and twenties cold.

In the pandemic, that means staying in. In the non-pandemic past, it also meant staying in, but in the last five years, it meant: be somewhere else, where it's not cold.

I'm not a Winter sports guy. Not as a participant, not as a spectator. I have no problem staying in. I do have a problem with winter driving. I have had a couple of accidents driving in the winter, related to road conditions, and I have had many close calls, including some very scary ones. 

So... It's still wait and see.

Meanwhile, I will still be checking to see if I can get my shots sooner. I think sooner is better than later.

I'm grateful for all the wonderful possibilities with an unknown, unknowable future.

Food and Diet 

Today's Weight:                    200.8 lbs.

Previous Weight (2/2/21):          201.0 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                     - 0.2 lbs.

Diet Comment

Such a small variance amounts to noise, but it's noise in the right direction, right?

Food Log

Breakfast
2:15pm: 

Chia pudding with berries, walnuts and hemp seeds. Not shown: Oatmeal.

Lunch
6:50pm: Carrots and homemade mayonnaise and macadamia nuts. 

Dinner
12:10am: Peanut butter and a Quest bar.

Liquid Intake

   Espressos: 0;   Coffee: 0 oz.;  Water: 72+ oz.; 

 Please leave a comment when you visit my blog.
Thank you!

#2958, Tuesday, February 2, '21: No comment

Post 2598

- 10 years and 33 days since I started this blog -

February, 2020, in Cuenca, Ecuador

Daily Comment

I've got nothing to say, and it's okay.

Food and Diet 

Today's Weight:                    201.0 lbs.

Previous Weight (2/1/21):          203.0 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                     - 2.0 lbs.

Diet Comment

My average weight in 2020 was 203.8 pounds.

Food Log

Breakfast
1:40pm: Scrambled eggs with greens, mushrooms and peppers and oatmeal-plus (rolled oats, hemp seeds, peanut butter, walnuts, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, kefir, chia seeds, stevia.

Lunch
6:30pm: Carrots and homemade mayonnaise. 

Dinner
9:40pm: Ricotta cheese and macadamia nuts - a very large portion of both.

Liquid Intake

   Espressos: 0;   Coffee: 24 oz.;  Water: 64+ oz.; 

 Please leave a comment when you visit my blog.
Thank you!

#2597, Monday, February 1, '21: Vaccination possibilities

Post 2597

- 10 years and 32 days since I started this blog -

February, 2020, in Cuenca, Ecuador

Daily Comment

I got an appointment to get vaccinated today. It's for March 21st, which, in addition to sometimes being the first day of Spring, is my late ex-wife's birthday.

That means my second shot will be sometime around April 11. So, I could possibly travel beginning around tax day (I said I would travel after my second shot).

But I really can't make plans. For one thing, I don't know what the situation will be in the places I like to travel to. Even if I were able, today, to travel, where would I go?

At the moment, Florida, Ecuador, and Mexico aren't 'inviting' due to the current status of their own pandemic situation. And Thailand is not open to Americans. 

So... It's still wait and see.

Meanwhile, I will still be checking to see if I can get my shots sooner. I think sooner is better than later.

I'm grateful for all the wonderful possibilities with an unknown, unknowable future.

Food and Diet 

Today's Weight:                    203.0 lbs.

Previous Weight (1/29/21):         204.0 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                     - 1.0 lbs.

Diet Comment

January started great, ended on a bad note, at the high weight of the month/year. So it goes. I did better over the weekend.

Food Log

Breakfast
6:40pm: Cheese omelet with mushrooms and peppers; bacon; a salad (arugula, cabbage, chard, kale, spinach and balsamic vinaigrette).

Lunch
Skipped. 

Dinner
12:10am: Peanut butter and a Quest bar.

Liquid Intake

   Espressos: 0;   Coffee: 0 oz.;  Water: 72+ oz.; 

 Please leave a comment when you visit my blog.
Thank you!

#2596, Friday, January 29, '21: Happy birthday to me

Post 2596

- 10 years and 29 days since I started this blog -

January, 2019: Boy Blues Bar,  Chiang Mai, Thailand

Daily Comment

It's a lot - I've far outlasted my expectations - up to the age of sixty, I don't think I ever thought I'd see seventy. So, seventy-one, which I reached at 1:50am this morning, seems like a real treat.

I am not concerned much with my mortality (or maybe I would have more accurately been able to predict my longevity). I am not afraid of dying (something brought home to me while I waited for three days in a hospital bed for my quintuple bypass). Of course, I am not looking forward to dying, either.

My just-concluded seventieth was a weird year, of course, for me and everyone else on the planet. The best things I can say about it were that, a) I survived it, and 2) I did a Spanish lesson every single day of it.

If there were ever a time to deal with serious heart problems, though, it was probably the best time - all the things I would have missed out on while recovering were missed out on by everybody. 

Which makes this an unusually hopeful birthday - things are going to get better this year than they were - the bar is too low to not to be stepped over.

I start my 71st orbit in good health, with almost no restrictions on my diet or activities.

I take none of it for granted, and today I feel I have more to be grateful for, just for continuing to show up.

Food and Diet 

Today's Weight:                    204.0 lbs.

Previous Weight (1/28/21):         203.5 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                     + 0.5 lbs.

Diet Comment

I finished my pork rinds late last night and knew I would see an increase in my weight today. I regret nothing.

Food Log

Breakfast
1:35pm, from CoreLife Eatery:

Korean BBQ Pork: Kale, quinoa, kimchi, cucumbers, spicy broccoli, Sriracha sprouts, fried egg, slow-roasted pork, and Korean bbq sauce.

Lunch
3:20pm: Pumpkin pie and a 'magic' chocolate chip cookie. 

Dinner
9:40pm: Veggie sloppy Joe (Quorn grounds mushroom protein, Wegman's Grandpa's Sauce, chopped kale and spinach) on black edamame spaghetti., and a Quest bar.

Liquid Intake

   Espressos: 1;   Coffee: 16 oz.;  Water: 72+ oz.; 

 Please leave a comment when you visit my blog.
Thank you!

#2595, Thursday, January 28, '21: No comment

Post 2595

- 10 years and 28 days since I started this blog -

January, 2019: Boy Blues Bar,  Chiang Mai, Thailand

Daily Comment

I've got nothing to say, but it's okay.

Food and Diet 

Today's Weight:                    203.5 lbs.

Previous Weight (1/27/21):         202.5 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                     + 1.0 lbs.

Diet Comment

I knew when I opened that bag of pork rinds late last night that I would see an increase in my weight today. It was unnecessary, I wasn't even hungry. I blame the pandemic and TV.

Food Log

Breakfast
2:20pm: LEO (lox, eggs and onions), avocado toast, brussels sprouts with cheese and balsamic vinaigrette.

Lunch
Skipped. 

Dinner
9:45pm: Greek yogurt with walnuts, two Quest bars and another (the last - for awhile) bag of hot and spicy pork rinds. Yes, I know.

Liquid Intake

   Espressos: 1;   Coffee: 24 oz.;  Water: 84+ oz.; 

 Please leave a comment when you visit my blog.
Thank you!

#2594, Wednesday, January 27, '21: No comment

Post 2594

- 10 years and 27 days since I started this blog -

January, 2019: Boy Blues Bar,  Chiang Mai, Thailand

Daily Comment

I've got nothing to say, but it's okay.

Food and Diet 

Today's Weight:                    202.5 lbs.

Previous Weight (1/26/21):         203.3 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                     - 0.8 lbs.

Diet Comment

While still not moving the trend-line much, this little loss is comforting.

Food Log

Breakfast
6:05pm: Bacon and eggs and oatmeal+(Rolled oats, hemp seeds, walnuts, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, oat milk, kefir, chia seeds, stevia). 

Lunch
Skipped. 

Dinner
9:10pm:

Vegetarian sloppy joe (Quorn Grounds, Wegman's Grandpa's Sauce, spinach and kale) on riced cauliflower.. Not shown: A Quest bar, a bag of Hot and Spicy Pork Rinds 

Liquid Intake

   Espressos: 1;   Coffee: 24 oz.;  Water: 74+ oz.; 

 Please leave a comment when you visit my blog.
Thank you!

#2593, Tuesday, January 26, '21: Pot

Post 2593

- 10 years and 26 days since I started this blog -

January, 2019: Boy Blues Bar,  Chiang Mai, Thailand

Daily Comment

I smoked pot for the first time early in my senior year in high school. I was fifteen years old at the time (it was October, 1965). My friend Steve had been trying to get me high since the previous year. I had no idea what it was actually like. I'd had a bit of experience with alcohol (drunk more than a few times, sick only a few less times). I didn't understand anything about the culture. Not too long before this, a classmate called someone a pothead and I had no clue - I knew the name marijuana, but at that point didn't know it was also called 'pot' and users were 'heads'.

So much innocence.

For the most part, I smoked weed from that point forward. A few times, for work reasons (drug-testing), I stopped, sometimes for many months. One time, in my twenties, I stopped for a few months out of concerns that it was a morally bad choice. That passed. And when it did, I never had doubts about where I stood with it: I liked it and had no qualms about smoking it from then on.

I think cannabis is a beneficial plant, and there is historical and scientific evidence to support that. It is one, if not the, most useful plants known to man. There is almost nothing it isn't good for, industry, food, medicine.

The big problem with pot is and has always been political. The act that made it illegal (via a tax you could be jailed for paying, or not paying) was based in racism, not public health, and was passed with no debate, at the last minute before a congressional recess. 

Later, it was made a class-1 controlled drug, meaning it had no medical value, even though it had documented medical uses (including a US government-held patent for its use). Cannabis history as medicine is thousands of years old.

Every evil I have personally experienced connected with cannabis had to do not with the properties of the plant itself, but from its legal status. When the move to legalize started, first with medical uses, it was proven that there were medical benefits.

So, I have almost never been troubled by my own use. If it isn't bad, why, other than legal paranoia, would using it be bad. Experientially, it has never been a negative in my life.

I like it.

I'm grateful for my good luck, that has allowed me to get high for more than fifty-five years without suffering any negative consequences.

Food and Diet 

Today's Weight:                    203.3 lbs.

Previous Weight (1/25/21):         203.5 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                     - 0.2 lbs.

Diet Comment

This little loss is not enough to prevent the year's first day of an increasing-weight trend-line. I have hopes for tomorrow.

Food Log

Breakfast
1:40pm: LEO: (lox - smoked salmon - eggs and onions) and brussels sprouts with olive oil and shaved parmesan cheese. Also, after a pause, a Quest bar.

Lunch
Skipped. 

Dinner
10:05pm:

Salmon burger with homemade seasoned mayonnaise on black mung bean spaghetti with olive oil and herbs. not shown: Salad (Spring Mix, cabbage, baby spinach, balsamic vinaigrette) and a Quest bar with peanut butter.

Liquid Intake

   Espressos: 2;   Coffee: 0 oz.;  Water: 74+ oz.; 

 Please leave a comment when you visit my blog.
Thank you!

#2592, Monday, January 25, '21: Better sleep

Post 2592

- 10 years and 25 days since I started this blog -

January, 2019: Boy Blues Bar,  Chiang Mai, Thailand

Daily Comment

The pandemic drags on and so do I.

No complaints, I still make my own choices, and I could be doing things differently. But that isn't really what I want, or I would be.

I have made great strides in being well-rested to do all the nothing I do every day.

The FitBit has been a great tool for addressing my chronic sleep issues. 

Another helpful tool is the Echo Studio ("Alexa, play Pure White Noise"), which addresses a problem I didn't previously know I had by masking other noise when I am trying to go to or return to sleep - even my tinnitis. I bought it as an early birthday present, and while it is supposed to be the most high-fidelity Echo, it's audio still doesn't please me (the main reason i haven't bought one earlier). 

The biggest problem I have with sleep is that I wake up at least twice a night and can't fall back asleep.

I've corrected this problem with breathing exercises and pot, and now I'm sleeping more than seven hours a night. When I first got the FitBit, that number was less than five.

I'm grateful for a good night's sleep, and for the means to learn and change.

Food and Diet 

Today's Weight:                    203.5 lbs.

Previous Weight (1/22/21):         203.0 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                     + 0.5 lbs.

Diet Comment

I did not have a great weekend as far as weight control goes. I found myself 'boredom eating' in front of the TV - Sunday I ate (literally) twenty dollars worth of snack food. Healthy snack food, but still, excessive.

Food Log

Breakfast
3:40pm: Oatmeal+: Rolled oats, hemp seeds, walnuts, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, oat milk, kefir, chia seeds, stevia.

Lunch
Skipped. 

Dinner
9:40pm: Carrots and mayonnaise, manchego cheese and macadamia nuts.

Liquid Intake

   Espressos: 2;   Coffee: 24 oz.;  Water: 84+ oz.; 

 Please leave a comment when you visit my blog.
Thank you!

#2591, Friday, January 22, '21: No comment

Post 2591

- 10 years and 22 days since I started this blog -

Syracuse, January, 2018

Daily Comment

I've got nothing to say, but it's okay.

Food and Diet 

Today's Weight:                    203.0 lbs.

Previous Weight (1/21/21):         201.4 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                     + 1.6 lbs.

Diet Comment

I finished the Keto ice cream. Will drop weight going forward.

Food Log

Breakfast
1:35pm:

Cheese and veggie omelet (3 eggs, shaved parmesan cheese, kale, spinach, mushrooms, onions, peppers) and brussels sprouts with butter, pepper, bacon. Yes, exactly the same as Tuesday because I liked it and the pic came out so well. 

Lunch
7:45pm: An organic beef burger with guacamole on Ezekiel 4:9 Flax sprouted grain bread and a salad (arugula cabbage, chard, kale, spinach, shaved parmesan, walnuts and creamy balsamic dressing). 

Dinner
11:40pm: Cottage cheese and a Quest bar.

Liquid Intake

   Espressos: 2;   Coffee: 24 oz.;  Water: 84+ oz.; 

 Please leave a comment when you visit my blog.
Thank you!

#2590, Thursday, January 21, '21: No comment

Post 2590

- 10 years and 21 days since I started this blog -

Syracuse, January, 2018

Daily Comment

I've got nothing to say, but it's okay.

Food and Diet 

Today's Weight:                    201.4 lbs.

Previous Weight (1/20/21):         200.9 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                     + 0.5 lbs.

Diet Comment

It seems like every time I eat Keto ice cream, I gain. So, after my next and last pint, I'm done. That'll be tonight.

Food Log

Breakfast
7:15pm: Roasted turkey breast with kale, spinach and lentils in curry sauce, on riced cauliflower.

Lunch
9:40pm: Keto ice cream and peanut butter. 

Dinner
11:40pm: Carrots and mayonnaise. Pork rinds (hot and spicy).

Liquid Intake

   Espressos: 0;   Coffee: 0 oz.;  Water: 64+ oz.; 

 Please leave a comment when you visit my blog.
Thank you!

#2589, Wednesday, January 20, '21: No new America

Post 2589

- 10 years and 20 days since I started this blog -

Syracuse, January, 2018

Daily Comment

I am glad for the change in government. I deplored 45 for thirty years before he became president, and I think it was the worst government I've experienced in my life.

I have little interest in politics. Which party, which president, has never been a big determinant of my situation. I have my ideas about what would be good governance, and I have little-to-no chance of ever seeing them manifest anywhere - and zero chances of having them realized in the US.

So, there's that. It is not that I'm completely apathetic - like I said, I have my ideals, but they are Utopian, and we are not close in this world to a Utopian society with an ideal (my definition) government.

And I see no danger of an outbreak of virtue in Washington, DC, even as its opposite has left town. 

I'm grateful for all the privilege that allows and has allowed such detached musings, and for my past political involvement, which has formed my present indifference to the same.

Food and Diet 

Today's Weight:                    200.9 lbs.

Previous Weight (1/19/21):         201.0 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                     - 0.1 lbs.

Diet Comment

This difference is just noise - it's the same as yesterday.

Food Log

Breakfast
3:40pm: Super oatmeal: Rolled oats, hemp seeds, peanut butter, vanilla whey protein, walnuts, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, oat milk, kefir, chia seeds, stevia.

Lunch
Skipped. 

Dinner
9:40pm: Salmon salad: Wild-caught salmon, homemade mayonnaise, celery, arugula, cabbage, chard, kale, spinach, walnuts. Keto ice cream and peanut butter for dessert.

Liquid Intake

   Espressos: 2;   Coffee: 0 oz.;  Water: 56+ oz.; 

 Please leave a comment when you visit my blog.
Thank you!

#2588, Tuesday, January 19, '21: No comment

Post 2588

- 10 years and 19 days since I started this blog -

Syracuse, January, 2018

Daily Comment

I've got nothing to say, but it's okay.

Food and Diet 

Today's Weight:                    201.0 lbs.

Previous Weight (1/18/21):         201.7 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                     - 0.7 lbs.

Diet Comment

I thought I was being good over the weekend, but apparently not. I'm going to be low-carbing the next couple of days.

Food Log

Breakfast
3:35pm:

Cheese and veggie omelet (3 eggs, shaved parmesan cheese, kale, spinach, mushrooms, onions, peppers) and brussels sprouts with butter, pepper, bacon.

Lunch
Skipped. 

Dinner
10:20pm: Lentil curry on black soybean spaghetti, a Quest bar with peanut butter for dessert.

Snack
12:00am: Hot and Spicy pork rinds.

Liquid Intake

   Espressos: 2;   Coffee: 22 oz.;  Water: 60+ oz.; 

 Please leave a comment when you visit my blog.
Thank you!