All For Naught
05/02/19 07:21
I'm at a crossroads with that old Volvo of mine. It's been a good car but she is nearing the end of her days based purely on years of service. She has been relegated to local trips here and there with little or no highway time. When I take her to the local recycling center I leave her running near the swap shop so as not to run the risk of having a hard time getting her restarted.
Signage at the center requests that cars entering the center turn off their engines while using the facilities. I'm far enough off the beaten track when parking near the swap shop where those rules are no longer applicable. It's but a short stroll to the receptacle drop off areas within the center so it's not a big deal. Carrying two or three bags at a time I can usually get the job done fairly quickly.
I need to add air to the tires usually once a month since there is leakage around the rims which is not unusual in older cars. I used to bring it to a local gas station where I would throw $.50 in an air machine in order to fill the tires but have more recently been using a small air compressor at home which just seems more convenient. In the last couple of days I noticed that the heater isn't throwing off any air when using the controls on the dash. This is a problem.
There is plenty of winter left despite the prognostications of Punxsutawney Phil where he did not see his shadow. Without a defroster I could be in trouble even on short drives. I either find a solution on Google or YouTube or the car gets recycled. The fix I think it needs is a $30 part but that is pure conjecture on my part. What if that doesn't work? Am I willing to spend a couple of hundred dollars to have it diagnosed and a couple hundred more to have it fixed? Probably not. I'll need to think about that a little more.
I finally made it to the gym this past week after renewing my membership towards the end of last year. I've been biking right along given the decent weather and lack of snow so haven't had a need to go to the gym. Riding in the colder temperatures hasn't been a problem either so it's all been good. Now that I'm back to the gym it's nice to have a different sort of workout. Yesterday, I both went to the gym and biked in the afternoon since temperatures were well into the fifties. It was absolutely springlike here on the coast so you make the best of things and I did.
It's not easy getting into shape. If you expect to be a lean mean fighting machine you need to work on it day in and day out. Cut out the sugar and stop eating the things you know are not now and never will be good for you. Easier said than done as you can well imagine. This phase, which for me usually begins around this time of year, goes through the summer and into the early Fall. I don't know what we're going to do with all the leftover food we bought for our Super Bowl extravaganza including sour cream, cream cheese, chips, dips, ice cream and god only knows what else but it all has to go. Those items are no longer on the menu.
I'm really struggling with this latest book I'm reading. It's a good book written by a terrific author, Edith Wharton. I was telling Nancy that Edith's mother forbade her to read novels until she was married. Can you imagine? Ms. Wharton was also the first woman to win a Pulitzer prize in the early 1900's for literature for her book, "The Age of Innocence." I have yet to read that book but it is high on my list of things to read next. Maybe the word "struggling" is too strong a word. I'm enjoying it but it isn't keeping my attention for whatever reason.
I'm looking forward to watching Trump's State of the Union address tonight. I'm hearing that he will be striking a conciliatory note and will urge the disparate groups and various factions on the left and right to join forces for the betterment of the country. It will be an aspirational speech and one which has been given by every president going back 250 years. Truth be told, I would rather he read the riot act to the leftists in the democrat party and call them out for their anti-American rhetoric and activism on everything from abortion rights to immigration.
I've seen Trump's list of invitees to the State of the Union and it includes a wide range of people with interesting stories to tell. He will tell those stories with sometimes gut wrenching effectiveness while calling attention to the individual or individuals who are likely sitting, sobbing, and sometimes saluting from the gallery. These are stories that the American people need to hear. They need to see the faces behind the stories as a reminder of the things we as a nation have failed to do and what the consequences of our collective action and inaction actually look like.
For the want of a better barrier along our southern border, we will hear about the victims of senseless violence and we will as a nation mourn their loss. For the want of more humane abortion policy (or no policy at all) we will hear about policies advanced by democrats that allow the killing of our children up to and including the moment they come into the world. For the want of better bullying policies in our school systems we will hear about the senseless suicides and struggles of those affected. For the want of a free society that ensures equal opportunity for all, Trump will declare as only he can that we will never be a Socialist society.
I'm filling in the blanks after the fact a little bit here since Trump's State of the Union has come and gone. That is the danger I run into when I sit on these posts rather than publishing them right away. That's fine. A little cleanup here and there is always a good thing. Whether it be the turn of a phrase or a run-on sentence that needs to be chopped up, I'm happy to do that. I rarely go back and read these things once their posted so who cares is a question I might want to ask myself. Nancy never reads them and I'm not sure Evan even knows that I post these things much less write them. It's all for naught, I suppose.
Today is day four on my sugar free diet. I can literally feel the pounds melting off. It's like the fat cells anticipated my going on this diet and they now have nowhere to hide. Come out in the open you little bastards! It's always a tricky balance between getting the nutrition and calories my body require while staying away from the wrong kinds of foods.
I was telling Nancy that the there are two kinds of cottage cheeses that we keep on hand. One has 5 grams of sugar and the other has two grams of sugar. The containers look similar so it was a surprise to me when I compared the labels. I guess you could say that a this is not a sugar free diet in the literal sense but it dramatically reduces my sugar intake so it's a good place to start.
And it's a good thing I like eggs since there are plenty of them on the sample two-week meal plan I'm following. Did I mention that it calls for two cups of vegetables for both lunch and dinner? I never get enough of those anyway so that's fine. Maybe I'll make a ratatouille dish this week.
Signage at the center requests that cars entering the center turn off their engines while using the facilities. I'm far enough off the beaten track when parking near the swap shop where those rules are no longer applicable. It's but a short stroll to the receptacle drop off areas within the center so it's not a big deal. Carrying two or three bags at a time I can usually get the job done fairly quickly.
I need to add air to the tires usually once a month since there is leakage around the rims which is not unusual in older cars. I used to bring it to a local gas station where I would throw $.50 in an air machine in order to fill the tires but have more recently been using a small air compressor at home which just seems more convenient. In the last couple of days I noticed that the heater isn't throwing off any air when using the controls on the dash. This is a problem.
There is plenty of winter left despite the prognostications of Punxsutawney Phil where he did not see his shadow. Without a defroster I could be in trouble even on short drives. I either find a solution on Google or YouTube or the car gets recycled. The fix I think it needs is a $30 part but that is pure conjecture on my part. What if that doesn't work? Am I willing to spend a couple of hundred dollars to have it diagnosed and a couple hundred more to have it fixed? Probably not. I'll need to think about that a little more.
I finally made it to the gym this past week after renewing my membership towards the end of last year. I've been biking right along given the decent weather and lack of snow so haven't had a need to go to the gym. Riding in the colder temperatures hasn't been a problem either so it's all been good. Now that I'm back to the gym it's nice to have a different sort of workout. Yesterday, I both went to the gym and biked in the afternoon since temperatures were well into the fifties. It was absolutely springlike here on the coast so you make the best of things and I did.
It's not easy getting into shape. If you expect to be a lean mean fighting machine you need to work on it day in and day out. Cut out the sugar and stop eating the things you know are not now and never will be good for you. Easier said than done as you can well imagine. This phase, which for me usually begins around this time of year, goes through the summer and into the early Fall. I don't know what we're going to do with all the leftover food we bought for our Super Bowl extravaganza including sour cream, cream cheese, chips, dips, ice cream and god only knows what else but it all has to go. Those items are no longer on the menu.
I'm really struggling with this latest book I'm reading. It's a good book written by a terrific author, Edith Wharton. I was telling Nancy that Edith's mother forbade her to read novels until she was married. Can you imagine? Ms. Wharton was also the first woman to win a Pulitzer prize in the early 1900's for literature for her book, "The Age of Innocence." I have yet to read that book but it is high on my list of things to read next. Maybe the word "struggling" is too strong a word. I'm enjoying it but it isn't keeping my attention for whatever reason.
I'm looking forward to watching Trump's State of the Union address tonight. I'm hearing that he will be striking a conciliatory note and will urge the disparate groups and various factions on the left and right to join forces for the betterment of the country. It will be an aspirational speech and one which has been given by every president going back 250 years. Truth be told, I would rather he read the riot act to the leftists in the democrat party and call them out for their anti-American rhetoric and activism on everything from abortion rights to immigration.
I've seen Trump's list of invitees to the State of the Union and it includes a wide range of people with interesting stories to tell. He will tell those stories with sometimes gut wrenching effectiveness while calling attention to the individual or individuals who are likely sitting, sobbing, and sometimes saluting from the gallery. These are stories that the American people need to hear. They need to see the faces behind the stories as a reminder of the things we as a nation have failed to do and what the consequences of our collective action and inaction actually look like.
For the want of a better barrier along our southern border, we will hear about the victims of senseless violence and we will as a nation mourn their loss. For the want of more humane abortion policy (or no policy at all) we will hear about policies advanced by democrats that allow the killing of our children up to and including the moment they come into the world. For the want of better bullying policies in our school systems we will hear about the senseless suicides and struggles of those affected. For the want of a free society that ensures equal opportunity for all, Trump will declare as only he can that we will never be a Socialist society.
I'm filling in the blanks after the fact a little bit here since Trump's State of the Union has come and gone. That is the danger I run into when I sit on these posts rather than publishing them right away. That's fine. A little cleanup here and there is always a good thing. Whether it be the turn of a phrase or a run-on sentence that needs to be chopped up, I'm happy to do that. I rarely go back and read these things once their posted so who cares is a question I might want to ask myself. Nancy never reads them and I'm not sure Evan even knows that I post these things much less write them. It's all for naught, I suppose.
Today is day four on my sugar free diet. I can literally feel the pounds melting off. It's like the fat cells anticipated my going on this diet and they now have nowhere to hide. Come out in the open you little bastards! It's always a tricky balance between getting the nutrition and calories my body require while staying away from the wrong kinds of foods.
I was telling Nancy that the there are two kinds of cottage cheeses that we keep on hand. One has 5 grams of sugar and the other has two grams of sugar. The containers look similar so it was a surprise to me when I compared the labels. I guess you could say that a this is not a sugar free diet in the literal sense but it dramatically reduces my sugar intake so it's a good place to start.
And it's a good thing I like eggs since there are plenty of them on the sample two-week meal plan I'm following. Did I mention that it calls for two cups of vegetables for both lunch and dinner? I never get enough of those anyway so that's fine. Maybe I'll make a ratatouille dish this week.