Enamored With Ron Paul? Read This

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I just read this blog post, cheerfully titled “Ron Paul Hates You“, which points out some reasons Democrats and swing voters shouldn’t fall too in love with the straight-talking Ron Paul. (emphasis his)

… the diaries are full of people who can’t find enough nice things to say about Rep. Ron Paul, whose smiling face is at this moment being beamed to America from the site of the Republican debate in New Hampshire–after which, we may be sure, we will see yet another round of diaries brimming with joy about Paul’s sweet words against the Iraq war. You, dear reader, may even be considering writing one or more such diaries yourself.

Before you do, fellow Democrat, please understand just one thing: Your affection for Paul is far from mutual. Through his words, his actions, and his votes in Congress, he has made one thing abundantly clear over the decades: Ron Paul hates you. By building him up, by supporting him, by taking him seriously, you are not driving a wedge into the heart of the Republican Party–you are only giving him a helping hand along the road to his goal of destroying just about everything you stand for.

Please read on for the well researched rebuke against Ron Paul.

This kind of reminds me of another straight-talking Republican presidential candidate out of Texas who seemed to be shaking things up before election time but ended up catering to all the wrong folks when he got to bat.

(Thanks, Ugly)

Vivanativa: This Band Gets the Net

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While in Puerto Rico last month, we got a chance to see VIVANATIVA play live at a free concert put on at Guajataca beach. Ever since, I’ve been tuned into their website almost daily where they let you play any of their songs off any of their albums.

This band is supposedly the shiznit in PR. I think they’re pretty rocking. Check out their stuff at their website. You’ll probably have to buy their albums at Amazon if you’re in the states.

vivanativa

Testing Out Windows Live Writer

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IMG_0635

I might recommend this to some clients if it works well.

Let’s see what adding an image is like. Well. there it is. Gonna try to float it to the right. Done. That’s a picture of my brother Jeremy and his lovely bride Dawn, who just got married in Puerto Rico last month.

Let’s see how it looks!

Our Office View

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We just moved recently, and one of the things I really liked about our old place was how our office was setup and the view of “the duck pond” across the street.

So when picking the apartment we wanted at the new complex, the view was very important. It’s amazing to think that this kind of scenery is just 5 miles from the Limerick nuclear power plant. Actually, the radiation is probably what’s causing these trees to grow. Or more likely the trees were planted to hide the power plant behind it.

In any case, I’m glad that they are there. I’ve always dreamed about sitting at a computer, writing the great american novel, and gazing out at the trees in thought. Well, I’m not writing a novel (yet), but at least part of the dream lives on right now.

Here are some photos I just took. It’s raining out there and a little dark. If I was more patient or a better photographer, I could have gotten some better stuff. The photos don’t do it justice. I adjusted the levels a bit to make the green pop, which is why the desk looks kind of brown. Some top secret shots of WineLog work on those screens too.

Office View 1 Office View 3 Office View 2

Bought WinZip Today

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I bought a license for WinZip today. In some kind of reverse morals, it felt a little dirty. Just a little dirty. Overall, I feel like a tip top citizen.

I’ve been using the software for years without a license (minus my use through serveral employers who did have licenses). Their software has gotten stricter lately about not letting you use it after the trial period, so I consented myself to using just the built in Windows XP zip functionality for the past few months. But that just doesn’t cut it for some things. Like pesky zip files that only WinZip can handle. So I’ve given in and bought a license for $29.95.

Spring is like a perhaps hand

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‘was reading some E.E. Cummings poetry today. Here is probably my favorite poem by him or anyone.

Spring is like a perhaps hand
(which comes carefully
out of Nowhere)arranging
a window,into which people look(while
people stare
arranging and changing placing
carefully there a strange
thing and a known thing here)and

changing everything carefully

spring is like a perhaps
Hand in a window
(carefully to
and fro moving New and
Old things,while
people stare carefully
moving a perhaps
fraction of flower here placing
an inch of air there)and

without breaking anything.

Another View

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Here’s another view of that great feat I accomplished earlier today. I’m too proud.

No Email

Inbox Cleared

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Back from a long hiatus, and I’ve just cleared out my inbox. Yeah, me. Expect more from me over the coming weeks. A bit hard to see that 220 in the previous posts title as I’m weighing in at a whopping 226 again after a very gluttonous honeymoon.

No Email

220 Pounds. Challenge Update.

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After one week of this challenge, I am at 10 of a possible 14 points. If I do a perfect job of things from here on out, I could get a maximum of 56 points.

It may be a little pesimistic, but it’s easier for me to think of this in terms of “misses” or “points lost”. So I’ve lost 4 points in one week. Not so good. At that rate, I’m going to end up with just 44 points and “alright” status. Then again that’s not so bad.

I’m finding it’s pretty tough to get to the gym EVERY SINGLE DAY. Last Friday, I cheated a little and counted 5 hours of walking at the gym (suit shopping) and 1 hour of dancing as my workout. I think it works.

I missed on my diet last Thursday and took a big hit Sunday when I ate too much and didn’t get to the gym either for -2 points. I can pretend that Easter is a special exception, but there are always exceptions. For instance tomorrow is Kim and my dating anniversary. I’m planning on eating 2000+ tomorrow. With any luck I can avoid being docked a point for going over 3000.

Macaroni and Cheese, Taco Bell
Hungry yet? Yeah, me too. Today I had 2 bowels of cereal for 700Cal, a chocolate chip cookie for 100Cal, and 4 slices of pizza for 1200Cal. We went grocery shopping at 8:00pm and Kim hinted at making some Kraft Macaroni and Cheese when we got home. I was ready to blow it all. Luckily she got less hungry herself (or maybe just for my benefit), but we passed.

Then I was listening to last week’s Diggnation podcast and they started talking about Taco Bell. Ayyeyyeyeyeee!!! I’m such a fat ass that I went to the Taco Bell website to drool. In high school I was a 4-item Taco Beller. Since then I’ve moved down to a 3-item Taco Beller, and am now just a 2-item Beller… meaning I only order 2 items off the menu when I eat there.

I decided to use their nutritional information calculator to figure out how many calories are in my favorite combinations. For instance a Chicken Ranchero Taco, a Crunchwrap Supreme, and a Spicy Chicken Burrito is just 1260 calories. That’s a lot of food. A more typical meal for me is Chicken Burrito Supreme, Beef Chalupa Supreme, and Soft-shell Beef Taco, which comes in at just 950Cal. I could definitely eat that twice a day.

I think these websites understate things a bit though. I checked out all kinds of fast food nutritional calculators to figure out what my typical meals are. Most are around 1000Cal. I was most amazed that a Wendy’s Junior Bacon Cheeseburger is just 370Cal. That could be the most yum for your Cal buck right there.

Maybe I can become famous by losing weight on the Taco Bell diet. That would be awesome. I might call them up.

220 Pounds. Nasty Nutrisystem Food Saved Me Today.

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After 3 days, I am at 5 points in my little challenge, with a potential final score of 59/60. How’d I lose that point?

Self-Uniting Marriage License
Yesterday Kim and I were out getting our marriage license. We went to the Montgomery County court house to obtain a “self-uniting” marriage license, but in this county only Quakers and Amish can get that kind of license. I tried to fight it a bit, but thought (and read previously online) that is was easier to do things through another county. I wonder what would have happened if I would have just said I was a Quaker. (I went to a Quaker college after all, and the 4 testimonies is something I can definitely ascribe to.) Would I have needed proof? What would that proof have looked like?

Kim even noticed a bible on the desk there. I wonder if they made you swear on it before getting the license??

Anyway, we then hurried on over to the Chester County court house, which we heard was more friendly with their self-uniting licenses. There was no problem there. No bible either; just a promise to tell the truth as we asserted that we weren’t related, weren’t intoxicated, weren’t currently married to any other bodies. We also had to answer if we thought we were “weak minded”… not sure about that one, but I answered no. I think if it takes you longer than 5 seconds to answer that question, they consider you weak minded no matter how you respond.

Lunch at Iron Hill Yesterday. No Point For Me.
I was pretty hungry then by 5pm. The court house was near the “Iron Hill Brewery”, which Kim and I like, so we went there to celebrate a bit. By this point I had had a donut, some chips and salsa, and a small salad… coming in around 800Cal total. With 1200Cal left, I could have made it by just getting a salad or something. Instead I had half an order of the “cheesesteak eggrolls” (SO GOOD!) and a meatloaf sandwich with french fries. I estimated my daily calories at 2500-3000Cal or so.

I think I didn’t mention it yesterday, but in addition to giving myself 1 point every day I eat less than 2000Cal, I’m also going to dock myself a point if I eat over 3000Cal. So while I missed out on a point yesterday, my 3k rule helped me so I didn’t do too much damage. Even so, I felt kind of bad about the situation and spent a whole 2 hours at the gym that night to make up for the slip. I don’t get double points for spending more time at the gym. So just 1 point yesterday.

Yummy Nino’s, But I’m Still Good Today.
Today was a better day. A full 2-point day. Kim and I were in Reading for some wedding errands, and we went to eat at Nino’s on 5th Street with Kim’s mother. This could have been a disaster, as Nino’s makes the very best cheesesteaks known to man. Way better than anything you’ll find in Philly proper. I passed on the cheesesteak though, going for a cheeseburger (which is served on their home-made bread… that’s not healthy, it’s just delicious) which is slightly less calorie-intensive. I also had some french fries, bringing my lunch to around 1200. 400Cal for donut and milk in the morning, and 400Cal of cereal at night put me at 2000Cal.

I had a cheeseburger and french fries for lunch and am still on my diet. I’m also hungry as hell right now. That’s how this works for me.

Nutrisystem is Not Food.
But I still haven’t gotten to the story about how some nasty Nutrisystem food saved me from blowing my diet (and 1 point) today.

A couple months ago, I was visiting my Mom’s place and noticed a ton of cardboard boxes in her coat closet. The boxes were actually about 1 months supply of Nutrisysem food. The way Nutrisystem works is that they send you enough food to eat each day based on your calorie limits, and through portion control you can make sure you’re not overeating.

The problem is that it’s like not real food. The first hint should be that NONE of the food needs to be refrigerated. It’s all freeze-dried and who knows what.

My Mom said that she was going to try the diet, but just couldn’t eat the food. She said after a week of it, when you’re limiting how much you’re eating anyway, you start to crave it a bit. But it doesn’t taste good at all. Which is a shame I think, because I’ve had Lean Cuisines and similar microwave meals that aren’t half bad and have just as few calories as some of this stuff. Mom said the diet really works because you can’t even eat the Nutrisystem stuff cause it’s so disgusting.

Anyway, she gave us a little cup of pasta stuff and a brownie in a bag just to try for the heck of it. To suffer along with her I guess. The “food” has sat on top of our fridge for two months.

Tonight, I was so hungry that I was turning over the kitchen for a little snack. I figured if I ate something less than 200 calories I could fudge the numbers so it didn’t seem like I went over 2000 (terrible, I know) or at least not feel so bad. In my search, I saw that little cup of pasta. I started thinking about Ramen noodles and cup-of-noodles, and similar things and how good they taste. At just 190Cal, I thought this cup of pasta might do the trick. Parmasean and broccoli. Yum.

I boiled some water in the microwave and poured it into the cup. Stirred it and let it sit for 8 minutes as per the instructions. By this point I had already caught a whiff of the pasta and wasn’t too impressed. But I thought it would probably taste better than it smelled.

I never tasted it. After 8 minutes I went back and peeled back the lid. It still smelled funny and had a odd texture. It was no Ramen. It was no cup-of-noodles. It smelled like cut up cardboard, soaked in warm broccoli juice. I threw it out without even trying it. If that cup of noodles had been even half as tempting as… pretty much anything edible… I would have eaten it and been out another point. But it was nasty, and I’m in for a two-bagger today. Go me!

Pull Ups for Wimps.
I also had another good day at the gym. Lots of basketball and running, followed up by some lifting focused on my arms. I’m doing some assisted pull ups now. I set the little bar thing to get 60lbs of assistance and do about 4-6 pull ups at a time. For a little bit, I get to pretend that I weight 160lbs. I can actually do 1 pull up with just 40 pounds of help, which tells me that if I lose 20lbs and gain 20lbs of strength, I can do at least 1 unassisted pull up. That’s a decent goal to have. There was an older dude in the gym (60+) who was doing 10 pull ups at a time. The guy was totally ripped. I admit I was a little jealous, but mostly just impressed at how fit he was at his age.

Today on the scale, the little red thingy was a little left of 220. I think I’ll be breaking through this 220 resistance very soon. I’m pretty pumped and more motivated than I’ve been in a while… despite the challenges of the past few days. It’s like a war out there, but I’ve got some heavy artilliary. Tomorrow is another day out of the house, with one or two potential meals eaten out. So I’ll need the big guns.