Running

I hate to exercise. Really, I do. I'd rather sit on my bum and read a good book. However, I force myself to exercise in the name of Health. Back in college (quite a few years ago now) I had to run regularly for a Life Fitness class we were required to take, and thus began the on again, off again relationship I've had with exercise. I ran throughout college, avoiding the freshmen 15. After college, I didn't run as much but would go for a jog here and there. As time went on, I didn't do much of any kind of exercise and if I did, the exercise was sporadic. I hit my later 20s and realized fitting into those jeans wasn't so easy. The metabolism was starting to change. Hate that switch we women go through in life! So I picked up the running thing again and threw in some Pilates. I started seeing results and stuck with it through my wedding at age 29. But soon after wedded bliss wore off, I got lazy again. About 3 years ago, we joined the gym and with my pal Aimee by my side, I regularly visited the gym, mixing in cardio and weight training. I felt good and although there were times I truly slacked off the work out regimen, I made the effort. Along the line, my other friend Jodi asked me if I wanted to start running with her, to train for a 5k. Sure, why not?! So we began training and I got myself up to running a 5k (that would be 3.1 miles if you weren't so sure of the conversion). But I never did run an actual race. But thanks to Jodi, I was at least running and moving, burning those calories. This fall, my old friend (meaning we have been friends forever, not that she's old) Malayna asked me to run a 10k (again that's 6.2 miles). Not realizing what I was doing, I agreed. So I began training and in November ran the bridge from Camden, NJ to Philly and back again. And I lived to tell about it. Without a goal though, I didn't do much until February when another friend (what is with my friends and the running!?) Erin asked if I wanted to run the Philadelphia Broad Street 10 Miler. Again, I readily agreed to the crazyness and began training. This took some serious effort. I had never run that far EVER! Well, I'm pleased to report that this past Sunday, Erin and I (and that old friend, Malayna, even though this was nothing for her since she's already mastered the half marathon at 13 miles. She rocks!) ran 10 miles! It was 90 degrees and humid. Thankfully the race organizers had arranged to have the fire hydrants turned on as sprinklers. What a relief from the heat! But we did it. We finished well! Now here's the dilemma. I've finished the race. I have no new goal. Will I continue to run?

Update on the war...

It's official.
The war I have waged against my cholesterol is over.
Result? The war is lost.
I had my levels checked again last week. After 6 months of a new diet, and almost 8 pounds lost the total deduction was 8 points. Down from 288 to 280.
Pathetic.
Give me the drugs, I am done.
It seems that my DNA is wired a certain way and there is nothing I can do about this other than resort to medication.
Oh well, thanks to Costco Pharmacy for supplying my medicine at $6.34 for a 30 day supply.
So for about the cost of 1 cheeseburger I can be much healthier, and seriously reduce my risk of heart attack later in life.
That's not too bad I guess.

Now, where are the bacon and eggs?

Update on the war against cholesterol

Here is a quick statistical update in my battle "of the bulge"
1. Lbs lost: 6
2. Days craving bacon: 26
3. Days craving bacon and eggs: 26
4. Days with no bacon: 26
5. Total Medical bills from various lab tests to tell me I have high Cholestorol: Approx $3200.00
6. Days spent thinking that the cost of medicine in this country is daylight robbery: 26
7. Days spent enjoying the newer "slimmer me": hmmm, about 10.
8. Number of times Marci has told me she doesn't want to hear how fast I have lost weight, because I am a guy and its "not fair:" at least 4
9. Number of Lbs to go: About 3
10. Inches lost on waistline: 1.74
11. Cholesterol score: Hopefully dropping.

Sean.

Trans Fat

"High cholestrol?"
"What?"
"Me?"
"Yes, you.." said the doctor as he sailed the news, smoothly over his desk.
"How high is it?"
"It's high."
I sat back into the chair, and started a mental replay of all the junk I eat while I'm out running around in my car during the week. Hmmm. Yesterday a co-worker and I devoured a box of Krispy Creme doughnuts in less than 3 miles. Later that afternoon, a bag of chips and a Dr. Pepper for lunch. This can't be good. Business lunches mean usually a burger and fries, plus last week we went to the local diner twice to eat breakfast at 12 noon. That means bacon and eggs - both times.
My heart, and my head, sink.
I turned my head to Marci for some sympathy, and all I get is cold stare followed by a look that plainly says, "You idiot."
Well, that was a quiet ride home, folks. All I wanted to do was yell out "Are you kidding me!"
The kind of yell you save for when someone pulls out in front of you.
Apparently, my cholesterol just pulled out in front of me.

So my new diet consists of everything I don't want to eat. Which includes severe restrictions on sugar, fattening food, soda, sodium, potato chips, krispy kreme's, and worst of all bacon and eggs. I feel like I am on some sort of 1943 war time rationing. And the only war I am fighting is against some little chemical called "cholesterol."

I sat down for a business lunch last week and looked at the menu thinking, "I can't have that, that, this or any of this, no, no, not that. I told the waitress to just bring me a chicken wrap, and "go easy on the salt."

I called my friend Mike, who has the same problem, perhaps to see if I could get some sympathy. His answer, "You're screwed."

Grocery shopping is much more fun these days too. I guess that they put that little label on there for good reason. Not all is lost however, I have already dropped a few pounds from my once slowly expanding midsection. I feel better, and I don't seem to suffer any more from sugar highs and the impending crash shortly after. I eat tangerines, and yogurt like crazy now (and yes, it's low fat yogurt.)
The other good news (I am being told) is that I caught this early enough to deal with it.

I still miss the eggs and bacon though.....

American Heart Association

Go green

Marci and I have been on this kick recently, that we need to do our part to help "be good stewards of the environment"

What does this mean? Are we suddenly joining Greenpeace? Are we going to support community screenings of Al Gore's movie? Are we going to grow our own family of trees, and start hugging them at least once a week? No.
None of that nonsense.
For a while now, I've secretly been feeling that I need to be more conscious of the things I do on a daily basis that affect the environment around me. We in America are so used to living in a disposable society, we use stuff and then just throw it away. Its easy, its guiltless, its convenient.
Use, dispose. Use, dispose. Do you ever stop to wonder what happens to the things we just discard?
It has to go somewhere, it doesn't just cease to exist when you dont see it anymore in the bottom of the trash can. The space it occupies isn't just voided out underneath the garbage pile.

There used to be a lady at my old job who brought a big box into work every week. Her goal in life was to collect the used soda bottles from the lunchroom. She would take the box down to her local recycling center, and make sure that all that plastic was recycled, and re-used.
She never said anything, she just did it. No-one paid her for the extra gas she used in her car, or for her time. Why did she do it? I would often asked myself. What did she care? If I wanted to throw my used bottle in the trash and choose not to recycle that was my right! We didn't even get along, she used to call me "Mr big stuff" and she would sing that annoying song around me - probably because I thought I actually was "Mr big stuff" in my youthful arrogance.
I finally realized one day after I offered to help her carry the full box out to her car why she did this.
Every time she drove down to the recycling center, it gave her a good feeling inside to know that she was not being part of the common mentality that is used to simply wasting, and discarding. It didn't make her a better person. It just felt good.

Marci bought this book recently by Ed Begley Jr. He is passionate about energy efficiency, conservation, and going green. I must admit at first I thought it was another book by a tree hugger, bashing the Bush administration about global warming blah, blah, blah.
Well after I started reading it, I couldn't put it down.
Not a word about any of that stuff. Just really great ideas on how to be more environmentally friendly and frankly, save money. (I like that part!!!)
Save money? Huh?
Yes.
So, in the past few weeks I have installed a programmable thermostat, changed most of our light bulbs to the new CFL (compact fluorescent light) and paid much more attention to what we throw into the trash, and what we recycle.
And to be honest, it feels good. Not only do I feel less like and all consuming, disposing, human being - we are actually saving money.
The effort required is minimal, and yes the new light bulbs were a little more expensive. But 1 regular light bulb uses the same energy as 5 CFL bulbs. And they last up to 12 years. 12 YEARS!!! Do you know how much it irritates me when I have to change a light bulb and we don't have any left? But lighting 5 bulbs for one? And I get the same amount of light?
Hello - no brainer.

Simple things like running the dishwasher after 8pm (after peak demand) help save energy.
When we bought our new washer and dryer, the salesman convinced us to buy the fancy new (and much more expensive) Bosch models. His claim was that the washer only used 10 gallons of water per cycle instead of 40 gallons per cycle like a regular washer. His other claim that we only need "a tablespoon of detergent per load" seemed like a good sales pitch to me, but its true. Since we moved here in August last year, we are literally still on the same container of detergent, and yes, our clothes are clean and fresh every time. Our water consumption is very low as well.
The dryer has a moisture sensor in it that shuts the machine off when the clothes are dry.
Brilliant!!! No more just setting the timer to 60 mins, when you only need 25 mins to dry your jeans. That is wasteful, and we pay the electric bill.

Naysayers will say, "So what, there is plenty of fresh water, who cares?"
Sure there is. But it takes energy and more petrochemicals to clean every extra gallon of dirty water. So who does care - well at the moment everyone does, since a barrel of oil hit $100, up from 30 only 3 years ago.
Like paying over $3.00 for a gallon of gas?

I was watching a documentary on the Exxon Valdez oil spill last night. I remember the absolute outrage, and anger this created about the affect this would have on the environment. How many Americans watched the news that night with utter disgust at the negligence of the "evil oil company" and then threw away their plastic tv dinner tray without even thinking about what affect that would have on the environment. The sad truth, is that all that oil was actually on its way to America to power our SUV's and cars, and make little plastic tv dinner trays.
So we are all part of the process. Now I know, we need cars, we need dinner, we all watch TV's.
But still - it made me think. Oil companies exist because we all use oil, and energy.
There would be no Exxon Valdez without the need we have created for oil, and all of the useful things it produces. I'm not condoning their actions, what happened was an accident, and a subsequent investigation blamed the spill on the inexperienced sailor who ran the ship aground and the captain who left the bridge unsupervised.
Oil is in everything. Like your new cell-phone? Plastic made from Crude oil. Like that new carpet in your house? Yep, from crude oil. Like that new salon shampoo you just bought for $14 bucks - you guessed it the container ultimately comes from crude oil. And it is very likely many of the chemicals in the shampoo are an oil by product.
So there are many factors as to why the price of oil is so high, but that is another discussion.
We can all still contribute to saving it, by recycling, driving a little slower, and choosing what products we buy.

Anyway, I digress.

We discovered that Lancaster County has a fantastic program just for recycling. I won't bore you with the details, but they take everything from old paint, to old TV's and computers, old household chemicals. My Dad recently recycled and old TV that he had for years (and was partially in love with) Way to go Dad!!
I also read that Lancaster burns 80% of the household trash they collect to create electricity.
This means that only 20% goes into a landfill. (And yes, they do treat the emissions this creates before releasing it into the atmosphere)
At the local Giant that we shop at, they offer these neat reusable fabric shopping bags.
You can use them as much as you want. 1 Bag hold up to $30 in groceries. We love them.
No more old plastic bags clogging up our trash and laundry closet, no more cereal boxes tearing through the side. No more multiple bagging for the gallon of milk, or big cans. No more of the handles stretching and cutting a line in your hand. When we are done shopping, they go back into the trunk.

So here are some helpful links that you can check out to help reduce your energy consumption.
You don't need to join the Sierra club, or Greenpeace. If you feel like hugging a tree then go ahead. You dont need to become a hippie, or a crazy environmentalist - but if the thought of saving money, and feeling better about the impact you have on the environment appeals to you than check these out.

Energy Star - Great for tips on saving electricity
http://www.energystar.gov/

Lancaster County recycling
http://www.lcswma.org/recyclingInfo.asp

Safety Training

This week at work was our "annual safety refresher course."
So, for the entire day on Tuesday I sat through a class learning how to be more safe.
I have been so busy at work lately that I was not looking forward to giving up a whole day listening to the basics of CPR, first aid, industrial accident prevention, how to use a defribulator, etc etc.
I was doing fine, sitting in class allowing my mind to wander all around the universe (like it usually does) when the words "this next presentation will be extremely graphic" snapped me back to earth.
To say the next 45 minutes after that was graphic would be an understatement. We were forced to watch a video of what happens to someone when they come into contact with 7200 volts.
Trust me when I say, its not fun. I had to sit through about 35 slides of what 3rd degree burns look like, with detailed descriptions of infection, pus, "charred skin"
After what seemed like long enough, I had to leave the room. I couldn't take it.
Keep in mind, I was sitting amongst a group of tough guys. Most of them are members of our service crew. These are men that work on big equipment all day, with big manly tools and wrenches. They think nothing of working outside in the freezing cold, or the scorching summer heat pulling large engines to pieces and putting them back together. All of them bear the mark of tough mechanics, big thick-skinned hands and fingers, usually with a permanent grey stain from the oil and grease. Manly men. They drive big service trucks full of cool tools and hammers. They get the job done, pain, weather, dirt, blood or not.

And then there's me. Sitting in my nice pressed pants and ironed white business shirt, with my shoes nicely polished for work. I get upset because the black ink on my deskpad calendar sometimes makes my cuff's a little dirty when I type. The sleeves on my shirt always have a nice crisp pressed line running from the shoulder to the wrist. I like that, and when I see it in the office bathroom mirror it gives me a feeling of satisfaction. I may even twist my outstreched arm a little and take another look at how nice and straight it is today. I like my cubicle nice and organized, I personalized it with a few toys and gadgets I've found in my travels and things from home, you know so that you can have that nice blend of professional but fun. I guess I hope that my co-workers walk past it and think to themselves, "wow, what a nice cubicle, the perfect blend of professional, but yet fun!" And don't you dare get into my company car with dirty, oily shoes, there may be floormats there, but they need to be clean.

I suppose these guys would call me a "suit" If I were them, I'd call me a "suit" too.

As one would suspect with a room full of tough guys, watching the pictures soon became a contest of who could watch longer without cringing, or looking away.
There's them - stonefaced, emotionless.
There's me: "Seriously, I think I am going to pass out, I cant watch this anymore, I am feeling lightheaded, oh that is just nasty, please someone get me some water, just breathe, breathe man!!"
And then, I have to get up and walk out, I just cant look any more, and the commentary is even worse. There is no escape. Words like, infection, blood, pus, pain, gangrene, fill the air around me.
I tried to make it look like I needed to go to the bathroom, but I think the fact that I was covered in sweat, breathing heavily and as white as a ghost gave me away. Maybe my comment "I cant watch this anymore" didn't help either as I bolted out.

After about 10 minutes in the cool air outside, I felt better.
Now I had to go back in and face my destiny.
As I stepped back inside, one of the guys said "Hey Sean, you missed the best part"
Raucous laughter filled the room.
A hearty slap on the back from our service manager made me feel a little better.

Mechanics: 1
Suits: None

Fortunately for me, all of these big strong guys are really great guys. They will do anything to get the job done. I am amazed many times at their level of experience, pride and dedication to their company, and craft. In an age where everything is run by a computer somewhere, there is something to be said for folks who use their own hands all day, everyday to make a living.


Well, I feel safer I guess. I have a new regard for electricity. I learned how to use the heart defribulator that they have at the mall.

So be safe
And remember:
"A safe worker is a happy worker"
(Taken from a factory I visited in Mexico)

Sean.

Numb the Pain...

I woke up on Tuesday morning looking forward to a visit with the dentist.
Yes, I know this sounds like loads of fun. The reason? I like having complete strangers poke and scratch my teeth with sharp metal objects. Not really. And come to think of it , I don't think a single human being (with access to good dental care,) has ever woken up and shouted aloud
"Wohoo, today I'm going to the dentist!" While I was lying in the chair having my teeth drilled and filled, I got to thinking. Which insane human being came up with this crazy idea?
Who suddenly said, " Aha, I know how to fix holes in teeth, I will construct a drill and drill them out, and then I shall fill the holes with, well, something solid." Who was the first volunteer dental patient?
"Excuse me sir, you look like your teeth hurt, I know just how to fix that"
"How?"
"Well its very simple you see, I am going to use this drill I have constructed, and then drill your teeth out"
"Great"
Crazy.

I also re-discovered the effects of Novacaine on Tuesday.
So for fun, I took a few pictures of myself desperately trying to smile after receiving about 6 shots in my mouth.


I swear, this is not an exaggeration.
Worst, after arriving home, I volunteered to go pick up the pizza Marci ordered for dinner.
I thought, what the heck, I'm going to see how the guys in our local pizza shop like my new face.
And that evening I pronounced it "pppftttthhheethzzaa" not "pizza"

So brush you teeth tonight.

Or you may end up looking like this.

Sean.