Monday ...

Well, let's see what we have to report ... yesterday (Sunday) was Father's Day. We skipped church to work in the yard early in the morning, because we had lunch with Erin & Drew at Bahama Breeze (a great place). Afterwards, we ran some errands before heading back towards home. After grocery shopping we headed over the Mill Creek HS for our 30 minute of aerobics (walking). We also did another 30 minutes over there this evening after a nice dinner at Friday's w/ Dave & Jody. Today was a fairly slow day at work - I spent most of my time working on my presentation for tomorrow, but was able to also get in my lifting workout, too. (Sure hope all this exercise pays off.... it's making me tired!)

Alex has some interesting comments over on his blog (http://alexforrest.blogspot.com) about the value of using or distributing tracts when witnessing. I generally agree with his observations and feeling about the efficacy of tracts; however, they can be a helpful "crutch" for folks that find witnessing difficult or uncomfortable.

If you know anyone named Hank ...

...you gotta send them this ad! http://www.adjab.com/files/2005/06/starbucks-hank.mpg

(Thanks, Starbucks, for making me laugh out loud... and thanks to Jason Womack's blog)

Friday evening...

Well, the exercise program continues apace ... yesterday I did my morning routine (stretching, crunches, pushups), did 15 mins on the exercise bike while Jo exercised, then we walked 1.5 miles or so w/ Rick & Christie Krueger at a small park/campground on the shore of Lake Lanier (very pleasant, too). Met the Park Ranger (Bob) in charge, and his 2 dogs, Emma and Dancer. Today I did the morning routine again, then, being Friday, it was my day for "lifting," before lunch. This evening I dropped Jo off at Jody's for a Princess House party and then headed for Borders for a few hours of pleasant reading, coffee, & generally just hanging out. While there, Alex kept me up to date on the Braves game (he & Keri drove to Cincy w/ friends to take in the game which, incidentally, they won big time) via text messaging my cell - makes me feel so "high techie" that way.

Tomorrow is yard work day - mowing, edging, trimming, digging & planting, etc. Later, we'll meet up with Jody & Dave again for dinner & a movie. Looking forward to it.

Are these the same Braves?

Clearly, they're not. To many injuries to too many good players (Chipper, Hampton, Thompson, Perez, Estrada, etc.), playing too many rookies (who may be good players eventually, but ...), and - wow! - how about that closer!! Losers 12 of the last 16 games and the last 5 series. I hope they'll be able to pick it up and turn things around soon ..... our 14th straight division title looks kinda' shaky right now.

A little more news ...

.... about my renewed efforts at keeping up the blog as a sort of mini-journal.

1. I hope to make a few regular notes regarding how "well/regularly" I've been able to exercise and walk, and how my diet (not "dieting," but simply watching what, and how much, I eat) is going. For example, today I completed my 3 sets of weights, then this evening we ate a reasonably decent meal at the mall food court (chicken, rice, broccoli for me) then walked the mall for 30 minutes or so, logging 2.02 miles.

2. I wanted to mention the book I read some 3-4 weeks ago, "Getting Things Done" by David Allen. In it he offers an excellent, and simple, method of tracking all your differing activities and priorities in all the various areas of your life, either using high-tech methods (i.e., computer/palm pilot, etc.) or low-tech (i.e., daytimer, note cards, pen/pencil, etc.). The idea, simply put, is to simply get everything into your system (dates, deadlines, to dos, reminders, and so on) so that you can reduce or eliminate the tendency to use "mental energy" trying to remember stuff (or fretting that you didn't). If it's all written down someplace you check regularly, & you're confident it is, then you won't use up mental capacity or energy worry about stuff. I've found that, especially as I get older, "systems" greatly enable me to be more confident about stuff: files where I can find things, keeping similar things together, putting the bills always in the box, then paying them at about the same time each month ... that sorta' things. I make a lot of notes about all sorts of stuff in MS Outlook on my laptop, then synch it with (a) the Palm Pilot (which I seldom use) and (b) My Yahoo (a great backup of my upcoming "stuff"). If you don't have a system like this - find one, it's that helpful, and that important.

Back to basics ...

Been a while (duh ... look at the dates) since the last post; some things are new and different, but much, of course, continues as before. New stuff: Alex & Keri are pregnant (due in late September) & are experiencing all the joy, and changes, such an event precipitates. They'll learn, eventually, that bringing a baby into the world is, really, an ancient process: while there have been all sorts of advances & so forth, the basics are still largely unchanged. Despite our having lived in a dark and distant age, we still managed to sire, and rear, reasonably normal, intelligent, & well-adjusted kids - I'm sure they will, too.

Let's see, what else .... hmmm .... Jo and I have embarked on a new exercise & eating/dieting program, largely due to my reading a book called "Younger Next Year by Crowley & Lodge (I've found it a quick & interesting read, despite the regular references to our "Darwinian body" (sic) and that sort of thing). The book is intended primarily for men in their 50s or older, but a companion book targeted for women is due out later this year. Exercise, for me, consists of lifting weights 3x/week for 45 minutes or so (Jo 2x/week), then both of us doing some moderate aerobic exercise daily (usually walking). I find this a little more difficult inasmuch as Jo's stride is noticeably shorter than mine, meaning we either can't walk together, she works too hard to keep up, or I'm slowing down a little. Still, doing anything is, for us, an improvement and bound to help some.

My weather station continues to provide me great information that I view several times/day. However, my weather website is another matter. Actually, it's not the website but, rather, the specific computer that uploads the station data to the website. In an effort to "alter" the network settings, I've completely bollixed the old Dell up and not it barely boots up at all and, when it does, trying to run almost any program at all, including VWS (Virtual Weather Station) causes it to hang or crash altogether. I think I need either a new machine ($$) or some pro help here. We'll see < sigh >.