For as long as I can remember I have been easily winded. Perhaps more so in later years, but even when I was much younger I have never had significant endurance. After seeing a commercial for COPD medication, I decided that I would have my dispnea (difficulty breathing) checked out. It was tested several years ago, but I didn't do any follow-up to find out what the cause was. So, I recently determined that I should find out while I am still young and can do something about it.
About four weeks ago I went to the doctor, and I have had a few tests run and found out yesterday that the doctor has apparently eliminated nearly every possible cause for my breathing problems. I don't have asthma, COPD, anemia, heart problems, miscellaneous lung problems, or even high cholesterol. The doctor concluded there was only one major possibility left. I need more exercise.
So, for the next few months I am supposed to get myself back in shape. As he was describing this all I could do was wonder how am I ever going to stick to an exercise routine. I know I should exercise, but I am lazy and time-conscious. This is not a combination that leads to much physical exertion.
If you see someone jogging through the neighborhood in the next few weeks, that won't be me. If you see someone wheezing and limping down the sidewalk trying to maintain the will to live, that will probably be me. I'll give exercise a chance, but I'd much rather just take pills.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
a blessing or a curse
I always viewed lotteries as a tax on those who aren't very good in math. I have bought tickets before, but that was almost always when a group of people at work bought a bunch of tickets. I wanted to avoid being the one person left in the office if by some chance the group hit the jackpot and quit on the same day. My purchase was much more an insurance policy than it was a lottery ticket.
I also generally avoid thinking about what I would do with all the money because that is a bad path for me to traverse. There is literally nothing good that can come of thinking that way. I am sure some people can think about what to do with large sums of money they will never have without going somewhere negative that they shouldn't, but I am not "some people."
With this background I am always intrigued when other people say what they would do if they somehow came into a large sum of money, either through a lottery or an inheritance or something of that nature. I think that when a lot of people hear about a dollar amount greater than one million dollars they think this is an unlimited amount of money. It does not take complicated math to determine this is not the case. You can't give away or spend the same money multiple times.
I think that if I ever came into money and others found out about it, it might be more of a curse than a blessing. I want to help others out, but there are so many horribly greedy people who want something for nothing, I would not fork it over so easily. People would probably always hate me for not giving them what they think I should. I would also wonder if people were only friends to me because of what I had.
In a story that feeds my cynical side, this sort of thing has happened in the last few years. A guy who won over $300 million in the Powerball in 2002 has come to believe that victory was actually a curse. He lost his friends, he became cynical about mankind, and he believes it directly caused his granddaughter's death. Reading his story makes me wonder if people who wish for a windfall of money really understand what they are asking for.
Some people can't win for losing.
I also generally avoid thinking about what I would do with all the money because that is a bad path for me to traverse. There is literally nothing good that can come of thinking that way. I am sure some people can think about what to do with large sums of money they will never have without going somewhere negative that they shouldn't, but I am not "some people."
With this background I am always intrigued when other people say what they would do if they somehow came into a large sum of money, either through a lottery or an inheritance or something of that nature. I think that when a lot of people hear about a dollar amount greater than one million dollars they think this is an unlimited amount of money. It does not take complicated math to determine this is not the case. You can't give away or spend the same money multiple times.
I think that if I ever came into money and others found out about it, it might be more of a curse than a blessing. I want to help others out, but there are so many horribly greedy people who want something for nothing, I would not fork it over so easily. People would probably always hate me for not giving them what they think I should. I would also wonder if people were only friends to me because of what I had.
In a story that feeds my cynical side, this sort of thing has happened in the last few years. A guy who won over $300 million in the Powerball in 2002 has come to believe that victory was actually a curse. He lost his friends, he became cynical about mankind, and he believes it directly caused his granddaughter's death. Reading his story makes me wonder if people who wish for a windfall of money really understand what they are asking for.
Some people can't win for losing.
Monday, April 09, 2007
it's all about the boy
My sister visited this weekend. I felt pretty important when she originally made the plans, so I offered to see if I could get someone to babysit NJ for the weekend. I no longer feel as important as NJ appears to be a higher priority than his dad any more.
The plan is for her to visit us first, which she has done, then visit other family and friends in the general area before flying out on Tuesday. In order for her to keep this schedule she needed to rent a car, so she reserved a car at Enterprise to be picked up on Saturday before noon when they closed.
Very late Saturday morning everyone was kind of slowly moving around when I was sent to pick up lunch. As I stepped to my car I vaguely recalled that we had something we had to do that morning. The long and short of it is that I dropped her off at Enterprise as 11:59AM, literally one minute before closing time.
It's always nice to see family, but at this point we all know that the purpose of every visit is for NJ. He's going to get a big head.
The plan is for her to visit us first, which she has done, then visit other family and friends in the general area before flying out on Tuesday. In order for her to keep this schedule she needed to rent a car, so she reserved a car at Enterprise to be picked up on Saturday before noon when they closed.
Very late Saturday morning everyone was kind of slowly moving around when I was sent to pick up lunch. As I stepped to my car I vaguely recalled that we had something we had to do that morning. The long and short of it is that I dropped her off at Enterprise as 11:59AM, literally one minute before closing time.
It's always nice to see family, but at this point we all know that the purpose of every visit is for NJ. He's going to get a big head.
Friday, April 06, 2007
fashion versus comfort
We have watched several episodes of the show "How Do I Look?" today. A theme that apparently occurs frequently on the show is that people defend their fashion choices using comfort as an excuse. The hosts of the show liked to point out how lame of an excuse that is. I have to question this perspective, though.
I understand taking general steps to look good because some people deem it acceptable to judge on appearances. I understand that some don't deem it acceptable, but do so anyways. I also understand understand that maintaining a good style helps a lot of people feel good about themselves. I still can't figure out why style is more important than comfort.
I have always valued comfort over any specific style. There have been times that I wanted brand name things, but I do not think there has ever been a time when I would have voluntarily sacrificed comfort for the brand name. If not for Golden I would probably be a prime candidate for one of these style shows. I do not know that I would be happy if someone signed me up for one of those shows, though.
I would not mind someone giving me a recommendation regarding what I could do to look better, but if someone tried to force me to change my philosophy I think I would resist out of principle. Maybe I would be in the wrong, but I have a hard time dealing with people telling me to conform.
I understand taking general steps to look good because some people deem it acceptable to judge on appearances. I understand that some don't deem it acceptable, but do so anyways. I also understand understand that maintaining a good style helps a lot of people feel good about themselves. I still can't figure out why style is more important than comfort.
I have always valued comfort over any specific style. There have been times that I wanted brand name things, but I do not think there has ever been a time when I would have voluntarily sacrificed comfort for the brand name. If not for Golden I would probably be a prime candidate for one of these style shows. I do not know that I would be happy if someone signed me up for one of those shows, though.
I would not mind someone giving me a recommendation regarding what I could do to look better, but if someone tried to force me to change my philosophy I think I would resist out of principle. Maybe I would be in the wrong, but I have a hard time dealing with people telling me to conform.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
part two
For what it's worth, tomorrow is this site's two-year anniversary. It's more or less irrelevant, but I still like pointing out my milestones.
One of the classes that I am taking right now is called "Managing Technology II." Surprisingly enough, it is related to a class I took at the beginning of the semester called "Managing Technology I." Most people who signed up for the second class also signed up for the first, but there is a large minority of people who are just taking the second one. I would have a hard time doing this.
I like things to be done in the sequence they are intended. It irritates me when I do something out of sequence. As an example, every time I have read The Chronicles of Narnia series I have had to read it in the order it was written rather than in chronological order, as a lot of people read them.
Further, it bothers me that I have seen both Weekend at Bernie's II and Gremlins 2 without seeing the originals. I don't particularly want to see the first versions of either of the movies, because I know that they have to be bad, but something feels incomplete about watching the sequel without watching the original. I'm nothing if I'm not comple
One of the classes that I am taking right now is called "Managing Technology II." Surprisingly enough, it is related to a class I took at the beginning of the semester called "Managing Technology I." Most people who signed up for the second class also signed up for the first, but there is a large minority of people who are just taking the second one. I would have a hard time doing this.
I like things to be done in the sequence they are intended. It irritates me when I do something out of sequence. As an example, every time I have read The Chronicles of Narnia series I have had to read it in the order it was written rather than in chronological order, as a lot of people read them.
Further, it bothers me that I have seen both Weekend at Bernie's II and Gremlins 2 without seeing the originals. I don't particularly want to see the first versions of either of the movies, because I know that they have to be bad, but something feels incomplete about watching the sequel without watching the original. I'm nothing if I'm not comple
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
from scratch
Every two years or so something happens the requires me to reinstall Windows on our PC and start from scratch. Last time it was a hard drive crash and I lost a lot of data. This time, it was a fan breaking and causing some of the hardware to overheat.
This might come as a surprise to those people who see me as a computer guy, but I don't really like the process of rebuilding my computer. I think that is largely because I usually only do this if something breaks. There are other problems, though, like the fact that the process is time consuming, the fact that I always lose something in the transition, and the fact that being without a PC is inconvenient.
As an example of the inconvenience, part of the reason that Golden hasn't posted much is that she is not used to using my laptop. After quite a bit of work, I hope to have the computer at least partially operational tonight, though. Maybe she will have more blogging opportunities shortly.
This might come as a surprise to those people who see me as a computer guy, but I don't really like the process of rebuilding my computer. I think that is largely because I usually only do this if something breaks. There are other problems, though, like the fact that the process is time consuming, the fact that I always lose something in the transition, and the fact that being without a PC is inconvenient.
As an example of the inconvenience, part of the reason that Golden hasn't posted much is that she is not used to using my laptop. After quite a bit of work, I hope to have the computer at least partially operational tonight, though. Maybe she will have more blogging opportunities shortly.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
floored
The carpets in the main hallways of our office building were changed over the few days last week. This wouldn't be a big deal if the carpets were being changed in off hours. Apparently, carpet layers keep regular business hours.
On the first day there was no warning. I just stepped out of the office to find the carpet missing. I didn't get the same shock as at least one other guy in the office who stepped out into wet glue that had been laid for the carpet that was to be laid. His footprints could be followed back through the office.
The next business day there was a period of time where we could not leave our office because nearly the entire floor was covered with glue. The parts that weren't covered were inaccessible because carpet had been stacked against one of our doors. Another guy in the office determined he had to step through the glue to get to the bathroom. I just held it for an hour until a path to the bathrooms was available.
After the carpet on our floor was completed, I thought that would complete the complications. I learned the next morning, though, that they were also replacing the carpet in the stairwells. I was running up the stairs when a guy stopped me and said that he had just glued the area at the top of the stairs. I had to take an alternate route, but at least I didn't get glue on the bottom of my shoes.
On the first day there was no warning. I just stepped out of the office to find the carpet missing. I didn't get the same shock as at least one other guy in the office who stepped out into wet glue that had been laid for the carpet that was to be laid. His footprints could be followed back through the office.
The next business day there was a period of time where we could not leave our office because nearly the entire floor was covered with glue. The parts that weren't covered were inaccessible because carpet had been stacked against one of our doors. Another guy in the office determined he had to step through the glue to get to the bathroom. I just held it for an hour until a path to the bathrooms was available.
After the carpet on our floor was completed, I thought that would complete the complications. I learned the next morning, though, that they were also replacing the carpet in the stairwells. I was running up the stairs when a guy stopped me and said that he had just glued the area at the top of the stairs. I had to take an alternate route, but at least I didn't get glue on the bottom of my shoes.
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