What Have I Been Up To?
This post is dedicated to Vinny, who commented:
"Believe it or not, there are still people checking this (now pathetic) website for updates. We want to know know if you reached 179 or blew up to 350+. We want to know if you're still stalking unsuspecing commuters and flirting with the NJ sexual predator list. We want to believe that the internet is NOT DEAD. Put down that beer, get off your (potentially enormous) ass, find some motivation and give us an update. We want to know what the hell is going on in your life. Come on man, you owe it to your loyal following.....get back in the saddle and give us some insight."
First off, yes, this is an absurdly pathetic website. But I'm not alone. Just as video killed the radio star, Facebook killed the Blogger star. Another blog I read made the same comment last week. I spend a lot more time on Facebook and let's be honest, my status messages embody what is really going on in my life. Do these blog posts ever amount to more than 5-10 words anyway? I may type 2000, but in the end, don't the following really describe my life:
* Norm hit the 170s!
* Norm got in a 4 hour ride today.
* Norm likes beer.
* etc etc
I may write more than that, but do I say more than that? Probably not. But here I am, using more words to say something I probably could have said in 5 words. Maybe at the end I'll summarize it in 5 words if I feel so motivated. I do have to say that I'm thinking of trying to make 1-2 posts a week, but longer, and more in depth, and maybe even with pictures and videos. Why bother? I really have no idea. Maybe this is my natural cycle where I like to express myself in words. I like to fancy myself somewhat capable with words. And I know there are a few people out there who do read, apparently Vinny included. So maybe I'll give that a go. I can tell you now it won't last. But at least we can try.
So what have I been up to? Well let's see, the past bunch of weeks I've more or less worked from home all the time. I went into the office 4 times in the last 2 weeks, but before that I was home for 3 straight weeks. And before that I was in the office maybe 4 times in 3 weeks. So it's something like 7 times in 7 weeks, which accounts for my not blogging nearly as much because when I get on the train I read or watch DVDs. I have enough diversions and so little time that I tend not to blog anymore. I WFH again this week and the 3rd week in February.
So did I hit 179? Yes I did. Then 178 and 177 which is my current low weight. I fluctuate on a daily basis of course, but still solidly in the 170s currently, even though I'm not riding nearly as much as I would hope right now. The weather plus 2 colds has really limited me in the last 4-5 weeks. Currently getting over the second cold but the weather still sucks. There's still a solid covering on the ground and as I sit here in my kitchen the temps are in the 20s outside. At least the sun is setting later and rising earlier. So we got that going for us, which is nice.
Work is work. I do love my job basically because my boss and his boss "get" it. The job itself is solid, and I can more or less do what I want so long as we get what we need done as a group. So I look for interesting ways to make the job easier and entertain myself in a work environment. Aside from that the whole WFH thing makes it a lot easier to mix work and home.
In the end, this is more or less what I do with my spare time when I'm not riding my bike or drinking beer:
Or this, which is the kind of thing we need to do to get her to take a bath:
And when Mommy leaves Julia with Daddy, we get doughnuts:
I'm also trying to clean up my basement so I can figure out WTF is going on when I'm down there, which is pretty often since that's where the W happens in the WFH abbreviation. This is my "before" pic though this is really a "during" pic. Everything in life is a work in progress, my basement included:
Hopefully I can post a worthy "after" pic in a few weeks but I can imagine anyone but I would care. This is why I'm riding less than I like. Every other day I wake up to this which, while beautiful, sucks the riding wind out of my sails:
Here is another reason I find it hard to ride some days:
For whatever reason, they never plow our road. So I take it in, enjoy the season, drink beer - you know, all the same sorts of things people like to do. The weather will turn soon enough, and I'll be pumping out 15 hour weeks before you know it. But for now, with the cold and my sickness, the last 2 weeks were barely 4 hours each. Thankfully I haven't taken this opportunity to get fat again. Or more precisely, fatter. But I need to watch what I eat, which is lame. I like to eat, and when I ride a lot I can eat a lot. It's a dual bonus because eating is one of my favorite hobbies as well. Same story on drinking beer. Triple bonus!
I did finally build a cross bike so I can better ride in this crap weather. Took it out twice last week - lots of fun! But plenty more fun to come for sure:
Anyway, that's about it. I'm sure there's more but for now, I'd say that's more or less enough to keep you up-to-date on what's going on with me. And if you want to step into the present, join Facebook and set your status message now and again.
So the Facebook blurb is this: "Norm is summing up his existence."
"Believe it or not, there are still people checking this (now pathetic) website for updates. We want to know know if you reached 179 or blew up to 350+. We want to know if you're still stalking unsuspecing commuters and flirting with the NJ sexual predator list. We want to believe that the internet is NOT DEAD. Put down that beer, get off your (potentially enormous) ass, find some motivation and give us an update. We want to know what the hell is going on in your life. Come on man, you owe it to your loyal following.....get back in the saddle and give us some insight."
First off, yes, this is an absurdly pathetic website. But I'm not alone. Just as video killed the radio star, Facebook killed the Blogger star. Another blog I read made the same comment last week. I spend a lot more time on Facebook and let's be honest, my status messages embody what is really going on in my life. Do these blog posts ever amount to more than 5-10 words anyway? I may type 2000, but in the end, don't the following really describe my life:
* Norm hit the 170s!
* Norm got in a 4 hour ride today.
* Norm likes beer.
* etc etc
I may write more than that, but do I say more than that? Probably not. But here I am, using more words to say something I probably could have said in 5 words. Maybe at the end I'll summarize it in 5 words if I feel so motivated. I do have to say that I'm thinking of trying to make 1-2 posts a week, but longer, and more in depth, and maybe even with pictures and videos. Why bother? I really have no idea. Maybe this is my natural cycle where I like to express myself in words. I like to fancy myself somewhat capable with words. And I know there are a few people out there who do read, apparently Vinny included. So maybe I'll give that a go. I can tell you now it won't last. But at least we can try.
So what have I been up to? Well let's see, the past bunch of weeks I've more or less worked from home all the time. I went into the office 4 times in the last 2 weeks, but before that I was home for 3 straight weeks. And before that I was in the office maybe 4 times in 3 weeks. So it's something like 7 times in 7 weeks, which accounts for my not blogging nearly as much because when I get on the train I read or watch DVDs. I have enough diversions and so little time that I tend not to blog anymore. I WFH again this week and the 3rd week in February.
So did I hit 179? Yes I did. Then 178 and 177 which is my current low weight. I fluctuate on a daily basis of course, but still solidly in the 170s currently, even though I'm not riding nearly as much as I would hope right now. The weather plus 2 colds has really limited me in the last 4-5 weeks. Currently getting over the second cold but the weather still sucks. There's still a solid covering on the ground and as I sit here in my kitchen the temps are in the 20s outside. At least the sun is setting later and rising earlier. So we got that going for us, which is nice.
Work is work. I do love my job basically because my boss and his boss "get" it. The job itself is solid, and I can more or less do what I want so long as we get what we need done as a group. So I look for interesting ways to make the job easier and entertain myself in a work environment. Aside from that the whole WFH thing makes it a lot easier to mix work and home.
In the end, this is more or less what I do with my spare time when I'm not riding my bike or drinking beer:
Or this, which is the kind of thing we need to do to get her to take a bath:
And when Mommy leaves Julia with Daddy, we get doughnuts:
I'm also trying to clean up my basement so I can figure out WTF is going on when I'm down there, which is pretty often since that's where the W happens in the WFH abbreviation. This is my "before" pic though this is really a "during" pic. Everything in life is a work in progress, my basement included:
Hopefully I can post a worthy "after" pic in a few weeks but I can imagine anyone but I would care. This is why I'm riding less than I like. Every other day I wake up to this which, while beautiful, sucks the riding wind out of my sails:
Here is another reason I find it hard to ride some days:
For whatever reason, they never plow our road. So I take it in, enjoy the season, drink beer - you know, all the same sorts of things people like to do. The weather will turn soon enough, and I'll be pumping out 15 hour weeks before you know it. But for now, with the cold and my sickness, the last 2 weeks were barely 4 hours each. Thankfully I haven't taken this opportunity to get fat again. Or more precisely, fatter. But I need to watch what I eat, which is lame. I like to eat, and when I ride a lot I can eat a lot. It's a dual bonus because eating is one of my favorite hobbies as well. Same story on drinking beer. Triple bonus!
I did finally build a cross bike so I can better ride in this crap weather. Took it out twice last week - lots of fun! But plenty more fun to come for sure:
Anyway, that's about it. I'm sure there's more but for now, I'd say that's more or less enough to keep you up-to-date on what's going on with me. And if you want to step into the present, join Facebook and set your status message now and again.
So the Facebook blurb is this: "Norm is summing up his existence."
