The inner geek triumphs

http://www.phidgets.com/

Awesome! Now, if only I wasn't broke, I would be all over this. I want to revamp the controller on my heater, it's so old it doesn't have separate controls for just running the blower.

Karate update.

I'm still having a blast at karate. Sensei and I have even arranged a little barter, he is utilizing my Excel knowledge to design a worksheet to really manage his students' learning, and in return, giving me a couple extra private lessons. Normally I wouldn't say much about this, but since I'm 99% sure I'm the only one reading my blog, I think it's safe. The last thing I want to do is get a bunch of students standing at his door, trying to do barter for lessons, instead of paying cash!

Anyway, the ranking belts in this studio go white,yellow,orange,purple,blue,green,brown,black, with some gradations (for example, blue with green stripe rank, between blue and green) When I left, I was blue belt rank, and currently I have caught up to almost all of my orange belt material. I'm hoping to catch up in, say, 3 months, then start getting ready for my blue+stripe test.

oh, and in the last month, I have managed to put on a whopping 3 pounds, putting me at 125. Here's an interesting link regarding weight-gain nutrition:

http://www.active.com/nutrition/Articles/Protein__Pros__Cons_and_Confusion.htm

There is a paragraph near the end that I thought was REALLY interesting:

Question: How much protein should I eat right after I exercise?

Answer: A study with Marines during 54 days of basic training reports those who refueled with 100 calories of a recovery drink that contained only 10 grams (40 calories) of protein not only enhanced muscle protein deposition but also contributed to 33 percent fewer total medical visits, 28 percent fewer visits due to bacterial and viral infections, 37 percent fewer visits due to muscle and joint problems, and 83 percent fewer visits due to heat exhaustion. (Flakoll, Med Sci Sports and Exercise, 2004)

Seems amazing that just 100 calories of a recovery drink could make such a strong impact on health, muscle soreness and hydration, but the message is clear: proper fueling at the right times is worth the effort. Don't underestimate the value of refueling soon after you exercise. Cereal with milk, chocolate milk, fruit yogurt, turkey sandwich and spaghetti with meatballs are just a few suggestions that offer a foundation of carbs accompanied with some protein.

And speaking of my blog name, 'semi-irregular', there seems to be quite a connection between other versions of 'semi-irregular' activities, when you consume as much protein as I have over the last while. When people say I'm full of shit, little do they know that, recently, it's the literal truth! I hope these fiber pills start kicking in soon!

Kerate Week 4

This is week 4 of my karate at United Studios of Self Defense, and I'm having a blast so far! I practice about 45 minutes to an hour a day, and I am remastering the defensive maneuvers and such that I let go over the last 15 years since I was last in karate. Also, I have been taking protein shakes. For anyone who has seen me, you probably know that I'm freakishly skinny. 5 feet, 11 and 1/2 inches tall, and I weighed roughly 115 pounds. At this point, 3 weeks in, I have reached 122 pounds as of yesterday, and it seems to all be muscle. If anything I look even skinnier though, because every ridge of my muscles are visible under the skin, and they are decidedly unimpressive. hopefully the weight gain continues up to around 160 pounds.

more later, but I'm in the middle of a workday, so I wanted to just be brief, other than to say that it feels really good to be engaged in some self-improvement!

USSD

I'm getting ready to go into a martial arts class for the first time in 17 years. This could be exciting. We'll see how bad I injure myself on some kick that I remember doing, but overextend myself trying. I'm sure it will be quite disastrous.

What should I talk about?

Hard to top my last post, I'm rather proud of it. So here's a shite post, so that the standard is set low again. Next post will have far more quality, than this one, or at least I hope so. Can't be lower quality :P

A Silly Mother's day poem

It appears that the children

may have glued your pans to the wall

It seems that the dog may have puked in the hall

I think that the cats ran rampant

through the steak sauce

It's possible

that the sink overflowed,

and filled the kitchen with soapy water

And the kid are slippin'

and sliding out the door.

The pet fish

is swimming

through the living room

and the cat seems to be trapped

in a soap bubble

the waterfall

is attracting bears,

who are catching trout

that swam upstream

when the water hit the pond.

That Other Thing in the hall?

I'm not sure, but I think

A dimensional hole was ripped

when I tripped on the bear trap

and bounced into the

new digital video antenna.

What's this?

Tiny dinosaurs from the past

sneaking through the rift,

Dining on the steak dinner

For which you especially asked on this special day?

Technology. Who Knew?

This is a day of days

We celebrate it with many hurrays

You bore my sons

You are the best

You deserve this day of rest.

Hmm..... Umm.....

We should go out for dinner, don't you think?

By Timothy Caleb Nordloh

I guess I thought wrong

I was watching the crazy mortgages for the last few years, and I saw more than one journalist cry wolf. In fact, I read an article about the 'interest only' loans that showed a case where they make sense. An interest-only loan with occasional large payments is meant for someone like a Porsche salesman, who will get huge commissions every few months, with possible long dry spells. This kind of loan is not meant for Single-mom Sally. But here is what I thought was happening. I thought that the corporations making these loans knew what they were doing. I thought they were knowingly selling houses to people who couldn't afford it, with the intention of collecting a payment like a landlord, without having any of the traditional landlord responsibilities. I thought they were using the american dream against the average consumer. Evidently I gave them too much credit. Evidently they thought single-mom Sally could make that house payment that went from $500 to $2000.

Or possibly they are even more evil than we all imagined. They are collecting vast sums of money from Single-mom Sally (and those of us who took normal, prudent home loans, and those of us who rent) in the form of government handouts. They claim that they 'will self-destruct' if we don't hand wads of cash to them, I feel like I'm in New Jack City, listening to Chris Rock's character, Pookie. What we need is Ice-T to come in and kick some institutional ass.

I think these guys are full of crap. Here they are, with people begging to stay in their houses. They can resell it at 50% of its current price and still make a killing, considering the amount of interest they collect on a daily basis. They have people begging to refinance, to continue to 'rent' without getting the benefits of landlord obligations. I don't believe their crocodile tears. Watch them write off billions of dollars this year, and next year, and then earn amazing profits for the next 10 years.

When I send in my mortgage check, and see that 90% of that check goes toward interest, and 10% goes to the principal, and then I hear about how the rate of foreclosures go up to a whopping 2.5%, and hear that this is just killing the super-rich, it makes me want to go ahead and give up my house. At least if I was renting, I wouldn't have to pay to get the dishwasher