Monday, September 23, 2013

My Unhealthy Story and What I Need to do

As we get older, the majority of people start to think about their bodies and how we can keep ourselves from wasting away. I didn't start until 2 years ago when I finished up a 7 year bender. More specifically the last Monday of July was my wake up call.

I remember the night fairly well. I was getting ready to watch Monday Night Raw and it had been a few weeks removed since my favorite wrestler, CM Punk, won the title and "Walked out" on the company. When you are as big of a pro wrestling fan as I am, you watch for special moments that just give you the chills. You get these moments with any kind of entertainment. Well.... on this night, there happened to be one of these moments, and I missed it because I was drunker than a son bitch. It was so bad, I woke up still drunk and had to text my boss that I wouldn't be in because I was physically incapable of calling in.

In this case Irony took over. My favorite wrestler just happens to be a straight edge and I missed his triumphant return because I felt the want to pour massive amounts of alcohol down every pore and opening in my body. Do you know how it feels to be witnessing History and to blow a spectacular chance at viewing it by being plastered? Thankfully, YouTube has come to my rescue and given me back that feeling. Its the same feeling I get When I watched Chris Jericho make his first entrance to Monday Night Raw, Every time I rode Mission To Mars at Disneyland as a kid, or even my first steps in the city I love (and hope to reside in some day).

Shortly after missing that moment, my cat and I moved into a home with a different family. But this one wasn't used to seeing high quantities of alcohol move as if we were in the brewery itself. After a bit of shame, mostly from myself but received from everybody else, I gave up the nectar of the gods for roughly one year. Though I wasn't eating healthy, I lost 20+ pounds and I felt pretty damn good. I got a little cocky and changed around my drinking habits from 1-2 24 oz bombers a week to 3-4 a week and onto now where I drink anywhere between two 12 oz beers a day to going out to the bar a couple times a week and/or drinking three to four twelve oz bottles a day. I'm starting to get tired of it.

So, in the interest of getting healthy again, and wanting to be flexible like martial artists, I'm trying to turn my way around with a couple different exercises that I will be taking one day at a time and then working them into longer stretches. Also, I'm going to be keeping a daily weight count and time count for the days I walk. I timed myself the other day and walked 5 miles in an hour and a half.

Here are my keys to success

1. Limit the alcohol intake to the weekends only. Its ok if I have some during the week, some days you just need a beer and it can't be helped.
2. take up some exercising that will promote being flexible, I just started DDP Yoga
3. walking at least twice a week
4. Focusing on my task at hand. Learning Python and Ruby so I can increase the opportunities available now and in the near future when I take off from this area.
5. Make my lunch and take it to work. I spent $1.50 for a shitload of noodles and a pork steak. two of my favorite foods. I probably should make a spinach, romaine lettuce carrots and broccoli salad with as minor an amount of dressing I can stand. The real key is to stick it in a plastic bin and shake the bejesus out of it so the dressing covers the greens more thoroughly and evenly.
6. One day at a time. Rushing has no use with this.

Now for some comments from you. What are you doing to increase your healthiness? and how do you keep yourself from falling back into your vices or bad habits?

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Another One Bites the Dust

Or should I say.... The dohyo?

I assume many of you readers know that I am a huge sumo fanatic. I've been watching it for the past four years after discovering it on NHK World.. There was some news breaking today that Former Ozeki Baruto is retiring after a nine year pro career as a sumo wrestler. I'm very bummed out because he has been a major player the whole time I've been watching the sport. He's retiring because of a nagging knee injury that wouldn't go away and probably will stay with him for life, to some degree.

He is in an awkward position because if he were to have pulled out of the current tournament, he would have been demoted off of the upper divisions and with that goes regular pay and benefits. Homasho was able to bounce back after a two tournament recovery period, but there is no guarantee how many tournaments Baruto would be sitting out. In the pro wrestling world, Tyson Kidd just came back from a similar injury that took 6+ months to recover from, and then a solid amount of training on top of that. Unfortunately for us fans, I think Baruto made the right choice for the sake of having a life after sumo.

I think I might start working on my new sumo schedule today. But I guess I need to start watching and tracking again or the schedule won't work. I wonder if there is fantasy sumo, like fantasy football, and if so, how many people always pick Hakuho.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

What does the I really stand for?

The iPhone 4. The next new gadget in my arsenal. here is a short interview I conducted with myself shortly after finding out that its on the way.

What's taken you so long to get one of these mar

Simple answer? I didn't need one. I got myself an iPod touch 2nd gen about 3 years ago, around the time when the iPhone 3G came out. I needed a device to take my attention away from the boring trip to work in the mornings on the bus. 

Why would you get a version that's two years old and nearly obsolete?

I just need to play my angry birds dammit! I'm also getting it for a great price. You can get these guys "new" on Ebay or craigslist for about 200 bucks, as long as you know how to be patient and can work Ebay like a pro. If you have some geek in you like me, you can get one with a broken screen for about 100 bucks and then get a new screen for 20-30 and save a boatload of change.

What are you looking forward to the most out of your "new"/old phone?

Well. for the last few years, since smartphones have become the norm, phones have been getting more and more expensive. So to save a few bucks, I've just been buying inexpensive prepaid smartphones. What I'm looking forward to the most is having a phone that just works. I don't really have to worry about age, because I'm replacing the battery as well, and I don't have to worry about space and having a bastardized version of Android. And before I forget, I will get to play and update all of my old apps and get to use an incredible 5 megapixel camera. Don't forget the camera. I almost don't need to carry my SLR with that thing on there.

Which carrier is your phone on?

Ehhh... AT&T. The internet is probably the most expensive part of the service and they are practically forcing unlimited minutes and texts on you just so you can get the bandwidth you want. I wish I could be using T-Mobile, for their unlimited internet, instead, but I really can't complain. I got the phone for a REALLY good deal. Also, I'm not the original owner so I might have some hassle unlocking the phone unless I use it for a few months.

Maybe I will post some of the guides I used if I am successful at replacing the screen and the battery.

So in other news, The iPhone 5s and the new ipads look like they will be announced next week. Any early adopters here? if so what new features are you looking forward to?