Getting in Shape for the Winter!

Ok, so I have started to do things a little healthier. When I say healthier I mean I started riding my bike to work (about 6 miles a day) and eating a bit better. I stopped drinking coffee and soda and I am trying to eat healthier snacks like granola and fruit. So far, I have been doing fairly well on all fronts besides a few trip ups with the snacks (damn you cup cakes). To help me with this, a friend sent me this link as a way to supply goals and a reward. The premise is that you are doing a triathlon, but instead of doing it in a day you do it in 6 weeks. There are also options with this approach, if you don't have access to a place to swim you can double up the run or bike, etc. I chose to double the bike ride because I knew riding my bike to work would help accomplish a big chunk of the 224 miles I need to do in 6 weeks. If at the end of the 6 weeks I complete the required miles then I will be treated to dinner by those people that didn't complete it (along with everyone else). I think I can do it but the only thing I am not looking forward to is the run. Between now and August 2nd I have to run/walk (although I think walking is cheating) 26.2 miles in all. I really haven't had to or wanted to run since I had knee surgery in 2002 and I am not looking forward to doing it again. I plan on sucking it up and doing it anyway, but it won't be pleasant. Anyway, I hope this is the start of a healthier me and leads to a lifestyle change. It is weird how as you get older these things start creeping into your thoughts. I mean years ago I did it to stay in the game with the ladies, but now I am solely thinking of longevity and being able to be active well into my golden years. Things change I guess and I am just glad that I am realizing this now and not after it is too late!

Republican Conspiracy Theory

Ok, I am about to introduce you to the way my mind thinks sometimes when it is idle from other tasks, so prepare yourself. First off, just because I am writing this down doesn't mean that this is what I believe is true and is really nothing more the idle thoughts that in no way are fact.

So, I have been reading a lot about this whole deal with Nancy Pelosi being briefed about torture back in 2002 I think, and how they (the republicans in Congress) are trying to make it seem that the Democrats in Congress where just as much to blame for what went down the last 8 years as they are. Well, here is what my brain is seeing. In response to this every left-winger and Congressional Dem is pointing out that the cited proof of this comes from the CIA and that, per their track record, are prone to lieing to Congress. Now yes, Republicans are pushing the idea that it is unamerican to say such things about the CIA , but the Dems and the media are becoming the loudest voice basically discrediting the CIA on all things torture related (of the last administration). Ask yourself this, do you really want one of the only sources of information on the top secret goings on over the past 8 years to be an agency that Congress and due to the media, the people of the United States has no confidence in? I don't think so.. So, to the conspiracy part, is all this just a plan by the opposition party to derail any possible investigation while also looking like they want it investigated?

Anyway, that's my wild theory that may have some flaws but broadly enough plausible, I guess..

Updates to "The List"

Ok, so I had actually made this list like 3 years ago and haven't really accomplished any of the things on it. So, here are the first things that I am going to do:

8. Raft down a world class river (arguably I have already done this, many times)

For my birthday I am going to be going to Washington D.C. with Fatima and Yvonne and meeting up with my sister Jessica and brother Jason. We are then going to hop in the car and drive to West Virginia where we will be rafting down the New River. I am not sure this qualifies as a world class river but I think due to the fact that I have rafted the Okee river many times and am now doing this one I can check this off the list.

31. Visit the national gallery (I have been here, but really only to the gift shop)

Since I am going to be in D.C. I thought I could get this off the list. I did go the last time I was visiting my sister, but it was right at closing and only really saw the gift shop.

You know, now that I am actively trying to do these things I feel better about the list and can't wait to cross some more off! I will keep everyone up to date with details on how the activities went!

Things I want to do before I die

Travel
1. Raft through the Grand Canyon
2. Run to the top of the statue of liberty
3. Spend Christmas on the beach
4. Drive the Autobahn
5. shower in a waterfall
6. Drink beer at Oktoberfest
7. See the sunrise from Maui’s Mt. Haleakala
8. Raft down a world class river
9. Take a steamboat ride down the Mississippi
10. Soak in the mud and waters of the dead sea
11. See Stonehenge
12. Visit Machu Picchu
13. Kiss the Blarney Stone
14. Visit the mysterious Blue Grotto in Capri
15. Bathe in the Blue Lagoon in Iceland
16. Visit the Galapagos Islands
17. Visit the Amazon Rainforest
18. Float along the Nile
19. Explore the New York public library
20. Ride a cable car in San Francisco
21. Watch the changing of the guard at Buckingham palace
22. Visit a former concentration camp
23. Walk the great wall of China
24. See the ruins of Pompeii
25. Visit the Athenian Acropolis
26. celebrate the day of the dead in Mexico
27. Tour a vineyard and sample a good bottle of wine
28. Visit an active volcano
29. Scuba dive the great barrier reef
30. Visit the forbidden city in Beijing
31. Visit the national gallery
32. travel on the Orient Express
33. See the Northern Lights
34. Visit Hong Kong
35. Go island hopping in Greece
36. See the Himalayas
37. Visit Australia
38. Go on a round the world trip

Learn
39. Learn to bar tend
40. Learn to paint a landscape
41. Learn to survive n the wilderness
42. Learn enough Japanese to carry own a conversation
43. Learn how to play Guitar
44. Learn how to surf
45. Learn how to sail
46. learn how to cook Thai food
47. Take a Yoga class
48. Learn how to speak Spanish
49. Take a photography course

Activities
50. Make a hole in one
51. Go deep sea fishing and eat your own catch
52. Go up in a hot air balloon
53. Spend 3 months getting my body in shape
54. Donate money and put my name on something: Scholarship, bench, etc..
55. Sleep under the stars
56. Send a message in a bottle
57. Brew my own beer
58. Attend at least on major sporting event: Super Bowl, Olympics
59. Swim with a dolphin
60. Be an extra in a film
61. Make love on a train
62. See the Dali Lama
63. Defy Gravity (bungee, sky diving)
64. Let someone else have the chance I missed
65. Buy a proper piece of art
66. Write a travel book

I will let you know how I am doing from time to time!

The End of the World

So I was reading an article on the mysterious deaths of bats from a disease that seems to be spreading from the east coast of the US to other states inexplicably. Apparently the disease, White-nose syndrome, is pretty serious and it doesn't discriminate between the various breeds of bat and is just killing them all. So, just out of curiosity I started wondering and then reading about what sort of impact that the mass extinction of the bat order would do to the ecosystem. Well, come to find out they play a fairly major role when it comes to plant and flower pollination and seed distribution. From what I have read they are pretty much the only animal that does seed distribution for a multitude of tropical plants, leaving those plants without any other form of seed distribution. Now this may seem pretty crazy but I think that this could have greater repercussions then even I am saying. What do bats eat, what other animals rely on them, can the ecosystem bounce back from this? Anyway, it just got me thinking about the environment and how the combination of this, global warming, extinctions from global warming and who knows what else is all kinda happening right around and leading up to the end of the Mayan Calendar, December 9, 2012! Just thought I would share!