…that Al Gore agrees more with Al Jazera than Glen Beck. Is anyone surprised?
Oh, just in case you need help, Algore is not my hero.
Image from Steve Rhodes via flickr
Sleeping and Kids
Before Lydia was born, Cyndi and I had someone give us a copy of Babywise or Along the Infant Way. The basics of this are parent directed feeding, playing, and sleeping. It worked wonders so we did the same thing with Isaac. The same thing happened. While he is going through a phase where we wakes up at 4am or so, he sleeps very well. One thing we did for both of them was let them cry a bit if it wasn’t time for them to eat.
As Gomer Pile once said: Surprise, Surprise, SURPRISE. The Telegraph has an article talking about how it is beneficial for babies to cry a bit and not have parents respond immediately to their cries in the middle of the night.
Image from up your ego via flickr
Do you Encrypt Your Computer?
If not, you should. But, if you do, you should also never hibernate your computer. Why? Because this device can search out a cached password and use it to decrypt your drive. Wow.
Image from richard-g via flickr
Ordering your Private World — Gordon MacDonald
Back in 2006, I posted about reading Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald (link to the kindle book on Amazon here). Now, I don’t remember many specifics about the book…so this post is less of a review and more of a “Yes! I found the book!” post.
See, one thing has stuck with me since reading the book: to gauge how “ordered” someone has their life, don’t ask them how they are doing…ask them what they’ve been reading. For me, I can look back over the past years–6ish since I read it–and I see the times I have the least order in my life (and feel the most stressed, etc…) are the times I quit reading. I don’t read non-fiction all the time because I think it is important to mix things up.
Many times over the past 6 years, I’ve mentioned this to people; however, I could never remember the title of the book. I was looking today for some of my old posts on Body for Life (or pictures from back when I did it) and came across the post I linked to above. I thought I would post about it here simply because that simple measure has stuck with me for so long.
So, my question to you: what have you been reading lately? If you aren’t reading anything, why not?
Getting Ready for Prague — Day 2 of 101
Yesterday, I did fairly well. Even though Cyndi and I had kebabs for our anniversary dinner, my calorie intake for the day was good, I thought. Just a reminder that fatsecret journal is an estimate–especially for things like that.
Weight: 112kg
Today’s (3 Jan 2013) Fatsecret Journal
Oh…even though I feel like it, the image to the left isn’t me. It is from fbellon via flickr
14 Years
14 years ago, my smokin’ hot wife, Cyndi, and I were married. It has been a wild exciting ride up to now, and I hope for many many more. Did I mention she’s hot?
21 July 2012 — Walmer Castle
In July 2012, we took an afternoon and went to Walmer Castle. As English Heritage Members, we were able to go for free–well, once we paid our membership that is. Walmer Castle is famous for several reasons; however, in my mind, the most famous thing is that the Duke of Wellington (the same guy who invented Wellington Boots).
The castle itself was really well designed and looked neat. While it wasn’t classic castle, it was well preserved. It was shorter–more fort-like–but had what used to be a moat. It also had incredible gardens.
The gardens were wonderful to walk through. The flowers were very pretty, and the greenery was–well–green. If you want to see the pictures we took, have a look at our flickr set for Walmer Castle.
The Biggest Loser xBox 360 Game
Last January (Jan 2012), I had to return to the US for a couple of weeks for my grandpa’s funeral–I can’t believe I didn’t blog about that. While I was there, I bought several things to bring back. One of those things was The Biggest Loser Ultimate Workout for xBox with Kinect. I never opened it (and had forgotten about it until I was looking through where I had hidden the kid’s and Cyndi’s Christmas presents). Today was my first time using it.
After some fiddly setup (be prepared for about 30 minutes of “stuff”), I was ready for my first workout. However, before I could start, it did a short body analysis. I entered my weight, the game had me face the Kinect, pause, then turn to the side, and pause. I was ready to work out.
First off, I am way out of shape. I knew I wasn’t in the best shape; however, I didn’t think I was this out of shape. After all, I used to ride my bike thousands of miles a year (and had even done two centuries). Wow.
On to the good:
- The workouts are good. My heart rate was up the entire 30 minutes
- There’s good customization. I was able to tell it my weight goal, select a time-frame, enter how many times a week to work out, and choose my workout duration.
- Having the kinect see the entire body allows the game to give you good feedback: knees up, too wide, and that sort of thing
- I liked the fact that it measured my waist, height, neck, etc… with nothing more than me removing my shirt.
Now for the bad:
- When I laid on the ground, the kinect didn’t track me so good. Although, to be fair, I think this may be related to available space more and position more than anything
- It didn’t always track my movements right. For example, in typical computer fashion, it told me to widen my lunge; however, when I widened it by more than an inch, it said too wide. In some exercises, it is very “computer picky.”
Now, this was only my first workout. Overall, I think it went well. I told it I wanted to do 4 per week. I’ll use it for this week then post a follow-up.
Getting Ready for Prague — Day 1 of 101
Yesterday, I blogged about how I wanted to loose 10kg before Cyndi and I went to Prague. Well, I need to loose 13kg now. This morning when I stepped on the scales, I weighed 113kg. Can you believe it?! 249lbs. Wow.
Anyway, here’s a link to my fatsecret journal for today, 2 Jan 2013. Just a reminder, the eating will be a day behind…if I can record what I eat. It may or may not be totally accurate.
I also worked out this morning using an xBox game: The Biggest Looser Ultimate Workout. I’ll blog later today about what I think about it.
[Update 2013-01-02 06:38:38] My review of The Biggest Looser Ultimate Workout is posted here.
Image from Mrs. Magic via flickr
Isaac and his pushbike
For Christmas, we Isaac’s grandpa and grandma got Isaac a pushbike. 2 reasons: 1) he outgrew his kid plastic push scooter thing and 2) we thought it would make an easier transition to a real bike. He loves it, and he’s getting good at it. This picture is him coming down the “big hill” by our place.