Saturday, May 30, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
LoseIt!
One of the wonderful things about my new iTouch is this—LoseIt!. I started using this free app on March 13. With its simple assistance, in the space of almost 2 months, I've lost 15 pounds!
As with any tool, you get out of it what you put into it. The tool itself is not magic. If there's any magic, it's the wonder of asserting your free will—i.e., I'm gonna do this: period. In my case, "do this" refers to my goal to lose 20 pounds.
Being very conservative, I gave myself all summer to reach that goal. I'm simply amazed to see myself 75% of the way toward my goal within 8 weeks. So, I gave myself the summer and spring is not even over yet. Not too shabby.
In my case, I haven't been simply watching what I eat. I've also been working out. In particular, I've been taking advantage of a local hill. For weeks, all I did was walk up and down. Lately, I've advanced to jogging down the hill and walking back up as quickly as I can. I slow down to keep my heart rate between 150 and 160 bpm. It's easy on my aging joints. I burn a helluva lot more calories more quickly than just walking up and down a level street.
Long story short: LoseIt! has inspired me to cut down on sweets significantly, eat far more fruits and veges, and simplify the challenge of counting calories day to day. The end result is not just weighing less, but improving my quality of life in many, many ways.
As with any tool, you get out of it what you put into it. The tool itself is not magic. If there's any magic, it's the wonder of asserting your free will—i.e., I'm gonna do this: period. In my case, "do this" refers to my goal to lose 20 pounds.
Being very conservative, I gave myself all summer to reach that goal. I'm simply amazed to see myself 75% of the way toward my goal within 8 weeks. So, I gave myself the summer and spring is not even over yet. Not too shabby.
In my case, I haven't been simply watching what I eat. I've also been working out. In particular, I've been taking advantage of a local hill. For weeks, all I did was walk up and down. Lately, I've advanced to jogging down the hill and walking back up as quickly as I can. I slow down to keep my heart rate between 150 and 160 bpm. It's easy on my aging joints. I burn a helluva lot more calories more quickly than just walking up and down a level street.
Long story short: LoseIt! has inspired me to cut down on sweets significantly, eat far more fruits and veges, and simplify the challenge of counting calories day to day. The end result is not just weighing less, but improving my quality of life in many, many ways.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Amtrak
This past weekend, Mary and I paid another visit to Philadelphia. This time, we went by train. Our last visit was by car. That was a high stress option. The train proved to be a very comfortable, decidedly low-stress option. As such, the price—about $50 one-way—was a bargain.
Among other things, it meant shunning one of the busiest traffic corridors in the nation—i.e., through NYC. You can navigate around that, of course. But it adds hours and miles to the drive. For my money, being able to sit back in a comfy chair, listening to my music, reading a good book, enjoying the views out the window once in a while while someone else drives is worth every penny.
Also, Amtrak features something called a "quiet car". What that means is no gabbing on cell phones or loud talking. Take it to another car if that's what you want. And, happily, fellow passengers are not shy about enforcing the quiet car rules. We enjoyed one of these quiet cars all the way from New Haven to Philly. Ahhhh.
Among other things, it meant shunning one of the busiest traffic corridors in the nation—i.e., through NYC. You can navigate around that, of course. But it adds hours and miles to the drive. For my money, being able to sit back in a comfy chair, listening to my music, reading a good book, enjoying the views out the window once in a while while someone else drives is worth every penny.
Also, Amtrak features something called a "quiet car". What that means is no gabbing on cell phones or loud talking. Take it to another car if that's what you want. And, happily, fellow passengers are not shy about enforcing the quiet car rules. We enjoyed one of these quiet cars all the way from New Haven to Philly. Ahhhh.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
HDTV <> PC Connection
Today, I was happy to find that for a mere $13 I could hook up my laptop to my HDTV!
Sound and picture work seamlessly. Specifically, instead of the sound coming though the laptop's built in speakers, it's transmitted to the HDTV via the earphone plug. The picture connection is via the laptop's built in monitor plug.
The connection is via a product called an HD15 (SVGA) Male + 3.5 Stereo Male at both ends. I bought it via Amazon.com.
To be precise, this cable doesn't work as is for my laptop. It works for Mary's laptop. The reason is this—the sound connection is part of the picture connection; to put it another way, they're on the same cable. As such, it requires that the distance from your laptop's earplug connection to its monitor connection be about 12". On my laptop, that's not the case (at least not cleanly). On Mary's it is.
That said, I can remedy it easily by buying an extension cord for the earplug connection. No biggie.
The payoff for this effort is this—now we can watch Netflix and Hulu.com on TV instead of exclusively on a laptop monitor. Nice!
Sound and picture work seamlessly. Specifically, instead of the sound coming though the laptop's built in speakers, it's transmitted to the HDTV via the earphone plug. The picture connection is via the laptop's built in monitor plug.
The connection is via a product called an HD15 (SVGA) Male + 3.5 Stereo Male at both ends. I bought it via Amazon.com.
To be precise, this cable doesn't work as is for my laptop. It works for Mary's laptop. The reason is this—the sound connection is part of the picture connection; to put it another way, they're on the same cable. As such, it requires that the distance from your laptop's earplug connection to its monitor connection be about 12". On my laptop, that's not the case (at least not cleanly). On Mary's it is.
That said, I can remedy it easily by buying an extension cord for the earplug connection. No biggie.
The payoff for this effort is this—now we can watch Netflix and Hulu.com on TV instead of exclusively on a laptop monitor. Nice!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Greenspan is no friend of capitalism, no friend of freedom
Alan Greenspan effectively renounced his standing as capitalist, let alone as an Objectivist, in his years as the Fed chairman. He made his renunciation explicit by blaming the semi-free economy on which he inflicted himself for years at the Fed helm for its current state. He went the distance recently by adding his voice to calls to nationalize banks.
Granted, Bush confessed the same thing when he said:"I've abandoned free-market principles in order to save the free-market system." But the bar is set real low for him. I don't expect much from him.
Greenspan, on the other hand, should know better. It's literally his job to know better. For him to come out for nationalizing anything, let alone the banks, is no different, in principle, from saying this: "It may be necessary to temporarily bring back slavery in order to facilitate a swift and orderly return to prosperity." It's a deeply offensive idea and should be met with moral outrage.
”It may be necessary to temporarily nationalise some banks in order to facilitate a swift and orderly restructuring,” he said. “I understand that once in a hundred years this is what you do.”This remarkable confession demonstrates what it means to fail to grasp the concept principle—i.e., either we're free or not. Greenspan is saying, in effect, "Yeah, freedom is important, but not now; not after my policies and those of the US government across decades spawned this historic mess."
Granted, Bush confessed the same thing when he said:"I've abandoned free-market principles in order to save the free-market system." But the bar is set real low for him. I don't expect much from him.
Greenspan, on the other hand, should know better. It's literally his job to know better. For him to come out for nationalizing anything, let alone the banks, is no different, in principle, from saying this: "It may be necessary to temporarily bring back slavery in order to facilitate a swift and orderly return to prosperity." It's a deeply offensive idea and should be met with moral outrage.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Istanbul Cafe
This evening, I treated Mary to a good Turkish meal at Istanbul Cafe in New Haven. The food was very good.
I had Kuzu Şiş Kebab—"Lean cubes of lamb marinated and grilled over a charcoal fire. Its simple preparation allows you to savor the exquisite, smoky flavor of the coal-fired lamb." True to its word, it was simply prepared and simply delicious.
Mary had Patlican Musakka—"A dish of pan-fried eggplant laden with a rich meat sauce decked with potato, tomato and sautéed onion and then smothered with melted kasar cheese." Yummy.
With the meal, I was delighted to indulge in a rare glass of Kavaklidere white wine. Of course, I'm a bit biased, having enjoyed the wine first at Barry's wonderful wedding in Istanbul. The taste of this excellent wine brought back those sweet memories as well as pleasing me in the here and now with Mary.
With dessert, I enjoyed a cup of apple tea, a simple, delightful beverage I enjoyed often in Istanbul.
The Istanbul Cafe is has a large parking lot right next to it. I took advantage of that, not wanting to waste time searching for a parking spot on the busy New Haven streets.
To sum it up, Mary and I will be back...with friends!
I had Kuzu Şiş Kebab—"Lean cubes of lamb marinated and grilled over a charcoal fire. Its simple preparation allows you to savor the exquisite, smoky flavor of the coal-fired lamb." True to its word, it was simply prepared and simply delicious.
Mary had Patlican Musakka—"A dish of pan-fried eggplant laden with a rich meat sauce decked with potato, tomato and sautéed onion and then smothered with melted kasar cheese." Yummy.
With the meal, I was delighted to indulge in a rare glass of Kavaklidere white wine. Of course, I'm a bit biased, having enjoyed the wine first at Barry's wonderful wedding in Istanbul. The taste of this excellent wine brought back those sweet memories as well as pleasing me in the here and now with Mary.
With dessert, I enjoyed a cup of apple tea, a simple, delightful beverage I enjoyed often in Istanbul.
The Istanbul Cafe is has a large parking lot right next to it. I took advantage of that, not wanting to waste time searching for a parking spot on the busy New Haven streets.
To sum it up, Mary and I will be back...with friends!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
