Dave's Beer

On fulfillment and weight loss

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 19:26:00 +0000

It's not that I have a grind against gyms, they're a great escape. My more recent visits however are full of independently orbiting individuals socializing like hell, with no one in their physical space. This makes me sad because at this point in my life, adult conversation can be infrequent, hence my somewhat regular attendance at another community meeting place.

Instead of the gym? Drawing again on this particular point in my life, I now own more of a special something than I ever expected - my own mass, and it's more than I can lift. I started puting it to good use: running stairs, stopping at the park to grab some chinups, pretty much any way I can I fit my resistance and cardio into my daily activities.

I have been thinking about a silly gym alternative though - and since my wife keeps looking at me as if I'm trying to pronounce French, I'll try to embarrass her from here.

When I heard Tom Ashcroft's recent show on the job of a "picker," a person who works in one of Amazon's many fulfillment centers, I was blown away; a sisyphean task that would rival any session with kettle bells ($24.99 on Amazon, free shipping for Prime members). So, here's my plan, go work there, hustle hard to gather our crap until the weight is lost and quit. Paid gym membership, earbuds allowed. #FTW Listen to the show, it's a great report on a job I'm embarrassed to say I never knew existed.

Because nothing should be easy

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:17:00 +0000

click on image to see this life sized piece of art

To the statehouse today

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 12:16:00 +0000

9!

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 10:12:00 +0000

Today, she's nine. No huge party, just a dinner at one of her favorite restaurants with a friend from daycare, Paige.

Update

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 03:35:00 +0000

Fuzz is almost two and he's finally earning his keep here on the ranch. The image above depicts the culmination of a 3 month stakeout by the washing machine. Good boy, *scratches on his head*

Frankie is in third grade and despite too many sick days, is having her best school year ever. Her teacher is a gift and we are grateful for the dedication of public school teachers, Madame C-N is the star exceeding our expectations this year. Frankie is a founding member of the Hamster club. They draw hamsters, have them as pets and meet regularly to discuss artistic efforts furthering the hamster cause. We applaud those efforts.

Scoopy is still afraid of the weather, wind and thunder in particular. A windy night will find her petite 60-pound frame curled up in a tight ball trying to sit on Trish's head in the middle of the night. Alas, she is medicated and we are managing her fears the best we can. She is loved by us and all who frequent Crest Tavern.

Trish continues to work tirelessly and provide emotional support and critical communication to Frankie I cannot. She is teaching a lot lately and resisting my efforts to get her to France for a small vacation. We'll get there, but we do love our homebody life.

Dave. When Trish introduced him to the documentary entitled "Moonshiners," he engaged and watched the series several times. The series enabled him to tie together grain, bread, drink, agriculture and a fond memory of his pilot plant days in a relationship he never quite realized before; his hobbies took a profound detour. This turn of events pleases him.

Given free time, he watches The Godfather and studies the facial expressions of a young Marlon Brando. He also finds gambling on Intrade.com is better than nickel slots at The Rio.

Frankie steals my camera

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 15:50:00 +0000

the list

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 02:29:00 +0000

...as in Stolen Baby Jesus

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 14:51:00 +0000

She's on fire!

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 19:45:00 +0000

I feel like we're in a tornado of development. This might just be Frankie's biggest year so far. Sometimes I look twice when she comes in the door because she looks a little different since the morning.

She ...

has the best teacher this year, well matched for her learning, she runs into school every day
started reading voraciously and gets an extra reading session during the week with some other big readers
is on the verge of a back handspring in gymnastics
has a bland palate dictated by only her group of friends (white food, oh well - but likes olives and smelts - guess there's hope)
is quite the stylish dresser
enjoys art
and Ailsa are writing a piece for the school newspaper on Fun in Math (.com)
speaks blindingly fast when she is first let out from class for the day
likes olives but won't eat them because other kids tell her the food smells
loves bowling {ps maybe Frankie and I will get our own bowling balls this xmas, Frankie Hello Kitty and mine with flames, I can't wait, Mom is not liking the bowling}

Situational awareness and the smart phone

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 14:32:00 +0000

i. I was 8. I walked up to Tommy Lasota and his friends; his smile abruptly changed and I was pummeled by one of his minions while others watched. A big kid broke it up and said to me "sorry kid ... but you lost" as he laughed and walked away.

ii. About 12, riding my bike with a friend one day, just barely rolling along care free. I looked up to feel a roundhouse kick to my upper body. My friend and I were bike-jacked. A cousin and his friend happened to drive by and we found the kids and our bikes. Based on how we apprehended the bikes, I would say the thieves wet their pants fleeing the scene. Heh.

iii. 17 years and newly licensed. My best friend and I are at a drive in, speakers on poles (foreshadow) and everything. We were drinking beers and tolerating the film. A bunch of kids walked toward us on the way to the concession stand. I glanced in the rear view mirror and noticed a few paused to look at us. When I looked to my right to warn my friend there might be trouble, I noticed one had his arm around Pat's neck and was punching him. The guys were fighting through the large open window of my 2 door Laguna. I started the 350-4 barrel and the car lifted up and out nicely. We swung the kid into a pole, clearing him off the side of my car and off my friend's neck. We're not sure what happened to him, but it was a great night.

iv. etc.

Events like this inevitably shaped my world view. Social distance is a big deal for me. I pay close attention to the expression of a new acquaintance who gets a little close. I feel deceived and fluff up when a friendly interaction turns to a sales pitch. I'm not entirely proud of the fact that any given moment, I'm ready to pitch my glasses (they're pricey) and take a shot or throw one, depending on the situation - even though that opportunity hasn't presented in decades. It's just the way I am. I am keenly aware of my surroundings.

This brings me to my current parenting concern.

I recently embraced the smart phone and remain in awe of the information I carry with me. My public display of phone usage is greatly affected by the adventures of my angry youth. I don't stop in the middle of a path of foot traffic to check mail, send a tweet or message my wife about tonight's rotobird dinner. Rather, I pull over, look around, then lower my gaze while trying to maintain my peripheral vision as best I can while doing all ... that.

I almost look forward to my daughter getting a phone; she laughs when I tell her when I got my first one. The handheld computer/phone is more good than bad. However, the behavior I observe when they're used frightens me. Had they been around when I was more of a hoodlum, I might have cashed in. Swiping one's wallet or purse is too easy, even kids who aren't thieves might be enticed.

And now I'm left wondering something more philosophical. Should I teach situational awareness or will I be teaching something negative about the world that isn't true?

You died where?

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 12:26:00 +0000

A Google search of write your own obituary shows, in the first few results, a site called youdied.blogspot.com. It's mine. I started it at the beginning of time and people simply fill out the form to create their own obit. Pretty common exercise in freshman writing classes, for therapy, etc. I pull the information from the questionnaire, add a few linking words to connect the sentences of the deceased and post. My artistic license is choosing an image to represent them. Guys talk about profession and women, relationships. Lots more to glean from the data, it's fun.

Not creepy enough? The majority of the people are from Fall River, Massachusetts. I took all the location information from the past 200 obits and created a Wordle (a visualization of text based on a word frequency algorithm), it's posted above. This freaks me out a little.

Isn't this amazing?

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 23:43:00 +0000

Dodridge Street Bridge Update [2011.08.24]

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 16:56:00 +0000

I'm adding to these images: link to the album (newest image first).

This pain in the ass project will take a year. I walked over today to see how it was going:

Not much of the bridge left.

Lots of equipment taking it down.

I'll try to get some images of it periodically.

Purple ham enters 3rd grade

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:24:00 +0000

Thank Godness, OSU will do better than we all thought possible

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 14:36:00 +0000

I love sales. You all do too, you just don't know it. Whether we promote ourselves with a blogpost, entice others to view a cool link, extol our virtues for a better raise or our quip something witty on Twitter hoping for a RT, we're all guilty at some level, at some time. So, why not learn to do it better?

Who better to teach sales than an evangelist speaking to Satan (ie, I'm Satan). Sitting there on a lazy Sunday morning, I got sucked into listening to Gary Keesee and his packed full of faith wife Drenda (rhymes with sweet, sweet Splenda).

Gary is interesting. The sermon had a message of faith strangely intertwined with some kind of nebulous message about finance. Notably absent is the information needed where you, the sinning viewer (alright, an I message is appropriate here), visit a site and hit the big fat PAYME PayPal button. No blinky banners running below the scene where he and the lovely Drenda rap together (she's so damn sweet the way she swoons over her man). He is poised. Even better, he's only selling a CD, Agreement with Heaven for $25 and some DVDs with his extended message, the TV sermons are just teasers.

With the cost of audiobooks high and my acute fascination with this guy, I decide to correspond with him. But would he be able to hear me using my earthly notion of communication?

Healing - Prayer request from Dave:

Dave
United States

Oh Gary and Drenda I do need the Agreement with Heaven CD Series but I have not the money. I do have OSU season tickets (2, section 15C) and beg you, as The Man representing the Lord - would You accept these as payment for the Agreement with Heaven CD series I need so much to correct my financial crises. Bless you for your consideration, Dave

Within TEN minutes, Gary, the Man himself acknowledged and responded...

Gary Keesee gkeesee@fffinances.com to me

Yes Dave I would accept them and believe God with you concerning your finances. But let's do this first, let's not send the tickets yet. I will send you my material and then once you have listened to it, and you are in faith, you can release those tickets into the kingdom and send them to me. So I am going to have my team ship to you the material this week. Only after you listen to the Now Revolution CD set you can send in the tickets

Gary

Yes, Gary, I agree "let's not send the tickets yet."
Mission accomplished. I get my audiobook and to study The Man. Check out the return address domain, fffinances.com, no it's not what you think, it's Faith-Full Family Finances and been in business since 94.

So, I'll listen to the CDs and then decide on the ticket bartering thing. I'm curious to hear what he has to say.

A day at the Ohio State Fair and then some (fitbit)

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 11:49:00 +0000

A lifetime high of steps walked in a day (as long as I've been recording) measured by my fitbit. I'm kind of tired today. And, no, sadly we did not make it to get maple flavored cotton candy. Next year.
Some additional interesting fitbit days:
-typical workday, http://www.fitbit.com/2011/07/13
-typical vacation day, http://www.fitbit.com/2011/07/19

I was hoping her first suitor would be driving a car.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 19:55:00 +0000

On alternatives in exercise

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 12:40:00 +0000

I could easily be accused of overcompensating for my disability; I vigorously strive to find exercise I can sustain into my old age. Currently I do quite a few body-weight resistance exercises: push-ups, situps, office furniture curls, etc., and for cardio I do a lot of walking (thanks podcasts). In the course of this ongoing exploration, I do a lot of measurement: weight, percent body fat, monitor step counts and heartrate, this is the fun part for me. Monitoring and viewing data is a hobby of sorts. I try to take the information and ascertain what the most efficient exercises are.

In addition to conventional resistance and cardio, I seek unconventional activities based on snippets I read. A week ago, I walked an hour a day carrying a 20 lb backpack based on this report. It was an interesting way to beef up a cardio routine; my knees hurt a little, but I might try it again, it was a pretty serious workout and required no gym and no time out of my tight schedule.

This week's pursuit is a little odd too. A look through Google Scholar revealed exercise researchers are pretty interested in our society's habit of excessive sitting allllll daaaay loooong. On this one, I only made it to a 3rd day. At the end of that day, I was in quite a bit of pain. I developed a special appreciation for anyone doing real work during the day instead of the namby pamby act of slinging data. I considered myself pretty fit until this. I believe the pain is from my particular condition, and it's not sustainable for me, but I really found it a good feeling in my upper legs.

Thanks Kate, thanks Paul, you guys are cool

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 17:57:00 +0000

You have to scan it and search via Google Goggles.

New adventures in BBQ

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 23:22:00 +0000

Click on the image for a cool look at his face.

The smartphone. Why I'm late to the party.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 13:00:00 +0000

I finally succumbed to the smartphone. The web-enabled world is now at my fingertips. I avoided it for so long.

I put if off for many reasons. I didn't want to turn into a heads down kind of guy. I feared my brethren at Crest would revoke my seat license. I feared I'd annoy people. I didn't want to become lazy thinking about the questions I thrive on throughout the day, and this was the biggie. Would I forget how to think? I've carried around a notepad forever writing questions down. I'd think about them during the day and at night, delve into the web to figure them out - if my curiosity on that particular topic lasted that long.

In the past week I've had the following questions perking away:

How does the female:male twitter participation differ from the female:male membership?
Can I do my own front bearing job? I read lots and no.
Am I callous because I eschew the sbux tip jar? (haha, that's a joke)
Will my vertical flamethrower work? I'm concerned about the airflow in the cylinder.
What's the state of the arsenic-containing bacterium discovery?
Why did CMH -> CDG tix plummet this past week and are now expensive again?
What is it like to bake in a silicone pan?
Where the hell is Homestead Park?
How does a prisoner find enough hope to live?
Why does the Kroger-brand of instant active yeast reproducibly suck?
How will we survive the daycare gap between end of school and beginning of Summer camp?
When does the Summer series of Studio 35 kid movies start?
When do I capitalize seasons?
The logistics of do ahead dough for pizza production, anticipating a pizza 'n pbr tweetup ...
The confusion of personal and market norms when it comes to end of year gifts for teachers ...
etc.

I should have known. Even with the web, the answers aren't so immediate. Wisdom gleaned from the web, regardless of how fast it is delivered, rarely stops an inquiry, it provides a piece to the puzzle.

It's been a weeek and I have no buyers remorse. I still think, I listen to more audiobooks, I still have my seat at Crest, I still avoid phone conversations at any cost, but I do indulge in the occasional move in a Words with Friends game between sips of ale, sorry.

Another item struck from the list

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Mon, 30 May 2011 00:22:00 +0000

We have this super secret list of parenting insecurities and questions we share with (almost) no one, like:
Did co-sleeping destroy our child's chance for happiness like the pediatrician promised?
Will she learn to swim?
Does she understand just how unattractive Kat von D really is?
Will she learn to ride a bike (without training wheels)?
Will she be a yoga instructor when she grows up?
Will she be fiscally responsible?
Will she ever learn that Kraft mac n cheese is toxic?
Will she marry Ethan?
Will she ever teach me how to pronounce a French r and u?
and so on...

Today we scratch one off the list (to make room for another)

circa 2004

circa. 3 pm today

End of year musical done, soon to fifth grade

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sat, 21 May 2011 11:54:00 +0000

An old, old landmark is gone!

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Thu, 19 May 2011 21:33:00 +0000

RPAC, best parent/child thing to do in Columbus

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Wed, 18 May 2011 20:14:00 +0000

Today was an in-service day for Columbus City School teachers leaving us with today's episode of childcare. I decided to take a day off and find something for Frankie and I to do. When she was young, I burned out on the zoo and I hate museums (yes, as many have noted, I'm the opposite of an intellectual, I have no idea how I tolerated school). Given Frankie's energy, I planned something different, RPAC, the recreational facility at OSU.

Little ones have boundless energy, but it is rarely focused in any purposeful direction. This video is my characterization of the problem. The other problem is social. Believe it or not, kids aren't welcome in a lot of places. The gym is just one. BUT, at RPAC, kids are welcome all over the facility, except weights and machines (and anything stationary doesn't really interest a kid anyway). They can play in the pool, in the multipurpose rooms (huge gymnastic mats) and the lounge and they can play table tennis, fooseball, etc - we did most of it in 5 hours. So, because of my work affiliation (employees of many businesses in Columbus are considered affiliates), I can buy a 1 day pass for $10/ea. But, for a little more than the price of a movie we could use the facility all day long, come and go as we please and enjoy the absence of daily routines.

Oh, and when we got home, my body began to seize up while Frankie is bouncing on the trampoline watching Phineas and Ferb. Kids are astounding, but they need to be connected in some way to the grid.