Random Access

Friday – 29 May 2015
“The best laid plans of mice and men…”

That is an excellent quote for the past 36 hours. Wednesday night, thanks to a couple of adorable children, I had a less-then-stellar night of sleep. As I noted yesterday, I figured that I might hit the gym after they went to bed last night.

No go, Flight.

I didn’t get out of the office until nearly 8:30 last night, chasing down what appeared to be a mail server issue. (More on this later.) By the time I got home, all I wanted to do was eat dinner and then do a lot of nothing. I was  highly successful at accomplishing both tasks. Before going to bed, I resolved to hit the gym this morning.

Strike Two!

Last night, Diana started getting a little sick and was up many times in the night. Mostly moaning “Mo-o-o-o-mmy…..” or “Da-a-a-a-a-ddy…..” or both. A couple of times, she came into our room for cuddles and/or to sleep. According to our Sense, either Sara or I (or both of us) were up about seven times last night. That made getting out of bed damn near impossible. I finally dragged my carcass out from the sheets around 7:45… and I felt like a zombie. (But nowhere as perky as Gwen Dylan/Liv Moore from iZombie (1, 2).)

Back in the office a little early – and a couple of cups of coffee later – I was informed that last night’s high-profile, high-priority email emergency was not only non-existent, but also a complete misunderstanding/miscommunication between two parties.

*grblsnrkx*

#ajobaintnuthinbutwork #LifeInIT

Aside from that, it’s been a decent day. It’s been relatively quiet.

It was also coworker Adam’s last day. He got “an offer he couldn’t (and shouldn’t have) refuse.” Fortunately, we only live a couple of miles apart and our daughters like playing together, so I don’t consider this him riding off into the sunset.

Stray Toasters

• Separate & Unequal, an article by my friend, Bryan Young. Read it.
• CHART: The Qatar World Cup Death Toll Is Stunning
• Roland Park Reflections on the Riots
• I may or may not have introduced Shake Your Bon Bon to Team DiVa…
  • They may or may not occasionally change the lyrics to “Chicken Bomb Bomb”
• Miniature LEGO Adventures That I Create in My Spare Time

Okay, there’s a little more work to be plowed through before the day is done.

Namaste.

Thursday – 28 May 2015
Another #NBNThursday is here. This one even came complete with sun… which hasn’t been seen (to a large extent) in a couple of weeks. It’s been good to get rain, but it’s also nice to know that the sun still exists.

This morning, I skipped the gym (but, didn’t skip a leg day!). Last night was a … difficult… night for sleep: I had a troubled time falling asleep, and once I did, I woke up multiple times to deal with children who were not sleeping well. Yay. Something had to give and I decided that it was my getting up at 6:30 to go to the gym.

My current conundrum is: Do I go this evening or do I give myself a/another rest day and just go on Saturday morning?

I’ll figure something out. Eventually.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 27 May 2015
I’ve been meaning to record these a little closer to the times that I’ve actually done the workouts, but that hasn’t happened. But, at least I have been making it to the gym. So, there’s that.

• 21 May
  Elliptical: 10 min/1 mi
  Bench Press: 3 x 8 x 115 lbs
  Incline Press: 3 x 8 x 70 lbs
  Fly: 3 x 8 x 70 lbs
  Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 3 x 8 x 25 lbs
  Dumbbell Curls: 3 x 8 x 20 lbs
  Wrist Curls (fwd): 3 x 15 x 30 lbs
  Wrist Curls (rev): 3 x 15 x 30 lbs
• 22 May
  Elliptical: 7 min/0.75 mi
  Leg Press: 3 x 8 x 80 lbs
  Leg Extension: 3 x 8 x 60 lbs
  Leg Curl: 3 x 8 x 60 lbs
  Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 80 lbs
  Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 60 lbs
• 26 May
  Lat Pulldown (long bar): 3 x 8 x 80 lbs
  Lat Pulldown (short grip): 3 x 8 x 80 lbs
  Row: 3 x 8 x 80 lbs
  Shoulder Raises/Fly: 3 x 8 x 10 lbs
  Side Bends: 3 x 8 x 20 lbs
  Rope Pulldown: 3 x 8 x 60 lbs
  Tricep Press: 3 x 8 x 60
• 27 May
  Elliptical: 10 min/1.1 mi
  Leg Press: 3 x 8 x 100 lbs
  Leg Press: 3 x 8 x 80 lbs
  Leg Extension: 3 x 8 x 62.5 lbs
  Leg Curl: 3 x 8 x 65 lbs
  Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 100 lbs
  Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 80 lbs

Namaste.

I forgot about this until friend posted something elsewhere: It’s Towel Day.

So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!

Monday – 25 May 2015
Today is Memorial Day in the United States.

Please remember that the day isn’t about being “the (unofficial) first day of Summer” or “just a day off” or finding a fantastic bargain during great sales.

It’s a day to commemorate those who have given their lives to protect the freedoms that we enjoy.

Namaste.

Excerpted from a conversation with Sara!:

Rob: Is [coworker] around?

Sara: Yes. She is.

Rob: Ask her: WHAT. IS. THIS?!! http://boingboing.net/2015/05/20/how-to-fluff-chicken-butts-fl.html
Because I don’t have anything resembling words for it.
(NOTE: Sara’s coworker has a sister who raises chickens.)

Sara: Umm…. this is why we will never get chickens.

* – Apologies to The Presidents of the United States of America

Wednesday – 20 May 2015
I didn’t get up this morning to go to the gym. No, that’s not entirely correct. Let’s try that again: I woke up this morning, in time to go to the gym, but decided not to do so, thanks to a not-happy stomach and a headache. I regret nothing.

At work, I called into a meeting, had a couple of impromptu business-related talks with people and apparently spaced off another meeting altogether. Go, me! The later meeting was for a software upgrade – one that I didn’t have to do – and got pushed back a bit until I got to the office. It was further delayed by some VM issues, along with a side helping of someone needing a cluster of servers rebooted. The shutdowns were easy; the reboots were not, mostly because the servers were on a VMware host whose existence I was only tangentially aware of.

::: braincramp :::
“Drat these computers…”

But, I managed to get things resolved.

For lunch, Adam, Brad, Kelsey (!), and I went to Lucky 13. There was a pretty major wait for food, but it was worth it. I went with the Hot Pastrami and Swiss Burger; I was not let down.

Now, I’m tackling an issue that popped up this morning… as a side-effect of the software upgrade. We’ll see if that takes me until the end of the day to rectify.

Stray Toasters

• David Letterman steps down from the late night stage tonight. I’ve been a fan of his since… 1985, I think. Possibly ’84. Either way, it’s the end of an era. I wish him well on the next leg of his journey.
• I quite liked this series of strips from Sinfest:
  
  
  
  
  
• Princes of the Apocalypse is D&D’s Killer App

.eof

Tuesday – 19 May 2015
This morning, I managed to get out of bed once again and make it to the gym before work. This is a “good” thing, as Guys’ Night Out was moved to tonight and trying to go to the gym after that would most definitely come under the heading of “bad idea.”

Work has been decent. There’s been nothing to complain about today. I like days like that.

Exactly.

Shortly, I’ll head home to (help) figure out what to feed Team DiVa for dinner and then prepare to bugger off for the aforementioned Guys’ Night Out. On the way home, I might even stop at the comic shop. Because nothing says “adult” like going to the comic shop when you want to.

Workout
While I did get to the gym this morning, I was still a little slow about getting there. Nevertheless, I was there and I did my workout. #neverskipalegday

• Elliptical: 10 min/1.1 miles
• Smith squats: 3 x 8 x 115 (I think, I need to check the weight of the bar)
• Leg press: 3 x 8 x 80
• Leg extensions: 3 x 8 x 60 lbs
• Leg curls: 3 x 8 x 60
• Standing calf raises: 3 x 8 x 80
• Standing calf raises: 3 x 8 x 60

I could tell that it was a leg day when I got to work and my quads complained – just a little – all the way up the stairs. To be honest, I should: A) get to the gym earlier, and B) some lunges to my routine… despite the fact that lunges are of the Devil (…and the Devil is bad.)

Stray Toasters

• Sara shared this with me, a little while ago; it’s a good read.
  United We Parent: Raising Teens and Loving It
• Longinus!
• New Wind Turbine Generates Electricity Without Rotating Blades
• From glassdoor: 25 Best Cities for Jobs

Namaste.

Monday – 18 May 2015
Happy Miracle Monday (1, 2).

Today finds me back in the office. I enjoyed last week’s class, but it was a LOT of information crammed into five days. I appreciated the time away from “work,” but there’s something to be said for being back in the swing of things.

Of course, I would have preferred to have gotten back to it this morning, rather than last night…

I got a call, just as Team DiVa was going to bed, that a server was down. By the time I was able to log in and start looking, I got another call, from a different user, saying that another server was down.

::: braincramp :::

Once I started looking, I noted that it wasn’t so much a “server” issue as it was a “virtual host” issue. And it was one that didn’t want to let me fix it remotely. So, into work I went. At 9:30 at night.

*grblsnrkx*

After banging on things for a while, I resorted to the time-honored IT tradition of: “Turn it off and then turn it back on.” That worked, for the most part. There was still one issue that didn’t resolve. I tinkered with a few settings and got that issue fixed… at least for the time being. There’s a long-term solution in the works, it’s just a matter of timing.

Workout
This morning, I also woke up a little before 6:30, chock full of the good intention of going to the gym. I actually got up and out of bed and – albeit a little more slowly than I should have – got ready to go. I had to abbreviate this morning’s routine due to time constraints, but the bottom line is: I got in a workout.

• Elliptical: 7 min, 0.75 mile
• Lat Pulldown: 3 x 8 x 70 lbs
• Short Grip Pulldowns: 3 x 8 x 70 lbs
• Row: 3 x 8 x 70 lbs
• Standing Rope Pulldown: 3 x 8 x 60 lbs
• Standing Tricep Press: 3 x 8 x 60 lbs

Stray Toasters

• Saturday night, Sara! and I watched Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back. It’s been a while since I’d seen it. I celebrated the occasion by live-tweeting it… which entertained me nearly as much as the movie itself. I think we’re going to watch Return of the Jedi tonight. I may live-tweet that, too. Because… I can.
• Kronkiwongi
• Who were the Forty Elephants?
• I hope to be as understanding and willing/able to let the girls explore their choices as this mom was: Mom’s dilemma: Should I let my 6-year-old daughter shave her head?
• As I mentioned above, today is “Miracle Monday.” The story was written by Eliot S. Maggin, who also wrote Luthor’s Gift, a short story I just discovered today. Enjoy.

Okay, back to the grind.

Namaste.

Friday – 15 May 2015
I should get around to writing this before it is no longer Friday.

Things have been good during my extended radio silence. What’s kept me from posting? Basically: Laziness. I’ll freely cop to that. That said, I had planned to write something this afternoon, but wound up getting wrapped up in a project and the next thing I knew,  it was time to get Team DiVa from daycare. Oh, well, better late than never. On the other hand, I got to have dinner with these two cuties, so it was worth it.

One of the good things of the past two-ish weeks has been that Sara and I have rejoined a gym. More specifically we joined Vasa Fitness, a rebranded gym that we used to go to before Team DiVa was born. We’ve been trying to figure out schedules that would allow us to both work out 2-3 times a week.

Another good thing from this week, was in a training class for work (at home!) which had an east coast-based schedule. That meant that I was up each morning for a 7:00 AM class. That also meant that my “lunch” time was around 10:30 each day. I used that time to go to the gym, instead. I actually like the idea of getting up a bit early and starting my day with a workout. My plan is to keep getting up around 6:30 and putting in forty-five minutes to an hour at the gym before getting on to the so-called “friction of the day.”

Sidenote (since I just made a Rush reference): I’ve been tracking my visits to the gym on Swarm/Foursquare with the tags #carveawaythestone. Why? Because it’s less typing than #OhDearLordHowAndWhyDidILetMyselfGetSoOutOfShape and a bit less embarrassing than #WhyDoesThisHurtSoMuch.

And, being back in the gym means that I need to start tracking my workouts again. So, let’s get the past couple weeks out of the way:

• Thursday- 23 April 2015
  • Elliptical: 15 minutes, 1.3 miles
  • Lower Back Extensions: 3 sets / 10 reps
  • Bench Press: 3 sets/8 reps, 90 lbs
  • Inclined Press: 3 sets/8 reps, 50 lbs
  • Fly: 3 sets/8 reps – 2 sets, 70 lbs; 1 set, 90 lbs
• Monday – 27 April 2015
  • Elliptical: 10 minutes, ~1 mile
  • Leg Raises (Roman Chair): 3 sets/10 reps
  • Rotary Lat Pulldowns: 3 sets/10 reps, 60 lbs
  • T-Bar Pulls: 3 sets/8 reps, 45 lbs
  • Standing Tricep Press: 3 sets/8 reps, 50 lbs
  • Seated Tricep Press: 3 sets/8 reps, 45 lbs
• Wednesday – 29 April 2015
  • Elliptical: 10 minutes, ~1 mile
  • Leg Press: 3 x 10 x 60 lbs
  • Leg Extensions: 3 x 10 x 50 lbs
  • Leg Curl: 3 x 10 x 50 lbs
  • Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 10 x 60
  • Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 40
  • Bench Press: 3 x 8 x 95 lbs
  • Reverse Punches: 3 x 10 x 10 lbs
  • Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 3 x 8 x 20 lbs
  • Dumbbell Curls: 3 x 8 x 20 lbs
  • Wrist Curls: 3 x 15 X 30 lbs (forward)
  • Wrist Curls: 3 x 15 x 30 lbs (reverse)
• Tuesday – 05 May 2015
  • Elliptical: 10 minutes, 1 mile
  • Bench Press: 3 x 8 x 95 lbs
  • Shoulder Press: 3 x 8 x 50 lbs
  • Fly: 3 x 8 x 60
  • Vertical Press: 3 x 8 x 50 lbs
  • Dumbbell Fly: 3 x 8 x 20 lbs
  • Barbell Curl: 3 x 8 x 30 lbs
  • Dumbbell Curl: 3 x 8 x 20 lbs
  • Plank: 3 x 30 seconds
• Saturday – 09 May 2015
  • Fitness Assessment
    • Walking High Kicks: 2 x 10 steps
    • Walking Quad Stretches: 2 x 10 steps (each leg)
    • Walking Butt Kicks: 2 x 10 steps (each leg)
    • Kettlebell Overhead Tricep Extensions: 3 x 10 x 15 lbs
    • Kettlebell Squats: 3 x 10 x 25 lbs
    • Lunges: 3 x 10 steps x 15 lbs (each hand)
    • Hollow-Body Hold: 3 x 30 seconds
    • Russian Twists: 3 x 10 x 20 lbs
• Tuesday – 12 May 2015
  • Elliptical: 10 min, 1 mile
  • Smith Squats: 3 x 8 x 50 lbs
  • Leg Press: 3 x 10 x 60 lbs
  • Leg Extensions: 3 x 10 x 50 lbs
  • Leg Curls: 3 x 10 x 50 lbs
  • Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 10 x 60 lbs
  • Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 40 lbs
  • Seated Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 25 lbs
• Wednesday – 13 May 2015
  • Elliptical: 10 min, 1 mile
  • Lat Pulldown: 3 x 8 x 60 lbs
  • Short Grip Pulldowns: 3 x 8 x 60 lbs
  • T-Bar Pulls: 3 x 8 x 25 lbs
  • Row: 3 x 8 x 60 lbs
  • Standing Rope Pulldown: 3 x 8 x 50 lbs
  • Standing Tricep Press: 3 x 8 x 40 lbs
• Thursday – 14 May 2015
  • Treadmill: 10 minutes, ~0.7 mile (betw. 0 and 2% incline)
  • Leg Press: 3 x 8 x 80 lbs
  • Leg Press: 3 x 8 x 60 lbs
  • Leg Extensions: 3 x 8 x 50 lbs
  • Leg Curls: 3 x 8 x 50 lbs
  • Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 10 x 60
  • Standing Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 40
  • Seated Calf Raises: 3 x 8 x 25
• Friday – 15 May 2015
  • Elliptical: 7 minutes, 0.75 mile
  • Bench Press: 3 x 8 x 115 lbs
  • Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 3 x 8 x 1 @ 20 lbs/2 @ 25 lbs
  • Dumbbell Fly: 3 x 8 x 20 lbs
  • Dumbbell Curls: 3 x 8 x 2 @ 20 lbs/1 @ 25 lbs
  • Wrist Curls: 3 x 15 x 2 @ 30 lbs/1 @ 40 lbs

And that was that. It’s going to take a while to get back to where I was when I stopped going to the gym, but I’m enjoying the journey so far.

Stray Toasters

• Since cutting the cord, nearly two months ago now, I haven’t missed cable.
• I’ve been quite pleased with and a occasionally surprised by my Comics-On-TV shows of late: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Flash, and iZombie.
• By way of Mike B.: Space X gets certified to launch NASA science missions
• I’ve seen Avengers: Age of Ultron twice now. I’ll see if I can’t type up a two-part review in the next day or two.
• Team DiVa asked me to play Candy Land with them last weekend. It was, not surprisingly, the first time I’d played the game in many, many years. And, it was fun, too.
• Check out this Flash Gordon animated short, by Rob Pratt
• Confederates in the Jungle
• I don’t recall how I stumbled across this item, On Being a Cripple, by Nancy Mairs, but it is a fantastic and fascinating read. It is long and, for some, might not be necessarily “easy” to read, but I think that it’s very much worth the time to read.

And, it’s well into Saturday morning, now. I guess I’ll just schedule this to post sometime after the sun is up.

Namaste.

Saturday – 02 May 2015
Today is Free Comic Book Day, a day awaited by the comic faithful all year long. Long story, short version:

Celebrate and discover the amazing world of comic books on Free Comic Book Day! Taking place annually on the first Saturday in May, Free Comic Book Day is a single day when participating comic book specialty shops across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their shops!¹

Sara, Team DiVa and I got up, had breakfast, and headed to Dr. Volt’s Comic Connection to partake in the bounty!

We stood in line for a bit… before friends brought us up to their spot in line… and then went inside to get comics for the girls and me and a couple of action figures (1, 2) for Team DiVa. We also managed to find a few other heroes to take pictures with.

The New Birds of Prey: Hawkgirls and Black Canary

Click here to see other pictures from the event.

All too soon, it was over… until next year!

And, of course, thanks to Dr. Volt’s for hosting this event.

¹ – Source: Free Comic Book Day website.