Natural Order

This is Charles, or as he's known at Sports Authority - Duff. He was of the 'leads' or a supervisor.

Each evening, towards closing time (I love that Lenord Cohen song), each employee is supposed to do recovery in his area. Basically, that putting everything in it's place, and making sure everything looks neat.

All my life, I've used what I call, Natural Order. Those close to me, my family and friends, former girlfriends, wives, roommates, and demonic posessors -just seeing if you're paying attention- know what I'm talking about.

My desk is what others would call, A Mess. The strange thing is, I don't see it. Well, except for a few things here and there- the napkin, the burnt out lightbuld, the DVD of the plans of the Stealth Bombers- oh, forget that last part, but for the most part, everything that looks like it's a mess has a specific purpose for being exactly where it is.

A problem that has been with me most of my life, probably because of the ADD thing, is that if something is not right in front of me, it doesn't exist. If some piece of work needs to be done, it has to be right in front of me. If it's 'put away' based on someone elses idea of neatness, in my head, it's disappeared. Forgotten. Lost to the cosmos. When you have a million incomplete thoughts all going on at the same time in your head, remembering where you put the phone bill yesterday never happens. I've got a million thoughts to attempt to complete first- never happens though. But, if the bill is next to my computer, I know where it is.

With my Natural Order method of organization, I know where everything is. Unfortunately, the method that works for me annoys the hell out of those around me. Makes living with me difficult. For those who've lived with me, I thank you for your attempts at patience with me. For those of you who weren't patient, well, you know what Mr. Hat tells Kyle everytime he wants to go to the bathroom.

Now, you can guess how this affect me at work; I don't see the thing out-of-place. To me, everything looks fine. I'm absolutely shocked when the managers come up for the walk through, and find many problems on each isle. There's no way I can explain how my mind works with this stuff, so I just have to let them believe when it comes to area recovery, I'm simply incompetent. Donald would say, "You're fired." No, I wouldn't bother giving him the chance to make it that far. If neatness was a requirement for his job, I'd politely bow out. I'd waste all my time attempting to be neat, unsuccessful in the attempt, and absolutely neglect everything else.

So, I let myself do the best I can with that, and focus on my strengths. I'll let you know what they are when I find out.

Today I trained my clients, walked the dogs, studied, worked out, went to work at Sports Authority, then came home and blogged. Not sure what I'll do next. Probably ignore a few things I need to clean.

Nutrition- Breakfast- Whole Wheat Bagel w/Olivia, Midmorn- Zone Perfect bar, body for life drink, Midday- Zone Perfect Drink, Supper- Turkey sandwich, apple, evening- Zone bar.

Exercise- I did 45 minutes of Yoga, my own sequence. I made it up as I went along. Natural Order, you know. Then I did 12 minutes of running. I can do intervals, but going at the same pace for any length of time is difficult. I can do it; I've done it before. I just need to train it again.

The Awful Truth- You already read about it; the Natural Order thing, remember?

Brownie Points- The Natural Order thing actually works for me, most of the time.

Intentions- Tell people who don't like my Natural Order, "Fragg Off!"

The Road to Hell

So, I went to the mall this morning. And look who I saw! My good friend, Drew Baye.
Despite Drew's recent dilemma involving the choice of leaving the Super Slow Zone Corp or not, he's doing very well. He has a new baby on the way, and obviously very in love with Emma. Just sorry I didn't get to meet her. He working on web stuff, a good choice, in my opinion, and focusing on his future fatherhood. I was glad to see him leave the Super Slow cult- something I was once part of, and deprogrammed myself. Drew's and independent thinker, and practicing independent thought in a cult environment doesn't work.

I won't go much into the the concept of Super Slow exercise, and the Super Slow Zone, other than to say that the concept of training is a good tool, when used right, but the people who are involved with teaching and practicing it become fanatical about it, and follows the patterns and dynamics of a cult. A good idea, gone way bad. I hope the best for Drew, and hope I get to see more of him.

After the mall, Nancy and I went to Home Depot to pick up some paint. We need to paint the outside trim, before a party in November. A visit to Home Depot always involves the potential for new decorations. I had to entertain myself somehow.

Besides, Nancy forbade me to post the other pics I took there.

I got a good bit of studying and homework done today. I have to do some work with Excel everyday now. I'm going to need it for the Winter Park Art Festival screening.

We at dinner with Shelley and Bob at PF Changs. Good dinner, good friends. A good time.

After dinner, I watched Donald fire 4 people off The Apprentice. Very cool!

Nutrition- Went off the meal plan, only a little. Ate at PF Changs, instead of El Potro. I'm about to fall asleep, so I'll just say that other than PF Changs, there wasn't much difference in my meals. Except, I had soup and sandwich at lunch. And, a Zone Perfect bar for breakfast. And, a Turkey sandwich with Drew. Okay, my meals were totally different. Come to think of it, I didn't stay on my meal plan very well at all. I did make decent food choices, though. Get off my back now!

Exercise- I started a lower body workout, but within a few exercises I wasn't feeling 'up-to-par'. My right hip/back/knee was achy and spasmy. Something unusual for me. I hadn't drank enough water the day before, nor today. Always happens when I'm low on water intake. I cut the workout short. Not going to make progress training borderline dehydrated.

The Awful Truth- The food thing. The water thing, and, well, you know.

Brownie Points- As Maggie Wang says, "Move along now, nothing to see here."

Intentions- I intend to do better at "Integrity in the moment of choice" tomorrow. Meaning- I intend to carry out my intentions. Or, at least some of them.

Someone asked me, "Why are you on the left side of almost every picture?" Three Reasons:

1. My face is my logo, and a big part of my business. Product recognition, I guess. The more pictures I have of me on the net, the better know I might get.
2. I usually hold the camera best in my right hand.
3. I'm just plain vain.

Communication

It's said that most communication is 75% non-verbal. How someone came up with that number is a mystery to me. They probably communicated it nonverbally.

Being a Personal Trainer, it's important that I have good skills of obersvation regarding nonverbal communication. Although it seems to have occurred unintentionally, my skills have developed very well, at least in my profession. Can't seem to get them right at home, or with family and friends. Leads me to believe that many so-called mediums or psychics out there are simply extremely good body languages readers, whether they are aware of it or not. I'm not saying true mediums and pyschics don't exist; I don't know if they do or not. Not really sure I want to know, either.

In the past few years, I've really tried to observe dog languange, their patterns, habits, and skills. I've come up with one conclusion: Dogs are superior to man, by far.

Dogs, or canine animals, have existed long before we came down out of the trees (as sloths), or from God's decree, or from a spaceship -whatever you want to believe. Their social structure has enabled them to survive almost any hardship this planet hit them with. We may consider them to be simple animals, but their simplicity is probably what has kept them around this long.

We don't understand Dog language, yet, but they seem to have a better understanding of us. Consider this: did man subjugate canine animals, or did canine animals seek to befriend the dominant animal of the planet. Keep in mind Dog social structure is all about dominance and submissiveness.

It's interesting to watch Dogs, and see behaviors and actions that have existed for eons before man conquered these wonderful creatures.

Meanwhile, the Cats are telling the Dogs, "You guys work way too hard."

Today

I took some pictures today, but nothing worth keeping, much less posting. I wish my camera had a flash. I'll try to take some workout pics tomorrow.

Worked out my clients this morning, studied, walked the dogs, studied some more, exercised, then worked at Sports Authority.

Some people would call such a life a 'rut'. I'm a person who craves routine, and feels much more comfortable in a 'rut', even an uncomfortable one. Holidays are atypical, and I always feel out-of-sorts on them. I don't really dislike holidays. I dislike that they mess with my 'routine'.

Nutrition:

• Breakfast- Honey nut cheerios. Yes, planned. Still have a lot left.
• Midmorning- Whole wheat bagel with Olivia spread
• Lunch- Oatmeal, with added fiber, protein, and a wee bit of maple surup. I added a 1/2 a banana too.
• Midday- Zone bar
• Dinner- Turkey sandwich, pear, 1 milkyway mini bar. I kept the rest for later.
• Evening- 1 milkyway mini, again, and a bowl of raisin bran.

Exercise: 30 Minutes of Yoga immediately followed with 20 minutes of interval training on the treadmill.

The Awful Truth- I had trouble getting up this morning, and had that sinus induced head pressure all day. It was a bit better after Yoga and running, but never really went away. At least I didn't overload on nsaid pain meds all day.

Brownie Points- Got out the replys on Art Festival judges party invitation.

Short Term Intentions- I like the idea of calling them intentions. When the first mate come to the captain of the submarine, the captain asks, "What are your intentions?" The first mate replies with his intentions -indicating that he does indeed have a plan of some sort- then the captain my ask for more information, change the order, or simply reply "Proceed." When the captain is saying, "Proceed," all the time, you either have a really good crew, or a lazy Captain. Let's hope it's the good crew.

My Intentions for tomorrow-

• Two Study sessions
• Reinstall Flight Simulator (I've always wanted to get a pilots license)
• Workout lower body
• Send out 5 postcards

I have other intentions, but I probably should keep those private. I'm trying to be more of a 'gentleman'.

Cold Front

In Florida, anything below 72 degrees is cold. For me, anything below 82 degrees is my definition of freezing point. Today, the lowest I saw about about 52 degrees; perfect inline skating weather. Except that Uncle Charlie ruined my skates last year, when the made the tree hit my car. I need a new pair, someday.

Today with the first day since summer I put on my jacket. Usually, when the thermometer drops lower than 72, my bones ache. Not today. Don't know why. Maybe it was the dryer air from the cold front. The sky was clear, the air was as crisp as it could get in Florida, and I was feeling fine. Didn't even need allergy meds. A hugh contrast in just twenty-four hours.

I worked out my clients, did some homework, did more homwork, worked out, napped, then went to class. A good day, in all. My CoachDANNY name is getting out. At the very least, I'm making sure of that. I'll eventually have a full client load, a few hours each week at Sports Authority, and a full class schedule. Just hope I can get some writing in there, somewhere.

Nutrition

1. Breakfast- Before 1st client- One Zone Perfect Bar. After client- Whole wheat bagel, Olivia spread.
2. Midmorn- 1/2 Zone Bar
3. Lunch- Ham Salad Sandwich, Ritz Crackers
4. Midmorn- Body For Life drink, Zone bar
5. Supper- Tortallini, greenbeans.
6. Night- 3 oatmeal cookies, Whole wheat bagel, with Olivia spread.

I think the tortallini is responsible for the bloating I'm getting tonight. Might have to sleep outside again. Could have been the hamsalad. Not sure. Getting a bit better.

Exercise- Upper Body- Upper Back/Triceps emphasis

I think I'll start doing the brief 30minute Yoga strength sequence on my strength training days. I kindof fits there.

The Awful Truth- Didn't get the homework/studying done I intended. I struggle with distractions. When I was in elementary school, the only treatment for people like me were there instructions, "Pay attention, Danny." We've come a long way in understanding ADD, but application is difficult, with everything online now. Many more distractions there.

Brownie Points- Talk to Brian M., on the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival board. He's not going to be there this year, so I have to do the Excel part of our screening. He's going to go over it with me. The brownie for me part, is because I didn't freak. My instant thought was, "I can handle it." Cognitive training actually does work. Cool.

Tomorrows Tasks- More homework/studying. It's fresh in my head, and I want to keep it that way.

Bye Bye Wilma

She came and went. I really didn't get to see her, at least much of her. She showered, and left water everywhere, but at least not in the house. Our hurricane preperations were all for naught. But, at least, we have it down to a pretty easy procedure. The only procedure left would be if we had to get the hell-out-of-Dodge. Not sure why they say that. I have a Ford. Anyway, I have 15 gallons of filtered water sitting on the bathroom floor. Don't worry; it's in containers.

My clients cancelled this morning. I usually use the cancellation policy my coach had: The only reason you cancel a workout is a death in the family. Your OWN! Being as that some of them actually come from far away, just to workout with me, I understood. The rain was blowing sideways this morning, and I got to sleep it.

I did makeout my plan for this week, and started on the meal plan too. Kept to most of it today, except the little preHalloween milkyway I had. Or was it two. Maybe it was three. The only way to get off this sugar junkie thing is cold turkey. I'd rather is was cold ham; tastes better.

I'm probably going to remove FranklinCovey PlanPlus from my MS Outlook. The system I'd created myself worked better for me. Don't go by my personal use here. PlanPlus is a good product, just not for me. They would have to come up with a whole lot of new features to get me to purchase a new version.

Nutrion

• Breakfast- Whole wheat bagel with Olivia (Olive Oil Spread). I found these bagels at wal mart; 12 grams of protein, and taste. High fiber too.
• Lunch- No midmorn, and breakfast was pretty late: Oatmeal, Udo's oil, protein powder, a wee bit of Maple Surup.
• Midday- Zone Perfect bar with Body For Life drink. I call it the Walmart express
• Dinner- Ham Salad Sandwich
• Latenight snake- Two, maybe three, milkyway minis. At least they weren't the big ones.
• This posting my food is making me do a wee bit better. Maybe in a few weeks, you'll see some actual healthy days of eating.

Workout- One hour of Yoga

The Awful Truth - Sat around all morning, pretty much doing nothing. No lights for a short time, but it was no excuse. I just couldn't wake up. I blame it on the air pressure. I, of course, couldn't be at fault. Nooo.

Brownie Points-

• Did my weekly plan
• Started my weekly meal plan
• Found my set of plyers

Short Term Tasks-

• Finish meal plan
• Study next chapter in Computer Confluence and Office 2003

I didn't have any good pics to give you, but enjoy this entertaining little diddy:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6739710473912337648&q=chinese

Maggie Wang posted it on her blog, and I thought it was hilarious.

Prepping for Aunt Wilma

Last year, Uncle Charlie, Aunt Francis, and Crazy Cousin Jean came to visit. Uncle Charlie wrecked my car, and I couldn't even get State Farm to pay up on it. They said Uncle Charlie was a 'natural disaster', and not covered by their policy. Charlie turned off our power, as did Aunt Francis, and Cousin Jean. Nancy and her mother came to wits end in front of Aunt Francis. The joke was on them though; Aunt Francis didn't even notice, or care.

Now, Aunt Wilma's coming.

I think Aunt Wilma will just blow some steam off while she's here. She's said she'd be here on Saturday, then changed her mind to Monday. Now, she's racing to get here. She's not moody, just indecisive.

Today

After eating my Sunday French Toast, which my wonderful and sexy girlfriend makes me each weekend (she's learned the addage is true about the way to a mans heart. Wiggle and jiggle catches our eye, but food catches the heart), we walked the dogs. Long walk, since we had a good idea Wilma would interfer with getting a walk in this evening. That side of the family is just so selfish. They want all the attention. We spent the rest of the day prepping for Wilma:

• Lowered the water level in the pool
• Filled filter water bottles, and 3 five gallon jugs
• Prepared the generator and house plugin system
• Charged the Coleman, "Hot Water On Demand" water heater system
• Charged everything rechargable, especially the cellphones
• Brought pool furniture closer to the house.

After prepping as much as we could, we went to Wal Mart for a few thing, the to eat at our neighborhood El Potro. Then, we went to Borders to surf the isles (that might actually be fun).

Came home to discover airconditioner is out again. No biggy. We're ready.

Today was my Free Day, so no reports on food, nutrition, etc.

Yeah, I still didn't get the meal plan done. Get off my back, okay? I'll do it.

No Name City

"Where am I going? I don't know. When will I get there? I ain't certain. All that I know is I am on my way... -- ... Got a Dream, boy, Got a Song. Paint your wagon, and come along!"

If I could get this page to play an .mp3 file, I'd have it play, "Paint Your Wagon". While I like to say that Sympathy for the Devil is my theme song, Paint Your Wagon is much closer. By the way, I don't have the DVD of it.

In the past few weeks, I've learn that being your own boss has it's rewards, and it's drawbacks.

Rewards: Independence
Drawbacks: Independence.

Working for yourself kind of ruins you for working for other people. They want you to tow the company line. Sometimes, that line ain't attached to my boat - or wagon, as the case may be. Sometimes, they say, "That's not our policy." My answer, "Company policy seems to be in direct conflict with my company's policy. I'll discuss it with the CEO later."

Lack of fear can be a good thing. And it can be dangerous, especially in a job situation. In the past fifteen years, I've become a do it, and ask forgiveness if it don't work type of guy. I'm not usually the what, how, should I do this? I'm still learning the ropes of being an employee again. Ugh.

Being your own boss does have a good benefit with me; I'm very customer centered, especially because of my personal mission. I want to help 10,000 people live a better life through being in the best condition of their lives. Or, at least, better condition than they are now. If their needs are better met by sending them to the other guys, I have no problem sending them. But, if I can help them, I'll do everything possible to get them the tools they need. I'm more concerned that I help the person. I'll get the benefit eventually.

Since I've been working at Sports Authority, I've noticed an interesting phenomenon, and I see it everywhere now. Workers, especially younger ones, rarely look the customer in the eye. The workers rarely smile a genuine smile to them. This isn't just where I work, it's everywhere.

I remember when the Soviet Union was still in existance, Russians didn't smile. "Why should I?" would be their answer, if asked. "What have I got to smille about?" Have we become like they were?

Not me. At least, I hope not. Then again, I'm not after the money. I hope that happens, but I'm more interested in the people. If that makes me a pauper, so be it. As long as I have enough to fend for myself, I'm fine. Sometimes, even that's a struggle. Yes, I can be a reverse snob. Been rightly accused of that many times. I've had money, and it's just never done me any good.

"When will I be there? I ain't to quick to say. But who gives a damn, who gives a damn, We're.....on.....OUR.....WAAYYYY!!"

Today

After breakfast, we walked the dogs, deposited money, worked out, ate lunch, and I got ready for work. Then I worked, came home, and blogged.

Exercise

We worked lower body today. I'm starting to do more weight with dumbbell squats. My goal is to be able to squat with 2, 200 lbs. dumbbells in each hand, for 3 reps. Yes, 400 total.

It might happen.

Nutrition

• Breakfast- Honey Nut Cheerios- with added protein and fiber. The fiber really helps with my gut problem -probably just age. I take a fiber supplement three times a day.
• Midmorn- Zone Perfect Bar
• Lunch- Ham Salad sandwich, chicken and rice soup
• Midday- Zone bar, and Zone drink a few hours later
• Supper- Healthy Choice dinner. Chicken, and some veggies. I forgot to eat my apple.

Awful Truth

• Still haven't done my meal plan for next week.
• Didn't study today

Brownie Points

• Listen to Security Now Podcast. This stuff is directly related to my school stuff, so maybe I did study.
• Better food choices today. Still needs work and planning, but much better.

Short-Term Task

• Finish preperations for hurricane - Drain pool a bit, test circuit board and generator, fill small and large water bottles, set candles out, prep house, by a few packs of Smirnoff Ice.

Podcasting

I really want to get a podcast going. I'd like to do a good fitness podcast. The problem is; listening to podcast from one person is just plain boring. Even talk show host 'go to the phones' now and then. I've downloaded the popular ones, mostly to see why they're popular. It's because they're entertaining. They're entertaining because there's two or more people, and they sometimes 'go to the phone', or in some podcasts, to the emails. Since I'm into: Technology, Yoga, Exercise, and that other thing that almost all humans are interested in, I download podcasts on those subjects. It's like talk radio, when you want it.

Even if you're not into talk radio, there are some important things out there. Anyone who uses a computer, or companies that use computers, should listen to Security Now podcasts. If I owned a company that used a lot of computers, I'd make sure all my employees listen to each episode of Security Now. Parents should listen to it too.

The easiest way to get podcasts is through iTunes. After you install it, just click on podcast directory to find topics you like. With iTunes you can even download some vidcasts -or video casts- and watch them when you want. Most tech types believe vidcasts are going to be the death of TV, as we know it. You'll be able to download your favorite shows, and watch them when you want, not when 'they're on'. The thing I like best about the iTunes play is; it remembers where you were when you stop, and close the application. When you bring it back up, it returns to where you were. Personally, I prefer Winamp, mostly because I'm use to it. Windows Media Player does a good job, but can be confusing for some.

Yahoo has a great Yahoo Podcast site. I get most of mine from there. There are many other podcast director sites out there. You can search around, and find what you like best.

You don't need an iPod to listen to podcasts. You can listen on your computer. You can burn the podcasts -which are simply .mp3 files- to a CD, and play them in your car. I play most of mine through Pocket Windows Media Player, on my iPAQ Pocket PC. I usually keep about five to six hours of podcasts on it, and listen to them in my car. It plays over any FM station I want, and sounds really good.

Some Podcasts I like:

• Physique Transformations
• This Week in Tech -TWiT - The number one podcast
• Diggnation - Interesting and funny comments on these guys social bookmarking site. They usually get a litte drunk through the cast, so it gets even funnier as they go.
• CNET daily podcast - Daily update on Tech stuff.
• Yogamazing - Haven't listen to more than a few minutes of these, so I can't really comment on it. I'll post my reaction to it later.

My Blog is getting an average of 25 hits a day, and increasing. My goal is 1000 hits a day. Help me get reach that, if you could. I'll eventually post some links on the right side, when I figure out how, without messing the other stuff up too.

Today - I worked my clients out this morning, having breakfast in between them. Had a whole wheat bagel. It was good, really good. The package said 18 grams of protein, but I'm suspicious. I am gulible enough to try them. After walking the dogs, I worked on MS Excel homework. I was suppose to do some endurance training, but I thought I was best served doing Yoga only, instead. If I dont' get enough sleep, the endurance training seems to be 'all-for-naught'.

Stephen and Brett, if you read this, send me some update digital photos of you guys, so I can post them. I'd like people to see ya'll, at least once. And, I'll put them on my flickr page - you know, that interesting photo thingy on the right side.

Hopefully, More Social Security Money for Me

This is Nancy's daughter, Amy, and her fiance Elias. That's right, the same Elias I blogged about a few weeks ago. No, not the 81 year old. This is the younger one. Well, I'm not sure he's not 81, but if he is, he's taken damn good care of himself.

Congrats to Amy and Elias. He did it the right way, and asked Paul Deutsch if he could ask Amy to marry him. Good show, ole chap. I assume Paul gave Elias and Amy his approval. Soon, he'll be giving them his money. Such is the way with daughters. They're expensive.

I'm not going to be the usual cad that I can be, and say something like, "Congrats on your first engagement." That would be uncool. As would, "Congrats on your first marriage." Such sarcasm is just unwarrented, and the mark of an immature mind.

Never said I grew up. Like I still want to say to the pregnant women I see, "I know what you did." (said with a 9 year old voice).

Will Amy and Elias last? That's up to them. The odds are against them, but, if they work on things before the wedding, I think they'll have a good marriage. I don't know of anything in particular they need to work on. I'm just thinking of the marriage numbers in America. So, my advice: Spend as much time planning the marriage as you do planning the wedding. I think all engage couples should have to go through a program like Outward Bound, before the wedding. Remember the original version of The Parent Trap? I think Amy and Elias would have a good ole time.

Anyway, I'd like to encourage Amy and Elias to start a family, as soon as possible. Everytime I see a couple walking by, hand in hand, or kissing, or more, I think, "Yes, more potential social security money!" We can't depend on private savings anymore; the previous years of 401k collapse showed that. The financial industry is almost as evil as the tobacco industry, maybe worse. You see, I participate in the governmental process here in the US, and things aren't going the way I'd like them to go. So, since they're not doing it my way, they should take care of me in my old age. If they did it my way, they wouldn't have to. If they want to know what that is, they can email me, and ask.

So, Amy and Elais, get busy! I need more social security contributions! And to all you other child bearing age adults, keep going! To those of you who are struggling with the kid making process, get to Russia, China, Romania, Vulcan, or whereever and adopt!

And, to all of you liberal democrats; pass the friggin Fair Tax, so the tourists, illegals, and the overconsuming elitists can pay 'their fair share'. I just don't get why the democrats aren't jumping on this one! This is something they'd come up with, but because a percieved conservative talkshow host popularized it, they're going to play turf games. I can't expect conservative republicans to tag onto the fair tax plan. Money grubbing, cheating, vile and coniving bunch they are. They even let a fake republican in their grand ole party. They wanted priniples, they got them. Skull principles, that is. (Can you tell I'm independent. Well, not really, but see if you can guess what party I belong to. You're probably wrong).

Okay, enough with nicities and rants.

Today
I trained my clients, worked on the water sprinklers for the front yard, walked the dogs, and worked on an invitation for the Winter Parks Sidewalk Art Festival judges party. After lunch, we worked out, the rested before we went to Donatos for the Five Florida Writers meeting.

We came home, watched The Apprentice - I didn't like seeing Khristi get booted- then I blogged. You're reading that part now.

Nutrition

• Breakfast- HN Cheerios, with added protein and fiber
• midmorn- 1/2 Zone Perfect Bar
• Lunch- Turkey sandwich - the animal turkey, not the country. That would be a 'Turkish" sandwich.
• midday- I forgot to eat here. That's what happens when you don't have a food plan
• Supper- Donatos Pizza - Chicken Veggie.

Exercise- Upper Body workout. Changed it up a bit: Did compound pushing movements like Bench Press, Incline Press, and Dips (the planar motions concept), and did a set of abs and biceps exercise between each set. Worked out very well, except I forgot that I do best on overhead press when I warmup with a very light weight (15 lbs dumbbells) for high reps-20 or more. When I do that, the heavier weights feel lighter. When I don't even 25 lbs dumbells feel heavy. I'll remember next time. I use to think my shoulders were mostly fast twitch fiber. Now, I think it's the complete opposite, as my shoulders tend to respond better with higher reps, much higher. Not sure why yet.

The Awful Truth- We were suppose to get the invitation out today. It will have to be tomorrow. Didn't get much studying done at all today.

Brownie Points- Downloaded a bunch of fitness podcast to listen to when I'm working out.

Tasks for Tomorrow-

• Email the invitation
• Set up direct deposit with Sports Authority
• Have some others, but I'm too lazy to open Outlook right now.

The Urinet, Peemail, and Rascals

Chili loves to attack sprinkler heads. It's fun to watch too. She just love to attack water, as you can see. Today, on the start of our walk, she attacked one in our yard. We laughed as she killed it dead. Proud of herself, we went along our way. Till we came to a house that had just been demolished, and the razed land from it. ChiliDog decided to go for a roll in the dirty sand. A few times. There was no stopping her. The Dingo in her breed came out, and she followed what her breeds instructions came with. She looked at us as though she was say, "What? What's wrong? Oh, yeah, I'm not dirty enough yet. Hold on, I'll roll again." We gave her a bath when she got home. She seems to like it.

Dogs live in the moment. On a Dogcast (a podcast about dogs), a little girl said something like, (read in a British accent) "You know when you go into a room, and can't remember why you were there? That's what it's probably like to be a dog, all the time." That's close, maybe.

It's interesting to watch humans, myself included, personalize dogs. We shouldn't be personalizing them. We should be dogalizing them. I imagin that dogs think in pictures, just like we do, but sight probably doesn't get to their brain like it does ours -unless it's a sight hound. Neither does sound, even though they hear better. When we yell at a dog, "Why the hell did you eat the rug? What are you thinking?",...he hears, "Blah blah blah blah blah EAT blah blah blah blah?"

A dog's entire existence is about smell. They can probably smell what the people who made this house 40 year ago had for lunch. Probably dinner too. The can tell where we've been when we come home. Dog's have had their own version of the internet long before humans came down from trees (I think we evolved from Sloths, not apes. That's why we can't find the missing link). It's called the Urinet. Every time we go for a walk, the log on, or in a dogs case, leg on. Every-so-often, they stop to read peemail. In some locations were dogs pee everytime they pass that area, they're reading a message board. You know, when they smell around at all the pee, looking for the right place to leave a reply, or should I say, a replee? I wonder if they have a weather section, and a dog politics section. It's probably something close to match.com, or personal ads. Scuse me, dogal ads.

Today
I worked my clients out this morning, the came home to study. Except, I didn't get as much studying done, at least as much as I wanted. I did get the newsletter template done. I also figure out how to get a 7 habits compass onto my toy. I print our a 'pocketpc' size .pdf, and put in in a compass file. Works pretty good. I listened to TWiT while I worked on the newsletter. They're pretty funny, and I learn some good stuff. After lunch, we went to Home Depot, not really to stock up for hurricane Wilma, but for a tool to adjust the sprinkler head. No, ChiliDog didn't break it; it just needs the water to scatter more. I did my 20 minutes of interval training on the treadmill, we ate dinner, then went to the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival board meeting. Luckily, I didn't have to work today, or I would have had to miss it.

Nancy and I were being rascally tonight. Actually, we're pretty rascally all the time. We came home to watch The Gym. It's pretty funny. Since I'm a Personal Trainer, it's even funnier than it would be to the average person. Good show. Then, we watched Over There, a really good show. I'd like to find out from people who've actually been over there, if it's anything like reality.

Exercise - 20 minute interval training on treadmill

Nutrition

• Breakfast - HN Cheerios. This time, I added some protein and fiber.
• Midmorn- 1/2 Zone Perfect bar
• Lunch- Rigatoni with chicken meal. It was what was in the freezer.
• Midday - Other half of bar
• Supper- Swedish meatballs (or Norwegian, whichever you prefer), green beans.

The Awful Truth

• Didn't get the meal plan done
• Ate 4 mini snickers bars - I get too addicted to sugar. Not living like Jack.
• Didn't get the studying done I'd intended.

Brownie Points

• New shoes look good (yes, I'm that desperate for a point)

Tomorrows Goals

• Get meal plan done
• Write 5 minutes in Eat Me

Technology

This is a picture of the Five Florida Writers setup for a booksigning, or bookstore presentation. We have a Powerpoint presentation, to draw attention. I think we did a good job.

Most people who know me know my obsession with technology. I'm a freak for this stuff. In the past, I've probably overspent most of my money on tech gadgets. Now, I'm learning how little to spend. Within a few months, I intend to figure out how to spend less than $50 on an entire machine, complete with a full suite of software.

My toy enables me to do a lot of things. It sync's with my 'desktop' - I can listen to my .mp3 audiobooks on it - I listen to Podcasts on it - most of the pictures you see on this site and my flickr site are from it - I do a lot of my writing on it, including some of these blog entries - I can even get online with it - check email...you get the idea. It's a versital tool. It has it's quirks, but I still like it.

I've really gotten into podcasts lately, especially the talkshow variety. There's so many on technology. The best ones inform and entertain. I even set my toy up in my truck so that it can broadcast a signal to my simple radio, and I can listen to it just like a radio talkshow. Behold, yet another use for the toy.

Diggnation is a great site. It's basically a social bookmark site, where people vote on how much they like certain sites by 'digging' it. Revision3 is site, by some of the same guys, with some vidcasts of interesting tech stuff. Security Now is a podcast show about computer security. Anyone using a computer should download the podcast, and listen.

Tecnology has it's downside, though. Many people don't realize how toxic the stuff is. The dumping of computer stuff is hazardous to the environment. The long term effects of the stuff is still not know. It can be addictive (look at me).

I have a good day. Worked out clients this morning, fixed a window crank (stepping in my oil pail in the process), got new shoes, worked out, and went to class. Now, I'm blogging, then getting in bed. Simple day.

Nutrition
Breakfast - Two Zone Perfect bars -back to my normal breakfast
Midmorn- 1/2 Zone bar
Lunch- ham/cheese sandwich, split pea soup.
Midafternoon- Other 1/2 of the zone bar
Supper -Chicken, veggie, pasta meal
1 too many cookies for when I got home from class.

It's getting a wee bit better. Not much, but there is some improvement.

Exercise
Worked lower body today. Good workout

The Awful Truth
When I said, "...one too many cookies," you have no idea how many came before the last one. I'm not sure algebra could figure that one. (x=too many, x+1=way too many. Solve for x).
Didn't get my meal plan done.
Didn't get get the template done.

Brownie Points
I fixed the window crank. Had no clue how to do it, but I figured it out. I knew I would. Took awhile, but I got it.

Tasks for tomorrow
Meal plan
Template
Study MS Excel, Computer Confluence chapter.
Go to Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival board meeting

GRAND OPENING

Weeee! I'm Sooo excited. I just opened my own online store! You can buy my T-shirts, sweatshirts, coffee mugs, and even a dog shirt. Yes, I broke down and decide to market a dog shirt. I set up a cafepress online store. It's easy, and free. Well, it's free for me to set it up. You still have to pay for the merchandice, of course. The most important thing for me; I can buy my own products. I don't have to slave over a hot iron making them anymore. That, and my friends and family can get stuff -hint, hint.

I've updated my coachdanny.net site, but I'll be updating it tomorrow, and add a 'My Store' button on each page. I put my logo on the top. I'm not quite happy with it yet, but it will do for now.

Today
I trained my clients this morning, walked the dogs, then came home and waited for the plumber to show up. We had a leak, and had scheduled service. We'd schedule for 12pm, but the service was late. They came at 5:15pm. It would have been nice if they called. At least they got another tech to come out, and fix the stuff. Luckily, it wasn't much; just a pin-hole leak, and a new water heater element. We weren't sure what to expect, but everything came out lucky for us. It usually does, for me. I was born a luck child, on the year of the rabbit. I actually have to try hard to be unlucky, and even then it rarely works.
Anyway, I studied most of the day; MS Excel. This is one product I'm not good with. Yet. I will be though.

Exercise
I'd planned to workout today, but the plumber thing got in the way If they'd shown up, it would have worked. Okay, that's really no excuse, especially when I have a treadmill here at home. I was going to do a 20 minute interval run, but never got going on it.

Nutrition
Breakfast- the usual. I like them. Maybe I'll add some protein and more fiber to it to give is some performance help.
I had a Zone Perfect Bar in between
Lunch - Left over hamburger helper. Not the best, but it's free. Free food has no calories, right? Yeah, right.
Dinner - Chicken, rice, greenbeans. Good stuff. Desert - Ice Cream. I had to ruin it, huh?

Awful Truth
Again with the nutrition. It was a bit better. Baby steps. Believe me folks; it ain't any easier for personal trainers to get it right. We live in the same world you do, with the same influences, and make some bad choices too. Luckily, the activity level most of us have keep the weight off, but that can only help a little with the health part. At my age, I've got to do better.

Brownie Points
Set up my own online store. I'm really excite about that. I'm not even concerned about making sales; just that I can buy stuff with my logo, without having to buy 1000 items.
I studied today. A lot! Even reach that 'no mas' point, where my brain just wasn't going to absorb any more info.
I planned the rest of my week this morning.

Goals for Tomorrow
Workout
Make out a Meal Plan for next week
Create a template for my newsletter

Embarrassment

I think I was born without the gene for embarrassment. For the first part of my life, this was a bad thing. I had to memorize what wasn't appropriate.

• It's not appropriate to walk through the mall in just your boxers, no matter how comfortable it feels.
• It's not appropriate to look down the girls blouse, no matter how low she wears it.
• It's not appropriate to point at the 9 month pregnant lady and say, "I know what you did," no matter how fun it is.
• It's not appropriate to be better than your teacher. At anything, especially the subject they teach (not you, Professor Ware).
• It's not appropriate to call your girlfriend or wife, "Damn good piece-of-ass," no matter how true it is. This is especially true for 1st dates. Sorry Sherry (1986)
• It's not appropriate to start a food fight with the kid at the next table in Old Hickory House bbq restaurant. I found out another use for hickory that night. So did the other kid.

Well, it's taken almost 40 years, but I think I've got most of it down. A few things here and there, but my friends and girlfriend help keep me in line. For the most part.

In later years, especially since I was about 32, the lack of embarrassment has been more of a good thing. Embarrassment keeps people from reaching themselves. Really, I think it's not embarrassment, but contorted set of social parameters that may have worked for the parent, but not the child, or especially not the grandchild. Sure, we need to be civil, and treat others with kindness and respect. We should consider the effects of our decisions (like THAT every actually happens). The problem occurs when we live in such a manner that everyone around us is what we use to consider our actions; how will 'they' think? What will 'they' say? Most of the time, the 'they' we worry about are thinking on their own sorry lives, and never giving us a second thought.

Since I've never experienced embarrassment, as far as I know, when someone says they are embarrassed, I immediately hound them with questions;

• What does it feel like?
• What were you thinking when you felt it?
• Does it hurt?
• Did you know you were wearing different color socks?

Of course, half my questions seem to increase their embarrassment.

Since I've never really experienced it, I've come with up with some theories about it. First, embarrassment is a selfish feeling, almost an act of conceit. To think that we are the focus of everyones attention is conceited. Arrogant. They aren't paying attention to you. They're paying attention to me! Or, at least they should be. Second, embarrasment is a form of mind reading, which is what's known in the psychology world as one of the 'cognitive distortions'. The only way you can even possibly be embarrassed is to believe you know what other people are thinking. If that were true, I need to talk to you about some lottery numbers, and where I left my keys.

Well, I'm too tired to write anymore, but let me leave you with this though:

If you're wearing pants at the moment, did you remember to zip?

Betcha looked!

New things

This is little Katie Thompson. She was a bit early, on purpose, for the safety of mom and baby. Yeah, I know - no one likes other peoples baby pictures, but go ahead and give me the polite "awwww, isn't she cute," admiration, and get it over with.
There, you felt better, didn't you. Honor the House of Thompson, or else.

We slept in today, walked the dogs, called for a plumber, and went to the Maitland Rotary Art Festival at Lake Lilly. It was a good one. I like the Maitland Festival, mostly because it's small. Nancy bought a painting that looked like ChiliDog. Now, we have one that looks like Abby and one that looks like Chili. Cute, huh. In a few days, I'll try to scan them, then you'll say they're cute. You better!

After the festival, we worked out at the gym, then went to Donatos to pick up a pizza. After dinner, I worked on added my logo to my website, and updated a few things on the Five Florida Writers website. Hopefully, I'll be able to do much better work with those in the future. I have so much to learn with them.

I have to work tomorrow, so let's hope things go well, I come home with nice bloggy things to write.

Exercise
Upper Body workout, mostly compound movements. 2 sets in all directions, the -itals, for you biomechanical types.

Nutrition
Breakfast - Nancy's wonderful French Toast
Lunch- Ham sandwich, potato soup
Supper - Donatos Chicken and Veggie Pizza - very tasty

Yeah, I know it's not much better. Maybe I'll make saturdays my free day.

The Awful Truth
Once again, the nutrition speaks for itself. As does my colon. It's been speaking a bit this weekend. Just ask the dogs.

Brownie Points
I might have a deal with the facility to do the cleaning, and other things which may help out finacially, at least for now. Besides, I could do a much better job of keeping the place clean than a cleaning crew.

Short Term Goals
Plan next week - goals, tasks, AND, --- fill out my Meal Planner.

Honestly, I should have cheated

Remember this picture for a week or two ago? I was doing the training program at Sports Authority. Tonight, I did more training, but the smile was missing.

I got to work, and was told to get through as much training as possible that evening, even try to finish it. So, I got prepared, sat down, and started. Every-so-often, I had to get up to go to the bathroom. But, inefficient me, I had to help a customer that asked for it! What kind of an idiot would do that? One customer took awhile to help, and I had to go to the bathroom really bad. What appeared as a smile on my face was actually me clinching my teeth, hoping I would make it to the bathroom. The nice lady kept asking me questions, about Yoga, Pilates, and the Bosu Ball. I answered her questions, and she nicely choose, "Just the Yoga mat for now," I excused myself, then ran for a really good pee. Then, I go back to check on when I should go to dinner. The manager on duty tonight exclaimed, "You're officially the person to take the longest to take the tests."

WHAT?? How can I be the longest? The training program is done on the computer you see in front of me, in a room that is so bitterly cold, it reminds me why I moved to Florida. If you look close, you can even see that my face has turned purple from the chill. The training program is flash based, and some really hokey animated characters named Derek, Amy, and Andrew help you through the training. "Awesome". "You're doing great!" "That's it, keep up the good work." I think they ported the program characters from a previous flash module originally meant for grade school.

The thing is; I followed the training. I couldn't go any faster than the training went.

"Tell me how to speed it up, and I will," I told the manager-on-duty. "It'll probably be like Super Friends, in fast forward."

"I don't know how to make it faster," she replied.

"How can I be the slowest one? I'm going just as fast as the program lets me."

I don't remember what else was said, but I said something to the effect of, "Let me know if you want me to go. If you don't want me here, I'll leave." The back room grew kinda quiet.

Well, I found out how you're suppose to do the program. Evidently, you're suppose to hit the 'next button' all through the training -who needs that- go right to the tests, take the test, then retake them if you score too low.

Stupid me. I was actually going to try to learn about Golf equipment, Football equipment, Baseball equipment, and Soccer equipment. Except for some soccer stuff, I didn't really know much about that others. Okay, I barely knew anything about the others. Ask me about motor learn and skill acquistion theory in those sports, and you'll be trying to find a way out of the room, hours later. I actually sat there and listened to the ridiculous character of Derek, "Awesome," over and over.

Lucily, only the fitness part of the whole training program came next, and I did exactly what I was told; I nexted through the training, and went right to the test. I scored low, mostly because their information on fitness is geared towards defensive litigation, and not fitness. Bascially, it's not designed according to the ACSM guidelines. Low weights, high reps to tone. Yeah, right.

I could have laughed it off, but it really hit a nerve. You see, school and studying has never been my strong point. I can barely sit still for a few minutes, much less through a whole class. My attention span is usually no better than 20 minutes; and that's at best. Self study and self education has been my best method of learning. My own pace. I guess the manager on duty had her own pace she wanted me to go. Anyway, schooling has always been a touchy subject, and while I've rarely ever been in the lowest level of performance in the job world, especially in my profession, I used to always be in the bottom percentile of the class. Failing the class was sometimes actually a good achievement for me. In some of my classes, I think some of the teachers would have given me a negative grade, if they could. I wasn't a bad kid, just 'antsy'. Tonight hit a nerve. Even in school, I never cheated. Some of my teachers asked me, "Why?" Maybe they were hoping some good character trait would arise, but the truth was I was too lazy to even cheat. "Why bother? If I don't know the material, I don't know it."

This time, I did want to know the material, even if I had to listen to the grade school characters of Derek and Andrew. The character of Amy was a bit more of a buy, more realistic.

But, I did like I was advised, and cheated. Now, I feel like shit.

No accountability stuff for today. Get over it.

New Voice

Tonight, I got to hear my new niece, Katie, on the phone. Yelling of course, like a baby should. She's 4 lbs 12oz. Just a wee bit lighter than a bag of sugar. She'll be wrecking cars soon enough.

She's a Thompson, automatically a member of House of Thompson. We're an elite, secret societ. Okay, we're not so elite. And, we're probably not that secret. But, the House of Thompson is a force to be reckoned with. Not sure what kind of force. Okay, maybe we're a nudge to be reckoned with. Just get in our way, and we'll nudge you! Either that, or we'll keep talking to you voluntarily move. Trust me...it would work.



This is me playing with my toy again. I have to put a 2 second delay on it, enough time for be to get still enough. Trying to master that. I'm doing a bit better.

Today
I trained my clients today, and came home to study. Nancy and I worked out this afternoon, and went to El Potro for dinner. I used to get #5, every time. Every Friday night, probably for over a year. Now, I get number #6.

We did a lower body workout:
Right now, we're doing an I go/you go partner workout. Same exercises, just different weights, of course (pounding chest now).

I like Mexican food. And Chinese food. And, well.....I like food. Especially peanut butter. Even though I speak Russian, I couldnt' stay in Russia very long. No peanut butter there. I'm not sure I'd want to exist in a world without peanut butter. If I went to Russian, hopefully, they'd update their grocery supply, and have peanut butter. I'd make it, if I had to. Mmmmmm.

This was at El Potro tonight. Nancy said she liked this picture, and I should post it. So I did.

Nutrition

Breakfast- Honey Nut Cheerios. What can I say,....they were there. And, I needed the fiber. Yeah, I don't believe me neither.

Lunch - Peanut Butter Sandwich. Now you know why I had the commentary about Peanut Butter. Strawberry jelly. Grape is just ugh. Okay on bisquits, but Strawberry jelly just works with peanut butter. Scuse me now, gotta make a sandwich

Dinner - El Potro - Taco, Cheese Enchaladilla, beans and rice.

Not doing better in the nutrition department yet. A lifetime of the fitness stuff enables me to have a metabolism that burns this kind of eating off fast. That, and I really dont' eat much at a time. Small meals.

Exercise

Posted above - Lower Body. Good workout today.

Awful Truth

I think the nutrition speaks for itself, in this respect (or disrespect). I thought about making some more Florida Shorts ebooks today, but it didn't happen. I didn't plan it. I didn't write in any of my novel projects today. I dont' like this section.

Brownie Points

I came up with an idea, but I need to figure out how to implement it: I want to train employees at Sports Authority, probably on their off time, maybe just before their shift. Train them on the floor. People can see the workouts, see the equipment being used, and maybe even try it out. I could even do before and after pics, and make a Sports Authority Workout program, and they could sell the book. With my name on it of course. Now, I need to figure out who to contact about this one. Mr. Morton, you listening??

Short-Term Goals

• Print out some Florida Shorts ebooks to give out
• Contact Sports Authority Management about the training/book idea
• Finish the chapter I'm studying
• Plan a way to overthrow the current administration with passive resistance, but be too lazy to implement it. Is that passive enough for you?
• Write in my Eat Me novel, 5 minutes. I need to get back up to 1000 words a day.

Welcome Katie, to The House of Thompson.

Future

This is me just before class started. I'm trying to wear a CoachDANNY.net logo shirt as often as possible. If I could, I'd get 100 made, and hand them out to clients and friends. Logo recognition is important in todays world. Yeah, that's a big part of the reason I post so many pics of myself. I'm my own logo.

I think I made a good decision in choosing to major in Computer Information Systems. I might be able to integrate it with Personal Training, but I'm really looking forward to ePublishing. Evidently, there will me many new business technology business coming to Orlando. Hopefully, I'll be read for them. Better yet, they'll need to be read for me!


This is me, working my own business: CoachDANNY.net , in between clients. My toy doesn't have a flash, so I have to manually lighten the photo with Photoshop Elements. It's good enough for snapshots, but I'd use a better camera for professional work.

Yesterday, I trained my clients in the morning, and waited for the air conditioning repairman to come. And waited, and waited. He was suppose to arrive at 10:30am. Then it changed to 12:30pm, the he finally showed up at 2pm. The company was nice enough to let us know, each time they needed to change, and I did appreciate it. I'm glad I anticipated that would happen, and cancelled the plans I'd made, just in case. I still could have used the wait time better though. The good news was that our blower motor was okay, and it was only got to need a switch replace. Much less money that we anticipated, so that was nice. So far, we'll keep going back to them for business.

I didn't post yesterday, obviously. I have some important email coorespondence going on, and that took priority lastnight.

I'm also a NEW UNCLE to my new niece, Katie Thompson. I dont' think they've decided on a middle name yet. I like the middle name of Mary, best. Mary is my moms first name, but we call her by middle name, Charlotte. Mary Katie. Well, maybe not.

My eating was that good yestday, nor today either:

Nutrition (or lack of)
Breakfast- French Toast
Banana for midmorn snack
Lunch - Turkey sandwich
Midday- 1/2 Balance Bar
Supper - Healthy Choice mean, and an apple
Evening- 4 oatmeal cookies. Okay, they had chocolate chips too.

Workout
I didn't get enough sleep lastnight, so I limited my training to Yoga. Good thing too.

The Awful Truth
Havent' followed through on finishing weekly plan.

Brownie Points
I did get what little I had planned, done.

Short-term Goals
Go through the MS Excel CD I have
Start the 'homework' assignment
One lesson in Norwegian - falling way behind on that goal

All for now.

Accountability

This is a picture of me in Yosemite, in 98. That's El Capitan close by, and Half Dome of in the distance. I really want to go back someday.

Daily blogging is difficult. Much more difficult that I thought it would be. Some days, it seems I have so much to write about, right to the point where I bring up the create post page, then my mind is blank. Sometimes, I have too much to say.

Today
I trained my clients this morning, then Nancy and I went to see "Curse of the Wererabbit". It was pretty good. I like the CGI and the story, but I seem to miss out on British Humor. The movie was good, though. Much better than some others I've seen this year. So far, Sahara was the best. After the movie, we had some soup, and took a nap. I didn't have to work at Sports Authority tonight, which is a good thing. Our airconditioner is out, and we're having to use our hurricane one -low wattage enough for the generator. It's for a small room, so we close off the back of the house, and live in the front. Just three rooms. It works okay. We did Yoga, and I went to the gym and did 20 minutes of interval training on the elliptical trainer. The one at Personal Trainers Studio has something wrong with the magnetic resistance, but it was okay enough to finish. Hopefully, we'll get that fixed.

One of the blogs I read, Maggie Wang's Caustic Musings, is a really good blog about exercise and training. She's been through the Body For Life Program, and now does her own programs. She's done quite well. At the end of each post, she has a series of things; Nutrition - What she ate that day, Workout - Her training that day, The Awful Truth - I guess these are the things she feels she didn't do well, or negative areas, Brownie Points- That days accomplishments, and Short Term Goals. I guess these things are her public version of accountability. I thought the idea was very brave; letting the world see your success, and your struggles. I emailed her, and asked if I could do the same. I think she said yes in her reply, so...here goes:

Nutrition
I had to go and open my big mouth on this one. Literally. My nutrition habits are not the best. Not at all. Maybe posting here will help me do better.
Breakfast - Honey Nut Cheerios. I tell myelf it's for the fiber. Yes, I lie to myself. That's got to stop.
Lunch - Movie popcorn, diet coke, and split pea soup after.
Snack - snickers bar. And,...another.
Supper - Boston Market: sirloin, greenbeans, potatoes, and fresca. Oh, and two cornbread muffins. And,...another snickers.
No wonder I was gassy this evening. I need to get back to planning my meals. Hopefully, God will just 'snicker', and not laugh.

Training
40 minutes of basic Yoga, with Nancy.
20 minutes of Interval training on elliptical

The Awful Truth
After posting the nutrition, this would be a redundancy.
I haven't completely planned my week out yet.
I only did part of my weekly planning. Pretty much, only the study and training part.

Brownie Points
I did plan my training this week, and my study times. Haven't planned much else.

Short Term Goals
Finish the next section for Microsoft Office textbook, and Computer Confluence Textbook.
Finish my weekly planning.
Mail out postcards to the Raintree area.

Maybe posting all this stuff will get me off my ass, and in the game, so to speak.

One good thing about having a bad credit score: I don't have to worry about identity theives stealing my ID. Also, I've learned the absolute best tax shelther; make less money.

Many Hats

Stop by the house most days, and this is what you'd see Nancy doing. Writing. When I'm writing, or studying, or browsing, this is what I see. She works hard, and can focus. My focus last all of 20 minutes at best. Nancy can go for hours. She'll forget to eat, then her blood sugar will drop, and I have to keep her away from sharp objects, or I'll be nither. Yes, I know nither isn't a word; that's the point.

When I write, it's usually five minutes at a time. Here, there, anywhere. My toy really helps with that. I can whip it out and tap a few sentences out. Every once in awhile, I can get in a zone, and go for hours, but that's about a once a month thing, and it takes me a few days to recover. Technology has enabled me to be a writer. I'm not sure I would be writing if I was born 150 years ago. I would have loved that hats though.

This weekend, my sister-in-law Mandy had to go to the hospital. She's about 8 months pregnant (we know what sheee did....hehe). Risky pregnancy. They might do an early cesarian. She's okay; they're just being very careful, for good reasons. My other sister-in-law, Nicole, is pregnant too. It seems I'm going to be an uncle to 2 nieces. Or would that be nices, or just nice. Yeah. It would be nice.

Today, I worked at Sports Authority, and Nancy and the rest of the group went to Mt. Dora for another author fest. This one was more successful, and they sold 5 or 6 books. They were one a street, in front of an independent bookstore -Dickens-Reed. It's a cute place, and very popular, even with Orlando folk. I like Mt. Dora, even if it is the swingers capital of the US. You'd never know, though.

I'm still learning product stuff at Sports Authority. Today, I learned about bats. Not the little animals. I learned about baseball and softball bats. A lot to them. Who'da thunk?

Last week, I achieved 53% of the things I planned to do. It might seem like I didn't do very well, but if you consider I wasn't planning at all for the month before, and achieving those plans, I did way better. I actually got a lot done. In the 7 Habits planning, you figure your life-roles, and make goals according to that. Then tasks to complete those goals. I'm still learning the fine points of this concept, especially the difference between goals and tasks. I need to make my goals more general, and the tasks specific to those goals. I'm not sure I like the Plan Plus software program. I'll give it the full 90 days I promised myself. I'm a creature of habit, so it might just be that I'm not use to it yet. In 90 days, I'll probably be exclaiming its virtues, and how I can't live without it.

Some Links:
Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival
Body For Life
Free Language Courses - but don't click on the page popups
A severly addictive, and simple, penguin batting game. Be careful, it really is addictive.
Unfit - comic about a personal trainer. Scott Adams, the creater of Dilbert likes it.

Author Fest

Today, we went to an author fest. I kept a journal of it while I was there:

10:34am
I'm at an Author Festival. Luckily, it's in Maitland, just up the street from the gym I work in. It's actually the location of one of the writing clubs I meet with monthly.

Author festivals are usually just an authur get-together. So far, the ones we've attended have had little to no public attendance. That's okay. It's a good chance to get to know other authors, hear their stories and experiences with writing and getting published, and view other bookcovers. In some ways, it's better than going to the bookstore. It would be nice if we could sell books at author festivals, but I know better.

12:46pm
The Author fest is pretty much a bust. I don't think any public has come in so far. Like I said, I think these things are good for meeting other authors.
Our air conditioning is out. It's probably the fan motor. We were a bit warm lastnight, so we didn't sleep too well. Okay, I slept okay. I like heat. Nancy barely got two hours.

Back to normal time now:
We actually sold three books, just as we were putting things up. Wow! And, a book reviewer was willing to do ours for us. Things came to at the last minute.

This is Todd Elliot. His business is called Bod By Todd. He works out of the Personal Trainers Studio, too. I really like being independent. He does too. Independent trainers are usually true professionals, and have experience. Moving my business down here was a big hit financially, but I think it will work out better in the long run. Personal Training is a business of convenience, and my for my clients in Heathrow, it was just too far to drive. That, and I didn't want to steal them from Body Coach. The owner tends to believe the clients belong to the business, not the trainer. Again, I like being independent. Getting new clients in Maitland and Winter Park will take time. Probably more time than I'd like, but I'm patient. There are a lot of trainers here, and not many people know my skills. They will.

Our writing group, Five Florida Writers, is going to change our 'format' for our group, at least for awhile. We're going to work on more writing prompts, and have some fun. We've been missing the fun in writing.

You've probably noticed I like being in the pictures. Hey, I want you to see a lot of me. Burn that image in your brain. After all, it is my self indulgent Blog.

No post today

Couldn't think of any other title, so I thought I wouldn't post anything today. I didn't take any pictures day worth keep, much less worth posting. Sorry

No clients this morning; the ones I had either were out of town, or changed to tomorrow. I studied, and worked on some homework for my class. After lunch, Nancy and I worked out again; Upper Body. It's good to get back into training again. Maybe this weekend, I'll do measurments, and post a starting point picture of frong/side/back. I'd really like to get an use the Alignabod backdrop. It's not too expensive, and would be a great help with clients and other projects. It's a great too for before and after pictures, and with the grid, it give very good reference points.

We went to the elder Elias Khoury's funeral/viewing tonight. He was a very respected many. His burial will be tomorrow, but I'll be at work. Besides, that if mostly for the family, and close friends.

After that, we came home and watched The Apprentice. Contrasts, huh. Everyone really just wants to hear those words, "You're fired!"

I've done pretty well executing my plan this week. At the end of the week, when I do my own evaluation, I'm going to try to make sure my roles, goals, and tasks meet with My Creed. One of those tasks next week will be to put My Creed on my CoachDANNY.net website.

Even though I did post, I thought calling it No post today would be more interesting. Were you more interested.

Me neither.

Transfer of Power

Yesterday, a great man passed. You didn't see it on TV. You didn't hear it on the radio. It was in the local obits, but how could a reporter really know greatness.

The picture above is Elias Khoury - not the one that passed. The Elais above is obviously not 81. This is Mr. Khoury's namesake. I'm there too, but this isn't about me. Elias is Amy's boyfriend. Amy is Nancy's daughter. A few weeks ago, Nancy and I helped Amy and Elias move. While we where putting things in their new house, the senior Elias dropped by. Elais' father -the Elais above- Alex came by, and the elder Elias was with him. I was immediately impressed with the reverence the son and grandson had for the senior Elias Khoury. It was evident this was a man who'd earned the respect of his family. I think I recognized it because I experienced that with my grandfather. I met Mr. Khoury no more than fifteen minutes, but that's all it took for him to gain my respect and admiration. I sorry I won't get to see him again, but I'm glad I did get to meet him. Mostly I was glad to see that another family had someone to look up to. If you were able to keep up with all those names, you also have my respect.

Elias is one of my bosses at Sports Authority. I think I can see the affect the elder Elais had on his namesake. The younger Elais, the one in the picture, is a very kind person. Earlier, he passed the Real Estate test, and it now a realitor with Weichert Realtors. I've watched him work, even when we were on our way to Disney, one day. He's a very genuine person. What you see is what you get. I'm willing to be he got that from his father and grandfather. He has a work ethic that most people his age simple never learned. I bet he got that from his father and grandfathers example. I bet Amy recognized that in him too. I also bet Amy recognized the character ethic Elias learned from his father and grandfather.

It makes me feel much better about the future, knowing the effect the elder Elias Khoury had on his family. America need more Elmer Thompsons and Elias Khourys in the world. Oh, wait; there are more Elias Khourys in the world.

Hopefully, there will be more Elmer Thompsons, too. Come on, Mark and Brian, get busy!

...and God Laughs

I'll try to give you at least a picture a day, even if it's just a picture of me that day. Aren't I just the cutest thing?

For the past ten years, I've used the information and guildlines in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People as a tool. I've used it to try to be a good person. In that, I've done, well....pretty good. I can always do better. But, I've also tried to use it to be competent, dependable. In that, I've not done well.

In the book First things First: To Live, To Love, To Learn, To Leave a Legacy, by Roger and Rebecca Merrill and Stephen Covey (First things First is Habit 2 of the 7 Habits), they talk about the urgency addiction. How people in organization get themselves caught up in things that are important and urgent, and leave the things that are important but not urgent behind -like fitness, family, rest. That's all well and good, if you're a Type A. I'm not. Type A's get into that, Quadrant 1 focus. Not me. I'm a Type B guy. Quadrant 4, all the way dude.

They didn't write a book for people like me. My friend, Josh Miller, and I use to sit on the porch (there's your first type b indication) and talk about that. We like our leisure, maybe just a bit too much. Josh likes his cars. I like my tech. Guess both are technically tech. The hard part for me is the get-up-and-go.

What has worked for me? Planning. When I stick to using a planning system, I get a lot done. This summer, I did pretty good at first, especially when I started my business. I could ge so much done, it surprised me. But, as time wore on, I started slacking. I fell back to my old, Quadrant 4 activites, especially useless internet browsing. Then again, my useless browsing has paid off when I started writing and publishing.

Today, I spent most of the day getting Microsoft Outlook's Mail system to work right. One of the chapters in our class is on Outlook, and I wanted to be prepared to learn it. I have a few mail email addresses, but I use my bodycoach2@yahoo.com as my primary address. It's supposed to work with Outlook, but I had trouble setting that up, and I didn't really want to in the first place. Maybe why I had trouble. My bodycoach2@hotmail.com address worked perfect. Now, I can use Outlook's mail for my hotmail account. Not that I really will.

Once I finished that, I installed FranklinCovey Plan Plus for Outlook. Plan Plus adds much of the Seven Habits planning concepts into the Outlook program. Personally, I think it has a few more versions to go before they get it right, but it works for now. Before, I used my own method: I made a MS Word file, and used that as a "compass" for the week, and did the planning with regular-old Outlook. I'm hoping the Plan Plus system help me do planning better.

I do better with training, eating, and even sleeping when I plan it out. Still, there's that saying;

"People plan, and God laughs." Well, let's hope he helps, and laughs only a little.

Mold, Mayhem, and Mario

Another evening when I don't know what to blog about. Sorry if I ramble.

I put up a cool link to my flickr.com site. Click on it, and it will take you to that picture. I'm going to try to load as many as I can. In order to get a lot on, I have to resize each one for the web. Eventually, I'll get the 2 year pro account, but that's way off in the future. Too many other important things to do with my money. Like, pay bills.

I'm getting better at taking pics with my toy. I had to set it to a 2 second timer delay; just enough time to get it stead. Got that hint from a messege board. My pictures come out much better now. This toy will probably do me well enough for now, but I'm looking forward to when it's combined with a cellphone. There are some available now, but not enough features I want, and too much money. What I want would probably be enough to be an actual computer.

This picture is from last year, at one of our booksignings. It really is neat to see your book on a bookstore shelf. I understand the desire to have that, just a bit. Personally, I'd rather see my book in someone's home, or in someone's hands at an airport or coffee shop. If it's on the self, it didn't sell. Still, it's neat to see it there.

Our book sells better in shops that aren't bookstores. Much less 'competition'. They do better in a place that for tourists. Small bookshops in old Florida area's work too.

This is our friends, Shelley and Bob Hatfield. Not of the fueding Hatfields and McCoys, as far as I know. We haven't seen them all summer. They stay in Colorado, where they use to live, and here in Winter Park, in -of course- winter. They're fun. We'll probably see them when hurricane season is over. If we're still here, that is. Season's not over yet.

These were the Best of Show, and Runner Up from the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival, last year. I know what you're thinking. I didn't think so either. Actually, the Best of Show was very good, but I liked another one better. I tried to post it, but blogger was being pissy. Sometimes, things work, sometimes they don't.

This Weekend
On Saturday, we got up, walked the dogs, and I worked at Sports Authority. The day went well. They asked me when I wanted to take a break. Five hours, and they think I need a break?? Do I look tired? Breaks are for smokers! Gimme some work to do. On Saturday night, we at at El Portro. We're probably going to have to switch our nights. We use to eat there every Friday night, but I'll be working. Maybe Saturdays. We watched Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy after dinner. Nancy kept trying to figure it out. I think the movie is way better if you've read the book. I thought it was excellent.

On Sunday, we got up late, and started walking the dogs. It poured on us, and stopped only when we got home. How's that saying go? "People make plans, and God laughs." That's actually the title of Arthur Jones biography, "and God Laughts". When we got back, Nancy was piddling in the living room, and found mold behind the wallpaper. I'm still not sure how she found it behind the wallpaper, but it's her wallpaper, so I accept. She freaked. Scrubbed, cleaned, and freaked somemore. After that, we went to a movie; Serenity. It was really good. When we got back, Nancy blogged about the mold.

My friend, Mario Hostios called today, and we chatted about how things are going for him in Los Angles. It was good to hear from him. A fellow Post Tramatic HIT Survivor. He escaped the cult, too. It was interesting how similar our training styles evolved, even after not seeing each other for almost ten years.