Random stuff for today

Update on cutting the cord (my last post)

We had decided to do it, we were going to stay with Xfinity for internet because let's face it, I have to have high speed and that is what they are best at. I have 4 people in this house, all with laptops and phones. I need high speed just to keep up with that demand let alone all the streaming (Netflix, Amazon) that goes on here. We were about to be done with our 7 day free trial on Sling TV and Hulu (BTW - I have Netflix (my moms account) and Amazon Prime (my daughters account) that I don't pay for) so my wife contacted Xfinity to cancel the cable and phone. She chatted with them on their site and when all was said and done, they lowered our cost of everything we have now for $123/month. That ends up being cheaper than what we were going to do because the internet was going to be $100, Sling TV was $20 (cheapest version) and Hulu was $13, all montly, for a total of $133/month. So we get that rate for a year and we'll either cut the cord next year or get another new low rate. So basically, we aren't cutting the cord. Which we're happy about, just because using a DVR is easier than trying to catch some shows live and trying to remember what all you need to catch up with on Hulu. Plus I'd have to remember the shows I can't watch with those 2 services and try to remember to catch the seasons when they get posted to Amazon or Netflix.

I do the Timehop thing on my phone and today had a few things that I thought were good enough to share.

A year ago today, I posted this on my personal Facebook.

It's funny because it's true. My stepdad does a lot of the work on the families cars because he's good with that stuff. I happen to be at his house when he was working on one of his vehicles and decided I needed to replace some of the duct tape holding my car together (it's old). I backed into somebody either last winter or the winter before, and my bumper (plastic) was hanging on the ground so I duct taped it up rather then spend a fortune on replace it all. I used black duct tape and it's only on one corner of the bumper so it's not that bad looking. The post is also funny because that's about the extent of my knowledge of cars as well.

5 years ago, I posted this post - Please teach your kids!

I was on my way home from picking up the kids from the Ex and was driving down a 2 lane road when I came upon a biker riding his bike in my lane. I slowed down so the car coming towards me got past so I could go around him in the other lane. Unbeknownst to me, he didn't know I was there and turned right in front of me as I was passing him. I made that post thinking he was just going to ride on the other side since there was no cars coming. I see kids doing that all the time, riding on both sides depending on the traffic. After I made that post, I found out he was an adult not a kid (I thought he was an older teenager) and I also found out he was actually turning down the street to the left and not just switching lanes. Either way, it wasn't a pleasant evening for either of us, or the kids.

I never heard anything about the rider, I heard him tell the ambulance that he never saw me and I know his head is what did the damage to my windshield (pictured above), it went clean all the way through before he rolled off my hood. He stood up afterwards so I assume it wasn't anything major.

7 years ago

That one was just funny, I love their croissanwiches, I hate the running to the bathroom afterwards.

This section will become a regular for however long I keep it as a regular. I'm going to repost all the funny stuff I post on my Random Thoughts Facebook page over here on Sundays, call it Sunday comics or funny's or something. Either way, here's your first dose. Feel free to join the FB page so you don't miss out when my lazy ass stops posting them here.

I also wanted to give a little plug over to my other blog - Last Song of the Day. If you like music, check it out. It gets a post a day on average.

That's all for today, a bunch of randomness I know, but I have to live up to the title of the blog. See you again, hopefully soon, but maybe not.

Cutting the Cord

Well, so much for blogging about my step goals and it keeping me motivated. I have no motivation to do it. I stopped not long after that last post. I suck! I'm fat and am apparently going to stay that way. So move on and quit harping on me about it.

We've been seriously debating on ditching cable all together. Cutting the cord is what it's called now-a-days. The cost is outrageous when I can watch most, if not all, my shows on Hulu for $13/month. The only thing that has kept me from ditching it before now is live sports. No more games. No more Michigan basketball and football, no more White Sox games and no more Colts games. The Colts games I can live without, I'm a fan, but NFL is a distant 3rd to MLB and NCAA.

I think I have a way to watch Michigan games, not live, but later in the day from when it aired. The White Sox games will suck, I'll only get to see a few games out of the 162 they play and that's if MLB airs them for free on their app.

I don't know. We're signing up for a free 7 days on Hulu and if everything goes well, we will probably we ditching cable and saving close to $100 on our bill.

Day 8, September Challenge

It was another scorcher today but I still managed to get out and walk after work. First day all week. I only did one lap, which was 1.2 miles but it was enough to get my 10,000 for today. I thought tomorrow was supposed to be cooler but my wife was just looking and while it will be slightly cooler, the humidity is through the roof again so we'll see what happens.

Yesterday's Stats

Total Stats for September

(as of 9/7/16)

• Total Steps = 65,047 steps
• Daily Average = 9,292 steps
• +/- = -4,953 steps

Day 6 & 7, September Challenge

I didn't post yesterday, probably was unconsciously embarrassed by my steps on Monday. I took the day off walking since it was labor day. I figured I'd make it up during this week.

About that, I did get my 10,000 yesterday but that's because I did it all at work and pretty much wore my ass out so I didn't go walking on Tuesday either. Uh Oh, that's 2 days in a row I didn't walk.

So did I get out and walk today so I didn't go 3 days without walking? Um, about that. Today, technically, wasn't my fault. I got home a little before 3 and then had to take my daughter to an appointment at 4. I got home about 20 minutes after 5 but then had to leave to pick up my son at 6 who had a field trip. We grabbed supper on the way home and I don't think I've ever walked after supper. I'm to fat for that.

Oh, did I mention it's been middle 90's with the humidity here the last 3 days. That's my real reason, that sounds better. It's unhealthy to walk in that kind of weather. Right?

The Day Before Yesterday and Yesterday

 

Monday                                                     Tuesday             

Total Stats for September

(as of 9/6/16)

• Total Steps = 58,757 steps
• Daily Average = 9,792 steps
• +/- = -1,243

Day #5, September Challenge

I took the day off, it's Labor day. So don't expect many steps on tomtorrow's post for today's stats. I'll make it up during the week. That's why I made the challenge for 10,000 step average and not 10,000 a day. I knew I'd have days like this. I could have gotten out and walked this morning before our Labor Day get together but I decided to just chill. By the time I left my mom's, drove Samantha's friend home and ate supper, I didn't really have a whole lot of time before dark afterwards.

Our get together was the usual, hung out and ate lots of food. Which is a good day in my book. I always have enjoyed hanging out even if we're just chatting most of the time.

Yesterday's Stats

Total Stats for September

(as of September 4th)

• Total Steps = 44,694 steps
• Daily Average = 11,174 steps
• +/- = +4,694

Day 4, September Challenge

I did manage to get a walk in today but not as far as yesterday. I woke up after 10 again so I didn't have time before I had to run my son over to my mom's. He was grounded so I asked her to put him to work so he'd get out of the house for awhile. I dropped him off and then dropped off my daughter and her friend off at another friends house then headed to Walmart. I had to pick up a few things which was good for probably a few hundred steps at least. Then I headed home, grabbed my headphones and went for a walk. I went a different route, made it longer. 

My legs were a little stiff when I headed out, which sometimes they are if I don't walk right after work. I ended up only doing one lap because my shins were starting to hurt and I think I'm getting a blister on the bottom of my foot. So when I got back to the house, I checked my stats just to seem how long that route was and see how short I was going to be for the day. Turns out, the new route was 3 1/2 miles so I wasn't as short as I thought I would be. I was still short, but I was afraid it would only be 5,000 steps or so and it was over 7,000. I'll just make sure I get out of my recliner a few more times just to get the steps a little higher. I do need to do my laundry so that will help.

Yesterday's Stats

Had I noticed I was only 12 steps away from 10,000 yesterday, I would have walked a lap around the house or something. As it was, I didn't notice it until I went to bed, which was after midnight so it wouldn't have counted towards that day anyways.

Total Stats for September

(as of September 3rd)

• Total steps = 35,317
• Daily Average = 11,772
• +/- = +5,317

Day 3, September Challenge

After worrying yesterday that I wouldn't get enough steps on the weekend, I took a walk when I got up and actually managed to get over 8,000 at the start of the day. Of course, I haven't done much since. I headed out after I got home and changed my route in the neighborhood and expanded it to be bigger. I did the usual 2 laps but with the longer route, it ended up being almost 4.5 miles. I even thought of other routes that might make it longer. So we'll see how it goes.

The sad thing is, it's almost 9 o'clock this evening and I still haven't hit 10,000. It's the open of college football season and Michigan was on at noon so I've pretty much been plopped in my recliner the rest of the day watching football. A couple more trips to the restroom and I'll get the 10,000. Maybe.

I do enjoy walking through our neighborhood just because most everyone is pretty friendly. I get all kinds of waves and head nods from people that I have no idea who they are. It's much better than walking around a track, that would be pretty boring but we'll see what I'm going to have to do this winter if I actually keep this going past September.

Yesterday's stats

Total stats for September

(as of September 2nd)

• Total steps = 25,329
• Daily average = 12,665
• +/- = +5329

Check in tomorrow for today's stats.

Day 2, September Challenge

I had a much better work day today as far as steps go. I came home with close to 8,000 already logged in so when I left for my walk, I hit the 10,000 mark before I even got through my first mile. I changed up my route that I normally do to make it a little bigger. The street behind us doesn't technically connect to ours but I noticed on my walk yesterday that there was a path across the empty lots that connected them so I broadened my lap around the neighborhood. Then today on the longer route, I noticed that the street behind that street had a path through as well so tomorrow, I will be broadening it again.

My usual walk is 2 laps and my normal route was 2 miles, the route I took today ended up being 2 1/2 miles with 2 laps. Since this is a 3 day weekend and I'm not working, I'm going to have to come up with some mileage without the 6 or 7000 steps that I get at work. I'll take that longer route tomorrow but I think I might have to make more than 2 laps, I'm not sure my body can handle that so we'll see. Maybe without all the work "mileage" I'll be able to walk a little longer.

Yesterdays stats

Total stats for September

(as of September 1st)

• Total steps = 11,148
• Average Daily = 11,148
• +/- = +1,148

Check out tomorrow for today's final stats.

It's September Ya'll

It's September 1st, I know you're waiting on hand and foot to know if I got my 10,000 steps today.

I got off work and checked my steps, only around 5200. That's actually low for a work day, usually it's around 7000 so I was already in trouble. I got home and I helped Cheri with a few things out in the yard. I managed to rack up another 600 or so steps. I went in and threw on my shoes and headed out.

That's right, I went walking so Day #1, I still have my average of 10000 steps a day. I walked a little over 2 miles. My daughter got home and hopped on her bike and rode along with me so since I only had 1 headphone in and was chatting with her, I decided to Snapchat my journey. Yes, I have a Snapchat, although I rarely use it for actually Snapping or Chatting or whatever it's called. I do occasionally publish a "My Story" like I did today.

I do like that you can actually post them here, there or everywhere now so I may use it a little more often. I never really used it because I don't really have that many followers anyways, and let's face it, I don't really do anything to post anyways. Usually when I do, it's of the cat, or the fact that my wife is sleeping and I get to watch 3 or 4 sports games on TV in a row.

So tomorrow, after all my stats are in because I'll get a few more steps going to bed, I'll post what I ended up on day #1 and if you know me, there will be all kinds of stats.

Walking and 7-Eleven suck

Just to let you know how hard this challenge (yesterdays post) is going to be for me, I was going to go walking today after work, you know, kind of a warm up before the challenge starts tomorrow. About 2 o'clock, at work, I got stuck outside in the pouring rain as a sudden storm hit and I was on my forklift trying to get some things inside. I was drenched. I wasn't all that concerned with being wet since I was getting off in half an hour anyways but when I got home, I helped the wife put the ice maker back together (she was trying to figure out why it stopped working) and I still planned on going but do you know what ultimately prevented me from going? My socks were wet. Yup, there you have it.

My thought process was at first, I'll just go for a walk in my work boots (they look like tennis shoes/sneakers) so I don't have to change my socks. Then my though process was, it probably won't be good to walk in wet socks, I'll probably end up with blisters or something. Then I was thinking, but I don't want to change socks just to go walking and then take them off to shower. So I just didn't go.

Do you see how easy it is to talk myself out of going? Do you see how hard it is going to be to do this challenge?

I'm going to give it a go though, we'll see how well I do.

If you follow me on Twitter, or should I say, if you actually read what I tweet because I'm sure the majority, if not all, of my followers don't even know I exist, then you saw this tweet earlier, and I shall explain here.

On my way home, I took an alternate route than I normally take. Because we got blasted with rain, the road I work on floods and I mean floods. I have seen cars get stalled trying to drive though it. So I took the back route out to avoid that and I needed gas, so I hit the 7-Eleven that I pass by. Normally I hit, what we call, the Smith's Food Mart which is on my usual route. It's been there for years and I tend to me loyal to places that never give me any problems. Plus they have greasy gas station food that I love (Pizza Puffs). Yummy! I'm hungry now.

Anyways, I went to 7-Eleven and inserted my card, put in my pin number and it said cancelled by cashier. In other words, they run a certain amount on my card at the start to make sure you can afford gas and I didn't have enough in it. Now, I was only going to put $10 in, for one, I get paid Friday. Two, $10 will last me a week because for the most part, I drive back and forth to work and that's pretty much it. I only work 4 miles from work, 8 miles round trip so I don't use much gas. Since mid-February, I have only gone 2625.7 miles.

I absolutely hate the fact that these places do this. I understand they are protecting themselves from thieves but you know what, don't punish me for the criminals out there. I understand, but it doesn't make me happy. So I got in my car and drove off. I do pay at the pump because I don't want to go inside and pay. I don't want to roll my windows up, take the keys out and lock the car when I should be able to scan my card and never leave the area around my car. Not to mention, people suck so if I can avoid a few, I'm out. I drove off and went to Smith's, which is a Phillips 66 station. Put my card in, put $10 in and left.

For the record, do you know how much I had in my account when 7-11 denied my card? $65 was my balance. My car won't even hold $65 of gas at the current cost. They must be running it for $100 to see if you deem worthy for their gas.

I will be avoiding 7-Elevens from now on.

Walking again?

I've decided that I may decide that I might start walking again. Sounds optimistic doesn't it. I need to start walking again, I feel better when I do and most of all, it would cut into my nap time which I need because I don't sleep as much at night when I'm napping in the afternoon.

I've also decided that I am going to set a goal for the month of September. That goal is 10,000 steps a day. Well technically, an average of 10,000 steps because we all know how much I like my lazy weekends. So I figure if I want a lazy Sunday, then I have to step it up during the week to get the count up to make up for the lazy Sunday. I say Sunday because I normally, weather pending, mow the lawn on Saturday morning and that's usually good for around 10,000 steps alone.

I told my wife the goal, and now I'm telling you. I'm hoping if I tell enough people that I will actually do it.

I did enjoy walking when I did it before but as soon as I took a few days off, I got out of the habit and then could never get going again. My mom won't be happy with this since we compete for steps. I may actually be able to take the weekends that she usually beats me on. I get the weekdays because of work and she gets weekends because I'm lazy.

The Weekend

I did a few things this weekend but nothing really exciting. Friday, I worked, came home and took Sam to an appointment. Saturday, Sam and I went to see Suicide Squad and Sunday, Sam and I went shooting.

Friday was hot as hell, with humidty, it was in the mid 90's. I can handle the heat ok, but it is so draining, your body just feels exhausted. My old job was a lot hotter and more humidity and I worked there for 14 years so I can definitely handle it. I filled up my water bottle multiple times on Friday and I rarely empty it once in a day. After work, I came home and showered and ran Sam to her appointment. We got there at 10 till 4 thinking it was at 4, apparently it was at 3:30, oops.

Saturday, Samantha and I got up and went to the early showing of Suicide Squad. I asked Trevor but he decided he wasn't interested in going. I do love purchasing my tickets on my app, plus I get coupons in my email so I like that the whole place is digital now. I don't have print out the coupon, I can just hand them my phone and they scan it right off the screen. Same with the tickets, I load it up on the app, show it to the ticket taker and he prints out my tickets and we go sit down. You gotta love the digital age.

Samantha and I both liked the movie. I didn't really have any complaints about it. I don't know the Suicide Squad origins, other than what I've read recently so I didn't hold it up to a standard, which is a problem a lot of the fans have. That's why it hasn't rated very well. I can go into a movie as it is a stand alone instead of trying to make it out what else it was supposed to be. It also ranks lower on certain websites because Marvel fans who hate DC go on those sight and give it bad ratings just because they have nothing better to do. So reviews and such don't mean much to me, if I think it looks good, I go see it. We both thought it was pretty good and we'll both probably watch it again when it comes to DVD.

Afterwards, we ran by Martin's and picked up some Ice Cream and chocolate since it was Trevor's birthday. He had a friend over most of the day and he stayed overnight. so we had his favorite supper (spaghetti) and then Brownie's with Ice Cream on it for dessert.

Sunday, Samantha and I headed out over to Walmart to pick up some stuff for the range. Targets, ear plugs and ammo for the most part. It was the first time I wore my gun in public since getting my conceal/carry permit. It was a little weird because you feel like everyone is looking at you but I'm guessing for the most part, it was in my head. I just have to get used to it.

Afterwards, we headed to the range we shoot at. Most of the people didn't show up today so for the most part it was us 2, and my brother and his son. Someone dropped off a bunch of old bowling pins so we had fun setting those up and shooting them down. It was a good time and since there weren't a lot of people there, we were only out there for a little over an hour and still shot out quite a bit.

Trevor doesn't like to go shooting with us, I have a feeling he is afraid of guns, which is fine, it's certainly a healthy fear. He didn't even want to touch the gun when I brought it home and I hadn't even bought any ammo yet so it was empty. I need to find something that he and I can do together but we just don't have much in common.

Don't have to many plans this week other than working. I think one day this week I have to stay over and cover 2nd shift but I don't remember which day. I need to get over and donate blood as well this week, I had planned on doing that Saturday after our movie and I spaced it and forgot. I hate going right after work because it's so hot and I'm sweaty but I guess I'll have to suck it up and go anyways.

I've been putting a bunch of work this weekend on my PC blogs as well, making some headway and slowly getting caught up. Cleaned up all my incoming cards as well so I've been productive this weekend, even if I'm still sitting on my ass for most of it.

Last game of the season

I'm going to attempt to blog a little more consistently. I figured if I can take the time to post on my Last Song of the Day blog every day, that I could throw a few words up here.

We had our last softball game tonight, it was a make up game that they decided to do on the hottest day of the year. We ended up winning in the bottom of the 6th on a walk off, I was on base but the runner in front of me was the winning run. It's a co-ed team and you have to go guy/girl in the line-up, you can also replace a girl with a kid under 15 years old. We ended up 1 short on the girl/kid so if that happens and you have 2 guys next to each other in the line up, the 2nd guy has to bat either with a tee ball bat or bat with your non dominant side. We ended up with 1 short so I had to bat left handed. First at bat, I would have grounded out but the first basemen dropped it, I'd like to say it was my blazing speed that threw him off, but that would be a lie. Second at bat, I walked which is just fine with me since I was batting left handed. Third at bat was in the bottom of the 6th, last inning, and I hit a lined single to center field. The next batter hit it to left field but it was dropped and the girl in front on me scored. I could have scored as well but I stopped since it was over. It was an exciting finish to the game. We won it 17-16.

I did all right in the field, I pitched a few strikeouts, no walks and I made 3 or 4 plays hit back at me. It's slow pitch, the strikeouts don't mean anything I generally did but I take pride in the no walks and fielding my position well.

Samantha had a really great hit up the middle and she seemed happy tonight, was pretty talkative to everyone which is always great to see. I do love playing with her on the field. A little father/daughter time.

Afterwards, they said they need a few extra players for a tournament on the 20th to make another team since our team didn't have enough to compete so Samantha and I volunteered for that. So I guess technically, it wasn't my last game. Although the first game is at 8 am on a Saturday so I'm not looking forward to that first one.

I'm going to bed now, stupid 7:30 games, I don't get home until after 9 but I'm beat, so I'm out. I got something up here and I'll try to blog more often.

Last Song of the Day

For those of you who enjoyed the music posts I've had on this blog, I started a music blog called Last Song of the Day. You may remember those posts that I used to do here, if not click the Music label on the side of this blog. The new blog lists the last song, plus shows the album cover, as well as a YouTube video and the lyrics so it has a little more info then I've done here. It'll always be 1 post a day, it just may not be every day.

It also has a few pages of lists of mine. Top 20 favorite songs, Top 10 songs I like to jam to and of course, the CD that Cheri made me while we were dating. Of course, those lists only get revealed when a song off of it becomes a Last Song of the Day. Is it me or does that sound like a game show?

There are also labels for the group or artist, the year released and the genre. The songs also get added to YouTube playlists by genre that you can access as well. So as you can see, it's a little more involved then just telling you what the last song of the day was. I do have a few of my own words with it as well, but not much. It's more about the music, then myself. A couple of other pages that I have over there are who I've seen in concert as well as albums I've owned.

As of right now, I have 2599 songs on my playlist, so realistically, this blog can run for years without repeating a song. If you know me, there will be all kinds of genres represented. Right now, there is 23 posts with 13 genres represented. I can name a few more genres that I haven't even used yet.

I know, it all sounds so exciting so go join today so you don't miss out on anything.

Arthritis update and we're becoming an animal household

It's been almost a month since I posted about my arthritis and in that month, my knees have hurt 1 other time. So as bad as it hurt for that few days, if it's even arthritis, it's apparently not that bad. If I had to be honest, as much as my body aches, when I've played softball, my legs have felt pretty good. As a matter of fact, last week I was 3 for 3 with a single and 2 doubles. Even stretching out the doubles my legs didn't hurt. Last year, I could barely run to 1st without being in pain. This year, I sprinted out a triple and my legs felt good. I certainly don't think I'm in better shape, I'm still pretty round, but my legs seem to be doing a lot better. I get really achy, for the most part, when I've been sitting on my ass for to long and then get up. The cat loves to sit on my lap because I will sit for a good 3 or 4 hours without getting up but oh my god, can I feel it when I do. I'm guessing since I'm a homeowner now that mowing the lawn every week is probably a good exercise that I wasn't doing before as well.

Speaking of the home, the really good news is Cheri has been getting out and about and doing the outside of the house. She has been planting flowers, painting, putting down bark, shoveling, ect. Except this week because it's been ungodly hot. The great news is even with all that activity, the only real soreness is muscle soreness and not her bad back or the Fibromyalgia. So it's been good exercise for her as well.

We are dogsitting our granddog this week and maybe longer. To be honest, we're not sure how long he'll be here as our daughter is between places for a few weeks but we also know how much she hates being without the dog so I have a feeling, she'll end up on our doorstep sooner or later.

Having a dog here reminds me why I'm a cat person or I should say, why my wife is a cat person because Milo (the dog) is up her ass. Every time she gets up to do something the dog follows. Right now, she's in the kitchen trying to cook supper and he tries to sit between her and the stove. So needy. Cats, they want nothing to do with you most of the time. You can get up and go to the bathroom, come back and the cat hasn't moved. Don't even get me started on getting up to let him out and let him back in. Milo loves to go outside at night and run around for an hour and then come in. You'll be cool because you think he probably wore himself out but no, 5 minutes later, he wants to go out again. He does this constantly once it gets dark. A pain in the ass.

Example. Right now my wife is cooking. Here's the dog.

and here's the cat.

I won't even get to the phone calls I get from my mom and brother, "Can you go let our dogs out?" Cats, leave them some food out and they are good all weekend.

Don't get me wrong, I love dogs. I love that you can rough house with them and they are truly mans best friend. More obedient, easier to train, ect. but I'm lazy, and I like my house not smelling like dog. Especially wet dog because they still have to use the potty even when it's bad weather.

I'm just old

I haven't had a lot to say lately. Some of it is that there just isn't much going on, other is I just don't take the time to put anything into words. Plus, it's baseball season and I tend to focus more on my sports card related blogs.

I started playing softball again, we've played 3 games so far and are 2-1. I'm the pitcher, which is the reason they asked me to play for the church team. I've only walked 1 batter in 3 games so I'm doing what the asked me to do. My daughter, Samantha, plays as well but tends to struggle, she claims she's not used to slow pitch, and that she doesn't like to play in front of people. I think it's her lack of competitiveness, which I truly don't understand. When I played sports, I wanted to be the best out there. I was never flashy, but I was a fundamentally sound player. I took pride on not making mistakes and being a good team player. I still play that way but my body doesn't allow me to be the best on the field anymore so I have relaxed my competitiveness and just have fun.

not my knees

The day before our first game, my right knee started to hurt. I had surgery on it back in high school (25+ years ago) so I'm familiar with knee issues but I couldn't figure out why it hurt and why I didn't remember doing anything to it, it just started to hurt. After consulting with some people, mainly my mom, I think I have it diagnosed. Arthritis. Like I didn't feel old enough, that now I have to deal with arthritis but at least now I know what it is because that first game I was very hesitant to do anything, afraid it was an injury and I didn't want to make it worse. Now I just play through it since I know it's just pain and it's not going to damage anything. The right knee hasn't bothered me since that first couple of days 3 weeks ago but now I'm having issues with my left knee. I don't know if it's arthritis (I do believe I have that on that knee as well) related or not. My knee gets to the point where I have to straighten it to pop the kneecap, and when it pops, it hurts.

So basically, I'm just old.

The worst part of the knee issues is that there are some days where I'm cramped up in my forklift at work for long periods and when I go to get off, I can barely walk until it stretches out some. It's ridiculous how old I have been feeling as of late.

I have probably popped more Ibuprofen this past week than I have most of my life. I don't generally pop pills at every twinge, most of the time I just ride out the pain because I know it'll go away, but not now. My mom suggested Naproxen for the arthritis and I finally picked up some and popped my first ones last night before bed. My knee was better when I woke up so I'm guessing it did it's thing but we'll see.

I'd like to say that I'm going to get back here and post more often but I'm not promising anything. We have done a few things to the home that maybe I can post about, if I ever get around to it. I also still where the fitbit and while I have good days, I have outgrown the "going out of my way for steps" stage. Plus, there's always theEx and JackAss drama, not as much anymore, but it's still there.

We'll see if I can continue to post. Until then...

Have you ever...

I saw this on another blog that I follow, figured I'd give it a shot since I never post anymore. Why not? Consider it Friend Makin Wednesday though.

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

Have You Ever?

Fired a Gun? Yes, a 9 mil. 12 guage shotgun and an AK
Gone on a blind date? Nope
Skipped school? Yes, over and over again.
Watched someone give birth? Does a C-section count?
Watched someone die? Nope
Visited Hawaii? Nope
Visited Europe? Nope, have no desire to either
Visited Las Vegas? Yes, but I was a teenager so no adult fun was had.
Visited Washington? State, no.  DC, yes, twice.
Visited Amsterdam? Nope
Visited Florida? Nope
Visited Mexico? Yes, Tijuana. Same trip as Vegas so I was a teenager, no donkey shows.
Visited Australia? Nope
Seen the Grand Canyon in person? Technically, no. I vaguely remember flying over it on my way to LA.
Been on a cruise? Nope
Been in a movie? Nope
Visited LAX? Yes, or at least I assume so.
Been to New York City? Nope
Cried yourself to sleep? Yes
Played in a band? Nope
Used an adult coloring book? Is that a coloring book with porn? No
Sung karaoke? Nope
Gone swimming in the ocean? I don't think so but I have been to 2 oceans, just don't remember being in them.
Paid for a meal with coins only? Probably, as a teenager.
Made prank phone calls? Yes, a lot of them. I remember doing them, I don't remember the pranks though.
Laughed so much you cried? Yes
Caught a snowflake on your tongue? I'll say yes because I'm sure during a yawn or something.
Had children? Yes, 2
Had a pet? Yes
Been skinny dipping? Yes.
Repelled down a building/tower? No, but I have a real rock wall.
Gone zip lining? Nope, would love to though.
Been water skiing? Nope, tubing though.
Been camping in a tent? A lot, still do it twice a year.
Driven a motorcycle? Nope
Jumped out of a plane? Nope, but would love to.
Gone to a drive-in movie? Yes, ages ago.
Done something that could have killed you? Yes, probably more than once.
Done something that you will regret for the rest of your life? Yes, and I hear about it all the time.
Ridden on an elephant? Nope.
Ridden on a camel? Nope.
Eaten just cookies, cake or ice cream for dinner? Yes. Are we not supposed to?
Been on TV? Yes
Been in a newspaper? Yes
Stolen any traffic signs? No
Been in a car accident? Yes, more than one, less than 10.
Stayed in a hospital? Yes, my birth. Other than that, no.
Donated blood? Yes
Had to pay a fine of some kind in the past 12 months? Nope
Eaten snails? Nope
Gotten a piercing? Yes, no longer have it.
Gotten a tattoo? Yes, multiple.
Driven a standard car? Yes. First car was a stick and have driven others since then.
Ever owned your dream car?  No.
Been married? Yes
Been divorced? Yes
Fallen in love? Yes. Every day when I look at my wife.
Paid for a strangers meal? Nope, but have always said if I could afford it, I would all the time.
Driven over 100mph? Yes
Worked in a pub? No
Found a dead body? No
Lived on your own? Yes
Ridden in the back of a police car? No. Been in them but never got taken downtown.
Written or published a book/story/poem/song? Nope, unless a blog counts.

That was fun, I used to do these on Facebook back when I started dating my wife. Sort of a, getting to know you kind of thing. It must have worked, I suckered her in.

Weekend

I've really slacked off on the Fitbit. I would like to say that it's because our weather has gone to crap so I haven't gone out walking after work, but there has been days it's been decent and I just couldn't get up and go. I even went and bought some new walking (running) shoes so my feet wouldn't hurt so much afterwards and I think I've only walked once, maybe twice since and I've had them a few weeks now.

I still get between 6k and 9k on work days so it's not like I'm not moving at all but the weekends tend to be really bad. I know there was a Sunday in there where I barely broke 500 steps. Today will probably be like that as well. It is right now almost 3 in the afternoon and I'm half way to 500. I did work yesterday, plus did some minor running around last night so I had a decent day to help my weekend battle with my mom. I kill her on weekdays because she's retired and can't keep up with my work steps, but she usually kills me on the weekends because I'm fat and lazy. I haven't won a weekend yet but it looks like I might have a shot this weekend, I'm currently up over 5k steps. I'd go walking but you know, it's raining, again. It's also under 40 degrees, so there's that too.

I might have set a record for longest amount of sleep last night though, I haven't checked yet but 10 hours and 40 minutes sounds like a high to me. I worked yesterday and on Saturdays, we go in at 5 so I got up at 4:30. I managed a hour and a half nap when I got home so I ended up staying up till midnight but I ended up sleeping until almost 11 this morning. I needed the sleep, I bet I've averaged under 5 hours a day all week. The wife is out of town this weekend so that's probably another reason I slept so much, the cat doesn't wake me up like she does my wife early in the morning. I woke up once this morning and that's because she laid down on top of me. When I woke up at 11, she was laying beside me. I gave her extra food last night (which I keep telling my wife to do) so she wouldn't wake me up this morning wanting to be fed.

           

Wife being gone has also explained why my TV viewing has pretty much been all sports. I've been catching up on games I had recorded on my DVR. 3 White Sox games and 3 Bulls games.

My son is at a friends house since yesterday and my daughter's friend who is living with us has been at her moms all weekend so it's just been my daughter and I. We went out for supper last night and grabbed some blizzards from DQ on the way home and I had promised her we'd watch the Gallows so I streamed it from VidAngel in HD for $2. Although if she would have told me it was all filmed with like a hand held camera, I might have opted for the standard def at $1 instead. Oh well.

I have to leave in about an hour to pick up the kids out running around and my wife will be home tomorrow so everything will be back to normal then. I'll probably still be a lazy ass as well so like I said, everything will be back to normal.

Fitbit weekly

Hey, I'm only posting one day after I got the email. I'm having a good week so far this week, but this post is about last week.

Every one of those stats is down from the week before. I sucked. I promise next week will look better. I did get the 10,000 step goal on Monday (11,0005) but it was all downhill from there. Pretty much work steps all week (even Saturday) and that was it. I had a very slow, not doing a damn thing week at home. I did manage to change one of my personal best records though. To bad it is the one inactive stat.

Daily Records

• Steps - 12,774 steps (6.28 miles) (February 15th, 2016)
• Floors Climbed - 14 floors (February 19th, 2016)
• Sleep - 9 hrs, 17 min (February 28th, 2016)

Weekly Records

• Steps - 57,505 steps (28.26 miles) (February 14th, 2016 - February 20th, 2016)
• Floors Climbed - 50 floors (February 14th, 2016 - February 20th, 2016)
• Sleep - 51 hrs, 9 min (February 7th, 2016 - February 13th, 2016)

Weekly Averages

• Steps - 8,451 steps (4.15 miles) (February 14th, 2016 - February 20th, 2016)
• Floors Climbed - 8 floors (February 14th, 2016 - February 20th, 2016)
• Sleep - 7 hrs, 28 min (February 7th, 2016 - February 13th, 2016)

*Green lines indicate a change from last week.

Last week on Fitbit

I really need to get into the habit of posting these when they come to my email, which is somewhere in the middle of the week. Nothing to exciting this week but I did talk to a lady at the optometrist who had a Fitbit on. She got reimbursed for hers as part of her insurance plan which I thought was a cool idea. I know there are days when it gets me to take more steps because I'm close to a goal or something. Her insurance (as does mine) offers to pay $200 for a gym membership and if you don't use that money, they'll reimburse the cost of a Fitbit. I've even noticed a few people at work who wear them, including my boss. They aren't close enough friends that I've asked them to join my friends list or anything but I've talked to them about having them. It must be one of those things where once you have one, you notice them all over.

Everything was down this week, including my sleep by 5 minutes. The steps was down almost a thousand and my floors were almost half of last week. Not a very good week apparently. I had a good Friday as it was my only day over 10,000 but the previous Sunday pretty much killed it for the week, I only had a little over 2,600 steps. I also did a better Saturday than normal because I actually went for a walk and added almost 3,700 steps.

There probably isn't any changes but we'll post it anyways.

Daily Records

• Steps - 12,774 steps (6.28 miles) (February 15th, 2016)
• Floors Climbed - 14 floors (February 19th, 2016)
• Sleep - 8 hrs, 18 min (February 14th, 2016)

Weekly Records

• Steps - 57,505 steps (28.26 miles) (February 14th, 2016 - February 20th, 2016)
• Floors Climbed - 50 floors (February 14th, 2016 - February 20th, 2016)
• Sleep - 51 hrs, 9 min (February 7th, 2016 - February 13th, 2016)

Weekly Averages

• Steps - 8,451 steps (4.15 miles) (February 14th, 2016 - February 20th, 2016)
• Floors Climbed - 8 floors (February 14th, 2016 - February 20th, 2016)
• Sleep - 7 hrs, 28 min (February 7th, 2016 - February 13th, 2016)

*Green lines indicate a change from last week.

Fitbit Weekly

Last week was a good week as far as my Fitbit is concerned. I basically had a busy work week which got me over 10,000 steps 3 days. Let's take a look.

If you don't remember last week, let me just say, the steps alone are 28,000 more and the floors climbed is over double this week from last week. You can see the green arrows on everything to see that everything has improved. You can also tell that I worked a lot more days since my average sleep duration is almost an hour less.

As you can see, the week didn't start off to well. Sunday was my lazy day, I didn't even hit 1,000 steps but then Monday happened. It was a record setter all around. It was a day of firsts.

It was the first time I hit green on every category. I had only 1 day of over 10,000 steps until this week where I added 3 more. Granted, on Thursday, I was a couple of hundred steps shy so just before bed, I paced from the bedroom to the living room until I hit it.

I have a feeling a lot of these will change from last week.

Daily Records

• Steps - 12,774 steps (6.28 miles) (February 15th, 2016)
• Floors Climbed - 14 floors (February 19th, 2016)
• Sleep - 8 hrs, 18 min (February 14th, 2016)

Weekly Records

• Steps - 57,505 steps (28.26 miles) (February 14th, 2016 - February 20th, 2016)
• Floors Climbed - 50 floors (February 14th, 2016 - February 20th, 2016)
• Sleep - 51 hrs, 9 min (February 7th, 2016 - February 13th, 2016)

Weekly Averages

• Steps - 8,451 steps (4.15 miles) (February 14th, 2016 - February 20th, 2016)
• Floors Climbed - 8 floors (February 14th, 2016 - February 20th, 2016)
• Sleep - 7 hrs, 28 min (February 7th, 2016 - February 13th, 2016)

*Green lines indicate a change from last week.