Sunday Catch Up

I've gone another week without posting but I promise, I'm still going at it. I haven't been quite as consistent this week but it's been an off week for me. Work is even busier (not production wise, just for me) so I've had to really force myself to do something because most days I just want to go home and chill.

Here's what I accomplished this week.

• Monday (9/9) - 3.12 miles walking
• Tuesday (9/10) - 5.03 miles on the bike
• Wednesday (9/11) - 1.54 miles walking
• Friday (9/13) - 10 miles on the bike
• Saturday (9/14) - off day/show
• Sunday (9/15) - 15.08 miles on the bike

I rode the bike on Tuesday because I had a class at one of the plants closer to me so I wasn't near the park near my work but since I was close to home, I came home and hit the bike. Thursday was the only day that I couldn't just get myself motivated.

Now that I have separated both of my challenges, I don't get too far each week on the Star Wars one.

I am over half way complete now though so there's that. The only thing I unlocked this week was this.

I unlocked it earlier in the week. I'm not sure if I'm going to continue doing the Star Wars challenges or not. I like them but I'm liking the Route 66 one as well.

Of course, the Route 66 one is huge so it feels like I make very little progress but I knew that going in. I might do a city like Paris or maybe even Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon after the Star Wars one for my walking.

Here's where I am on the map, I'm just outside Pontiac, IL. The red balloon thingy is a pace marker which I haven't really investigated into what that really is. 

There's also this.

I didn't mark down a specific weight to start at but I was just over 300 lbs. I know it really doesn't seem like much but I haven't really changed my eating habits. I still eat out a lot so just adding some motion in my life is helping, even if it's slowly.

Sunday Catch-up

I'm still working out. I wasn't as great this past week but I did alright.

Monday (Labor Day) - Road the bike for 15.04 miles

Tuesday - Walked 3.05 miles

Wednesday - Walked 1.55 miles

Thursday - Day off, rain

Friday - Walked 1.54 miles

Saturday - Day off, show day.

Sunday - Biked for 15.07 miles

So not too shabby. I should have walked on Thursday. It rained really hard but it was finished by the time I left work. I was afraid I'd end up on the other side of the lake when it started again and I would have been screwed. Hind Sight says I probably would have been ok.

I unlocked this earlier in the week from the Star Wars Conqueror's Challenge.

Other than that, those have been quiet. Now that I'm doing the biking on the Route 66 one, the Star Wars one has slowed down.

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I started a new blog for myself. I titled it Mental Health. It's a private blog so there won't be an address or anything but it's a place to put my private thoughts about my Mental Health. I've struggled with a few things recently so it's a place for me to unload my feelings.

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Not looking forward to work tomorrow. My partner in crime there has left. She did a lot for me, work and personally. She took a lot of stuff off my plate which allowed me to get a lot of stuff done that I didn't have time for and we made a great team and I'm going to miss that. She was also very good for my head because she was very good at getting me out of bad moods which work tends to put me in. I'd like to think that we were both good for each other in that aspect. So tomorrow starts work life without Lex and I am not looking forward to it.

2 Challenges

 If you've been following, you know I've been doing the Conqueror's Challenge. Well, I went ahead and joined a 2nd one. I'm still continuing to do the Star Wars one but now I just add my walking to it and the new one I'm doing the biking. I did all 4 days of hiking this week. 1 day I did a lap (1.5 miles), 2 days I did 2 miles and yesterday, I knocked about 2 laps (3 miles) so I'm definitely making progress. I unlocked a few things earlier in the week.

I unlocked the next card as well as this description card.

I like cards better because this stuff I know from the films but I do still get excited when I unlock things.

Here's how I'm doing at the end of this week.

You can ignore the time goal, I wasn't really sure what to put when I signed up. I am 39% complete though so I'm slowly getting there. Now that I'm taking the biking out of it (from here on out) it'll go even slower.

I mentioned I joined a new one for my biking. Here it is.

Yep, that's right. Route 66. It's 2279.31 miles. This will take me a long time to complete but I'm going to enjoy the postcards. Like the one I received today after putting 7.5 miles in on the bike.

I kind of already know Chicago a little bit considering I live less than a couple of hours from here. I've been up the Sears Tower a bunch when I was a kid, but it's been a really long time.

I'm looking forward to this one but it might take a long time.

8 days in

 It's been 5 days since I posted, don't worry, I haven't stopped. I went and walked on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. I was having issues with my SI Joint on Tuesday. About half way through the day it started hurting. I took some Ibuprofen which usually makes it go away but it didn't even make it better so I took the day off. It was still hurting on Wednesday but not nearly as bad so I still made the walk. Just a little slower. I also unlocked this from the challenge.

I like these virtual cards. I'm crossing my fingers that I actually get the cards when I finish the challenge but I'm pretty sure I don't. I also unlocked this today.

This is the 2nd postcard that I've received. They are alright but nothing special. Just a glimpse into the story basically. I also unlocked this today, not even sure what they are. Kind of a glossary to the rebellion.

It comes with 4 pics attached.

So, as you can tell by what I said above, I did climb on the bike again this morning. I did another 6 miles. Tomorrow is a show day so I probably won't do anything. We'll see if I do the bike again on Sunday.

I weight myself this morning as well, 294.6.

6 of 7

I took off yesterday from exercising, as I said I was going to. I got up this morning and figured I'd get on the bike. I wasn't really feeling it so I only went 3 miles. I did go faster than I did on Friday. The reason I went 3 miles was that I needed 2.8 miles for my 1st postcard on the Conquerers challenge that I mentioned in my last post.

Pretty cool, kind of a storyline postcard. I wasn't sure what to expect since this isn't an actual place. This also popped up saying I unlocked it as well.

For informational purposes apparently.

I'm enjoying it, and hey, it motivated me to do something today. So there's that. 

I go back to work tomorrow so the plan is to walk at the pond for the next 4 days.

6 out of 7 days last week I exercised. I credit that to the fact that I'm not overdoing it and only doing a few miles at a time. Usually I get all gung ho and do too much and burn out quickly. 

So far so good.

Weekend update

On Tuesday, if you read my blog, I mentioned that I wasn't feeling well so we'll start with an update there. Technically, I'm still sick but I've learned how to control it to a degree. I still wake up having to go pretty bad, sometimes twice, but I've figured out that if I take a couple of Immodium when I get up, after an hour or so, I don't have to go anymore and have very few cramps, in other words, pop a couple and I can get through the day. Tonight I took a couple before bed and we'll see if I can actually not wake up with the cramping. Something else we've noticed is that when I lay on my left side, even for 5 minutes, it makes me have to go. Cheri said that's the way she was when she was pregnant so maybe I just need to poop a baby.

Why don't I go to a doctor? Well, I tried. He couldn't get me in but I could go see a nurse. I went home early from work on Thursday and went ahead and put a vacation day in for Friday so I made an appointment with him for Friday morning. I got up and didn't go (I was shocked) but I was still having the cramping so I went ahead to the appointment even though I was thinking I was probably at the tail end of it. Since I hadn't gone since early afternoon on Thursday, he basically thought the same thing and told me to call back on Monday if it was still a problem. The problem was, as soon as I got home from his office, I was running to the bathroom (I didn't take Immodium that morning, hadn't figured that part out yet.)

Since I had the day off and after an hour or so after taking the Immodium, we headed out to run errands. The first errand (and the most important) was to go to the cafe and get a Greek Skillet (Finally!). We were about half way through our meal and my uncle walked in and got a table so Cheri snuck over and sat down with him. Once I got done eating, I went over to his table and hung out with him while he ate.

My new mugshot

Afterwards, we headed for the license branch to change the address on our drivers license (we moved, in case you hadn't heard). They had to take new pictures, which sucked. Why do they have the camera at the angle of shooting up? In this age of a selfie, shouldn't they know that the best angle, at least when you're fat like I am, is shooting down. I'll get the new license in the mail in 7-10 days. This will actually be the first time I changed my address in around 10 years, which is about 4 places ago. I kept telling myself that I'm not going through with the hassle until I bought a house. I just wasn't expecting it to be 10 years. After that we basically did our usual weekly stuff, groceries, drugs and Lowe's (that's becoming a weekly trip) then headed home.

Finally!

Saturday, my stepdad and I finally got around to see the new Star Wars movie. It was so much better than I was expecting. I won't go into how awesome it was, you probably already know. They apparently changed all the seating in the theaters to recliners as well so it was very enjoyable. I do need to get Cheri out there to watch it, even if I have to "suffer" through it again. The things we do for love. Just as I was leaving for the movie, Cheri came home from a moving sale that she had been at in the morning, trying to find stuff for the house. Cheri bought another dresser for our room but didn't have enough room in the van so I had to go out and get in on Sunday.

We were sitting around most of the evening on Saturday, Cheri was doing some online shopping for the house and I was doing some research and eventually bought a Fitbit for myself. I've been debating on picking one up so I finally decided to do it, I ended up picking up the Fitbit Charge, which oddly enough is the top of the line for the "inactive" line. I thought that was fitting. I chose it mainly because it had an automatic sleep setting to track how well you sleep and I can wear it on my wrist. I have always kept an eye on my steps on my phone but this is supposed to be more accurate. Plus, I tend to leave my phone when I walk around the house so I miss out on some steps here or there. Our daughter has Amazon Prime so we use her account to get the free 2 day shipping. I figured if I was lucky, I could get it on Monday but probably Tuesday.

Sunday, we were chilling in our recliners when the doorbell rang. I answered it to find a package from Amazon on my doorstep. I got the Fitbit in less than 24 hours, holy crap, talk about service. I charged it (it was dead) and have been wearing it most of the day. I think I got all the settings where I want them so we'll see tomorrow and see how the day went. I'm sure you'll probably start to see updates on this blog about my steps and stuff, even if only so I can use my "fat ass" label again. If you have one and want to sync up with mine, I'd tell you to send a request but to be honest, I'm not even sure how to do that other than Facebook friends so first, you'll have to tell me what to do. I do plan on starting to walk after work again, I'm not sure how much I'll get in when the weather gets real cold again because let's face it, I'm not that dedicated. I'm going to try to remember to weigh myself at work (we don't have a scale here) in the mornings (before I eat) everyday and see if I actually lose some weight. I'm pretty sure most mornings I won't even remember.

9 mil. (not the actual gun I used)

My brother came by and picked me up to take me to his "gun range" which is basically a field with wooded area around it and dirt piles behind the targets. I had never even touched a gun, let alone fired one but this was something I had been wanting to do for awhile. After quick instructions from my brother, I shot off a clip of his 9 mil., I didn't think I was terribly impressive but he seemed impressed. I was only maybe 25-30 feet so I thought I should have had everything right around the bullseye but apparently it's not as easy as I thought. I went ahead and tried another clip and afterwards, my brother handed me the target and told me I should keep it and that I didn't realize how good that was.

I did alright.

AR Rifle (not the actual gun I used)

Next up, I tried my brother AR rifle. I shot a clips worth of that as well, I hit the targets maybe a third of the time from around 75-100 feet. The targets were only about the size of a softball so again, my brother praised me. I just felt awkward because I was around a bunch of guys who were probably way better than me.

Glock 40 (not the actual gun I used)

Later on, one of the guys let me shoot a clip of his Glock 40 just so I could see the difference between that and the 9 mil. I had shot earlier. A little more kick but I did alright with that as well.

12 gauge shotgun (not the actual gun I used)

Lastly, before we left, I went and shot my nephew's 12 gauge shotgun. There wasn't any targets out for it but I shot it just to see what it was like. I shot it until it was empty, maybe 6 or 7 shells, I don't remember which. Talk about a little kick, wasn't anything I couldn't handle but I won't be surprised if my shoulder isn't a little sore in the morning.

Once I got back to my mom's house, we headed back out to grab the dresser that Cheri had purchased. It's an old antique one, it doesn't look bad but Cheri said she's going to refinish it or something. It came with a mirror that attaches on top but I don't think she's going to attach it, last I heard it may go on a wall in the living room. We basically got another dresser because we had a whole wall with nothing on it and plenty of space, not that we couldn't use the drawers to but that was the real reason.

So that was my weekend, I can't even check anything off my honey to do list because we never finished anything. Oh well, I guess there's always next weekend.

Star Wars thoughts

No, I haven't seen it yet, it's not that type of post.

I am of course, super pumped for the new Star Wars movie, even though I probably won't go see it for a few weeks. Because as excited as I am to see it, I still hate people more. I will not go sit in a crowded theater and watch it, I'll wait a few weeks until all the hype is over, then go see it.

I loved the original trilogy but wasn't a fan of the prequels. I know that's not a new concept but the reason I like the first 3 but not the 2nd 3 is a different reason then most. I got into the characters from the original trilogy and I think that's why I couldn't really get into the prequels. They weren't the characters that I grew up with, at least for the most part.

Before you start going, ahh, you're full of crap. It's the same for Star Trek. I loved the original cast of Star Trek, I love the original series and the movies, that is, up until the Generations movie because that was the last of the original cast. I like the movies after that, just not like I loved the others. I never really got into all the other Star Trek TV series either, Enterprise, Deep Space 9, even the beloved the Next Generation. They're OK, I don't hate them, but I don't love them either.

When they brought back the Star Trek movies a few years back, I loved them. Why? Because they were the same characters. Yes, they had different actors and they were more or less, prequels as well, but it was the same characters. Kirk, Spock and Bones were back, and it was awesome. I've loved that they brought back my love for Star Trek because other than watching reruns or Netflix (I rewatched the Original Series awhile back) that was all they were, reruns. Now there are new stories with the characters I love.

Back to Star Wars, I'm looking forward to the new Star Wars because a lot of the same characters are going to be in it. I realize that they aren't the whole story but they will be there and maybe I will like the future Star Wars movies because of this one where they are kind of, handing off the torch, so to speak. So, like I said, I'm excited about the new Star Wars movies, not like a lot of people are, but excited none-the less. I'm just hoping it doesn't disappoint with bad story lines for the original characters.

My daughter is going to see it tonight, she asked if I was jealous. I said hell no. I am jealous that she is seeing it, but no movie is worth dealing with that many people. Even the new Star Wars.

All the posters above (except for the last one) were taken from one of my new blogs Movie Posters. I only post posters of movies I have seen which is why the last one is not on it, yet. I have it saved for when I do see it so I can post it. I copied a bunch over from my tumblr account so I posted 50 a day for 3 days but from now on, it will probably only be a week, if even that so feel free to join along.

This Week on ADITLOAN

Another week of posts from A Day in the Life of a Nobody.  I didn’t have much content this week so this post won’t be overly long.

Star Trek

the Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon

Star Wars

Frasier

This weeks Last Song of the Day album covers.