A Week in the Life of

I'm still finding my way around these posts. They are essentially what happened in the last week. I haven't really had an order to them yet. I just went through my "A Day in the Life" posts to see if I had anything to talk about this week. I'm not going to rehash my Instagram posts, you can follow me on there if you want to see my post a day.

Monday night we didn't have much to walk so I searched for a movie. If I don't already know of a movie, I just pick one of the streaming services or on demand and go through it until we find one. We ended up watching Unknown, I believe it was on Netflix. It stars Liam Neeson and we hadn't seen it so we figured why not. It wasn't anything special but it was a decent movie. Enough to entertain us for just under 2 hours.

Had Taco Bell this week. If you don't know my history with Taco Bell, here's a quick reference. Used to love it, had it all the time (see my stats post). Last year they took a bunch of stuff off their menu, including most of my usual order. Haven't been going there nearly as much but my wife likes the Queserito so I would just grab some chili cheese burritos. The problem with that is her order can only be ordered through the app, not a problem, use it anyways, but the chili cheese burritos aren't on the app, no idea why. So basically I get annoyed every time I go there because I have to do an online order as well as one at the drive-thru. When I get to the last window, they'll hand me one order and I always have to explain that the next one is mine as well. Like I said, it was just annoying.

Well this week when we grabbed it, I noticed a Club Chalupa and tried it. It was pretty good so I can order that now instead of having 2 orders. They also announced that they were bringing back their Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes which is one of the items they took away that I liked. So my Taco Bell intake is looking up. I just hope the Club Chalupa isn't a promotional, it wasn't listed there on the app so I think it might be a regular menu item.

I pass a mall on the way home from work and it's a dead mall (see above). A really dead mall. There are only a few stores left in it besides the anchors (JC Penny and Hobby Lobby). There are supposed to be 4 anchor stores and even 2 of those are empty. Basically, it makes it nice to walk, not many people and warmer than walking outside right now. I see more mall walkers than customers. I ended up walking 3 days last week. I started Tuesday, went back on Wednesday. Thursday my sister-in-law and niece were visiting my wife so I came straight home after work to see them. My wife tends to visit all of her family in the middle of the week while I'm at work so I don't see them often. My mom ended up meeting me out there and we walked on Friday. I went over 2 miles each day which is my goal, for now. 

Part of the problem I have with walking at home (other than it's winter right now) is by the time I get home, I just want to shower and relax so I talk myself out of walking. That's the main thing on why this mall walking might be good for me. We'll see how long I sustain it though, because to be honest, I really don't enjoy walking.

We had to work yesterday (Saturday) and I might have stopped there on the way home but I had made plans to have lunch with my youngest daughter. Her girlfriend and my wife, neither care for Hacienda and we both like it so we tend to go there. It's the second time we've done it, I'm going to try to make it a regular thing. Every month or two or something. Otherwise, I don't see her much as she doesn't visit us much more. Even though she is in the area all the time. Damn kids!

I ended up walking 7.75 miles at the mall this week. Hopefully I can make it a regular thing since last time I went to the doc, for the first time I was over 300 lbs. Being 6'3" helps we wear it better than most but I would like to get rid of some of my gut. I've been pretty steady in the 290's for a long time so it's not like I put on a ton of weight but there's something about that number, 300 pounds just seems like a lot.

Not to much going on at work. The city surprised us with an inspection on Wednesday. During our Q&A, he mentioned that he only schedules us for an hour because he knows the walk through never takes long because we are always on point. He said some places he goes he has to schedule 4 hours. Everything went well, he even contacted our EHS coordinator and told her that he was impressed with our staff (which is me and our EHS person) so that's always good to hear.

The wife and I went out Friday night, it seems to be becoming a regular thing where we drop my son off at work and than go to 5-Guys burger and fries (they have curb side pick-up) and than we just sit in the parking lot in our car and have supper. Afterwards we run down to Steak 'N Shake and grab a couple of shakes, and again, sit in the parking lot and have our dessert. It really is the perfect date night for us. We enjoy the food and I would rather sit in the car, listen to our tunes and enjoy a meal than be stuck in a restaurant where people are annoying and it's usually loud so you can't really talk that well. My wife has issues with a lot of noise, it makes it hard to focus when there is a lot going on so it's a nice date night for us. We can even stay in our PJ's which is what we tend to do. Don't worry, our PJ shirts are regular shirts so you won't notice unless you see our PJ bottoms.

Not sure how much this will continue though because my son is taking his driver's test on Tuesday. Hopefully, he'll pass it so we don't have to drive him anymore. The taking him isn't a big deal. The picking him up between 10 and 11 pm is because on work nights, I'm in bed around 10 and my wife has trouble driving at night. She goes and gets him, luckily traffic isn't really bad and it's not real far. Her eyes have issues with the lights coming at her as they don't dilate very quick so she can't go from darkness and than a light in her face.

I guess that's all for last week. No real plans as of this week other than my son's driving test. Hopefully see you all back here next week.

Stay at Home, Day #3

I'm on the 3rd day of the stay at home order, nothing has really changed much. I have tweeted more, as you'll see below.

Day #1 (Wednesday)

I wasn't going to download it but a couple of people at work said it was hilarious so I downloaded it and played with it for awhile. It's definitely better than I thought it would be.

I got up to grab some chips, and I noticed my wife was watching me so I asked what there was eat and ended up making me some nuggets. She doesn't like it when I snack for my lunches on the weekends.

We decided to go out for supper, or at least out to pick it up. We had read on their Facebook page where their employees were doing deliveries (they don't normally) on their own gas and people weren't tipping them. So we drove 20 minutes out there to get food and tipped even though we just picked it up.

I worked on this most of the evening. I know their websites that do this for you but I just went ahead and did it myself. I got nothing but time these days.

We got through most of the DVR so we headed over to Netflix, my wife has been wanting to watch it. We ended up watching all 11 episodes and as you can tell by the time this was posted, we stayed up a little late to do so.

Day #2 (Thursday)

I've been going downstairs and working on my cards in the mornings, usually until mid afternoon. Gives my wife her time to herself plus I planned on getting a lot done with them since I'll be home for a couple of weeks. It also gives me a chance to listen to music.

Every couple of weeks or so I try to go through the New Releases. Didn't really find much this week.

I hate notifications on my phone. The only ones that I have are Snapchat (I don't get many and they help me to remember to send my streaks), texting and my work email. No Facebook, no Twitter, no Instagram, nothing. I shut the Facebook off for the same reason that I uninstalled Tik Tok. They give me notifications of things I didn't ask for. Such and such posted a new photo. I don't care, I didn't sign up for notifications from that person, don't send them to me.

Day #3 (Friday)

I'm not sure what Walgreens deal was but starting last night, they've been texting my wife every hour to let her know she had meds to pick up. She knew this already but she was waiting on one more to get filled. They even called her about them and when she told them she was waiting on the last one, they got it done.

Hit the grocery store as well, I just went in for 1 item, Milk. By the time I got there, my wife had text me a few other items and then I saw Chef Boyardee 10 for $10 so I grabbed those and a few other things for lunches. I also slipped in some Classic Jelly Beans (Tis the Season) and the latest SI because Tim Anderson was on the front.

I was going to grab some breakfast at Taco Bell on the way home but apparently they discontinued it, hopefully just until this virus is through. I love their breakfast Crunchwraps and the Cinnabon Delights.

When I got home from running around, I headed for the basement to work on my cards and listen to some music. Some background on the above tweet, I was up at the University of Michigan for a game but it got delayed an hour for lightning so a friend and I were walking around the campus. There was a frat house (I assume) and a bunch of people were hanging around, having fun with music playing. That song came on and everyone cheered and then they all stopped what they were doing and rocked back and forth and sang along to the song. We were across the street and we could barely hear the radio anymore over their voices.

We don't have any plans this evening. Just going to catch up on the DVR. We're on yesterdays shows so we may get caught up tonight, we may not. We'll see.

Senior Discount

So yesterday, they let us off work at 11 as we were caught up and coming into a holiday weekend. I grabbed my lunch box and headed home but Taco Bell was calling me more than the leftover pizza in my lunch box so I ran through the drive thru. I ordered 4 Steak Soft Tacos and a small Mountain Dew. She said my total was $12 something.

I pulled up to the window after waiting my turn. I hold my debit card out when I pull up and the cashier glances at me but goes back to her register. I just figured she was taking someone else's order. She finally turns to me and as she's taking my debit card, she says it's $11 something, seniors get drinks for free. Now, it took me a minute to realize what she said and what she meant. I would have corrected her but hey, it's a free drink and I figured she owed me after telling me that she thinks I'm 10 years older than what I am.

However, upon coming home and Googling that the Taco Bell senior discount is for those 65 and up, I'm thinking she should have given me my whole meal free for saying I was 20 years older than what I am.

Now I know when I haven't shaved my head recently, I look a little older than I am, and it has been about a week since I shaved it but I don't know about looking 65 years old. There are days where my body feels like it's 65 years old, but not look that old.

2017 Stats

Well, it's the beginning of the year so it's time to look back at 2017. If your new here, I keep track of a few things and some websites keep track as well. Let get to it.

If you've been around, you know I keep track of where I eat. While the top 2 places haven't changed, some of the other's have. First off, the bottom of the list.

• 1 time - Applebees, Bob Evans, Cappy's, Cracker Barrel, Fuji Japanese, the Golden Egg, Happy Cooker, Mancino's, Nelson's, Puerta Vallerta, Qdoba, Red Lobster, Sonic, Steak N Shake, Subway, TGI Friday's

You'll notice a lot of those places are sit down restaurants, the wife and I don't do those very often. We much prefer to eat at home so if we're out and we eat, we hit a drive-thru and take it home. My brother and I hit Applebees on the way home from Michigan games and I went to 1 this year. Bob Evans, Fuji Japanese and Puerta Vallerta we ate at when we were out of town. Nelson's I have at a local festival every year. Red Lobster we only do when they have their unlimited shrimp and my mom took me to TGI Friday's.

• 2 times - 7-eleven, Buffalo Wild Wings, Fazoli's, Hacienda, Martin's Deli, Penguin Point, Rise 'n Roll, Wings ect.

Yes, 7-eleven is a gas station but their hot dogs are extremely good. Martin's Deli is the deli at the local grocery store but they have the best fried chicken, ever. Rise 'n Roll is an Amish donut shop, we call the donuts Amish crack.

• 3 times - Chik-Fil-A, Rally's, Smith's Food Mart

We love Chik-Fil-A and Rally's but neither are "right around the corner" and there are only 1 or 2 around so if we're not nearby, we don't get it. Smith's Food Mart is another gas station but I love their pizza puff's.

• 4 times - 5-guys, Dairy Queen, Dunkin Donuts, Flippin' Cow, Pizza Hut

Love 5-guys but the only one is at the mall and the traffic there sucks. Dunkin Donuts are all from people bringing it in at work. Love the Flippin' Cow to but it's not cheap, the best burger's around. Pizza Hut is our go to delivery pizza place when we're to broke to afford the good stuff.

• 5 times - Little Ceasers, Long John Silvers

Little Ceaser's is our go to cheap pizza if we're out and heading home. We like Long John Silver's but it's not cheap so we generally only go there when it's the wife and I.

• 7 times - Arby's

It's right on the corner next to Walgreens and Martin's supermarket so we tend to hit it after those places.

• 9 times - Burger King

This is my go to fast food burger place. I like the rodeo king. Had one today as a matter of fact. Burger King was in the top 5 for 3 of the 5 years I've done this.

Now to the top 10. Oddly enough, I think every year I've done this (since 2013) my top 5 were also the only ones in double digits. I checked, in 2014 I had 6 in double digits but it's still odd.

5th place

• 10 times - Wendy's

This is also a go to fast food for burgers but again, it's not as close as others. The reason it's higher is because I was able to get there and back from work in half an hour. It's the first time it was in the top 5 and it will probably drop back down next year because I no longer work at that plant.

4th place

• 17 times - Bruno's

Bruno's wasn't even in the top 10 the first few years but since we've moved into our house, it has been our go to pizza place that delivers to the house. It's a little more expensive, but it's worth it. We've lived here 2 years and it's been in the top 5 ever since.

3rd place

• 19 times - Jimmy John's

What's funny with Jimmy John's is we had never eaten there until 2015, then we had it twice, because our daughter worked there. Then didn't eat there at all in 2016. What happened in 2017? They opened up one closer to us. They don't deliver to us because we are just out of range but we do love it.

2nd place

• 28 times - Taco Bell

We do love the bell, this is the 5th year out of the 5 years I've been doing this that they have been in 2nd place. This is our favorite fast food place, it's where we go when we don't know what we want. Oddly enough, it loses out every year to one of my least favorite fast food places.

1st place

• 32 times - McDonald's

The only time I go to McDonald's is for breakfast or when they have the McRib. Other than those occasions, I'm not a fan of theirs. They always end up on top though. It's been the top place the last 5 years. The last couple of months, I haven't had it very often and Taco Bell slowly crept up so I'm guessing McDonald's will lose their top spot next year.

As you should know, since there is a link to the right, that I use Goodreads to keep track of the books I'm reading. I take the challenge every year to read an x number amount of books. I didn't meet my goal this year but that's partly because I switched positions at work and have less break time then I used to and I only read on my breaks.

I had pledged to read 50 books which was 5 more than the previous year but like I said, I switched jobs and have less break time, therefore, less reading time. I can't decide what I want to make my challenge this year.

There's the 31 books I read last year and here is the chart comparing to previous years.

I started using Goodreads full time in 2012 but not at the beginning of the year so that is an inaccurate number.

In previous years, DVD's were listed here but last year, I didn't watch any all year. With streaming being more of an option now a days, we just don't rent them. Not to mention, we don't even have a player hooked up to our TV anymore.

I watched 6 movies in the Theaters this year. 6 movies is the most in all the years I've kept track of this (4 years). 6, and I never got around to seeing Justice League, Thor or the new Star Wars which I would have paid to see.

I watched 11 movies on TV. By on TV, I mean either it was broadcasted or on Xfinity On Demand.

I watched 22 movies by streaming. Those would be through Netflix or online.

Sports watched. Either on TV or live.

• Football (14 games) - If I had to guess, I'd say 13 games were Michigan games and the Super Bowl. I don't watch any pro anymore except the Super Bowl and to be honest, I watch it from the commercials.
• Basketball (32 games) - Most of these are Michigan games as well but it's split between the woman's and the men's team as I watch both when they are on TV.
• Baseball (56 games) - Most of these are White Sox games. Probably the all-star game as well and possibly a couple of Michigan games as they don't broadcast them very often.

Sports participated in.

• Softball (2 games) - I got 2 games in before I had to retire because I'm to fat and old.

You know I keep my step stats because of the walking posts on here.

I walked a total of 2,512,306 steps which equals out to 1,178.8 miles. I had 59 days where I walked over 10,000 steps and 1 day where I walked over 15,000 steps.

I drove a total of 8.634.9 miles this year. Those are all miles I logged behind the wheel of any car. Mine, my wife's, my mom's and my brothers. I can't think of any other's that I drove but there may be some. To bad I couldn't keep track of forklift mileage, I would have had a bunch there as well.

I kept track of my beverage consumption this past year as well. I honestly thought there would be a lot more listed but apparently I don't vary to often.

• Mellow Yellow (1) - My daughter slips this past me thinking it was a Mountain Dew.
• Iced Tea (2) - I believe I was given 2 cans of tea at work one day, that's where they came from.
• Root Beer (4) - Most of this was from the drive-in. We got a bunch of it for our daughter's graduation party.
• Sweet Tea (36) - Most if not all of this is from McDonald's.
• Gatorade/Powerade (99) - I tend to drink one of these after work on hot days and occasionally when I'm thirsty but not in the mood for water.
• Coca-Cola (159) - I get this at most restaurants because nobody carries Pepsi. I also keep cans in the house and a lot of times, have one with my supper.
• Orange Juice (226) - I like a cup of OJ in the morning but I generally only drink it on work days.
• Mountain Dew (293) - This is my favorite soft drink but I try to limit how much since I used to drink way to much of it.
• Water (339) - I try to only drink water at home and work but I'm not a fan of drinking water with food, which is when I drink pop. I should drink a lot more than I do.

That's all I got for you this year. I've only added one thing else that I'm keeping track of next year but technically, it's for another blog.