Why do I say this? Well, let me tell you. Overall today was a good day, and it's almost over. That's the good part, but I have a dilemma of some conflicting thoughts, and it brings me back to something my Psychology professor once asked us in one of her very first lectures... "When this question is posed which of these do you generally tend to do? Do you do what you SHOULD do more often, or do you do what you WANT TO do more often?"
It's really a most interesting thing to ponder. I would imagine that many people go through life constantly doing what they SHOULD do. My question to any of them would be this... are you truly happy? My guess is that about 90-95% of them are not happy with their lives that way. She also said that the happiest people are the ones who do what they WANT TO do... simply because then you're living your life for YOU, not for anyone else, and you own the decision, therefore you will feel no resentment toward the person or thing that you did that you really never wanted to do anyway. Therein lies my dilemma today, and I often go through this sort of thing, which in the world of psychology they call "cognitive dissonance".
By definition cognitive dissonance is your brain conflicting between 2 things... it can be any 2 things... let's make it very simple. Take food choice for instance. You can have the tasty cheeseburger and ice cream, which is what you REALLY want, or you can choose to have the grilled chicken and rice, which is a much healthier choice, but at that moment it sounds about as good as eating a cardboard box. Now your brain has 2 thoughts that are conflicting.
I'll be the first to say that I more often than not choose the "want to" side... probably about 75% of the time, and sometimes that gets me into trouble, especially considering my line of work. In the military you mostly do what you're told, which results in doing what you "should" do. Most of those things... I deal with and press on just like everyone else. There are those few times, however, that I go against the grain and do something else instead. Just in the past 3 days there have been 2 such instances, and I'm quite certain they have not gone unnoticed by my supervisors.
Saturday was our end of month party/awards thingy... and it was my day off. Therein lies an obvious conflict, but add to it that the time to talk to my wife on Skype was right in the middle of the party time! Now we really have a problem don't we? So... I had already made up my mind not to go... and I didn't go. There have been no consequences as the event was not mandatory... however... it was brought up to everyone by the commander himself that although these things are not mandatory everyone who is not engaged in WORK is to be there. No mention was made of those who had the day off... but it's one of those gray areas if that makes sense.
The second thingy was today... it was a promotion ceremony, which is not mandatory per se. BUT... it was expected that if you were "not doing anything... for instance sitting on scope" then you were expected to be there. Well... after sitting basically 2 shifts today... I decided my workout was more important than the other thing, and I didn't get back in time to go. EVERYONE was gone, too! I was even told that people were asking where I was at there... which is a pretty good indication that I could be in some kind of trouble come tomorrow. Luckily I will probably be able to avoid it at least until Wednesday, since tomorrow is my 4 hour day, and I don't go in until 2:30 PM. I'm willing to accept whatever it is that comes my way. I made a conscious decision to do what I did knowing full well it could contain some, albeit minor in the whole scope of things, consequences.
So again I ask... do you do what you want to do, or do you do what you should do??? There are few things I can rate higher in my life at this time than 1. Time with my wife, which is really what helps the most to get me through my days here. And 2. Working out... because being fit and STAYING fit is extremely important not only for my health but for my being able to retire from the Air Force in less than 2 years. The 3rd thing... which is really #2 for me when I'm at home is school... which I am not doing over here simply because I don't feel like I have the time or the energy for it.
These are the things foremost on my mind tonight as I get ready to turn in for the night and catch up on some much needed sleep. So... keep in mind... I've been told nothing of any "punishment" or anything like that... just thinking it's a possibility... and my day overall was a VERY GOOD one! :) I don't want to remove the positive things from this fine Monday... Take care and maybe I'll post more in the morning, since I will have the time. :)
I leave you with this to ponder the next time you arrive at a point in your life where a decision causes you "cognitive dissonance". Will you do what makes YOU happy... or will you do what makes others happy?
Peace, Love, and Poker
Monday, January 31, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
The last Saturday in January!!!
Yes... it's true... another month is coming to an end, and it's gone by the fastest of all of them thus far! Tuesday will be the 1st of February, which marks the last full month here. That's definitely something to look forward to! :) This day off... marks the end of week number 22. 22 weeks!!! That only leaves 6 weeks to go! 6 more Saturdays off. Then it will be about time to bid farewell to Iraq. Of course, the exact date is unknown... sometime in March... but the countdown estimate is close enough to be satisfying. :)
It's raining AGAIN on my day off. It seems rather odd that Saturdays are the only time it ever seems to rain here. This is the 6th or 7th one so far, and it's only rained maybe that many times plus one or two! I don't mind it... nor am I complaining, though. I actually happen to ENJOY it. The rain is refreshing, and it's a nice change of pace having a little moisture in the air.
Ahhhh... the pizza was delicious as always! Billy was nowhere to be found today, so I went solo in the drizzle today. I did my best to avoid the mud puddles along the way on my 20+ minute jaunt in the rain. It was well worth it, though. I even enjoyed a Beck's non-alcoholic beer. Yes... it's true... N/A beer is the best one can hope for here. It's good to get the flavor of it every once in awhile. :)
I then trekked over to the post office to take care of mailing a nice surprise out ot my dear wifey. :) I know she will appreciate that... at least I hope she likes it! LOL Pretty soon I'm going to have to decide what to consolidate and send (errrrr... yeah... where is home?) somewhere I guess. Hmmm... where??? I don't have a home right now!!! I'm sure I can figure something out. I have enough peeps in Boise surely I can send my stuff SOMEWHERE! :)
After I walked back, I went over and got my first haircut since Christmas Day. The barber was very careful of my "scar" on the back of my neck/head. I was grateful for that. I certainly don't need another one of those things anytime soon! That infection was HORRIBLE! It's one of the worst ailments I can ever remember enduring. I'm just glad it's over with... and hopefully gone. It's been 2 weeks now since the bandages came off for good and it was allowed to close up. The haircut did feel good, too. :)
Now I'm back in my cozy "POD" sitting on my bed writing this blog post and playing a little poker. I'm also drinking my cinnamon orange tea as per usual. :) I'd say it's been a pretty good day off to this point, and it's almost time to Skype with Anne Marie!!! :) Next week at this time not only will there only be 5 weeks left, but the next night will be the SUPER BOWL!!!! GO STEELERS!!! :)
I hope everyone has an awesome Saturday!!! If there's snow wherever you are... know that I wish I were there to enjoy it!!!! I miss my winter over here...
Peace, Love, and Poker
It's raining AGAIN on my day off. It seems rather odd that Saturdays are the only time it ever seems to rain here. This is the 6th or 7th one so far, and it's only rained maybe that many times plus one or two! I don't mind it... nor am I complaining, though. I actually happen to ENJOY it. The rain is refreshing, and it's a nice change of pace having a little moisture in the air.
Ahhhh... the pizza was delicious as always! Billy was nowhere to be found today, so I went solo in the drizzle today. I did my best to avoid the mud puddles along the way on my 20+ minute jaunt in the rain. It was well worth it, though. I even enjoyed a Beck's non-alcoholic beer. Yes... it's true... N/A beer is the best one can hope for here. It's good to get the flavor of it every once in awhile. :)
I then trekked over to the post office to take care of mailing a nice surprise out ot my dear wifey. :) I know she will appreciate that... at least I hope she likes it! LOL Pretty soon I'm going to have to decide what to consolidate and send (errrrr... yeah... where is home?) somewhere I guess. Hmmm... where??? I don't have a home right now!!! I'm sure I can figure something out. I have enough peeps in Boise surely I can send my stuff SOMEWHERE! :)
After I walked back, I went over and got my first haircut since Christmas Day. The barber was very careful of my "scar" on the back of my neck/head. I was grateful for that. I certainly don't need another one of those things anytime soon! That infection was HORRIBLE! It's one of the worst ailments I can ever remember enduring. I'm just glad it's over with... and hopefully gone. It's been 2 weeks now since the bandages came off for good and it was allowed to close up. The haircut did feel good, too. :)
Now I'm back in my cozy "POD" sitting on my bed writing this blog post and playing a little poker. I'm also drinking my cinnamon orange tea as per usual. :) I'd say it's been a pretty good day off to this point, and it's almost time to Skype with Anne Marie!!! :) Next week at this time not only will there only be 5 weeks left, but the next night will be the SUPER BOWL!!!! GO STEELERS!!! :)
I hope everyone has an awesome Saturday!!! If there's snow wherever you are... know that I wish I were there to enjoy it!!!! I miss my winter over here...
Peace, Love, and Poker
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Feeling the burn!!!
It feels GREAT to be back to working out again (now for the 2nd week). I missed my running so much!!! In fact, I will attempt to get back to 3.78 miles this afternoon! I'll let you know how I did later tonight in the latter part of my post. :)
I spent 65 minutes on the treadmill on Sunday and 70 minutes on it on Monday running/walking. It felt great! Even though I hadn't been running regularly for the better part of 3 weeks I've hardly missed a beat. My sprint/walk intervals were at 3.0/8.0, which is already close to where I was at before. The run speed is the SAME. I decided to lower the walk speed slightly to compensate for not doing it for so long. I still want to eventually get to 5.0/8.0 on interval day (which means 45 minutes of sprint intervals with NO walking at all!!!!) We'll see... I do still have 6 more weeks to do it.
It's been a super fast week here again!!! I honestly cannot believe that I only have one more workday then another day off! It's flying by! I've said the week feels like one day, and the day off feels like 2. That's a pretty good feeling probably for anyone I would think. :)
So.... I'm back... it's now almost 8:30 in the evening here... and I have the report from my workout. I went 4 miles in a personal best time of 39:15. I'm sure a lot of folks (mostly military) will scoff at that time and say, "Oh, that's nothing to be proud of. That's slow as shit dude!" Well... all that really matters is that I'M proud of it! I never claimed to be a fast runner... but hey... I'd say that's pretty good for anyone. Just finishing 4 miles is something the majority of our population can't even do! I enjoyed the run, too. I didn't push too hard, and I had plenty left in the tank to hit the finish on a sprint. :)
It was an overall pretty good day I have to say. Tomorrow is FRIDAY, and then my day off is Saturday! It doesn't get much better than that. Then I will be down to just 6 weeks left! Then... next weekend is the Super Bowl... when my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers will attempt to win #7!!! I'm also looking forward to that, but at the same time I don't want my day off to rush by, either! LOL Decisions... decisions... hehe
Either way... I'm ready to go home... so as long as the days continue to fly by I'm not going to complain! February is almost here... so close... you can almost taste it! Then it's just a matter of getting through one last full month and into March... the home stretch. The beers await... soon... oh so soon... along with my dear wifey... my friends... my car... my cats... etc. etc. etc. :)
Goodnight from Iraq... see you tomorrow...
Peace, Love, and Poker
I spent 65 minutes on the treadmill on Sunday and 70 minutes on it on Monday running/walking. It felt great! Even though I hadn't been running regularly for the better part of 3 weeks I've hardly missed a beat. My sprint/walk intervals were at 3.0/8.0, which is already close to where I was at before. The run speed is the SAME. I decided to lower the walk speed slightly to compensate for not doing it for so long. I still want to eventually get to 5.0/8.0 on interval day (which means 45 minutes of sprint intervals with NO walking at all!!!!) We'll see... I do still have 6 more weeks to do it.
It's been a super fast week here again!!! I honestly cannot believe that I only have one more workday then another day off! It's flying by! I've said the week feels like one day, and the day off feels like 2. That's a pretty good feeling probably for anyone I would think. :)
So.... I'm back... it's now almost 8:30 in the evening here... and I have the report from my workout. I went 4 miles in a personal best time of 39:15. I'm sure a lot of folks (mostly military) will scoff at that time and say, "Oh, that's nothing to be proud of. That's slow as shit dude!" Well... all that really matters is that I'M proud of it! I never claimed to be a fast runner... but hey... I'd say that's pretty good for anyone. Just finishing 4 miles is something the majority of our population can't even do! I enjoyed the run, too. I didn't push too hard, and I had plenty left in the tank to hit the finish on a sprint. :)
It was an overall pretty good day I have to say. Tomorrow is FRIDAY, and then my day off is Saturday! It doesn't get much better than that. Then I will be down to just 6 weeks left! Then... next weekend is the Super Bowl... when my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers will attempt to win #7!!! I'm also looking forward to that, but at the same time I don't want my day off to rush by, either! LOL Decisions... decisions... hehe
Either way... I'm ready to go home... so as long as the days continue to fly by I'm not going to complain! February is almost here... so close... you can almost taste it! Then it's just a matter of getting through one last full month and into March... the home stretch. The beers await... soon... oh so soon... along with my dear wifey... my friends... my car... my cats... etc. etc. etc. :)
Goodnight from Iraq... see you tomorrow...
Peace, Love, and Poker
Monday, January 24, 2011
And the AFC Champions are....
THE PITTSBURGH STEELERS!!!! YES!!! They did it!!! The Steelers pulled it off and held on to defeat the game New York Jets by a score of 24-19 on the birthday of the late beloved Pittsburgh figure, Myron Cope. I think perhaps he may have even had a hand in this victory. After all it was 24-0 late in the first half before the Jets even go on the board to go into the half trailing 24-3. Whoever would have thought that the Steelers would have scored their final point of the game then???
It wasn't as easy as it started out to be. The Steelers dominated the first half. They manhandled the Jets on both sides of the ball, but a football game is 60 minutes... not 30... and the Jets had other ideas for the second half. The critical series of the game was pretty obvious (at least to me). The Jets were down 24-10 with the ball on a long sustained drive that had started deep in their own territory. The ran over 8 minutes off of the clock. It was 1st and Goal from the Steelers' 2. It wasn't looking good. 1st down got them inside the 1 yard line. On 2nd down the pass from Sanchez was a little wide to the tight end in tight coverage and missed. 3rd down was nearly an interception as Lamar Woodley had both of his hands on the ball but just couldn't hang on. That brings us to 4th down. Surely they were going to score now... they hand it to LT... and he is met in the hole and stuffed behind the line of scrimmage!!! Steelers ball! On the very next play Big Ben and the backup center failed to connect, and Ben had to hurriedly fall on the ball, taking a safety (24-12). The Jets continued to run the clock on their next possession and eventually scored a touchdown with about 3 minutes left in the game. (24-19)
The offense was going to have to win this one. The first step was the kickoff return... it was a good one... all the way to the 43 yard line after nearly being wrapped up at the 20. The Steelers ran a play, and NY used a timeout. Then it was Big Ben time! Roethlisberger connected with Heath Miller on 2nd and 9 for a critical first down, forcing the Jets to burn their final timeouts. It still wasn't over yet, though. Without another first down the Jets would get one more chance to complete the comeback. There were 2 more running plays... another 3rd and 6ish play coming up. Ben scrambles... it looks like he might throw it away... for God's sake take the sack first!!! Run that clock!!! But wait... he finds the rookie Antonio Brown for another first down, and now it's time to celebrate!!!! Ben kneels on the ball twice and the clock runs out!!! The Pittsburgh Steelers are going back to the Super Bowl again!!!!
It made it well worth waking up at 2:20 AM to watch the game. 2 cups of cinnamon orange tea kept me alive and kicking throughout the event! So far I've survived the day rather well, most likely still on a pure adrenaline rush from the morning. It was awesome!!! Now... the Steelers will face the equally tough Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl 45... looking to be the first team to win 7 Super Bowls (2 others have 5... Dallas and San Francisco)... which would put Pittsburgh 2 ahead of the nearest other franchise. This would certainly cement the Steelers even further as the NFL's greatest franchise of all time! HERE WE GO STEELERS!!! HERE WE GO!!!! ONE... MORE... WIN!!!
Peace, Love, and Poker
It wasn't as easy as it started out to be. The Steelers dominated the first half. They manhandled the Jets on both sides of the ball, but a football game is 60 minutes... not 30... and the Jets had other ideas for the second half. The critical series of the game was pretty obvious (at least to me). The Jets were down 24-10 with the ball on a long sustained drive that had started deep in their own territory. The ran over 8 minutes off of the clock. It was 1st and Goal from the Steelers' 2. It wasn't looking good. 1st down got them inside the 1 yard line. On 2nd down the pass from Sanchez was a little wide to the tight end in tight coverage and missed. 3rd down was nearly an interception as Lamar Woodley had both of his hands on the ball but just couldn't hang on. That brings us to 4th down. Surely they were going to score now... they hand it to LT... and he is met in the hole and stuffed behind the line of scrimmage!!! Steelers ball! On the very next play Big Ben and the backup center failed to connect, and Ben had to hurriedly fall on the ball, taking a safety (24-12). The Jets continued to run the clock on their next possession and eventually scored a touchdown with about 3 minutes left in the game. (24-19)
The offense was going to have to win this one. The first step was the kickoff return... it was a good one... all the way to the 43 yard line after nearly being wrapped up at the 20. The Steelers ran a play, and NY used a timeout. Then it was Big Ben time! Roethlisberger connected with Heath Miller on 2nd and 9 for a critical first down, forcing the Jets to burn their final timeouts. It still wasn't over yet, though. Without another first down the Jets would get one more chance to complete the comeback. There were 2 more running plays... another 3rd and 6ish play coming up. Ben scrambles... it looks like he might throw it away... for God's sake take the sack first!!! Run that clock!!! But wait... he finds the rookie Antonio Brown for another first down, and now it's time to celebrate!!!! Ben kneels on the ball twice and the clock runs out!!! The Pittsburgh Steelers are going back to the Super Bowl again!!!!
It made it well worth waking up at 2:20 AM to watch the game. 2 cups of cinnamon orange tea kept me alive and kicking throughout the event! So far I've survived the day rather well, most likely still on a pure adrenaline rush from the morning. It was awesome!!! Now... the Steelers will face the equally tough Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl 45... looking to be the first team to win 7 Super Bowls (2 others have 5... Dallas and San Francisco)... which would put Pittsburgh 2 ahead of the nearest other franchise. This would certainly cement the Steelers even further as the NFL's greatest franchise of all time! HERE WE GO STEELERS!!! HERE WE GO!!!! ONE... MORE... WIN!!!
Peace, Love, and Poker
Saturday, January 22, 2011
As promised... the greatest blog EVER!!!
Well... some may disagree, but when some of you... MOST of you see this... you will truly be in AWE of it!!! It is possibly the most amazing thing I've ever seen... and certainly the most amazing creation on Joint Base Balad by far!!! This particular item... just one of its kind... exceeds all imaginable expectations! I'm dead serious... you won't believe your very eyes... but you don't get to see it just yet!!! hahahahaha (evil laugh)
It's been another nice day off... nothing super duper special except for what you're about to lay eyes on... but nice just the same. It all started out with everything I wrote in my first blog earlier today. Following that I went on a bit of a picture taking excursion. The first of which is something simple... something that protects us inside the confines of our comfy pods and buildings here on base. It's the T-Wall!
The T-Walls are that extra level of protection from the bad guys out there... whomever and wherever they are. These puppies are tough as iron!!! :) They are also pretty damn tall as well!!!! Look at the nice desert terrain in front of the T-Walls, and if you look you can see the gorgeous blue sky of the day here today! Sunny and 60 degrees... a VERY lovely day indeed!
It was a great day to take a walk to get some pizza. I had a buddy with me... which made it the perfect time to get a few pictures of this particular item you're going to see very very soon! We actually took the picture on the way to Ciano's. It was just a little out of the way... but the exercise was nice! The pizza was really tasty as usual... as you can see!!! Believe me... the other half of the pizza didn't last very long, either. Can you see the green bottle next to it? Some might believe it to be a BEER! Well... you're close... it's an N/A BEER! LOL
You see... there is no beer here in Iraq, so a tasty Beck's N/A is about as good as it gets. It is pretty good, too. I can't complain. I'm still pretty stuffed from the pizza... of course, I had to eat it all like I do every week. I had a good weight loss this week, too... 1.6 pounds! I'm not sure if I had already mentioned that in my last post or not, but it's definitely newsworthy!!! :)
Ok... now it's time... for the main event!!! I know you've been waiting for it. Everyone's awaiting this wondrous creation's unveiling right here, right now! When I say I got chills when I saw it the other day on my 2 mile walk... I mean it!!! I know quite a few people that will also get chills from this. Ok... ok... you want to see it NOW don't you??? Really??? RIGHT NOW???
Hmmmm... let's talk a little football first. Steelers vs. Jets at 6:30 PM EST on Sunday... making it 2:30 AM Monday here. Ohhhhhhh baby I WILL be watching!!! The Terrible Towel will be flying!!! This is the big one... winner goes to the Super Bowl! Can the Pittsburgh Steelers get back to the Super Bowl for the 3rd time in 6 years??? We will find out in the next 36 hours! My prediction is Steelers 27 Jets 10. Yes, I am predicting a rather in hand victory for the Steelers in this rematch of the last team to beat them this season.
Ok... now it's time... Yes... I'm finally going to keep you in suspense no longer! This is what I saw just yesterday as I was walking on my loop around the compound here where I reside on Joint Base Balad. This is truly ART at it's very finest... and what better day to post this picture than on the day beforfe the birthday of none other than our beloved Myron Cope. Myron Cope was the Steelers' commentator for all those years dating back to the Steel Curtain days of the 1970s. Do you think the Jets are in trouble now??? They are playing on Myron's birthday!!! Myron passed away February 27, 2008. Rest in Peace! He was already mentioned in my blog about the Terrible Towel, which was his invention! Now you will see why this picture gives me chills... as it will every other Steelers fan that sees this post!!!!
It's a T-Wall... A TERRIBLE TOWEL T-WALL!!!! You didn't think my earlier T-Wall picture was taken on accident did you??? Of course, I had to be in the picture with my gun as well!!! I will NEVER get to see something of this magnitude again anywhere else I might travel in the world. The artwork is incredible! It was undoubtedly done by (most likely a group of) Steelers fans that work in the very building behind this now famous T-Wall. This is truly the most AWESOME creation I have ever seen in Iraq, and I highly doubt it will be surpassed by anything else that may happen to cross my path in this last 7 weeks here! :)
Yes... it's been a wonderful day off. I have missed out on taking my nap, but that's ok. I have really enjoyed writing my blogs today. I will be ready for the game tomorrow night regardless of how much sleep I have. I will trek over to the Green Bean for a cinnamon orange hot tea before kickoff. I will have the Terrible Towel in hand and ready to cheer on my beloved Steelers as they hopefully head to the Super Bowl on Feb. 6th!
Have an awesome Saturday!!! HERE WE GO STEELERS!!!
Peace, Love, and Poker
The T-Walls are that extra level of protection from the bad guys out there... whomever and wherever they are. These puppies are tough as iron!!! :) They are also pretty damn tall as well!!!! Look at the nice desert terrain in front of the T-Walls, and if you look you can see the gorgeous blue sky of the day here today! Sunny and 60 degrees... a VERY lovely day indeed!
You see... there is no beer here in Iraq, so a tasty Beck's N/A is about as good as it gets. It is pretty good, too. I can't complain. I'm still pretty stuffed from the pizza... of course, I had to eat it all like I do every week. I had a good weight loss this week, too... 1.6 pounds! I'm not sure if I had already mentioned that in my last post or not, but it's definitely newsworthy!!! :)
Ok... now it's time... for the main event!!! I know you've been waiting for it. Everyone's awaiting this wondrous creation's unveiling right here, right now! When I say I got chills when I saw it the other day on my 2 mile walk... I mean it!!! I know quite a few people that will also get chills from this. Ok... ok... you want to see it NOW don't you??? Really??? RIGHT NOW???
Hmmmm... let's talk a little football first. Steelers vs. Jets at 6:30 PM EST on Sunday... making it 2:30 AM Monday here. Ohhhhhhh baby I WILL be watching!!! The Terrible Towel will be flying!!! This is the big one... winner goes to the Super Bowl! Can the Pittsburgh Steelers get back to the Super Bowl for the 3rd time in 6 years??? We will find out in the next 36 hours! My prediction is Steelers 27 Jets 10. Yes, I am predicting a rather in hand victory for the Steelers in this rematch of the last team to beat them this season.
Ok... now it's time... Yes... I'm finally going to keep you in suspense no longer! This is what I saw just yesterday as I was walking on my loop around the compound here where I reside on Joint Base Balad. This is truly ART at it's very finest... and what better day to post this picture than on the day beforfe the birthday of none other than our beloved Myron Cope. Myron Cope was the Steelers' commentator for all those years dating back to the Steel Curtain days of the 1970s. Do you think the Jets are in trouble now??? They are playing on Myron's birthday!!! Myron passed away February 27, 2008. Rest in Peace! He was already mentioned in my blog about the Terrible Towel, which was his invention! Now you will see why this picture gives me chills... as it will every other Steelers fan that sees this post!!!!
Yes... it's been a wonderful day off. I have missed out on taking my nap, but that's ok. I have really enjoyed writing my blogs today. I will be ready for the game tomorrow night regardless of how much sleep I have. I will trek over to the Green Bean for a cinnamon orange hot tea before kickoff. I will have the Terrible Towel in hand and ready to cheer on my beloved Steelers as they hopefully head to the Super Bowl on Feb. 6th!
Have an awesome Saturday!!! HERE WE GO STEELERS!!!
Peace, Love, and Poker
Ahhhhh yessssss... SATURDAY!!!
This guy... the one typing this right this moment... has come to LOVE Saturdays!!! :) It is my own slice of a weekend that only comes once a week over here... and with each one that comes and goes is one week closer to getting back home! These are the days that make the rest of the week worthwhile. You work hard and bust your tail for 6 days... and you're rewarded with Saturday!
Getting home will be its own reward once that finally happens. It's really within sight now, too! I mean... in only 2 weeks and a day it will be Super Bowl Sunday! With that said... the date is Feb. 6th. That will put me down to just over a month from leaving here! Now there's some perspective for ya! That is a wondeful feeling. Just think... I will only have 7 more of these "Saturdays" left here. Now that brings to light some thoughts.
I really need to start looking at cleaning house and getting stuff ready to go! I also need to get on the ball with finding a place to live when I get back! That time is coming, and apartments need to know these things in advance! I can't wait to have all my stuff back... especially my car! I'm looking forward to my first drive to wherever in my car when I get back. That will be awesome! :)
As for now... walking is just fine for just about everywhere I traverse this desert base. It gives me lots of exercise and has definitely played a huge part in the 13 or so pounds I've lost since I've been here. I'm not discounting all the long and intense running workouts I've done, however, I think the change from riding to walking was the thing that really pushed me over the top. I also have something to add to this post later on today that is going to be PHENOMENAL!!! This may turn out to be my best blogger day ever by the end of the day...
Right now... I'm playing a little poker and chillin' in my room. In 45 minutes it's pizza time!!! I will be back with another post soon... STAY TUNED!!!
Peace, Love, and Poker
Getting home will be its own reward once that finally happens. It's really within sight now, too! I mean... in only 2 weeks and a day it will be Super Bowl Sunday! With that said... the date is Feb. 6th. That will put me down to just over a month from leaving here! Now there's some perspective for ya! That is a wondeful feeling. Just think... I will only have 7 more of these "Saturdays" left here. Now that brings to light some thoughts.
I really need to start looking at cleaning house and getting stuff ready to go! I also need to get on the ball with finding a place to live when I get back! That time is coming, and apartments need to know these things in advance! I can't wait to have all my stuff back... especially my car! I'm looking forward to my first drive to wherever in my car when I get back. That will be awesome! :)
As for now... walking is just fine for just about everywhere I traverse this desert base. It gives me lots of exercise and has definitely played a huge part in the 13 or so pounds I've lost since I've been here. I'm not discounting all the long and intense running workouts I've done, however, I think the change from riding to walking was the thing that really pushed me over the top. I also have something to add to this post later on today that is going to be PHENOMENAL!!! This may turn out to be my best blogger day ever by the end of the day...
Right now... I'm playing a little poker and chillin' in my room. In 45 minutes it's pizza time!!! I will be back with another post soon... STAY TUNED!!!
Peace, Love, and Poker
Friday, January 21, 2011
Walking IS good exercise!!!!
I think it's funny how some people simply scoff at the fact that I think a good walk is sufficient for a "workout". It is the commonplace attitude of MANY military members, though. You MUST exercise at a higher intensity in order for it to be beneficial!!! If you don't RUN... and faster than whatever time it is that you normally run in... then you're not REALLY working out. Or if you don't lift weights... or do P90X or some other crackpot gimmicky workout then you might as well not do anything.
BULLSHIT!
In fact, walking is extremely beneficial to your individual well-being and is one of the best fat burning exercises you can do. Sure, higher intensity = higher burn. An idiot can figure that out... however, it's the long slow distance training (known as LSD in the fitness world) that truly burns the fat. 60 minutes of walking at a moderately fast pace (3.5-4.5 mph) will get you quite a bit of results if you do it regularly. In fact, it's the ideal recovery workout for the day after a good run when your body's not quite ready to go at it full throttle again.
There are a number of testimonials in regards to "walking yourself thin" that are available for your reading enjoyment simply by visiting google.com and typing those words into the search box. You'd be surprised how much good has come from just putting one foot in front of the other regularly. Of course, I don't listen to the nay sayers anyway. I couldn't care less what others say about what I'm doing. I know what works for ME, and that's all that really matters in the whole scheme of things.
I am feeling MUCH better that I'm back to running, however! See... I do my share of higher intensity work... I just can't nor should I do it every single day. I got in nearly 4 miles running yesterday... I'd say that's pretty damn good from where I'm sitting. I hadn't even run but once in almost 3 weeks time. Hmmm... I guess I'm not in too bad of shape... perhaps when I step on the scale next time it will agree with me. :)
Peace, Love, and Poker
BULLSHIT!
In fact, walking is extremely beneficial to your individual well-being and is one of the best fat burning exercises you can do. Sure, higher intensity = higher burn. An idiot can figure that out... however, it's the long slow distance training (known as LSD in the fitness world) that truly burns the fat. 60 minutes of walking at a moderately fast pace (3.5-4.5 mph) will get you quite a bit of results if you do it regularly. In fact, it's the ideal recovery workout for the day after a good run when your body's not quite ready to go at it full throttle again.
There are a number of testimonials in regards to "walking yourself thin" that are available for your reading enjoyment simply by visiting google.com and typing those words into the search box. You'd be surprised how much good has come from just putting one foot in front of the other regularly. Of course, I don't listen to the nay sayers anyway. I couldn't care less what others say about what I'm doing. I know what works for ME, and that's all that really matters in the whole scheme of things.
I am feeling MUCH better that I'm back to running, however! See... I do my share of higher intensity work... I just can't nor should I do it every single day. I got in nearly 4 miles running yesterday... I'd say that's pretty damn good from where I'm sitting. I hadn't even run but once in almost 3 weeks time. Hmmm... I guess I'm not in too bad of shape... perhaps when I step on the scale next time it will agree with me. :)
Peace, Love, and Poker
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