We (that is the royal we–it really means Lorena) decided we are not going to try to do too much with our yard because we (in this case it really is both of us) love the way it looks in a more natural state. Lorena is going to work on the front yard, the side yard, and two areas by the entry, but leave everything else alone. It will still be quite a lot of work and we will still have someone come in and mow, but 2-1/4 acres are too much to landscape both in terms of money and time. We do get lots of natural wildflowers that come and go and we will need to put down some bark dust, but that is not really too bad of a challenge.
Month: May 2019
Memorial Day 2019 was perfect. Remembered those in the family and nation who served in the armed forces, went to a potluck with our church group, took naps, ate some steaks. All is well as we move toward summer.
Spring has arrived. We see a lot more deer in the yard this time of year. The greenness of the vegetation is something to behold–it only gets this green west of the mountains in the Pacific Northwest. That deep, deep, Douglas fir shade of green unsurpassed anywhere in the world. It feels good to be here.
Kelly painted this watercolor of a bee on a postcard for a friend how plans to enter it in a charity auction. I do not know if she has any chance of winning, but she certainly had fun doing it. She has one more day in Cornwall after which she will head to London for a few days, then attend a church convention somewhere near by. After that, she will have a day or two in London then catch an airplane just in time to make the long move from West to East coast.
Christian is getting toward the end of his PhD program at Arizona State University. His first, first-author, refereed journal article, A Decentralized Receiver in Gaussian Interference, was published in Entropy in April of 2018. Just over the last week or so, he served as a reviewer for an article in that same journal and is now on the list and will review more articles there. He has two more articles in process that will be submitted very soon that will form part of his dissertation. Hopefully, he will defend this thesis and be done sometime this summer or early fall. It has been a long, hard haul and his is looking forward to getting out of school and going to work.
I thought this was a nice picture of my brother-in-law, Lauro, the artist. We have several of his pieces in our house and hope to get more. Right now, he is doing something about which I am very envious. He found an old house in a very beautiful setting in the Mexican countryside that is also close to a town with all the services (Internet, grocery shopping, great restaurants, etc.). The house is old (over 100 years) and was in very bad shape when he bought it. He is methodically turning it in to an atelier. He has been taking pictures of the entire process. It will have living space, entertaining space, a modern kitchen, a beautiful fireplace, and other features. When he finishes the building he will attack the grounds. It is really going to be something when he finishes and he designed it all himself.
The DeskCycle thing continues to work out well for me. Here is my new setup. After using the thing for about a week it came to my attention that I could move the display from its bracket on cycle itself to a desktop stand that was provided for that with a long cable that was also provided.
I think the function to convert cycling times and distances to fitbit steps is not quite right (to my favor in terms of steps per mile, but against my favor in translating how much energy was actually expended–the cycle says I did more than I did. Nevertheless, it is a tremendous help and I am learning how to calibrate my eating to match how much energy I expend on the cycle.
Also, I am getting better at ignoring that I am cycling while I work at the computer. This is still going to take awhile, but I think I will get there. I still need to get a better desk chair and maybe raise the height of the desk a little.
Yesterday was a day of minor setbacks. I lost my glasses in the morning. I was not sure whether I could find replacement, but Whole Foods had a small selection and they were on sale so you can see what I bought in the picture here. Then, on the walk home, I ran to beat a crosswalk light and pulled a hamstring, not horribly, but badly enough that I had to make a decision this morning on whether to walk the three miles to work or call a Lyft. I chose the Lyft, but that might have been a mistake. I definitely need to get into better shape, eat right and take care of myself better in general. A lot of my niggling issues will go away if I just lose the weight (blood pressure, cholesterol, muscle aggravation, etc.).
I walked the 3.1 miles into to work from the hotel again today with a brief stop at the (wildly underwhelming) Whole Foods to buy something for lunch. Last night I did not walk home because we took a colleague who is leaving the company out for dinner and they drove me back to the hotel after because it was raining. So today, depending on the weather, will be my first day to walk both ways.
I got started on my new under desk exercise cycle last week. I am very surprised I like it so much. By Saturday, I was forgetting that I was cycling–it had a very minimal impact on my ability to work at my desk. I think this will continue to get better. I really do need to get myself a new office chair. My old one has been great, but is getting worn out.
Since I made good progress on the cycle, I decided I should not let it go to waste when I flew to work at the home office in Boston. I am got to Boston last night and am off to a pretty good start. I was frustrated that the hotel where I usually stay across the street from the office was full–partially due to a remodel of a third of their rooms. I got into a Marriott a little over three miles down the road and decided to try to walk into work in the morning and then home in the evening. I was worried it might be dangerous because this is a high traffic area, but there were sidewalks the entire way and stoplight controlled crosswalks across the heavily trafficked streets.
I stopped at Whole Foods (I really wish there were a better option than Whole Foods–they really do not have much of a selection of the kinds of healthy foods I like) on the way and got myself a sandwich so I do not have to leave the office at lunchtime.
We mostly celebrate Mother’s Day a couple of times every year (last Friday this year). Mother’s Day is always on 10th in Mexico, but always falls on a Sunday in the United States–today this year. Lorena and I celebrated in the middle. We went out for breakfast on Saturday morning, then cooked up some steaks last night. Lorena heard from both the kids yesterday, but they always make the “official” Mother’s Day call after meeting on Sunday. Lorena is a wonderful mother (and wife). We are grateful for her.
This has been an enlightening Saturday. My plan today was to do a minimal amount of exercise and then celebrate Mother’s Day with Lorena. So, that I had the biggest exercise day in my new start on exercise was a complete surprise. In addition to that, it was a spectacular sunny day.
Next week, I got a new hotel in Boston. It is a 3.1 mile walk from my work. So, wildly beyond my plan and expectation, I will be, God permitting, walking at least six miles per day next week. Maybe my week will head south.
The DeskCycle looks like a winner. I went 3 hours on it yesterday while I worked. Now all I have to do is eat better. This has me inspired to write more here, too. Will find some new things about which to write.
My friend, Gloria, has been using an “under desk” exercise bike for years. It works really well for her, so I thought I might give it a try. I bought the thing for $149 + tax and was honestly not expecting much. I have been very, very surprised with how much I like it. It is very quiet and as unobtrusive as can be expected. They even have a web site that converts my efforts on the cycle to steps and calories and posts it on Fitbit for more.
My current job and the location of our house does not allow me to do much walking. I am hoping this will be a solution to that problem. I did an hour and a half the first day and a couple of hours the second day. I think I am going to try to get a couple of hours per day on the thing. I have to be doing a fairly non-intensive task at my desk, but I honestly have quite a bit of that. Also, I probably need to get a better office chair for this although my current one is at least adequate to the task.