The word of the week is observation.
Dec 1 - Stabilizing
I'm doing better
health-wise this week, and I now know why:
I'm not as smart as I
thought, in a few regards.
Let me rephrase that: I'm
not as observant about my eating habits as I should be.
For the last few months, for
various reasons my eating habits have gone out of whack and for the most part,
those were supposed to be positive changes. I was eating less sugar, eating out
far less often and in general having more vegetables in my diet. This was
supposed to make me healthy and less dependent on buying meals as opposed to
making my own on very regular basis.
What I forgot about was
protein.
In changing my habits, I
ended up neglecting a vital part of my diet, which meant meat and eggs. I'd usually
have bacon for breakfast at least once or twice a week, along with eggs and I'd
have a few sandwiches a week as well for lunch with meat in them, plus a dinner
meat once or twice a month.
Cutting most of that out meant my
body was being starved of a vital component, giving me symptoms of weakness,
fatigue, dizziness and is also related to blood sugar instability – all Not
Good Things.
Thankfully, I've figured
out the problem after carefully looking at my lifestyle when I was feeling fine
and what had changed in the last six weeks. Now that I know I need at least 50
to 60 g of protein a day, I can up my intake through sources such as beans,
nuts, quinoa( which I eat regularly )
and of course meat protein.
Because I can't really cut
bacon out of my life now, can I?
Dec 2 - HOLY FLIGHT SIM
I know what I want for
Christmas, one of these years coming up…
Markus Boesen’s
video game setup - I don't know the guy, but now I want to!
Below is pictured his PC gaming setup as
featured in an article this week on Kotaku.com, which he's currently using to
play Elite: Dangerous. Though
"play" doesn't seem to do it justice. He's projecting onto three
panels (displaying the game at 5760 x 1080), an array of touchscreen inputs,
voice recognition, head-tracking and some expensive Saitek joystick.
There's probably about
$10,000 worth of hardware involved, not including the cost of the computer
itself. The hardware includes custom touchscreen displays on his instrument
panel as well as the three overhead projectors that are creating the screen and
the head tracking instrumentation. Really, the only thing I would add would be
a curved screen to cut out the ‘borders’ between the three separate displays.
The really neat thing
though is that the upcoming Oculus Rift VR headgear will do away with the need
for displays like this, necessitating only a decent computer plus the cost of
the headgear. Since the Oculus is pegged to run about $500, that's chump change
compared to the cost of a set up like the one above, plus you don't have to set
aside an entire room to play one type again.
But it sure does look nice.
Dec 3 – Labyrinth
Since I’ve been working a
lot of overtime this week, I need some serious downtime to balance it.
So tonight I took up a
friend's invitation, heading over to their place for dinner and a movie. As
their wife had to study up for test in the morning, we ended up watching the
movie ourselves.
The choice? Labyrinth.
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| Fantastic Fantasy Fanart |
Yes, that one with David
Bowie from 1986, the one with all the Muppets as well as Jennifer Connelly. I
had forgotten just how zany the movie was, how packed every moment is with
incredible detail and action that doesn't overwhelm you as much as pull you
right into the fantasy.
Re-watching the film again(
which I haven't seen in probably 15 years
or longer )was a delightful experience, which surprised me. I can remember
when the film came out that I wasn't all that impressed with it, but that's perhaps
because the idea of more singing and dancing Muppets didn't quite hold any
appeal to me at the time. Looking back at the film now with eyes that are more
critically informed, I can see how the Muppets were used as performers to push
the theme of the movie and not just be entertaining all by themselves.
My belated thanks to Jim
Henson: I'll be re-watching this film more often in the future.
Dec 4 - Just A Sprinkling
The first snow has come and gone
here in Victoria.
While it lasted for only a
couple days, it seemed rather important to quite a few people around here that
it stick around longer, in order to make the city feels seasonal. We even had this random little guy show up:
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| This little guy walked all that way just to see us... then he melted. |
Personally, I don't mind that it's all melted, as I've had my fill over the years. For the most part, I don't miss a whole
lot of things about winter, not the least of which it being cold.
I do like ice though! There's
something magical about things covered in ice, with the sunlight shining
through them; the phrase Winter Wonderland easily comes to mind.
Ice is also cool( pardon the pun ) when it's completely
transparent, and there's a lake in central Sweden that has transparent ice like
no other. Have a look:
Located near near Östersund in Jämtland, Lake
Blanktjärn’s water is so clear that you can easily see fish swimming on the
bottom 20 feet below. While I'm not a skater in any sense of the word, I think
I would love to just be towed along( by a
dog, as in the video )and experience the sensation of flying above the
perfectly smooth water of the lake below.
Magical.
Dec 5 - Improving
I’m definitely feeling
better this week. Not quite normal, but close enough.
With more protein in my
meals the last few days, I’m no longer dizzy, even sitting down; it’d reached a
point where I had to concentrate to walk straight and I had to stop every
so often to lean on whatever was handy nearby so as not to fall over. Now that
my body’s getting most of what it needs again, I’m back to being just plain ol’
tired here and there, which I can deal with.
Also last week, I made a
nostalgic mention about Underoos.
Little did I suspect that
a friend would Photoshop me into the photo I’d gleaned from the depths of the
internet:
I don’t think my moustache
was quite as well developed back then, though…
Dec 6 – Xmas Party, Party and Party
I attended three parties
today!
Spending the day at work
for 6 hours overtime was nice, but I was a bit tired from working three other
overtime shifts during the week. However, there was little time to rest as this
evening's dance card was full, so I rushed home in the late afternoon to give
myself a little time before I had to head out.
 |
| This would be a party worth attending, I think... |
My first stop was the
company party, being held this year at Uvic, of all places. Not having taken
the bus in that direction before( I’ve
never needed to visit the university ) it was a bit daunting, but I managed
to find the right bus and get on it at the right time.
Unfortunately, I got off
the bus far too early, thanks to Google, which didn't indicate that the bus
actually continued into the university itself – too bad for me. I ended up
walking an extra kilometer or so through the university grounds on the main
ring road, grinding my teeth as I was passed by no less than five separate
buses, none of which I could board because there were no stops between where I
left my bus and the main transfer station for the University. For all that, I
arrived at the party in good spirits, having enjoyed my walk in the dark by
admiring the lovely layout and architecture of the University of Victoria.
The party itself was
fairly standard fare: free appetizers and desserts, plus a cash bar. I grabbed
a table with a few friends and spent an hour socializing, then excused myself,
having felt that I had Made An Appearance and could now take my leave: I had
another party to attend!
The bus I wanted was
easier to find this time around and I made it to my destination on the other
side of the city from Uvic. in a timely fashion: it was a friend’s small Christmas
party. There were about a half-dozen people in attendance and we quickly dove
into playing Tokaido, which is a different kind of boardgame: you play a
traveler in ancient Japan, collecting experiences.
It was quite enjoyable and
I didn’t start to feel tired until I'd left after a few hours spent in good company.
Another bus whisked me downtown, where he joined some of my coworkers at the
Yates St Taphouse, where they had been for those same few hours, enjoying
themselves. I arrived just in time to see most people heading down to another
location, but as I was feeling quite tuckered by then I bowed out of the party
crowd to get some sleep, as I had to work again in the morning. Sure, I had
volunteered for the overtime, but given my lack of energy of late, I really
shouldn't try burning the candle at more than one end.
I did enjoy myself
tonight, even given that I’d managed to ‘lose’ an hour’s time from missed bus
stops and poor timing. All in all, it was definitely a successful seasonal
Saturday night!
Dec 7 – Small Things
On my way to work for a
second day, something felt the ground right in front of me.
Fluttered, actually, from the
street-level window ledge of a building I pass every day. Curiously, it wasn’t
a leaf or anything I recognize, so I stopped to investigate. Here’s what I
picked up:
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| Guess which side landed facing up? |
This random act of
kindness brought a smile instantly to my face. Looking around the area, I
couldn't see any more of these little gifts, either on the ground or poised on
other ledges elsewhere. There was just the one I was holding in my hand, which
had fallen before me just as I arrived at that exact spot, perhaps pushed by a
tiny gust of wind.
The funny thing is, I was
running a bit late and was fretting( unnecessarily
so, I might add ) about the fact. If I'd been on time for work, I would have
missed this little random gift and the smile it had engendered, which wasn't
lost on me.
In effect, I was in the
right place at the right time and perhaps, I was the right person, too.
Who knows? Maybe the next
time that I’m not really paying attention to the world, something wonderful
will fall into my lap and bring another smile to my face that I had been
expecting. It may even be love.
Wouldn't
that be a wonderful gift to give?
It’s a four-day work week
for me coming up and I confess I’m really looking forward to my day off. I’ve
little planned save catching up on a few things during the course of the day…
plus having a well-deserved afternoon nap, which have been in short supply of
late. Maybe I'll ask Santa for a year's supply of naps!
