3 Weeks!!!
What is going on in the world of Mike? You'd expect it to be a lot since I haven't posted in 3 weeks but it's not really...
This weekend was Scotsfest (Scottish festival including Highland Games) up in Costa Mesa. As usual I went on Saturday and enjoyed it. I wish I had stuck with practicing with the guys up in the OC so I could be competing but I chose to work on my career. A choice I'm happy I made. It paid off 6 weeks ago and things are going pretty good. Kind of slow for me right now and that was bugging me, but you know what? I was going CONSTANTLY for 8 hours every day for 2 years straight (my first year at the company it hadn't picked up to that level yet). It's nice to not have work constantly coming in every 6 minutes. I've also taken it upon myself to start a project of mine that could benefit work. I use some of my free time between my assigned projects and I've been working on it here at home with my mini-domain I built in VMs. It's Powershell based, which I'm enjoying learning.
I just finished reading Vengeance of the Witch-Finder, so yeah, I haven't been reading much lately. I did buy a new book (as if I needed to since I haven't finished all the ones I have now). I had posted on Flickr an image of a magazine I bought about the Royal Family. I have a fascination with royalty, I admit it. Unlike most folks in the US I don't find it to be a bad thing. The book is titled "Elizabeth The Queen" and it's about her life. All info gathered from various folks that have known her and what's been in papers and other publications. I've read the Preface, but I'm wondering if I should proceed with the next HP book instead. I'm not sure I'm ready to read multiple books at a time, especially with my inconsistency.
I've been cooking a little more lately too. A while back I bought Dr. Berardi's "Precision Nutrition" program which comes with a cookbook that contains health-workout-oriented recipes. I've realized I have to do SOMETHING after my latest blood test came back with the same results as the one a year and a half ago. In short, my blood sugar is high and my liver is probably building up fat (high triglycerides). Next week I go to have yet another test done, glucose, to see if I have a form of diabetes or am producing antiinsulin. Age-wise I'm kind of too old to have Type I and too young to have Type II. I sit on my ass too much and eat way too much food. I weight 210 so I'm not super heavy and the doc says I have a lot of lean mass. But I'm not active. So... I've been eating more protein, (not really) watching my carb intake, and have been throwing spinach into more meals. A week or two ago I made the Moroccan Chicken from PN and it was pretty darn tasty! Per Dr. Berardi's advice and info I've seen on the net, I bought quinoa at the grocery store last week and just made it tonight. It's good! I like the smell of it when it's cooking and it has a pretty good flavor on it's own. They call it the "Supergrain" because it has a low glycemic index (13 for 1 dry cup, which makes 3 cups cooked), contains complete proteins, and other nutrients. Tonight I topped it with chicken I cut up and cooked in a frying pan with a little bit of olive oil spray, then added broth, turmeric, coriander, and spinach. I did go to the gym today too, and I feel I got a good workout, but I'm not going to make a big deal of it until it looks more like it's becoming a habbit!
This weekend I spent some time thinking about my life the past 3 years or so. I focused quite a bit on work and my career in large part because I needed and wanted to for both personal and economic reasons. But I also did it because a lot of other things went south. It kept me distracted and just moving along in my own world; away from asshole people in my life and family stuff. I feel like I've done enough for now. I've reached a career level position with a company that pays well and will be around longer than I will. I'm not the best I can be in my current position but I can take some time with that. It's now time to start focusing on my personal life again. Get back into the hobbies and other things (like competing) that I've wanted to do. I feel very detached from the rest of the world and I need to get back into it again.
And finally, on this Memorial Day, I would like to share this video from the games this weekend. A 21 caber salute to those that fight for us. A big THANKS to all of you!
This weekend was Scotsfest (Scottish festival including Highland Games) up in Costa Mesa. As usual I went on Saturday and enjoyed it. I wish I had stuck with practicing with the guys up in the OC so I could be competing but I chose to work on my career. A choice I'm happy I made. It paid off 6 weeks ago and things are going pretty good. Kind of slow for me right now and that was bugging me, but you know what? I was going CONSTANTLY for 8 hours every day for 2 years straight (my first year at the company it hadn't picked up to that level yet). It's nice to not have work constantly coming in every 6 minutes. I've also taken it upon myself to start a project of mine that could benefit work. I use some of my free time between my assigned projects and I've been working on it here at home with my mini-domain I built in VMs. It's Powershell based, which I'm enjoying learning.
I just finished reading Vengeance of the Witch-Finder, so yeah, I haven't been reading much lately. I did buy a new book (as if I needed to since I haven't finished all the ones I have now). I had posted on Flickr an image of a magazine I bought about the Royal Family. I have a fascination with royalty, I admit it. Unlike most folks in the US I don't find it to be a bad thing. The book is titled "Elizabeth The Queen" and it's about her life. All info gathered from various folks that have known her and what's been in papers and other publications. I've read the Preface, but I'm wondering if I should proceed with the next HP book instead. I'm not sure I'm ready to read multiple books at a time, especially with my inconsistency.
I've been cooking a little more lately too. A while back I bought Dr. Berardi's "Precision Nutrition" program which comes with a cookbook that contains health-workout-oriented recipes. I've realized I have to do SOMETHING after my latest blood test came back with the same results as the one a year and a half ago. In short, my blood sugar is high and my liver is probably building up fat (high triglycerides). Next week I go to have yet another test done, glucose, to see if I have a form of diabetes or am producing antiinsulin. Age-wise I'm kind of too old to have Type I and too young to have Type II. I sit on my ass too much and eat way too much food. I weight 210 so I'm not super heavy and the doc says I have a lot of lean mass. But I'm not active. So... I've been eating more protein, (not really) watching my carb intake, and have been throwing spinach into more meals. A week or two ago I made the Moroccan Chicken from PN and it was pretty darn tasty! Per Dr. Berardi's advice and info I've seen on the net, I bought quinoa at the grocery store last week and just made it tonight. It's good! I like the smell of it when it's cooking and it has a pretty good flavor on it's own. They call it the "Supergrain" because it has a low glycemic index (13 for 1 dry cup, which makes 3 cups cooked), contains complete proteins, and other nutrients. Tonight I topped it with chicken I cut up and cooked in a frying pan with a little bit of olive oil spray, then added broth, turmeric, coriander, and spinach. I did go to the gym today too, and I feel I got a good workout, but I'm not going to make a big deal of it until it looks more like it's becoming a habbit!
This weekend I spent some time thinking about my life the past 3 years or so. I focused quite a bit on work and my career in large part because I needed and wanted to for both personal and economic reasons. But I also did it because a lot of other things went south. It kept me distracted and just moving along in my own world; away from asshole people in my life and family stuff. I feel like I've done enough for now. I've reached a career level position with a company that pays well and will be around longer than I will. I'm not the best I can be in my current position but I can take some time with that. It's now time to start focusing on my personal life again. Get back into the hobbies and other things (like competing) that I've wanted to do. I feel very detached from the rest of the world and I need to get back into it again.
And finally, on this Memorial Day, I would like to share this video from the games this weekend. A 21 caber salute to those that fight for us. A big THANKS to all of you!