shihando’s BodyBlog

That may be the question, but if violence isn’t then answer then I don’t understand the friggin question!

Ever have one of those days where someone is  SO stupid you just wanted to beat the stupid out of them?

God I hate Barney.

The police have been called.  We will let you know if any action needs to be taken.” is what the email read that was sent out at 9 am this morning.  I was in the new hire training class and some of them were wondering if this sort of thing happens a lot.  Of course it doesn’t.  Of all the times a threat has been made, we’ve never even evacuated.  So of course, since we completely blew the threat off, at 9:30 they were evacuating the building.  OK.  We’ll just be behind training for today.

As we’re leaving, obviously since they are evacuating there has to be something that leads them to believe that the threat is real.  And what do 6 of the 8 people in the training class do?  Pull out their cell phones and start dialing. “Are you friggin nuts?!?  Put your phones away!  Don’t even think about making a phone call until you’re outside!”

“Why?  I have to call my wife/husband/boyfriend and let them know so they don’t freak out.”

“Why?  Because if there is a bomb, it is probably remotely detonated.  Which means that the signal from your phone could set it off.”

“Really?”

Now maybe it’s just because I have worked for a police department and known too many of these guys …

But come on!

I was with a group of people the other day and someone posed the question of who has most influenced your life?  Most people said someone famous that they idealize.  To me, that’s not much of an influence.  What I mean is, a person has to have interaction with another person to truly influence them.  With out that direct contact it is the idea or perception of that person that is actually having influence.

For me answering the question was easy.  Mom.  Hands down.  No question.  No debate. No doubt in my mind.  If you think about it, Mom is the one that really jump starts and gives us life.  That’s a pretty big influence if you ask me.  So it is no doubt that people innately love their mothers.  However problems come with that whole influence thing.  Mom has had the greatest influence on me in my life.  Good and bad.  My mom has built me up and torn me down more than anyone on the planet. 

I mean I love Mom simply because she IS Mom.  But, she drives me crazy.  Example of my mother’s logic:  If I lose my hair, which I am doing quite rapidly, then I am bald.  But, if I speed of the process and shave it all off to avoid the horseshoe, I’m a skinhead.  Hunh?   Or what about last night? 

Mom is planning a surprise party for Dad and having family come in.  While Dad is seventy feet away on the other side of the house watching TV with suround sound and we’re in the laundry room WHISPERING with the dryer RUNNING.  I asked "Is Friday night at the house?"  She freaks out!  "Shh!  Dad is right there he can hear you!"  What?!?  "He can’t hear us whispering with the dryer going and the tv blaring."  So Mom shuts the door and continues to whisper.  "Well I just want to be careful."  Ok.  Mom is just being Mom.  I reassure her, "It’s ok."  No response, she starts getting the clothes out of the dryer as I stand there waiting for an answer to the question.  "Yes or no?" Mom jumps back with a wide-eyed exasperated look.  "You are SO disrespectful!!!"  Hunh?!?  I was shocked.  All I could do was just stand there with my mouth open for a few seconds.  Without saying anything I just shook my head in disbelief and went and asked Dad.  Which of course thoroughly ruined the surprise and gave my mom a reason to think I was disrespectful.

Ok.  So I didn’t really ask Dad.  But that would have been funny!   Seriously though.  What the heck?  Is it just Mom or are all women crazy? lol  And just for perspective, Mom has always been like that with me.  Nobody in the family fully understands it, nor do they really want to find out because that would bring the crazy on to them. lol

I digress.  It did make for a very fulfilling workout this morning.  And PS. the disrespectful son still gave Mom the Valentine he had previously purchased for her.

Well, I had to make another change to my workout schedule.  Last week my bosses boss, aka: The head of my department for the entire company was in town.  It was a great visit.  She was very nice and took us to lunch and dinner almost every day.  That kind of threw my diet out the window, but it was fun! lol

Because I am back to teaching by 8am I have to be out of the gym and fed prior to class.  So I will be breaking up my workouts to one body part over the duration of the week.  Shoulders, chest, arms, back, and finally legs.  I am hoping that will allow me to hit each part sufficiently hard enough to make gains during a week long rest period.  I am also hoping that by limiting the number of reps per session I will be able to fit a little cardio on at the end of each day to burn a little extra fat.

As my friends in the Marines say, "Adapt, improvise, and overcome."

Question to "The Circle":  If real men have mass, as our celebrity claims.  If all of a person’s mass is in their belly, does that still make them a real man?  Hmm?

I shall ponder on.

The judging a progress is an interesting thing.  Most people judge by weight.  Others judge by measurements or the fit of clothes.  I think all are effictive tools for judging progress.

For me, the scaley beast enjoys staying big and ugly.  Around the 270 lbs mark give or take a few pounds.  The tape worm keeps getting smaller.  I am now down to 46.5 inches from a starting of 51.  (But I am not sure that I, or anyone else, can really tell visually yet).  The big thing for me so far is the fit of clothes.  My "fat" belt, I do not have any more loops to go down.  My "skinny" belt I can actually get on and buckled.  I have size 38 jeans that I can get in and buttoned, of course there are those that I still can’t.  I wouldn’t be able to wear them for long, but at least I can get them on and button them.

For me, all of the methods for judging progress paint a small piece of a larger picture.  The fact that my weight is maintaining, but I am getting smaller, then I must be putting on muscle.  I mean, the fat is going somewhere and it has weight, so it has to be replaced by something.  Right?  And since my clothes are getting bigger then I must be getting smaller in some places as the tape measure confirms.  At the same time, I am getting bigger in other areas as well.  Arms have gotten slightly bigger.

All in all, I like my scaley beast and my tape worm.  They let me know that while progress is slow.  I am still making progress.  It is like an old Japanese proverb, "If it takes a mouse a life time to climb a mountain only dragons climb, is he still not a dragon?"