johnguinness's Diaryland Diary
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Another fresh start
Time for a fresh(ish) start and some more progress. Last night I deleted all of my old entries at one username, and will do the same at the other one soon.
I want to end on a positive vibe, so I'll start with an update on the first of two brother-in-laws, as I got an e-mail update last night. I guess the blood still hasn't properly drained from his eye, even after six weeks of rest, so the laser surgery to close off the leak isn't an option. He goes Monday for some type of traditional surgery. She didn't say, but I guess he hasn't been able to see out that eye for the six weeks, which has to be scary as Hell.
I've had the two parts of my broken recliner in the middle of the living room since I tried, and failed at, using them as a mattress months ago. A couple of days ago, I pushed the back piece over to the wall. Yesterday I wanted to move the cedar chest to that wall, so I moved the top over in front of my bedroom door. Last night I got to thinking that I should try that piece as a replacement for the bottom half of my air mattress. It worked! It's not wide, but for the bottom, it doesn't have to be. I woke up a number of times, always in a comfortable position, and my back has started to loosen up again. I stayed in bed for twelve hours! Plus, I'm one piece closer to getting hot water.
I didn't bother checking the reply from the Polar Customer Service guy. But I just checked my mail, and my heart rate monitor was there! They tested and reused the old brains, which is fine, and the strap only faded a bit over the years, but was still fine. But they gave me a new casing, so all five buttons are new and springy, the case isn't scratched and the glass front is clear. It also has a new battery, so I'm getting pretty much a clean start there. Wednesday it hits the road.
My brother-in-laws Mom, who lives out of state, has to have a lump removed, so he and my sister are heading out of town to be with her. My sister has always loved gardening, and this year she started a bunch of new plants in her basement. Even though we've had some temps in the eighties lately, there were also a few freezing nights and that crazy snow, so the plants are still indoors. She doesn't want to lose the time and money invested, so I'm to drive over there every other day for some watering duties.
When I've helped in the past, I've always turned down her offer to use her washing machine and drier. This time I'm taking her up on it, getting my clothes clean and fresh, and some put away until they fit again. I'll get back into the routine of taking off a sweaty shirt after exercise and putting it in a sink full of water with a bit of dishwashing liquid, soaking and rinsing it, then hanging it up to dry. That's another step closer to civilization.
I remembered yesterday that when the temps outside and in are in the eighties, so is my tap water. For now I'm going to take advantage of that and start washing my hair at the kitchen sink during the hottest part of the afternoon.
I've been hitting comfort foods the past few days. I had bought some Tuna Helper on sale, part habit and part psychology I guess, saying it was "for emergencies". Anyway, I've been eating that each day along with healthier stuff, and made some evening grocery runs - the one last night netted me a chocolate cupcake, tiny bag of Cheetos, and pancake mix. I just weighed in at what I had as my starting weight on the Ticker Factory thingy, so that date has no meaning. I haven't eaten yet today, and didn't know the HRM would be delivered, so I'll do an official weigh-in tomorrow before my walk.
I know I get anal about the charts an things. In the past, when I would keep up my training, I could compare what I was doing to the previous year and stuff like that. I still have my records from last June 1, when my Internet crush was starting her big change summer, and I decided to tag along with her by taking one brief, painful walk. I encourage myself to take a similar walk tomorrow by looking at how my training progressed last summer, with longer durations and lower heart rates.
I've been wearing compression socks for two days. In them, my feet fit snugly in my very worn out running shoes, but will hopefully prevent the friction that causes bleeding and things. Tomorrow Contador is racing on TV, so I have a reason to set the alarm, and I'll enjoy watching that much more if I've had my first honest sweat in ages, and washed my hair when I got home. A week from now, when I've got that first week in, and all of my clothes have been laundered, I can add the chance of wearing them by summer to the inspiration.
It's two o'clock. I need breakfast. I'm afraid it's gonna be Tuna Helper for one more day, saving the more expensive stuff for the diet Wednesday.
1:59 p.m. - Tuesday, Apr. 12, 2011
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