Month: October 2014

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A Few Things

So, a couple of things this week are on my mind, first up is a tech support kind of issue. I know a lot of people are not as technically minded as I am, and mine is really a learned behavior, learned knowledge based on wanting a paycheck. As I have said before I am more nerdy than geeky, however I have a few tips for those who are less technically minded than those in tech support.

Number 1, when you call in and tell your tech support person that you cannot connect to the internet and they ask you what lights are light on the modem and what color are they, do not answer the top three. These lights are labeled, we understand if you might need to turn on a light and get a closer look. The lettering is small, however it is there, in the major telecommunications corporation I work for, we have no less than 7 modems floating around out there. The fronts are all different, please get your glasses, turn on a light and look the next time you are asked. This will save you and me some frustrated minutes; with me telling you I NEED you to read which ones are lit. Oh and please don’t forget the color of the lights, red or green, or blank. Remember red is bad, green is good.

B) If all devices in your home (i.e. laptop, tablet, smart phone) can connect to the internet except for one, the issue is on your side, not ours. You can do several things to see what is going on with the device, power cycling it is always a good start. Simply turn the thing off, wait ten seconds then turn it back on, if it does not connect and is not giving you an error, please contact the manufacturer of the device.

III) Take some time and learn about the devices in your home that connect to the Internet. Be it computers, tablets or even smart televisions, these are the things you own and it would behoove you to learn about them.

Next up is more of a personal note; I am having a hard time finding clothes that are appropriate for my age. I do not feel old, so I don’t want to dress old, however, I do know my limitations and do not want to dress too young either. This is a dilemma, what happens when you are in between ages? Not ready for housecoats, but too old for low rise jeans and belly shirts. I never wore those, but still, you get the point. I don’t really like stores like Chico’s and Coldwater Creek, to me those clothes are for older, however I am older. It’s a dilemma I tell ya; I don’t want to wear orthopedic shoes and polyester pants. I’m not ready to be old, dress old, walk old, ok I talk old, the whole in my day does come out of my mouth. But the other stuff I don’t want, ever, but I know it is an eventuality.

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Sandi

I hate October, there, I’ve said it, October is not a great month, tomorrow marks 4 years without my friend Sandi.
I know I have talked about her before, but this year seems more poignant, with so many things happening that I want to tell her about. I still have her number in my phone, with her picture.
Yesterday, the Ladies that Lunch gathered, we told stories of Sandi and laughed, such a bitter sweet time. Everyone at the table was brought together by Sandi; she brought all of us there. I wonder if she knew, if she had an inkling of how much we would need each other after she had gone home.
Her beautiful mother was with us as well, even before Sandi left us, she was our surrogate mother. She is simply amazing and it is easy to see where Sandi got her awesomeness from, the apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree.
I still remember the last time I got to spend quality time with Sandi, it was at the Mary Kay Seminar in 2010, right before she passed away, I could tell that she was really sick even then. She tried to hide it, but her slight frame was even slighter, she seemed so frail, yet so strong. And there she was, standing straight and proud, she crossed the stage as the winner we all knew her to be.
A month and a half later she would be gone, we would all be left here, to miss her, to grieve and to carry on. Carry on we have, Wanda has become our new leader, we meet once a month, keeping the bond that Sandi created within us.
I will not leave you with sadness; I will leave you with a picture of her and myself, I love this picture of us.PICT0020 (2)
I miss you so much my friend, you were my mentor, my friend and my sister, all wrapped up in one little dynamo of a package.

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What 30 Days Can Do

My first 30 days with Fitness Together is up, today as a matter of fact, and the question that comes to mind is: was it worth it?
It was, it was worth giving up processed sugar, grains and dairy for 30 days, I do miss real cream in my coffee, which I will be adding back in, not going to lie. But I don’t miss cheese as much as I thought I would, even though my diet was heavily dependent on dairy, it was not missed. I really didn’t miss bread or pasta because I really didn’t eat it that much before. I missed cereal, but that was out on two counts, sugar and grains, oh wait, three, milk.
At the end of thirty days I can do 10 pushups at a time, I can run around the building that houses Fitness Together with only having to stop once, when I first started I had to stop 4 to 5 times and it was a struggle to get around the building. I still don’t look good doing a burpee, I struggle with it, it’s not pretty, but I get it done, and they have this one exercise done with sliders called a mountain climber that I cannot do to save my life. I do a modified version, but I am working on doing the real thing.
I am finding good, fresh food to eat, I still crave sugar, especially when I go down the baking aisle in the store, I can smell the sugar. It’s literally torturous for me, however, I still crave diet coke and I have not had that in a year and a half, the addictions stay, the behavior changes.
I have lost 12 pounds so far and 10 inches, I am feeling better in my own skin, I don’t enjoy being overweight and out of shape. I don’t believe God wants us to live our lives like that, as it makes us sluggish both in body and in mind. We can’t fully achieve what He wants for us in that state; we have to be at our best. It is not easy; I will be the first to tell you, I have struggled through every one of these workout sessions. I have to stop halfway sometimes for a few seconds and gather myself and carry on. I am not the strongest in the classes, I am not the fastest, but I am getting there.
This place, Fitness Together, they don’t make you feel like a failure if you have to modify things at first to get through a workout. They do encourage you to power through and make it to the end; Gladys asked me if I had a favorite trainer. Well, I do, but I am not going to say who, they are all good, some are just stricter, which I need. Because trust me I can slack, which I do not want to do this time around.

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Controversial Thoughts

My journey continues, I am down 12 pounds and almost 10 inches in three weeks, that is exciting to me!
I have so much to talk about and some things I have been forbidden to say online, so I shan’t, I shall move on to things I can discuss.
I think I have started a firestorm on Facebook, Adrian Peterson, we have all seen the photos and heard the story of how he took a switch to a four-year old. Everyone who is from the South has had this done to them, it is a fact, the media keeps saying it was a tree branch, it was not, it was a switch, repeat, not a tree branch. Let’s get that fact straight, I am not going to defend the actions, taking a switch to a 4-year-old and whaling on him or her is not the correct way to parent. However, let’s look at a few things, we do not know how long the 4-year-old had been misbehaving, and we don’t know how many times Adrian Peterson “got onto him” (another Southern thing), we don’t know what caused him to snap.
As a parent I can understand the final snap, it is the reaction to the snap that is important, his reaction was to do to his child what was done to him. Not that this is the correct reaction, however, if we have never been taught a different way, we do what we are taught.
Yes, he went overboard on that 4-year-old, but I do not believe he deserves felony charges, I believe he needs parenting classes, some supervised visitation until he completes the classes, then check ups to make sure the lessons were learned.
There is a woman in Pennsylvania that made her daughter eat cat liter and she is being charged with simple assault, I’m sorry, cat liter is way more extreme than a switch (once again, not a tree branch). This woman deserves felony charges, not simple assault charges, if Adrian Peterson were not famous, were not a football player, this would not be a felony.
I’m going to tell you this, my grandmother made her grandchildren go get their own switches, we kids thought the thinner ones would be the best ones. Don’t be fooled, those things stung worse than the bigger ones, I am not advocating what he did by this statement. I am simply letting you know I understand his upbringing, he was doing what he was taught.
Once again, not an excuse, but this is a man who was immersed in a sport that takes all of his concentration, he really didn’t know any better. Instead of prison time, why not get him some much-needed parenting classes, have him do some community service with abused children. He doesn’t deserve prison time for this, I have spoken to someone who went to school with him at OU, he says that Adrian Peterson is a really nice guy. A little dense, but truly nice, get this man some parenting classes, open his eyes to a better way of disciplining, allow him to rehabilitate without costing the taxpayers money.
The woman who made her child eat cat liter, I’ll gladly pay her prison stay.

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