Losing Weight, and getting back on the bike.

So back at the end of May I decided that I was tired of being fat. At first it was something that my wife suggested as she was tired of her weight as well after having a doctors appointment that didn't turn out the way she wanted on the scale, but as I thought about it I realized everything that was being affected by being fat. I pay more for clothes because everything in 2XL+ gets a $2-4 "fat tax" almost everywhere, I don't look the way I want, I feel uncomfortable taking my shirt off, I can't do what I want to do on my bike, and the list goes on. Then came my turn to get my checkup at the doctor, my blood test showed pre-diabetes and my blood pressure was higher than the doc wanted it to be...not good.

So now I had even more reason to change my diet. We stopped buying boxed foods, stopped eating crappy fast food, switched ground beef for ground turkey, etc. We have also been logging everything we eat, every day, on www.myfitnesspal.com and it has been an amazing eye opener. So fast forward to today and by making those small changes I have lost 34lbs. I still have a ways to go, but those 34lbs have made a big difference already.

I have also made an effort to get back to doing something which I love, riding my bicycle. Before I met my wife, when I had nothing to do, I used to cycle every weekend, and at one point was up to doing 60+ miles on a ride without too much trouble. After life got in the way and I spent large chunks of time off the bike all together my fitness level slipped. When we moved to Oregon back in October of last year I though "cycling mecca, I will definitely get back into it now!", and I had good intentions and joined a cycling group. I went out on one ride with them and it was great! Then of course, as had happened in the past I got lazy, it was so much easier to NOT put on my cycling clothes and go. It requires zero effort to sit in my chair, so I'll go tomorrow...or the next day..or next weekend..you get the idea.

So now we have lived here for almost a year and I am finally making good on my threat of getting back into cycling as a way to not only supplement my eating better and losing weight but also just because I truly enjoy it.

Now that the back story is there I have a bit of a side story...it rains in Oregon, a lot and the only rain vest I had when we moved here was black, much like most of my cycling clothes, and in the rain and gloom that is not the best thing for keeping yourself from getting killed. So one day while looking online we found a bright yellow cycling vest...and it came in a 3XL, perfect! So we ordered it and when it showed up a week later I opened the package and excitedly put on my new vest...only to find that I couldn't come close to wearing it. I should have known that it would be a 3XL in Euro sizing, which is vastly different from American sizing. I could get the zippers a little past my nipples, probably 5-6" from actually zipping them. So into the closet it went and I essentially forgot about it.

Now here is a photo of that original black vest, from my group ride last October, which "fit" when the yellow vest wouldn't even come close. I put fit in quotations because as my friends back in CA would say I was "taxin' the hell out of it".



So today I was getting ready for a ride and as I pulled out my jersey I thought, "hey I should give that vest another shot, it might be getting close to zipping". As it turns out it not only was close to zipping it zipped just fine and I wore it for the entire ride and didn't feel like I was a human sausage. Now that first photo I posted isn't exactly flattering, and that vest is black, which as we all know is a slimming color. Yellow is not so much a slimming color. Here is a photo from today.



The feeling of being able to wear a vest that a mere 3 months ago wouldn't come close to fitting was pretty amazing. It made me happy for my ride, and I was also happy that I was able to ride 26.5 miles in 1hr 45min and feel pretty damn good at the end of it. And so the journey continues....

The big Two-Nine

So as of today I am another year older. I don't feel any different than I did at 28 but alas I am now 29.

So one of the things that I have been wanting to do for awhile is go fishing. I had fished with family years ago but had not been since. Well for my birthday we decided to finally buy all of the required gear and licenses and head out to hopefully catch some dinner.

The destination for the day; Trillium Lake on the outskirts of Mt. Hood. We were up and out of bed at 0 Dark 30 (3:15am) in order to get everything together and get to the lake just after sun-up. The target of the day being Rainbow Trout.

The drive was beautiful and since we were on the road so early there was very little traffic to speak of. After an hour and a half we pulled into the day use area at Trillium. This is possibly the prettiest place I have ever been, the view was ridiculous.



After a little bit of fumbling around looking for a spot we decided to stake out a place on a small dock and test our luck with the fish. Since neither of us had been fishing in over a decade we weren't quite sure how our day would play out. But hey when this is how you are spending a day how bad could it really be?



After an hour or so of plunking around I felt a small tug, so I set my hook and began to reel in what I hoped would be a keeper. Up came this guy...



He was about 9.5" and weighed a little over a pound I would guess. He definitely qualified as a keeper in our book, so onto the stringer he went and we got back to fishing. After a few more casts I got another bite, went to set my hook, and my pole snapped...my brand new pole, is now unusable...my heart sank and I was sure my day was over and one fish would have to suffice. Thankfully that didn't turn out to be the case as the guy who was fishing next to us graciously offered up one of his spares for me to use. I love the hospitality that Oregon in general seems to have. So as the day progressed the weather went from sunny and still to cloudy to windy a little light rain, pretty much all over the place. But through it all both Terra and I managed to catch fish. Here I am with most of our haul...



After that photo was taken we fished for another hour or so and both managed to snag one more fish which put us at our legal limit of 5 a piece. It was 3pm by this point and we were both kinda cooked from getting up so early so we thanked "Bear" for saving the day with his spare pole and loaded up for the drive home. On the way home we stopped off and returned the POS rod that broke on me and upgraded to a nicer one. The cost difference was pretty negligible and we are both hooked on fishing after today, it really was a blast and a great way to spend time together, and since Oregon has 1200+ lakes, rivers, and streams that are considered fishable there is plenty of opportunity and variety.

So after making our way home I tried my hand at cleaning our catch. I had read up on the process and watched a few YouTube videos and it looked pretty simple. Thankfully it turned out to be pretty much as simple as it looked and within about a half hour I had 10 nicely cleaned trout to work with.



We froze 4 of them for a later time and the other 6 got stuffed with salt, pepper, lemon slices, and fresh dill and went on to the barbecue. I must say they turned out pretty awesome!



So that brings us to the end of my 29Th birthday. I had a terrific day and will have a memory that will last much longer than any present could. So that's it, I'm tired, I'm sunburned, and I'm full of trout...Life is good.

A Manly Saturday

Okay so the title is a bit misleading, today was actually occupied by a trip to the Woodenshoe Tulip Farm for the annual Tulip Festival.

Being from the Antelope Valley I am used to the Poppy Festival every year, but that happens miles from any actual poppies, this happened at the farm. Woodshoe Farms is about a 45 minute drive from us, which was partially freeway and partially back roads that gave a nice view of some old school farmhouses. It really is a gorgeous area, especially a little ways off the beaten path.

When we first arrived at Woodshoe Farms we debated on getting our money back and just going home, as their didn't appear to be any Tulips in bloom. Turns out the front of the farm gets used to grow grass, a quarter mile walk or so later we came to the actual tulip fields and wow. The amount and variety of tulips was really breathtaking. As a bonus a nice clear day made for some pretty views of Mt Hood in the distance as well.

It was a nice way to spend a Saturday with the girls, and also another notch in my proverbial bedpost of wanting to get out of the house more.

So without further ado, some photos from the day:

Professionalism

Working in the line of work that I do I send emails, lots of emails, and everyday I find myself thinking the same thing at least once.

Why do people not seem to grasp the fact that their email address has an impact on how they will be percieved by others in a professional context?

I understand when I am quoting a 17 year old kid that I may run into an email address like snowboardpunk1994 (yes people born in 1994 can drive now, scary isn't it?) or the like. My first email address was chaoslord99 for christ sake (and I really was neither chaotic or a lord of anything in 1999 "I don't care if they're facist anarchists it still doesn't change the fact that I don't have a car" <---that really didn't have much to do with anything), anyway what was I saying? Oh yeah, I remember now...

What drives me crazy is when I run into someone who is a doctor and has the email address "crzychick", or a business owner using something like "hemilover65". There is no reasonable explanation for not having an email address that either A) is your name @ someplace or B) is directly related to the name of your business or your occupation. Email addresses are easy to get for free, chances are your name is available, and chances are if you work in any sort of actual profession you are GIVEN a professional email address.

If your email address is joe.smith@bigaccountingfirm.com I will respect you more than if it is golf4life@hotmail.com, I know it shouldn't matter, it's the person behind the email, "honest she has a great personality", I get all that...bottom line is it does matter, so stop it.

First Day of Spring

So the first day of Spring chose to come upon the Portland metro in a beautiful way. Today was 63 degrees, sunny and gorgeous. It was also the opening day of the Portland Farmers Market and the Portland Saturday Market, which is essentially a giant crafts fair.

Well being that it was far too nice to stay indoors today we headed out and hit up the Saturday Market. The place was a zoo but I am learning that anytime it isn't grey and wet outside Portlanders will go outside en mass so I expected that. The Market consists of probably 200 or so booths set up mostly along the river in Downtown Portland. People selling everything from soap to leather goods, plants to falafel (which had a line of about 60 people, too long of a wait today but I made a mental note to try that particular food cart in the future).

Plenty of strollers and bikes out, as well as tons of photographers taking advantage of a day that won't ruin their big money cameras (I can't help but wonder how a photographer in Portland who was trying to make a living wouldn't starve to death half the year but hey, what do I know).

Walking around out in the sun today felt really good and also reaffirmed my apreciation for the little things in life. There really is nothing like a beautiful day to perk up the spirits, especially one spent with family.

Saturday in the Columbia River Gorge

So this whole week it has been gorgeous weather here in Oregon, high 50's and sunny. So of course being the eternal optimist that I am I figured "No way will this last into the weekend.", well this is a time I was happy to be wrong. We woke up this morning to another gorgeous day and since my new goal is to explore more I decided we were going to take a trip that I had been thinking about since we moved and just never got around to doing.

About 25-30 miles from us is the Historic Columbia River Gorge Scenic Byway, otherwise known as Route 30. If you lived here in the early 1900's through about 1945 it was the only route along the Oregon side of the Columbia River, today most people use I-84 which runs right along the river and misses out on all of the wonderful views that the old route provides. Now granted commuting along Route 30 is much slower than the I-84, 3 lanes each way and a 65 mph speed limit vs. a windy 1 lane in each direction road that hits grades in excess of 10% and rarely allows for speeds above 30 mph, but I was in no hurry.

Our first stop along the way was the Vista House lookout point which overlooks the Columbia River.

Once we were done admiring the view and checking out some of the photos inside the Vista House showing it's progress from the start of construction in 1914 til today, we headed back out to our first waterfall stop.

About 5 miles up the road is Latourel Falls, which is only a short walk from the road to get to the base of the falls. Latourel Falls crashes over the side of the Gorge and falls an impressive 249'. Things like waterfalls and the ocean always make me realize the sheer force that something we use everyday to wash with and to drink can actually have. The view was amazing and aside from the spray being a little chilly it was a perfect day to visit, not too many people made for some nice photo ops.

After Latourel Falls we packed up and headed another 5 or 6 miles up the road to our main stop for the day, Multnomah Falls. Multnomah Falls is the second highest year round falls in the US, 2nd only to Yosemite Falls, and drops in two steps, the first one being about 550' and the second being about 70'. It really is a breathtaking site.

Parking is basically right at the base of the falls and you have the option of a couple of different hikes to get a more up close and personal view of the falls. The first hike is 1/4 of a mile and takes you to a bridge which crosses over the divide between the upper and lower falls. We made it to this point with little issue even with a todler in tow and the view was well worth what little amount of work it was to get there.

The second hike would have taken us another mile to the top of the falls, this hike is almost 600ft of elevation gain in that mile and is on a path that is about 3' wide and consists of 11 switchbacks. We decided to save that part for either a time where Kai was being babysat or at least was a bit older and more sure footed. I tried carrying her up but after about 1/4 mile I was pretty cooked and overly nervous about slipping and taking her over the side so we turned back.

So that was our trip, after Multnomah Falls we bought Kai a cookie the size of her head from the Coffee Cart that was in the parking lot and headed for home on the much faster I-84 that we had ignored on the way in. All in all a marvelous way to spend 5 hours on a Saturday morning.

Black Tooth Grin

So I just finished reading Zac Crain's book "Black Tooth Grin" which is an unauthorized biography of Dimebag Darrell's life. While not the best written book it was a decent read and really made me think again about how senseless the murder of Dime really was.

It has been a little over 5 years and in all that time there has been nothing that has surfaced about Dime being anything other than what he always claimed to be which was just a fun loving, heavy drinking guitar player. A guy with a pink beard and a drinking problem, was more or less a saint. This guy toured the world for 20 years and managed to keep his shit together and yet the people that run our states and country can't be bothered to keep their shit straight.

A guy who never hurt anyone is dead, and we have jails that are filled to the brim and overflowing with the filth of society and yet we keep them alive.

Somewhere in history the phrase "only the good die young" was coined, I don't know if Billy Joel should get the credit, or if it should go to some hillbilly somewhere in the back country that nobody has ever heard of, but whoever said it first certainly had it right.

Valentines Day

Another Valentines Day is here and all in all it went well. No big plans but I think Terra was happy in general. She got her typical Flowers/Candy/Card/Stuffed Animal fare and I cooked breakfast and then cleaned up the kitchen so she didn't need to. These things made her smile, which in turn made me smile so they were good for both of us.

There was something that became increasingly clear this year though as I went through the aisles of Fred Meyer to buy my wares and that was that there was not a single female in the entire section. It was as if I was on a halfway sunken ship that all of the women and children had already abandoned. There were easily 25 guys staring at the wall of cards blankly, and countless others meandering the aisles hoping that something might jump off the shelf and into their cart.

This really is the only holiday that it seems is truly one sided. Guys don't expect, and generally don't recieve anything special on February 14th, but ask any woman in your life, wether she is 15 or 50 and you can bet some form of gift was recieved...or that she will soon be divorced...one of those two is always true.

So happy valentines day everyone. Ladies enjoy your gifts, guys here's to hoping you didn't screw up the formula too badly.

Exploring Your Suroundings

So it has been 4 months now since I moved to Portland, OR. The first 28 years of my life were spent in CA, and the past 22 of those were in the Antelope Valley. If you asked me how well I knew the place I would have said I knew it like the back of my hand, and yet I really don't think I knew much of it at all. I mean sure I could tell you where the mall is, or how to get to a specific intersection in most of the city but I'm sure there are tons of places I never even knew existed. I never really went exploring.

I don't really know what it is in my psyche that makes me such a sedintary homebody type of person but it has always been that way. Maybe it was nature, maybe nurture, but whatever it was it has crept deep into who I am and I need to break out of it. I need to go out and get lost on purpose. I need to take trips for the sake of taking them.

My backyard now consists of everything from huge mountains, forests for miles, streams and rivers, a whole new stretch of coastline, and a downtown that is vibrant and diverse. I want to make sure that I get to know all there is to know about this wonderful place that I live. I want to make sure that my daughter experiences everything and becomes well rounded and active.

Last weekend marked our first trip to the Oregon Coast, and we had a blast, so here is to more adventures and to hoping that for the first time in my life I can break out and really truly explore my suroundings.

Bandwagon Blogger

So I decided I needed a blog....To be honest I'm really not even sure why I need or want a blog. I don't have an exceptional amount of things to say, and even fewer than that are things that I need to say and people will actually want to read. Maybe it was the fact that everyone else was doing one, a sort of "follow the lemmings off the cliff" kind of mentality. Whatever the reason here it is, my blog. Enjoy.