I skipped the gym this morning.

I didn't go to the gym this morning. Normally that means I skip a lot of other things, and go straight to work. This morning, I took the trash out, and attempted to do some light cleaning and organization in the garage before I headed out to work. I did, however, get to show Holly our new pet mouse, who has evaded capture so far. I just went straight to work after that.

The gym is now a 5 to 6 day a week thing for Holly and I. I haven't asked her how her checkup appointment with her bariatric surgeon went, but she was concerned with being a couple of pounds away from her personal goal. Sometimes I wonder if I should push her harder at the dinner table, or at the gym, but she's doing well. She takes some indulgences, sometimes out of convenience, sometimes out of guilty pleasure, but she looks great. For me, skipping the gym was more about time management. I've got a few things I need to get done outside of work, and getting to work earlier makes those possible.

Namely, our garage/rodent problem. The garage is a total sty. It isn't "nasty" but it is cluttered. Mostly, this is due to having stuff with no home. I have some cabinets on the wall, and they aren't completely full, but I need more cabinets, but that's an expenditure that keeps getting put off. We've got some free-standing shelving but I've been saving some of it for my sister-in-law and brother-in-law who probably need more help in their garage than we do. I think their time is up though. I've got lots of projects around the house that are half-done or unstarted, and I'm going to pick one this week and get it done. With the kids, that's hard, because they still require (and request) constant supervision. I might be able to get home today early enough to ask our sitter to hang out for a while while I try to orangize a few things, but that almost always ends up with my kids screaming and generally throwing a tantrum until I decide I'm tired of hearing it and come in (so I can listen to them scream until their mother gets home).

So, back to the gym. I've set some personal goals regarding gym activities. My main overall goal is weight loss. I'm supporting Holly in her gym membership requirement for her surgery, and that's all well and good. However, for me, I just need to be able to go a whole day without feeling like I got my butt kicked. In general, I'm trying to build muscle, so that I can burn fat while I sit around all day... because I'm lazy. So, I'm hitting the weights pretty hard, rotating muscle groups and trying to rest and not do weights once or twice a week. In addition, I'm doing cardio work *after* weights. I'm supposed to get 30 minutes in, but more often than not, I run out of time in the mornings I end up doing 15 or 20 minutes, and then running to the shower, so I can get to work in time.

I'm usually not late, but I try to get in by 7:30, so I can leave at 4:00, so I can get home, so that the sitter doesn't have to work a 12 hour day. I could come in later, and put more time into the workout, but I'm sure the real reason I don't just push to 30 minutes, is that I just can't do it. I love using the treadmill, as opposed to other cardio stuff, because I feel like I'm doing something, I'm barely coordinated enough for some of the stuff. Stair climbing is awful, and riding the bike just seems too easy.

However, if anyone remembers in high-school, where we had to run a mile. I couldn't ever run the whole thing. I hated that, and I think I just want to prove to myself that I'm not that fat, weak, kid anymore. There was actually one teacher who would run behind the class, and trip the kids who lagged behind. Sigh... So, I've set a goal of being able to run for a mile. The whole mile. No walking. That won't take 30 minutes, and I can go a whole mile now walking some of it. After that, I'll just try to sustain the run up to 30 minutes. For me, that's a goal I can live with, and work toward, and build from.

The mp3 player helps, but I really need to pick a few songs that I can consistently listen to and keep me moving. I'm open to suggestions. Generally, I just need something loud enough to block out the music that gets played in the Gym, fast enough to run in time to, and doesn't make me think to much. I'll probably blog about the songs I end up choosing, and I'll give credit for suggestions as well. For those who wonder, I'm currently using a 30 GB Zune. I need an arm-band/case for it, and I saw one on Amazone, but it's like 30 bucks... I guess I'll have to hold it in my hand until I can find a few bills on the ground or something. I'm certain that I should move to something flash-based, but I'm just not feeling like switching around right now. We'll see.

With the weights, I have the numbers memorized on the machines that I use, and I don't do free weights yet. My goal really should be to write down and chart my weights, and then improve them and also increase the number of sets. I'm doing 3 sets of 8 on most stuff, an then a set to exhaustion. I'd like to increase that to 4 sets by mid-year and 5 by the end of the year. I'll tackle weight increases as I can, and try to set a better goal once I start charting. I've considered bringing a pad and paper around, but I really think I'd rather use my Windows Mobile phone, and just get an application for it, and use it for music too... but the media player on it kind of sucks... and bluetooth stereo is cool, but I get drop-outs somewhat frequently. I might have to ask this other guy that uses bluetooth headsets what he does. His wife is a social worker, and we chatted briefly about having wives "in that line of work".

Speaking of chatting at the gym, and keeping motivated, and wrapping up blog posts. Here's a funny. We (my wife and I) have code names for people at the gym. It's fun, and keeps us at least interested enough to pay attention while we're there. There's Thelma and Louise, SuperGirl (Kara), Marky-Mark, Greg Brady, Barney Fife (The sherriff), and a host of others. That's my tip for those of you who can't find a reason other than the fact that you just need to exercise to be there. Come up with nick-names for the "regulars". It's almost harmless, and somewhat entertaining.

Blogging, Now with more content!

Okey dokey. I'm going to start blogging again, and I will try my best to make it a daily thing. Not because my Aunt Staci heckles me about posting nerdy stuff, or that my friends and family want to see how my kids are doing, or because I think my life has a void that can only be filled by giving away a piece of myself.

I really just need to write down what's going on in my life. The fact that it is public keeps me somewhat honest. Are you not entertained? If not, wait for it...

MythDora upgrade, ClarkConnect downgrade

A quick one... I know, they're all quick... anyway... I upgraded the DVR. MythTV, based on Fedora 8 (MythDora) with a 120 GB hard drive suffices, but we really needed more room to add movies, so that watching a DVD doesn't involve opening the DVD storage area, fighting the kids, and hoping they don't break the DVD player, or scratch a disk...

I love LVM. Expanding the storage pool was pretty much seamless.

However, one thing I hate about using "old" RedHat distros... trading features for stability. In order to transfer some of these movies to the DVR box, I had to physically bring the machine up to the network. I just had a wireless b adapter in the DVR to get guide information. That's really too slow to transfer anything.

I also didn't have a router. I was using ClarkConnect as a Gateway, and hadn't even put a wireless card in the box to do an access point. I was using a DWL-900AP+ wireless B access point. The machine I was using was a Pentium 4 2.8 GHz HT that I really could have been doing something else with, so I decided to get a D-Link DIR-655 gigabit wireless-n router, and a couple of D-Link DWA-552 adapters. Supposedly the Atheros chipset in those PCI adapters works in Linux.

I installed the router, downgraded my server to an old 450 MHz box with a 20 GB hard drive, and recommissioned the server. Everything is good, until I realize that Fedora 8, as configured in Mythdora didn't just plug and play the wireless N card.

So, what am I going to do? I'll consider trying to patch up Mythdora 5, or hope that the next version follows Fedora 10 really quick, and that the upgrade is somewhat seamless.

My CC box is doing well as a stand-in for Windows Home Server... I don't know if this 450 MHz / 20 GB will suffice. I'll definitely need more space, but I'm really starting to think about trialling those discs I got, and moving back to Vista on the desktop... sigh, we'll see.

TorrentFlux and ClarkConnect

After a little trial and error, I got TorrentFlux installed on my ClarkConnect box. Awesome. Now I don't have to worry about leaving my main PC running when I want to download a torrent... you know, like maybe Fedora or something?

I really, really wanted to try Amahi, but I like having ClarkConnect as a gateway, and I'm not confident enough in my linux admin skills to turn a fedora installation into a gateway by adding a second NIC, as suggested on the amahi-users list. I'm definitely not feeling the suggestion that I go buy a wireless router, just so that I can plug it in and disable dhcp and stuff.

However, the Personal Backup Appliance, and running on a "newer" code base are still options that appeal to me. I may yet give Amahi a try. There was a recent review on Linux.com, but the reviewer didn't even have broadband internet, so I'm somewhat skeptical that it told me anything that I didn't already know from reading it.

I still haven't given in to the urge to just wipe and try Windows Home Server (which also has no official gateway mode). So, I guess that's something. Since I have a "real" web server running now, it might be time to put up that picture gallery running out of my house. Maybe that will spell the end for my sensless attatchment to flickr as well.

Regarding that HDA-ized Personal Backup Appliance, I really do need to look into automating some kind of solution with ClarkConnect, or Amahi or something. I imagine that I'll get there eventually.

The other issue is wireless support. I wouldn't mind using a wirless adapter on the server to serve up my wireless network. The only wireless clients in my house are our Windows Moblie T-Mobile Shadow phones, and the 802.11b adapter in the MythTV DVR downstairs, grabbing guide information. However, I'm serving it up now with an old D-Link DWL-900AP+ 802.11b access point. I don't think there's any wireless N adapters that work in Linux, but if there are, I need to find them, and then I'll probably update the one in the DVR, add one to my ClarkConnect box, and sing their praises.

Time to start searching google, I guess.

I found out who's reading my blog!

Friday, I did an interview with a student from the Professional Writing program back at Purdue. Good experience for me, and hopefully for them. As it turns out, they read my blog, as part of their research on me. Yikes... I had to answer some difficult questions about it, but I made it through unscathed. However, I think I'll have to put a bit more into this now.

A Night Out... minus kids

Whew, a long day today. After it, we went out to a Butler basketball game with a buddy of mine and his wife. Good time. Mom-in-law watched the kids. They don't have any, but his wife teaches 1st grade, so they might be ready for when they start their family. My kids are 2.5 and 1.5, so it can be a bit rough to enjoy time sitting down at a restaurant or social event.

Voting Early

I voted early today. After going to the gym, we took the kids and my mom-in-law to the Southport location and spent about 45 min total doing a pre-arranged absentee ballot. Not a bad alternative. If it is this way all across the nation, I wonder how it will affect the process of voting in the future. Maybe we'll vote online from the comfort of our homes. Heck, the IRS sure is willing to take my money over the Internet...