Playing during Todd and Walt’s first cook together.
Tonight’s GetGlue sticker:
Just August.
It’s already coming up on the end of August. The older I get, the quicker time flies. Days run out of hours, and months combine into one long monotonous blah. I’ve been at the same company for five years now. It had never been my intention to stay so long, and I did apply for a couple of federal positions back in 2008, but my application never got selected. Then, I had some personal family-related issues arise in 2009 – 2010, which kept me in place. In 2011, I should have applied for a different job in IT, but felt like getting out of IT completely and had a mortgage to think about… so, I stayed put.
But finally, I think it’s time to move on. At least, I hope next August I’ll be somewhere else in life. A new company, or back in school… I’ve been throwing around the idea of going back to school to become something completely different. I don’t want to post what I want to major in, just in case the advisors tell me, “no way.” I’m also not 100% sure I want to do it. I bought the famous book, “What Color is Your Parachute” to help me figure out what the hell I want to be, but have yet to read it.
I really thought I’d be set in my career by now, but it’s feeling like I’ll soon be starting over again.
Posted in ramblings
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Breaking Bad S05E06 “Buyout” (Beware of Spoilers)
Another great episode. I always watch BB at least two times on Sunday nights… Sometimes three. Some thoughts so far:
The opening sequence… the music and the visuals of Walter, Mike, and Todd disassembling the motor bike so deftly and efficiently… it was really a neat sequence. Then, just seeing that hand in the dirt and the empty barrel. Wow.
If Saul, Mike, and Jesse teamed up, I think they could take Walt down, but Walt’s such a good manipulator, and right now he has Jesse so snowed.
In the first episode of season 5, we see Walt load a trashbag into the trunk of his car… and he put the Lily of the Valley plant in there. I’m just waiting for Jesse to find that bag.
I have a bad feeling Mike is gonna be killed by Walter soon. And he’s such a cool character too… Dammit! I hope I’m wrong about this.
Jesse: He’s been a lot smarter this season. He had the idea about the magnets (bitch)! and replacing the stolen methylamine with water. Go Jesse! I’m also thinking Jesse’s gonna die this season. He’s currently my favorite character on the show.
Skyler: I can see where the character is coming from. She’s basically a hostage and can’t turn back now without going to jail herself, but it was a pretty bold move on her part to jump into the pool and act crazy to get her kids out of the house. I think Walt invited Jesse to dinner, in part, to mess with Skyler.She may contribute to Walt’s downfall.
Walt: What an evil dude he’s become this season! Have you noticed the camera angles, especially in this latest episode? They are ominous. And the ego! “I am the Danger” and “I’m in the empire business.” Great lines.
I went back to Season 1, Episode 1, and it was Walt’s birthday. They had veggie bacon, and Skyler made it into a number “50.” And it’s a trip because they really seem to love each other. And now, one year later, Skyler wishes Walt were dead. Ironically, Walt only tried to stay alive for her, and would have been dead if he’d had his way initially.
Grey Matter: The fact that Walt checks the company’s value every week.. I can’t help but think we’ll be seeing more about Grey Matter this season— though, perhaps in the second half in 2013.
Zensah Compression Sleeve for Shin Splints
Yesterday, was the Norman Tamanaha 15K, which is the first in a series of five races geared at getting you up to speed for the Honolulu Marathon, taking place in December. I wrote about the readiness series earlier, here in case you’re interested in links and pricing for the individual races remaining.
Recently, I’ve been struggling with a shin splint on my right leg that causes me to feel pain along the bone on the inner-side of my shin. I think running in old shoes brought it on initially, so I changed out my shoes, but by then the damage was done, and because I’m getting closer to the marathon, I had to begin ramping up my training schedule, which probably made things worse. I ran many days in a row instead of having rest days between runs. I did runs of varying distance every week: 4, 5, 6, and 8 mile runs, totaling 23 miles a week. I’ve decided going forward that I should alternate run-days with cycling, or the elliptical instead.
I took a total break from running a week before the race, only using the elliptical for my cardio training, and started wearing a Zensah compression sleeve on my right leg at the advice of a couple people on twitter. I wore the sleeve both during, and between runs. I bought my first pair of sleeves from Runner’s HI, in Aiea, which is my favorite running store here in Hawaii. They measured my calf at its widest point, and from there we could read the sizing on the Zensah packaging to determine my correct size. I bought another pair via Amazon. The fit, is like a tight sock. It shouldn’t be cutting off your circulation, and according to the Zensah faq site, even if it feels like nothing is happening, something is.
I can’t say for sure whether or not the compression sleeve has helped my healing, but it does make me feel like I’m wearing an extra layer of protection. There are so many testimonials online saying compression socks and sleeves have helped people with shin splints. Also, icing the area, and taking anti-inflamatory drugs like Ibuprofen or Aleeve.. And, of course, seeing a physician is highly recommended.
Instead of doing the 15K this weekend, I did a 6-miler on flat, paved terrain, while wearing the sleeve on my right leg. My shin splint pain was very faint, but still detectable, so I’m taking it easy with the leg. My next race is a 20K, and I don’t want to miss that. The tricky part is gonna be trying to ramp back up to running a distance like 12 miles. I’m gonna take it slower this time, and see how it goes.
Posted in gear, injuries, races, running
Tagged running shin splints, shin splints, zensah, zensah compression sleeves
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Breaking Bad: 51 S05E04 – Knife Party “Bonfire”
Skyler and the pool scene. Anna Gunn deserves an emmy nomination for tonight’s episode.
Music from tonight’s Breaking Bad during the car scene with Walt and Walt Jr.
The Peddlers : On a Clear Day You Can See Forever ((From Breaking Bad))
From tonight’s episode of Breaking Bad, Season 5, episode 3: “Hazard Pay” during the meth making scene… which was lovely, btw.
My GetGlue Breaking Bad sticker for the Hazard Pay episode:
Strawberry Protein Pancake Recipe
One of my better tasting forrays into Protein cooking so far, so I thought I’d post it. This recipe makes 2 pancakes.
Ingredients:
1/2 c. Bob’s Red Mill 10 Grain Pancake and Waffle mix
1 scoop Nature’s Best Isopure strawberry isolate protein powder (zero carb, 31g per scoop)
1 scoop Swanson’s Oryzatine brown rice protein powder (12.5g)
92g liquid egg whites (approx. 3 egg whites if using whole eggs)
1/2 tbsp olive oil
splash of vanilla extract (1/4 tsp probably good)
2oz. vanilla hemp milk
Mix all ingredients well in a bowl, I cooked mine in a 5-inch non-stick frying pan.
Each pancake is approx: 242.5 calories, 26.88g Protein, 21.5g carbs – double the numbers to get the full count of calories, protein, and carbs that this recipe yields.
I topped it with some Apple Butter in the bottom shot.
I probably could have made 4 thinner pancakes in this 5-inch pan.
In Hawaii, you can find the Bob’s Red Mill mix at any Down to Earth store, or Whole Foods. I’ve also seen Bob’s at Safeway, Don Quijote, etc. I shop at the Vitamin Shoppe in Pearl Kai Shopping center for the Strawberry protein powder, and the swanson’s can be swapped out with any other brown rice protein powder. I believe 1 scoop of it is 13 grams. I used a digital food scale to get a lot of my measurements. I think I use that scale almost every day when preparing meals.
Happy System Administrator Appreciation Day!
According to SysAdminDay.Com, today marks the 13th annual System Administrator Appreciation Day. Tell your system administrators (and any IT personnel, really), that you appreciate them today! At my company, I can’t thank my admin since it’s pretty much me, but I am appreciative of all those unseen sysadmins out there… running the Netflix, GetGlue, Hulu, Spotify, and all those other systems I frequent… google, WordPress, Twitter, the folks at my ISP (Oceanic Time Warner), and Amazon.com, and all those invisible people all over the world making my Internet experience possible. Happy System Administrator Day to all of you!
I’ve known about this day for years now, since I’m an IT professional. Yesterday, one of the guys at work bought a cake for me and my supervisor that said, “Happy System Admin Day” on it. It was a pretty cake. Red velvet, with white creamy frosting, 3 layers high, and with chocolate lettering written on the top. We cut it up and shared it with everyone in the office. Most of our coworkers didn’t believe there was such a day, and I work for a software development company… lol!
It was a nice gesture, and I felt unworthy of it, but appreciative at the same time. I don’t usually eat stuff like cake anymore, but, I had to. It was pretty good. I ran 6 miles later that night to balance out my diet. hehe. He brought the cake yesterday since I’m off today. This pretty cake is from Diamond Head Market.
I felt super awkward about getting a cake. Especially on a day that had so many bad results in the morning for me, as a sys admin. A data update didn’t go as planned and had to be rescheduled, and there was a firewall issue, and in truth, my attitude towards IT hasn’t been so upbeat lately. But this cake was awesome! Mahalo!
Upper Body Workout (Arms)
Another routine put together for me by my awesome trainer:
Repeat 4x
Mid cable rows 12 reps, 30 – 40 lb
pushups 12 reps
DB shoulder press (seated) 12 reps, 12.5 lb
Repeat 4x
Lat Pulldown 12 reps, 40 – 50 lb
Burpee 12 reps
Lateral Shoulder Raises 12 reps 8 lb
Repeat 4x
Biceps curls 12 reps, 12.5 lb
Triceps dips 12 – 15 reps
Front shoulder raises 12 reps, 5 lb
Should take about 45 minutes to do.
Posted in fitness, workout routines
Tagged arms workout, circuit training, upper body workout
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Full Body Workout
Here’s a Full Body workout put together by my awesome trainer.
DB Squats 20 reps (10 – 12.5 lb)
DB Press (standing) 15 reps (10 – 12.5 lb)
DB Lunge 15 each leg (10 – 12.5 lb)
DB Chest Press 15 reps (10 – 12.5 lb)
DB Step-ups 15 each leg (10 – 12.5 lb)
DB Row (bent over) 15 reps (10 – 12.5 lb)
Burpee 12 reps
DB Reverse Lunge 15 each leg (10 – 12.5 lb)
I am a weak person, so she has the 10 – 12.5 lb range in there to accommodate my weak self. If you’re stronger, which many people probably are, you should up the weight. I repeat all the exercises until I hit about an hour.
Here are some video links to the exercises I found online:
DB Squats:
DB Press (standing):
DB Lunge:
DB Chest Press:
DB Step ups:
DB Row (bent over):
Burpee:
DB Reverse Lunges: