Sorry about not posting, but I had the medical procedure I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, and even though I was a little worried about it, it turned out to be a non-event. Really guys if you are 50, like me, you should have this done. The only bad part is this foul liquid that you have to swill the day before the proceedure in order to clean you out. So anyway I had been a little worried and preoccupied about this, this week. I did have an absolutely no-cheating fast day yesterday and I am shooting for another one tomorrow.

The doctor said that I couldn't go to the gym, but I plan on getting some walking in over the weekend; I don't think that should be a problem

I am taking my son to the Airport on Sunday Morning for a Class Trip to Maine. They are going up to the coast of Maine to do a zoological field trip, which is a tradition for the Senior Class at his high school. He goes to a Waldorf High School here in Atlanta, which has a very creative curiculum, including stuff like this as well as a lot of involvement in the arts. So he will be gone for a week, so the house will be quiet.

Back in the ATL after a quick trip South. Got all my grass cut and worked on two ceiling fans on our screen porch. One good thing about Hunter Fans is that you can order parts for them. When we had the house painted last year ( actually the trim since it is a brick house) the painters broke off two of the fans blades. Actually the fan irons ( the hardware holding the blades were worn out, either due to weathering or due to poor design. I was able to snap another one of these in my hands!. Pretty scary, since these could have hurt somebody if this happened while they were running. So I ordered new irons and screws. The screws didn't fit so I had to order some more. Then I found out that they had changed the blades layout so I had to orderall new blades. I thought this was going to be simple and cheap but none of my household fixit projects ever seem to be simple or cheap. So I got both fans assembled and operating and attempted to attach the light kits. You have to fish two little screws up into the weather proof light assembly into the fan, into a hole that seems about the size of a pinhead. The screw kept dropping out and then when I got it in the light assembly it would get lost in the assembly. All this while work in the head, overhead, and on a ladder. I worked on one light with Cathy about 30 minutes and decided to try again when the weather is a little cooler. I did this about 11 or 12 years ago when we built the house and had forgotten what a bear it was. I would like to meet the fool responsible for this design!

Back into town on Saturday night and got up to go to church on Sunday. It 's been a very fast and busy weekend.

My BMW is not running. I am hoping to get it going so that I can get it into the shop sometime next week. It is a good car but at 23 years old, any car of this vintage is a challenge. I is a blast to drive however. I am headed out to the car port to see if I can get it running.

Did pretty fair with my eating this weekend but not perfect by any means.

So long...

Had another very busy week, with two or three meetings a day every day this week. We are driving down to our place in South Georgia tomorrow. Cathy is going to drive while I work on the laptop and handle my voice mail and e-mail with the Blackberry, so I can work "on the run" We haven't been down in several weeks, so I have many chores to do.

My dad asked me to do some research for him on laptop computers. At age 82, he is looking at buying their first computer! Talk about a late adapter, even my in-laws have a computer. I am seriously leaning towards recommending an Apple computer, even though my experience with Apples is very limited. I just think that in terms of viruses, spywear and adware they are probably much simpler and cleaner. And I think they can run windows programs now, so why not?

I went shopping for lawnmowers today for our place in South Georgia. I am leaning towards getting a John Deere. Our last riding lawn mower lasted for about twelve years and actually the engine still worked when we had to retire the mower. We had a bent drive shaft that was going to cost five or six hundred dollars to fix. We are big about keeping and using things a long time. We gave a car away to charity last year that was 21 years old and still running. We only got rid of it because we had, at the time three very old cars ( the youngest of which was 16YO ), all of which could need to go in the shop at any moment. We went from three old cars, to two old cars, one old car and then no old cars ( one car had terminal mechanical problems in excess of it's value and the other was hit from behind). Luckily we have one "new" car (six years old) that we bought used and are about to pay off. After next month, no car payments. I think this habit of using products an extremely long time is more environmentally sound than buying new products that get better gas milage. I believe that if people held on to and maintained their cars for at least twenty years, it would reduce the use of resources and reduce contributions to landfills by a substantial amount.

Today was an eating day:

Breakfast:

Two egg whites, two sausage patties, one piece of whole wheat toast

Lunch

Turkey sandwich, on whole wheat with salad and chips

Dinner

Pasta, with Alfredo sauce, mushrooms and sliced chicken breast

Snacks:

Frozen Custard ( was doing pretty good up to now ) and handful of chips, apple

Drinking diet cokes and herb tea and staying away from adult beverages. Mowed the lawn at the Atlanta place after work with the old push lawnmower, which is quite a good workout. Weigh-in for better or worse takes place on Monday. I think that I have put on a few LBS the last few weeks through laxity on my "non eat" days but I am feeling like I am coming out of the other side of this.

Well happy Sunday everyone. We had a busy weekend. First, we switched cellphone service from Nextel to Cingular, and I got a box of phones(three!) in the mail Friday night. I had to read the instructions, get them charged up and then see if they would get operating, which none of them would do. An hour on customer service on Saturday and we we were squared with phone service, but then the voice mail would not work. Another 45 minutes and we were square. I must say that the Cingular folks were all very helpful and friendly and surprise, surprise were nice folks from the midwest and not in Bangalore India. I was very impressed overall. I had a Blackberry for work and my wife and son had a cell but believe it or not this is my very first personal cell phone. It has a lot of Gee Wiz features; like you can push a button say a name and it will automatically dial the number. Absolutely amazing!

Today we had a very eventful day. My wife Cathy, my son George and myself were all baptised into and joined the Methodist Church this Sunday. This was a long journey for me, probably over the past ten years or so, and I don't come from a family that believes in God. We have always avoided joining a Church but finally felt the calling to do so. This was a moving and significant event for me and I feel like I am beginning a spiritual journey. Sorry if this is too heavy but this is where I am in my life.

My weight has been less of a preoccupation the last couple of days; I need to be more consistent but I also would like to be more focused on something other than myself. I also recognize that I need to take better care of myself and that means eating what I am supposed to eat when I am supposed to eat it and exercise every day.

I just checked a website called eons.con, which I would strongly recommend for anyone who is 50 or older. I learned that I have an estimated life expectancy of 92, meaning that I am just a little more than middle aged. This was a significant relevation to me and a wake up call that I need to be thinking and planning for a very long future.


So long for now...........

This week has been extremely busy having been out of the office last week. Three meetings today and three meetings tomorrow. Friday, I am teaching a session at Chateau Elan, which is sort of an imitation french chateau and vineyard just north of Atlanta. It used to be out in the middle of the country, but Atlanta has extended to the point that this is now part of the Atlanta suburbs. Their conference center is beautiful and a great place for a meeting.

Today was an eating day and I need to be stricter on my fasting days (like yesterday). The last couple of these I have fallen short and I need a fresh start. What happened yesterday is behind me. Tomorrow is a new day. I plan on listing everything that I eat tomorrow on the blog and hopefully this will motivate me to be more faithful.

I truly feel like this last year has been such an interesting, unusual and blessed year for me. It has been a year for changes and new things in both my personal and professional life. Losing some weight has been an added bonus and something that I would like to hold onto and hopefully build on during the rest of this year.

Have a very busy week after having been out of the office most of last week. Went to the Gastro-enterologist today. Having passed the 50 year mark this year, I get to have a highly intrusive procedure in a few weeks, which modesty forbids me from describing in greater detail. I have a very nice doctor and will be out during the procedure but I am still not looking forward to it.
I got three "to do" projects done today, so I feel pretty good about my day. Will keep you posted...

Had a peaceful Sunday, after a busy week. I had the best night of sleep in a week, being back in the eastern time zone. Got up and went with the family to church. Then went out shopping with my son for school clothes. Came back considerably poorer but I should consider myself lucky since my son is fairly preppy and isn't into black clothing, body piercing and tatoos.

Foodwise, I had some vegies and chicken at about 5:00 but otherwise haven't eaten. Did about five miles of mall walking today.

I read a blog posted by one of my fellow bank regulators in another State who is a dear friend and has a serious form of cancer. She has always been the most lively and vivacious person that I know and is in a very bad way. I am saying a prayer for her and I hope that everyone reading this does the same. Every day that we have is a gift and we need to appreciate all that we have been given.

So long for now..

George