New Walking Stick

I was walikng the dog on Friday when one one of the neighbors said he had something for me. He also said he had noticed I was a walker and might want to have a wallking stick. What is pictured is what i got for free, Wow!

Post Boxes

I was out walking around the neighborhood when I noticed an announcement on one of the post boxes in the neighborhood. It is going to be taken out as part of the post office cut backs. My wife and I checked on a couple of other post boxes and found out that 3 of the 4 we checked on were going to be removed and taken out of service. i am not really surprised by 2 of those since they were part of a group of three that were all spaced a block apart. So the most anyone would have to walk more is two blocks more than they would have. Fortunately, the one I usually use is going to remain so no difference for me.

Sweet!

Earlier this year, the Komets won the
Turner cup. Today I was able to get my Komet practice jersey signe dby Guy Dupuis and Bob Chase. Cool and SWEET!

Rain and the Black Swamp

Here in Garrett, we live where the Black Swamp historically was. (Link) Even with draining the swamp, the history of the land still remains. Around here, it is not a matter if there will flooding in the spring but when and how much. The backyard swamped up yesterday with the rains we had the night before. It was a case of i was glad it rained because it filled the pool again without cost but the lawn was a mess to cut but I needed to get it cut before it rained again.

Getting back to the flooding in spring, I have gotten to the point where I give up driving the back routes when it is wet just because of the flooding. I made the mistake of going of going through some water across the road once and almost flooded the Explorer. That was the day I learned that Ford Explorers float for at least a little bit. I would not want to use it as a boat however.

You also know when you live on an ex swamp when the school kids get fog days on a regular basis in fall.

Hyde Brothers

I love reading books and am always on the prowl for a good source of them. One good place to both get new to you and get rid of the books you no longer want is at Hyde Brothers. they also have a website and you can check them out here.

Diet update

I am up to a 30 lbs lose and I think I am the lightest I have been for many, many years. I am also not done yet and no where close. As you may guess if you have not met me, yes I am very overweight. (more like morbidly obese) That is the bad news and is hopefully going forever into the past. Improving my diet and not going out to eat as much has helped my weight and blood pressure as well as my cholesterol by doing the 10,000 step program. (see Link) It is a great program. It is cheap to start because you only need a bottom of the line pedometer to get started and you can work it very easily into your lifestyle. I have not gotten up to the 10K a day step average yet, but even without getting there, I have been losing weight, improving my blood pressure and improving my cholesterol levels. That, I think, is far more important than necessarily getting and maintaining the 10K average. Your mileage may vary. So get out there and start working and just work on improving until you get results or get to the goals you want and need.

Disclaimer: I am not a health care professional by any means and just a person who is on the path to getting healthier. Check with your health care provider before trying out anything I say.

geo weirdness and possible letterboxing

Paws and I were asked to help checkout a possible new cache in Pokagon state Park. we went out found it in order to see if we could pick up a few clues about it. We thougt we might have when we found a TB inside but the Tb (link) had gone MIA and was last seen in Florida. Needless to say, it traveled over a thousand miles without getting logged or tacked. We thought it may have been a letterbox but the TB is making it loook like a geocache but the cache does not seam to be on geocaching.com. This seams to be a mystery without many answers.

The course of conversation over this possible being a letterbox got us some news that there would be a letterbox event at Pokagon state park. we have checked it out adn we are going to try to make it. I am also checking out atlasquest.com and finding out more about it there. we will wait and see how that works out.

USGS Watches the Water

I have linked to this site before in my blog but i am going to highlight it today and that is the USGS site that gives real time data on water in the form of river and streams. This may sound boring to some but when your area has a tendency of flooding then it starts taking on more interest. Check it out and watch the data for flood news you hear the takes place in the US. Check it out here,

Star Wars Death Metal style

AAVSO

I love astronomy and I have heard a bit about the AAVSO or the American Association of Variable Star Observers. Sound like a geeky group of people. Check out their website here.

What I have learned from my diet so far

I have been at my diet for about 3 or 4 months now and I have learned a few things.
1) Health is lifestyle issue and I am in it for the long term.
2) Focus on the factors I can change. My genetics may favor me being overweight but so do my habits. I can change my habits even though I can't change my genetics.
3) I need to be accountable. Even if it is just keeping a food and exercise journal to check why or why not my diet is working. If I am not losing weight, keeping my blood pressure right and the same for any other measurable health factor, then something needs to be done.
4) Forgive myself when I totally blow it and do everything wrong for my health. Then start over and keep on the right track.
5) Make plans for the holidays and those times when it will be tough doing the right choices. I don't have to do everything right but there are ways of making it healthier and still be able to enjoy the season.
6) The change I need to do may be over a lifetime but the true power is in the little things I do everyday. Every meal be a healthy one. Everyday, I will try to do exercise to make my body healthier. Sometimes, it will be a matter of just for this meal, just this moment, I will do the right thing.
7) Getting back to forgiving myself and holidays, there will be days I will take off from the regiment and then get back to it.
8) Admit my part in letting my health get where it is so I can own the solution. As long as the fault is not my own, then I am powerless to control it. If I blame someone else, my genetics or anything else, I remain powerless to change.
9) Come to terms with my limitations. I can do a lot to make myself better but I will still never be a professional athlete or make myself any taller but there are things I can change and improve.

Heaven's Above Website

Do you ever wonder what is up in the sky at night? Would you like to start looking for satellites and know which one you are seeing? Check out the Heavens Above Website here.

Farewell Dom

Dom DeLuise passed away so I am posting one of my favorite scenes with him.

weekend gps games

I was out playing with my gps agin this weekend. I found 2 earthcaches and was able to post 4 more waymarks. It always amazing me how you can waymark a spot and still be able to find a waymark or two more that you did not notice before. I knew about the Lion statue category for a whiel and yet it took me to this week to notice them at he county court house. I was also surprised by the time capsule. I knew about the auburn Historicla District but for some reason never got around to actually doing it. There is always another waymark or cache to place or find. The hunt never ends and the fun goes on.