pictures worth 1000 words

i was reminded during saturday's blogging presentation that it is always a good idea to post pictures. so this post is going to be a little more pic heavy than usual.

first of all i wanted to share with you a couple of pics that actually go hand in hand with yesterdays man vs. beast(s) post. this first shot is the tree limb that was my dad's original first line of defence to stop something from burrowing beneath the gate.

these days the bottom of the gate is guarded by this strip of wood. i am not sure of its effectiveness. i guess time will tell.

my weight has been bouncing around 167-172 lbs. so lately i had been allowing myself a cheat meal every weekend that i was at 167 lbs. there have been quite a few pizza and chocolate cake cheat meals. yeah for me!

while working through my knee rehab i have been also focusing on bringing up my lagging body parts. trying to add much needed delts and calf development on top of trying to regain size on my left quad. this pic is about a week old. i can definitely see some improvements with my rear delts. however my arms still overshadow my delts, so as they say... miles to go before i sleep.

and the latest bane of my existance. the wheels. sadly it is still slow going but i have noticed improvments since the acu-stim treatments. i haven't been back for further treatment since june. there was a mix-up at work and i have been getting paid once instead of bi-weekly the past couple of months. the pic below is out of focus and i apologize. it is pretty challenging to flex and stay still enough to take a cell phone pic. i also tried to hurry before someone wandered into the change room. it is hard to keep your street cred when your caught with your shorts rolled up while you're taking a pic of yourself in the mirror.

last fall i went down to florida to spend some time with my family. i am planning on heading back down that way around the end of october. my latest challenge to myself is to get back on the diet wagon to see if i can possibly get any closer to 160 lbs. where we stayed in the keys was pretty scenic, it would make a wonderful back drop to an off season photo shoot. so that is my interim goal.

somebody better warn pizzaville and mccain's that i am dieting again!!

man vs. beast(s)

my father is locked in a battle of wills with some of the wildlife in our neighbourhood.

to really appreciate the tale i am about to tell you, you have to understand a couple of things. first of all my father has it in his head that all his problems stem from the activity of the local squirrel population. depending upon how long you've been reading this blog, you may already be aware that there are raccoons and skunks in the area as well. added to that there are also some nomadic cats slinking about the neigbourhood. we don't know who the cats belong to but they are under the misguided belief that they own all they survey. secondly, my father, like many born and bred in the islands, is known to revert back to island patois when agitated.

there are a lot of people who are of the mistaken belief that all island patois can be referred to as 'speaking jamaican'. each caribbean island has its own distinct patois. island folks know instantly where someone is from as soon as they open their mouth. also each island has an ego and you can pretty much get people hopping mad by suggesting that they come from anywhere other than the island of their birth. much like how you can really piss off a scotsman or an irishman by misidentifying their accent.

since my father planted his garden he has been storming around the homestead muttering under his breath and cursing the squirrels.

island folks have their own way of pronouncing things... a trait most commonly committed by the older population. which is why my dad calls them "skwee-rels". island folk also like to put pronouns after the noun and use the singular version of the noun. so when my father says 'those damn squirrels' what you actually hear is "de d'yam skwee-rel dem" or literally 'the damn squirrel them'.

as far as my father was concerned the squirrels alone were digging up his garden.

something has burrowed under the side gate. originally it was a fairly shallow trench but i guess whatever it is, it has been putting on some weight because lately that trench has been getting deeper and deeper.

my poor father has had enough and has tried a few different ways to discouraging the foraging. mothballs were ground into a powder and spread liberally throughout the yard. fail! some electronic devices were purchased and installed at regular intervals throughout the front and back yards. fail! most recently my father attempted to season the grounds by liberally adding cayenne pepper. epic fail! the morning after the cayenne pepper was laid out my brother and i watched three skunks have some sort of party in the back yard. they were either digging up a storm or were participating in some sort of skunk booty dance. from our vantage point in the kitchen we were unable accurately ascertain the activity and neither of us were stupid and/or brave enough to get close enough to see clearly.

as far as dad was concerned that was the final straw. unbeknownst to me he attempted to block the space under the gate with a tree limb. i went out one morning to open the gate to retrieve my kawi and the side gate was mysteriously blocked. common sense would have dictated that i walk through the house and approach the gate from the other side. on one hand i could well be described at stubborn, although i much prefer the term tenacious. you could probably blame my behaviour on my activities in the gym because these days i am more inclined to rely on brute strength instead of common sense.

that said, there i was tugging, pushing and lifting the gate all the while littering the air with some fairly colourful language. i am fairly confident that the gate and the tree limb were both physically incapable of the activities i recommended they do. further i am fairly sure neither item has a 'mother' per se. eventually i bullied my way into the backyard. i am pleased to note that the gate still stands although it is not quite as sturdy as it once was.

did the tree limb discourage the burrower? nope there was just a deeper trench.

local wildlife: 1  my dad: 0

online trumps offline

even though i am not currently working as a personal trainer it is important to me to keep my certification current. to that end yesterday found me down at the can-fit-pro conference sitting through a few lectures to amass some continuing education credits. my first lecture was actually about blogging and since i have this little spot in the virtual universe i decided that was a lecture i needed to attend.

during her presentation amanda vogel asked if we preferred personal contact or online contact. initially there was some confusion with regard to what she was asking but the group soon assured ms. vogel that they preferred personal contact.

i am a square peg in a sea of round holes... so it really shouldn't surprise anyone, that unlike the rest of the class, i feel far more comfortable with online contact.

back when i spent my days at rampage skate park. i was friends with a few of the other sport enthusiasts which was highly unusual as typically bmx riders and skateboarders didn't much care for rollerbladers. one rider and i had basically nothing more to say to each other in person than 'hi' or 'bye'. however at night we would be talking to each other in online chat rooms for most of the night. we really got to know each other really well and yet offline we barely spoke. we've maintained our friendship through the years, the only difference is now we 'talk' through blackberry messenger.

grant stopped by the gym yesterday evening. he used to work there and i haven't seen him in several months. it was really nice to catch up and hear what he's been getting up to. as the conversation drew to a close young grant stepped in to hug me goodbye. i should add that 'the bloke', who sometimes comments on this blog, was on the stationary bike to my left. 'the bloke' is well aware of my non-demonstrative nature and he found grant's request and the ensuing awkward clutch quite amusing.

i have to admit that i was fairly surprised that the bloke didn't tumble off the bike in a fit of giggles... and yes, 'the bloke' giggles. he would claim that he has a manly giggle but at best he giggles like a manly school girl!

there are a lot of people who seem to be spontaneous huggers so a decided advantage to online relationships is that you are not required to do anything more than the odd hugging smiley and even i can do that!

ms. vogel challenged us all to post a blog and send her the link. she plans to stop by and comment on all of the blog links she gets. i can't imagine what she would be moved to say about this... i guess there is truly only one way to find out.

finally i wanted to take a moment to point out that there are some definite downsides to having my blog on an open forum. it now has the attention of spammers. you will now notice that any comments that you make will not immediately be posted to the blog. they will be moderated by yours truly. i will have them posted as soon as i can. please know that as soon as you enter them i get an email from blogger to let me know they are there. i am sorry that this step is needed but there are clearly far too many people out there with far too much time on their hands. but my friends, please keep commenting. ~ thank you, miche

lone wolf... party of one

my oldest brother stopped by the homestead yesterday. he came bearing an invitation for the family up to his place on sunday for a bbq. there was an extremely awkward moment when he attempted to include me in the invitation.

by now i would think it is a given that i am not going to be at any gathering or event that occurs anywhere other than at the homestead. and truth be told, if i could figure out how to duck out of those as well, i would.

for the longest time i have felt out of place and decidedly uncomfortable at these gatherings. i am not sure if it just further manifestations of my unsociable side or if it has to do with my claustrophobia... or a combination of them both. all i know is that i find it hard to sit still, i have no patience for any of the activities going on and i want nothing more than to be far away. the times when the gatherings happen at the home i am agitated up until people leave. 

getting drunk seems to help me tolerate the extra bodies and i have to ability to appear social. but i will be honest i don't like getting drunk, it gets in the way of my training and i can't help but think that i shouldn't need to get drunk in order to get through events.

is there an event in particular that has prompted this bbq? yes, my brother's sister-in-law has returned from africa or someplace and she will be accompanied by her husband/baby daddy/man and their two babies. on a good day i'd never had anything to say to the woman beyond hi, how are you? 

i have absolutely no interest in children and i was born without a biological clock. or perhaps i found the thing years ago and hammered it into submission. i don't want to see, smell or hold babies. in fact the little fawkers freak me out. i see them as watermelon-sized grenades. the problem being you can't tell when the pin has been pulled and you can never tell which end is gonna erupt. all i know is that whatever is coming out of whichever end is nothing i want to see, hear, wear or smell.

i readily admit that i am really not that nice of a person. but i also recognize that my quirks and idiosyncrasies are all part of my charm!

finally i wanted to take a moment to point out that there are some definite downsides to having my blog on an open forum. it now has the attention of spammers. you will now notice that any comments that you make will not immediately be posted to the blog. they will be moderated by yours truly. i will have them posted as soon as i can. please know that as soon as you enter them i get an email from blogger to let me know they are there. i am sorry that this step is needed but there are clearly far too many people out there with far too much time on their hands. but my friends, please keep commenting. ~ thank you, miche