Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Six Months!

Day 180, 243 pounds, down from 351, total loss of 108 pounds 


It's been six months since the doc cut my duffel bag stomach down to size...let's have a brief summary of the results; I have lost over 100 pounds, and still losing, my diabetes is gone, by bad back is about 95% better, my cholesterol and triglycerides are completely normal, and my sleep apnea has disappeared. I am healthier in every way, feeling better, working out, consuming less adult beverages, I quit smoking, and I actually eat Brussels sprouts - seriously!

   It hasn't been completely easy. I have shed many gallons of sweat, lifted many tons of iron in the gym, and actually started running for fun and exercise. I recently had knee surgery to clean up some damaged cartilage in my left knee. It was an old injury that I aggravated running the Jingle Bell Jog in early December. It was only one mile, but it was enough to inflame the knee joint and make me seek help. I am now looking at about 6 weeks of therapy, then back out to the track. I'll be running 5K in the next Jingle Bell Jog...




    I have to say that I do have one regret about my weight-loss surgery; I regret that I waited so long to have it done! It's true that I was kinda busy rebuilding after Katrina beat the crap out of the entire region, but even so, I wish I had gotten trimmed before my knee started breaking down. I am absolutely certain that the damage to my knee was a direct result of being a huge, rotund, fat-body type of person, and losing a pile of lard would have prevented the damage to my knee. Too late for me, but it isn't too late for any of you VLP's (Very Large Persons) out there who may be thinking about it. My advice to you is simple: you have a disease, it will kill you if you don't seek help, therefore, seek help NOW!


From here on out, I'll be posting about running, cutting trails through the woods, fishing, skydiving, etc...I'm pretty sure everybody understands the whole Gastric Sleeve thing by now, if not, you can go to the first post and read all about it...

Monday, January 16, 2012

2000 Words Worth

They say a picture is worth 1000 words, so here is 2000 words worth, plus a short summary at the end...




My life now has improved beyond measure. I can do things I haven't been able to do for about 10 years, I feel better physically and mentally, and I no longer dismiss activities as being impossible because I'm so damn fat. My body functions normally. I have no foreign devices in my body, I do not require frequent doctor visits for adjustments, and I have no dietary restrictions.  I can eat anything I want, I just can't eat very much. I have found that eating healthy food makes me feel even better, and food with heavy doses of sugar or starch make me feel kinda crappy - just like before my surgery. The body still reacts like it used to. Good food is still good for me, bad food is still bad for me...

IF YOU ARE FAT, AND HAVE BEEN STRUGGLING WITH YOUR WEIGHT FOR MANY YEARS, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? A SIGN FROM GOD DELIVERED BY A BURNING BUSH? Consider me a smouldering shrub, then. You have a disease, and it will kill you. Seek help! The Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy  is the sensible, logical choice for people who are severely over-weight (like YOU). Google it, find a specialist in your area, do some research, and get the help you need...you will have the same regrets I have - NONE!

http://www.yourbariatricsurgeryguide.com/gastric-sleeve/

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Random Rant - Whatever Happened to Service Guys Actually Giving a Shit?

    It seems like the guys who fix things, maintain things, install things, and in general are supposed to know how to make things work, just don't give a rat's ass anymore. A few weeks ago, I took a rifle to a gunsmith/parts changer/ guy who hits shit with a hammer. There was a piece of a brass cartridge case stuck in the chamber, and I couldn't get it out. The rifle was pretty much worthless as it was, I couldn't fix it, so I assumed I would simply take it to an expert and pay too much to get it fixed, but the thing would actually work when I got it back. A few days later, I got a call, the rifle was ready, I could pick it up any time saturday. I grab some ammo and some targets, drive for about an hour, pay the "expert" for his services, and head for the range...where the rifle is completely locked up! I can't rack the cocking handle to load a cartridge, the bolt carrier assembly is totally jammed, the thing is completely non-functional. Understand, it was running fine when I last handled it. The problem was the empty cartridge case getting stuck, not the rifle itself. They got the brass out of the chamber, but when they reassembled the rifle, they didn't do a function check. A simple little procedure where you cock the weapon on an empty chamber and pull the trigger...do this 3 times, and you can be confident the stupid thing will function. You pay someone to be an expert, they do the job, but they don't take an extra 30 seconds to make sure it is working properly before they send it out the door.

    At my place of business, we recently had a very expensive, complex piece of equipment installed. It is composed of several modules of high-tech gear that are all supposed to work together and produce the results we need to stay in business. The manufacturer sent 2 modules that would not interface with the main module, and forgot to send a rather important special cable that allows a 3rd module to do what it needs to do, so the installation specialist left the site without testing the installation - he couldn't make sure it worked, because the factory had shipped the wrong gear. The repair guy came out, futzed around with the various parts and modules, and after about 4 days of screwing around, proclaimed it functional, and left without making sure the stupid system was working properly. We have had the thing for a month now, and I don't think it has worked yet - and it cost well over $100,000! The other repair guy is due tomorrow, we'll see what kind of job he does.

   It isn't just the high-tech guys, or the expert craftsmen types, who don't give a rat's ass anymore. It seems like NOBODY gives a crap. The custodial crew at my building works for a different contractor company than we work for, and I know they don't care worth a fart in a hurricane. The cleaning crews don't even bother showing up half the time, and they haven't actually cleaned any of the floors in two years - let me repeat that; they haven't actually cleaned any of the floors in TWO YEARS, including the bathroom floors! I have personally observed people leaving the bathrooms with such a pale, nauseated look on their faces, I thought they had the flu, or maybe food poisoning, but it was actually the smell of the room itself. The bathrooms smell like fermenting sewage! If you are foolish enough to look closely at the brownish-gray tiles and black grout, you will see that they are actually supposed to be blue, green, and white tiles, with pale sand-colored grout. You will also notice the furry texture of the tiles is due to funny little curly hairs that are stuck to the floor, just like your feet will stick when you walk on the tiles...no, I am not making this up. The problem is actually three problems rolled into one situation. ONE: The crews are not given mops, they are given cleaning pads, like big Swiffer pads, and a "special cleaning solution", and they are told that you don't need to scrub or rinse, just wipe the pad over the floor with the special cleaning solution, and the dirt and grime will magically dissolve into thin air! It'll be so clean, it will actually be sterile. You could perform open-heart surgery on those floors! TWO: The cleaning crews know that this is absolute bullshit, but they don't care, they are just following orders. They can smell the fermenting rat shit smell as well as anybody - they use those bathrooms, too. THREE: The supervisor in charge of the crews doesn't care, because his company has the contract, and it's damn near impossible to get fired from such a place, and he knows it. He doesn't need to check on his cleaning crews to make sure they have done their jobs - he knows they haven't, and he just doesn't care! He couldn't care less about the floors, cuz he gets paid one way or the other...The situation has gotten so bad, we actually clean the f***ing bathrooms ourselves, just so we won't have the overpowering urge to spew our lunch every time we take a whizz...God help the ladies, who actually have clothing touching those hideous floors while they sit doing their business. On those rare occasions where I am forced to drop my pants on the floor in there, I feel an overwhelming need and desire to go to the gym and take a long steamy shower...

The lack of care and concern in the service sector of our society is getting out of hand - I could go for the obvious bad play on words and say that the situation is really shitty, but that would be a gross understatement.

Folks, if you are gonna do a job, take the time and have enough personal pride to actually do the damn job, do it right, and make sure it is done correctly before you move on!