Back on the Horse [J39.9 BLOG]

NOTE: This blog was previously published under the [JESSE 39.9] blog at http://jesse399.blogspot.com/ but has been absorbed into Jesse's main blog for archival purposes.

Well folks, an unexpectedly long Christmas stay with relatives (that ended in a week-long bout with the flu) has continued to take a toll on my weight loss. The damage is done. I'm at 220.2; I went down 15 but back up 5.

But, I feel much better now and am redoubling my efforts to meet the Jesse 39.9 goal. I'll be in New York City for Social Media Week next month, so I'm going to see if I can lose 10 pounds before then. That will put me at 25 pounds down, 15 to go by June 5th. Easy peasy. Back on the horse. Along for the ride. And whatnot.

Thanksgaining [J39.9 BLOG]

NOTE: This blog was previously published under the [JESSE 39.9] blog at http://jesse399.blogspot.com/ but has been absorbed into Jesse's main blog for archival purposes.

Well, Thanksgiving didn't quite go as planned. I gained 3 pounds. I shouldn't be surprised given what I ate, but I can surely recover next week.

He Was Fast, He Was Furious

Somehow, I got sucked into the Fast & the Furious franchise after watching the first movie. When you're involved in such a long movie series (the 10th longest franchise, starting in 2001; they are filming F&F 7 now), you get ensconced in the plot; you empathize with the characters; you start to believe they are real. Well, the actors are real, and Paul Walker (Brian on the show) died in a car crash last night in L.A.

Less than a week ago, he was rallying fans for Philippines Typhoon Relief. And, in fact, he died after leaving a charity event for the relief. (Side note: Vin Diesel had hoped to film F&F 7, 8 or 9 in the Philippines).

An unsettling quote from Walker in the video above: "Sometimes, you just have to check yourself."

The success of the franchise is undeniable; Buzzfeed says:

"Fast & Furious 6, which has pulled in $788 million worldwide. It has become the crown jewel franchise for Universal Pictures, affecting the livelihoods of not just the actors involved, but also the many artisans and technicians who make the films possible."

The question being asked is, can the franchise continue without him? I would say probably not, they've been lucky to see the long success they have and this makes more sense than letting it jump the shark. Buzzfeed goes on to say:

"It’s unclear how many scenes in Fast & Furious 7 that Walker had left to shoot. But even if the 40-year-old actor had wrapped his part of the film, Wan has the deeply unfortunate job of finishing a movie in which one of his lead actors died under circumstances that are profoundly close to scenes in which that actor himself undoubtedly took part."

It's hard to explain (to my non-blue-collar friends) why I'm so into the movies. Part of it, of course, is simple machismo - as a guy, I'm a sucker for a move that is, essentially, one long car chase. But there's something more to it than that, and the attraction to the series has been examined in a couple of blogs, including Complex.com calls the series "smart" and CriticWire says "It's not just smart; it's actually elegant. It's borderline ingenious" [in its complexity]. Even Variety weighs in with "5 Things F&F Got Right."

For me, in the end, I think it's the characters, and that's why I took time to write this blog today.

A New Space

We're beat. We spent most of today moving furniture (some in and out windows!) at Kristi's Mom & Dad's house. But now we've ended up with a nice little space, our own little guest room where we can stay when we visit (and more importantly: get work done on the computer). The larger guest room is being readied for additional family. We're about to go out for what I call the "victory dinner," where the family eats like kings after a long day of work (like after one of our mammoth yard sales).

Kristi's work at home (she has at least 3 "official" jobs) sometimes requires a second computer monitor (as does mine), so we brought along a 17" Dell monitor that we can plug both of our computers into, and just use the switch depending on who needs the monitor most. The little alcove where we put a small table and chairs reminds us of an efficient business-professional-ready hotel room. Since Kristi moved up two years ago, we've been sitting on her bed on the computer, or trying to fit on to a crowded noisy kitchen table. This is much more comfortable.

Week 5: Thankslosing [J39.9 BLOG]

NOTE: This blog was previously published under the [JESSE 39.9] blog at http://jesse399.blogspot.com/ but has been absorbed into Jesse's main blog for archival purposes.

It's week 5 of "Jesse 39.9" and I've lost a total of 15 pounds -- which is good, because it's Thanksgiving Week. W're heading to York to eat with Kristi's parents... I'm not going to go nuts this year, but I do intend to have a good meal, a soda (the new Mountain "Dew Game Fuel") and a little dessert.

For those keeping track, I'm down from 230 to 215 = 38.4% of my goal already!

Thanks for the Giving

The calendar has once again rolled around to Thanksgiving, and I'm at Kristi's parents' house enjoying a good meal and good company with family. One of my favorite thing about Thanksgiving is the ride -- over the river and through the woods, as it were (Did you know? That song was written about a Boston suburb in the 1880's, when snow was common in that area at the end of the Little Ice Age.

(Speaking of Ice Age, it's the coldest Thanksgiving since I've been blogging (2005), if not the coldest day in 20-30 years, here in Central PA. Above are videos I took on the drive down.)

If you make that trip on Thanksgiving Day, as I typically have, there's a lack of traffic and a peacefulness to the drive that transcends a rushed vacation or a weekly drive. To think about all those families, each at work on their own Thanksgiving Dinner or preparing to drive to theirs -- this, to me, is the real peace that represents the day and it just gives me a warm feeling inside.

After dinner, I like to sit down and do some reading -- something that I rarely have time to do in my work-a-day life. I used to read Wired Magazine on paper during the Holidays -- now I read it electronically on my Kindle. WeatherWise magazine is still on paper, and of course I'll look through the newspaper's Black Friday ads, even though I probably won't go out to get anything. It's all just part of the tradition. But first, there's FOOD (not as much as last year, due to Jesse 39.9) to be had.

Week 4: 222.2 [J39.9 BLOG]

NOTE: This blog was previously published under the [JESSE 39.9] blog at http://jesse399.blogspot.com/ but has been absorbed into Jesse's main blog for archival purposes.

Another week, another couple of pounds lost! I weighed in at 222.2 pounds this week; subtracting for clothes, that puts me at around 218 -- 12 pounds down so far. I think I really have the hang of this now.

Another hurdle was passed today... I had two nights of not-so-great sleep, but even though I was tired at work I didn't drink a soda or have an unhealthy snack. I've actually found that Gala Apples help quench the fatigue (which also naturally goes away after 20 minutes).

Apple photo by the Canadian School System. Exercise continues - and I'm glad to see the weight loss graph continue to go down!