Sunday, November 27, 2011

Butter

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Is this not the coolest butter dish ever? Mandy bought it yesterday in Greenville.

Bonk

I bonked during my group ride yesterday about 20 minutes from the finish. I suppose I should be grateful that it didn't happen sooner. I have never experienced anything like that before. I felt fine one minute, then the next I was struggling to stay on the bike. Might have been a bit dangerous riding on public roads, however I had no choice but to press on. Luckily some guys stayed back with me until the end and all of the people I spoke to in the group have bonked before. It was a humbling experience to say the least. I am the youngest (by a pretty wide margin) rider in the group and I do well to keep up with the front runners. I am somewhat encouraged by this. I now know I am performing at a level that my body cannot maintain without proper nutrition, sleep, and consistent training.

Speaking of nutrition, a Dixie Cheese and fries is not the best recovery meal.

-bd

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Macro

This term I'm taking Macroeconomics and CIS 120 - which is basically Microsoft Office 2010. The class isn't as hard as it is tedious and time consuming. I'm not one who follows directions step-by-step to something I pretty much already know how to do. Like creating flyers. Anyone lost a dog recently? Call me, I've got the skillz.

Macroeconomics is a different story. Here is a subject where I had only a vague understanding of many things in the material and most of it is brand new to me. While I shouldn't be surprised at this, I usually have a general idea of the subjects I'm getting into. Not the case here. So far it's pretty challenging and I'm having to read the material multiple times to understand it. Maybe that's called studying.

Went to a Toastmasters meeting this morning with Brandon. Pretty interesting. It started at 6:30 AM (yeah). Lots of public speaking on various topics. I was asked to speak, which I denied. However I can definitely see the benefit of the organization. If I had more time, I would considering doing it.

Cycling - rode to 96 and back this past weekend. Participated in my first organized cycling event the weekend before that. No commuting recently due to the weather, I hope to get some gear soon that will help with that.

-bd

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Fall

It is fall, Mandy's favorite season and with good reasons, all of which are pretty obvious. I also share this affection and my reasons can be summed up in two words - pumpkin pie.
I just finished my first term of school and I expect good marks, so I'm pretty encouraged.
Rode my first group ride last weekend - 40 miles. I was pretty much dead afterwards but encouraged by the accomplishment.
This weekend found me wearing my hoodie for the first time this year. I think I need new one, suggestions welcome.
I haven't been playing video games much recently. Is that a bad thing? Maybe, maybe not. Anyone want to buy an Xbox?
-bd

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Microblog

I'm going to try and microblog for a little while in an attempt of getting back in the swing of updating bd.net.
I'm going to Anderson University to get a Bachelors in Business Admin with a CIS emphasis. I believe it's the best option I've found at the right price. Classes start to tomorrow. Let's see how it goes.
It's really hot, not riding a lot. Changing that this week.
Drink lots of water.

-bd

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Vegetarian

I've been considering the vegetarian lifestyle recently. Mandy spent much of her life as a vegetarian and only because of practical purposes did she succumb to eating meat again (mostly because of my meat eating needs). Finn has not directly eaten meat yet, so I think he's a vegetarian by default. After reading several successful accounts of people switching, I have weighed the pros and cons of such a lifestyle.

I haven't heard of anyone who, after going on a meat-less die,t have negative results. No doubt just the opposite. I think the main frustration for me would be convenience. Eating out in Greenwood is very difficult on a meat-less diet; the majority of our restaurant choices consist of major chains that specialize in the type of food that 90% of Americans enjoy. This alone wouldn't be a problem if they offered decent entrées that didn't revolve around meat.

Finding lunch that is fast and "healthy" is pretty much impossible in Greenwood, mainly for the same reasons as above. The most frustrating part of my day is if I'm very busy with things and I need something fast for lunch. South Greenwood provides only a few choices: Burger King, Subway, McDonalds, and KFC. Boones is an decent choice if i had 2 hours for lunch and Howard's is a great choice if I had a limitless lunch budget; however I don't know if either of these offers vegetarian lunches. Mark my words, if anyone opened a Chick-fil-a in south Greenwood, they would make a KILLING, but that's a bit off topic.

A solution to the eating out problem is simply order meals without the meat or order meat-less appetizers as the meal. Both of these might be good solutions if what you got was substantial enough to call a meal, which depends on the venue. Pasta would become a staple when dining out, but that would get a bit old.

Another problem I face with vegetarianism is doing it right. I believe you can have a meat-less diet and still eat just as bad, if not worse, than with the meat. When you don't have meat as the center of the meal, what are you going to substitute it with? This is where a certain degree of creativity and knowledge must be used in making healthy food choices, and I must admit, I don't have either the knowledge or the creativity, but I expect both can be learned.

Anyway, that's all I've got on the matter. I've got a lot more research to do and I feel that this would be a progressive change. I'll keep you, dear reader, updated on my progress.
-Brian

Monday, February 7, 2011

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Of Late

Things of interest for me as of late:

  • Home brewing. I opened my first bottle the other night and was quite tasty. More on that to come.

  • Trucks. I bought a 2001 Nissan Frontier last week (traded in our Nissan Altima). I've been casually looking for just the right one for the past 6 months , and I lucked out with this find. Low miles for the year, very good condition, crew cab, locally sourced, and just the right price.

  • School. I signed up for classes (a class actually) at Limestone. Next term starts in March, so hopefully I will decide not to go to  Lander by then as I'm considering it as an alternative. Main course of study will be computer related, that I'm somewhat sure of.

  • Work.

  • Reading. One of my (many) resolutions is to continue reading as a primary after-hours activity. Currently I'm reading through the Harry Potter series and I've just finished The Chamber of Secret, which I liked a lot. I've also been reading StrengthsFinder 2.0 which is next on my list from the Personal MBA Reading List. Also reading The Pursuit of God for homegroup, which I've been enjoying very much. Lastly I got the acclaimed 4-Hour Body and have been starting to read that bit-by-bit.



That's all for now. For those of you who need pictures of Finn (and who doesn't), go to www.finndean.net


-brian