shawnp0wers

I'm a bloggy blogger who blogs.

I’m All Better! I Guess…

by

I saw the doctor today, and he says I’m better! I no longer have pneumonia, I am no longer contagious, and I can return to work in the morning! Yay! Hooray!

Well, sorta.

I’m glad to be over the hump. Really, I am. I gotta be honest though, I thought being healed would feel a whole lot better. I still have a horrible cough, chest/back/neck pain, and I’m hocking up nasty critters that look like they’re about to gain sentience. I do have a prescription for Prednisone, so hopefully that will finish off whatever ails me. In the meantime, I’m going to celebrate my health with a certain amount of trepidation and concern.

I guess now is that whole “recovery” period people have been talking about. Getting old sucks. 🙂

My Unfortunate Doctor Visit

by

If you’ve been following me on Twitter, Facebook, or suchthelike, you most likely know that I’m absurdly sick. Today is the 13th day I’ve been bedridden, and it’s getting frustrating.

I started with what I think was Influenza (I say that instead of “Flu”, because the stomach flu is what most people call the “Flu”, and it’s really not the flu at all. The actual flu sucks.) About a week into my misery, I apparently contracted Walking Pneumonia. I went to the doctor, he gave me drugs, tested me, etc, and send me home.

Thankfully, on Monday, my fever broke. I figured that meant I was getting better, and while I still stayed in bed, I’ve been very optimistic. Since I still have a bad cough, aches, night sweats, (and a few other issues you don’t want to know about), I did go for a follow up exam today. I expected a pat on the back and assurance all was going well.

Yeah, not so much.

The doctor was under the impression I should be better. Not relatively speaking, but completely. Like, I should be all better. So, now I’m on an even stronger medicine, and on bed rest until next week when I see the doctor. Again. Since I’ve been really good about resting and drinking fluids at home (thank you for your support, family), I don’t have to go into the hospital or anything. So far.

So the lesson for the day? Apparently you can still be pretty sick even if you don’t have a fever. Go figure. And with that, it’s back into pajamas for me. 🙁

Dangerous Fever

by

I’ve never had my fever spike before, at least not when I was in a place I could do nothing about it. On the way home from the doctor today, my fever went up. WAY up. I didn’t have a thermometer with me, but it’s fair to say it was a very scary experience.

I sat there and hallucinated as my face and upper body felt like it was on fire. (The hallucinations made no sense, and weren’t really funny, so I won’t bother you with details) It was freaky. We opened the window, so the snow would blow in on me, but it didn’t help much. It wasn’t until after I got more ibuprofen into my gut, and I had about an hour to let it do its thing that I started to feel human again. When I got home, my fever was below 103F, and I could think again. That was some scary crap.

The worst part? This was AFTER seeing the doctor. If I don’t start to heal soon, I’m going to have to go into the hospital. This is just crazy.

My First Flu? Next Time Shoot Me.

by

Here’s the thing, I’m a sickly man. It’s true. I seem to get every sniffle, infection, cold, pneumonia, etc that can afflict a person. Add to that my chronic migraines, and I’ve seen my fair share of bedrest.

I’m pretty sure I have the flu right now. I looked up symptoms (after I tallied all mine, so I didn’t become self-fullfillingly sick), and apparently flu symptoms for adults are slightly different from that of children. (The latter of which I’m familiar with getting the flu, as I’ve held several puking children in my time as a father)

It turns out adults, while they get a fever, it isn’t usually as high as children. Mine is hovering around 100F, regardless if I take medicine or not. For most people, that’s a mild fever, but my baseline temp is about 96.4F. Yes, I’m apparently partly cold blooded. Perhaps my great great grandfather was a lizard. I have also had a headache for 4 days now, which is a symptom of the flu I wasn’t aware of. Yet, apparently it is.

The thing that has had me doubting my self-diagnosed flu was the fact that I haven’t vomited at all. THEN I read that in adults, vomiting and nausea aren’t common indicators. WHICH MEANS that all the other times I assumed I had the flu because I was throwing up really didn’t mean I had the flu at all. I think this might be the first time I’ve had an actual flu in the time I can remember. (11 years, for those counting my memory)

The flu sucks.

For 4 days now, I’ve had horrible body aches, moderate headache, constant fever, no appetite (the one bonus), dizziness, confusion, chills, sweats, and malaise. The flu sucks.

Thankfully, I haven’t had any respiratory problems. I hate to say “yet”, but as I seem to be feeling worse today than any other day, it’s certainly a possibility. I assure everyone, if I start to have problems breathing, I’ll go to the hospital. I won’t argue, I’ll just go. But the reason for this post is not to make everyone worry about me. It’s to say this:

GET YOUR FLU SHOT!

I hate needles so much that I’ve avoided the flu shot like the plague itself. That won’t be the case anymore. While I’ve felt sicker (pneumonia is a doozy, let me tell you), this slow worsening is rather unsettling. So yeah, go schedule your flu shot right now.

I’m going to go drink some more TheraFlu. And scold myself for not getting a flu shot.

7 Weight Loss Tips From Shawn

by

I’ve lost weight before. Lots of weight. In fact, over about 6 months, I lost 60 pounds. It was impressive. I felt great, looked great, and had the willpower of a hunk of granite.

This time, I’m not so great with the willpower. So I’ll give you some of the things I do to help curb my appetite. It’s not a diet plan, it’s not a 12 step program, just some things I do that help me lose weight.

Tip 1: Have Snacks

When you eat a giant salad for lunch, you WILL be hungry at 2PM. You will NOT want more salad, and you’ll probably cave into bad snacks unless you have some good ones readily available. Have apples available. Or preferably, vegetables. Carrots are great. Yes, they are one of those “bad veggies” that are high in sugar, blah blah blah. You’ll never meet a person that is fat from carrot intake, trust me.

If plain carrots don’t light your fire, try dipping them in hummus. Hummus is magical food. It’s really great. I’d suggest making your own though, because the store bought stuff if loaded with olive oil. You can make it really low fat, and add stuff like taco seasoning for a really yummy carrot dip.

Tip 2: V-8 is Great

Yes, it’s terribly high in sodium. It’s not really cheap. For some reason, however, this low calorie drink seems to satisfy a “food” craving for me. Plus, if you get the spicy kind, it leaves your mouth feeling all hot and bothered, which makes other food not sound as appealing. If you are hungry for food, a small glass of warm or cold V-8 might make things all better for about 50 calories. It’s a caloric bargain.

Tip 3: Have Thirds

This tip is often titled “eat smaller portions”, but I like my way better. Use a small plate, and allow yourself to go back for more. I like to use a really small plate (saucer size), and go back a couple times. I don’t feel guilty getting more food, and the time it takes to go back and forth allows your body to realize it’s full. Small plates are awesome.

Tip 4: Eat Frozen Veggies. Lots of Them.

Frozen veggies are often more healthy than fresh. I’m not making that up, it’s really true. If you eat green veggies (I like broccoli and peas) in mass quantities, it will fill you up with very little caloric regret. Plus there’s lots of fiber. I think that’s supposed to be good too. Be careful you don’t get frozen veggies with sauce already built in though. Like adding a bunch of salad dressing to a salad makes it unhealthy, sauces or butter on veggies negates the “low calorie” thing. I like to microwave an entire bag of frozen broccoli, put some seasonings on it (dry, no calorie), and eat the entire thing. Sometimes I’ll chase that with a half bag of frozen peas as well.

Tip 5: Drink Water

Another staple in diet tips, this one, for me, is simply a matter of physics. Drink a lot of water before eating, and you can’t cram as much stuff in. Yes, the water “goes away” quickly, but usually we overeat because we don’t give our bodies time to feel full. This helps a little. (It’s not magic though, I mean, it’s water, not food. Don’t expect too much.)

Tip 6: Beer and Wine are not Beverages

OK, they are. But pretend they’re not. If you like beer or wine (or hard liquor I guess), treat them like desserts, not beverages. If you by a 30 pack of Bud, and chug ’em down like water — you will get a beer gut. “Beer gut” isn’t a metaphor, it’s a huge belly from drinking too much beer. 🙂 Just because it’s not sweet doesn’t mean it’s not loaded with carbs. If you really like beer, get some expensive imports, so drinking one costs like $5-$6. You won’t chug 10 of them in a row, trust me. Same goes with wine. Sure, you can drink it with dinner, but don’t think of it as something you wash your food down with — think of it as a spice or something that adds to a meal. Have a glass of water on the table if you get thirsty, don’t gulp your wine.

Tip 7: Don’t Worry About Thanksgiving

It’s one day. Anyone that has tried to eat smart on Thanksgiving knows, it sucks. Enjoy yourself. If you want to try to be smart, eat slow. You’ll know when you’re stuffed before you have to unbutton your pants!

So there you go, Shawn’s tips for losing weight. Ask me in about 6 months if it worked again. I need to lose about 50 pounds this time, and I don’t have nearly the will power I did before. 🙂

The Honeymoon Trip

by

Donna and I are celebrating our 15th anniversary this month. 15 years. Yes, it amazes me that someone would put up with for that long as well. Still, in all that time, we’ve never been on a honeymoon, or even a vacation with just the two of us.

I started planning a vacation for our 15th anniversary quite a while back, but then our house burned down, construction costs skyrocketed, and now every last bit our our savings has been spent on our new house. That’s not a complaint, as our house is wonderful, but it makes a vacation impossible this month. We also planned a tropical vacation, somewhere with a beautiful beach where Donna could lay in the sun and I could stare at her read a book. The more we talked about it though, the more we thought a traveling vacation would be fun. So after a brainstorming session with my friend Kyle, we figured out what sounds like the perfect vacation, at least for us:

Sometime this summer, we’ll fly to San Diego (or somewhere in SoCal), where we’ll take a cab to the Volkswagen Beetle we will have purchased in advance. We considered renting a convertible, but a one-way rental of a sports car is really expensive. So we’re going to buy a car and keep it. Plus, driving home we save on half the plane fare, so in the end we get a car as a souvenir for little more than a rental would cost.

We’re going to take 10 days or so and travel north along the Pacific Coast Highway, stopping along the way to see the sites, visit with friends, and just enjoy ourselves. We plan to end our northerly trek in Seattle (again visiting friends and checking out the things to see), and then turn east to head home. It will take 4-5 days traveling cross country to get home, but since it’s part of the vacation itself, it will be fun!

Granted, a two week vacation driving across country will be expensive, especially when buying a classic car is part of the cost — but we have some time to save up for the journey, and I suspect the memories we’ll have will be more exciting than 6 days and 7 nights in a bungalow on a beach. (Not that we can’t do that someday as well!)

Anyway, making it public here will help motivate me to really make it happen. If you live in southern California, please keep your eye out for a classic convertible bug, please! (UPDATE: A 1975 or older model, to avoid the crazy California emissions stuff, thanks Dr. Phil!) I’m so excited about this trip, I can’t wait until summer!

On Being Happy

by

WARNING:

This post is a long, wordy, self-discovery thread in which I reveal more about myself than anyone likely cares to know. It’ll probably be boring. Feel free to click away now, I won’t be offended. 🙂

I wish I would follow my own advice. Really, I do. See, my simple advice to everyone is a two step process:

  1. Figure out what you love to do.
  2. Do that thing.

I don’t mean that in some existential, universal happiness, hippy circle, kumbaya crap. I mean your career. Your job. You daily doings. The thing you spend most of your life doing. That thing.

For me, it’s taken 35 years to figure out what it is I love to do. For a long time I thought it was working on computers. I’m good with technology. And I enjoy technology. But it’s really not what I love. Shocked? Don’t be. I like bagels and cream cheese too, but I don’t want to have a career of eating them. Computers and technology are things I enjoy doing, things I understand, things I have an intuitive ability to fix. That doesn’t excite me when I wake up in the morning though. I don’t ever want to go to work in the morning.

Over the past few years, I’ve had the opportunity to work at Linux Journal. It involves computers, technology, and allows me to write. I love writing. I really do. For the past few years, I actually thought it was writing that was the thing I should be doing every day. I actually do wake up in the morning thinking about writing. I love writing. In fact, writing allows me to fill that need deep in my soul that truly brings me a wellspring of joy.

But honestly, writing isn’t “the thing” I love.

This was a confusing revelation for me. When I write, I can feel fulfilled, totally. It does give me that soul soothing comfort everyone hopes to get from their job. Yet, I struggle to keep a diary. If writing were really my ultimate passion, a diary or journal would be like my own little crack pipe. But it turns out that I really don’t like to write in a journal. Because no one reads it. And that’s when it struck me.

I like to entertain.

For a long time, I told Donna that more than anything in the world, I like to make people smile. And I do love to make people smile. But like writing, it’s just a tool for my ultimate passion. Entertaining. That may sound hokey. It may sound like hippy circle, kumbaya crap — but really, entertaining people is my passion. It’s taken me 35 years to figure that out.

So now I’m stuck in a rough situation. I know what I love. That knowledge is powerful, it really is. It’s freeing. It’s fulfilling. It’s awesome. Unfortunately, my life is no longer all about me. I have a family that I deeply love and care for. In fact, I love my family more than I love myself. It’s true. I’m not upset that I have responsibilities that prevent me from “following my dream” right now. I’m thrilled to have a family to care for. So I choose to work in a stable job that provides financial stability for those I love.

If that job proves to be detrimental to the happiness of my family, however, I have no reason to stay. See, money and health insurance are important, but a father and husband is even more important. If the stress of my current job is killing me, and making me a father I don’t want to be, I can quit with the confidence I’ve done the right thing. That, my friend, is some powerful knowledge.

So I leave you with this:

  1. Know what you love.
  2. If you can, do what you love.
  3. Don’t let what you’re doing change who you are.

The last point is important. Remember who you are, and who your family loves. Don’t let a bad career choice change who you are. If you do, you kill the person your family loves, and become a poor substitute. I’m working hard to make sure that doesn’t happen to my family, I urge you to do the same.

Life is too short. Carpe Diem. Trust me, it can be gone in the blink of an eye. Live your life to the fullest, please.

When Do You Read?

by

I have books. I have eBooks. I have eBook readers. (Yes, plural) I have eBook conversion tools. I have shelves. I have books on those shelves. I have a “shame pile” of books to read that could easily intimidate the most avid bookworm.

Yet I can’t seem to find the time to read.

When I do, I’m never sorry. Ever. Any time I’ve stayed up late reading a book, any sleepiness in the morning is worth it, because books are like magic. Real magic, the kind you get to live out just by reading them.

So my question is, when do YOU do most of your reading? I know many of you read like crazy, so much so that I’m bitterly jealous. *cough* Candy *cough* So I’m curious, when do you do the bulk of your reading? Is it right before bed? Do you read in bed? Is it in the morning? At lunch? All of the above?

I also wonder if you have to make yourself stop what you’re doing to take time to read. I think if I want to actually do some reading, I’ll have to make myself stop working. I know I work too much, so that might be a good thing.

So simply put, when do you read?

The Defattification Process Has Begun

by

OK, here’s the deal. Those of you that know me know I struggle with migraines. Like, really really struggle with them. Well, I’m on a new cocktail of prescription drugs that seems to be working at keeping migraines at bay — but one of the side effects is that I am gaining weight. And boobs. I suspect the two are closely related. 🙂

Anyway, while my life certainly hasn’t gotten any less busy, it’s still true that for the majority of my day, I sit in a chair and type on a computer. I figured it would be awesome if I could transform my work desk into a standing treadmill desk. It would help me lose weight, make me healthier in general, promote a healthy mindset at school, and not take any MORE time out of my already crazy life. I say that’s win-win. (Well, actually win win win win, but who’s counting)

One of the first problems with building a treadmill desk is that such endeavors can be quite expensive. Since we just bought a house (yes insurance covered some, but we ended paying upwards of 80K, so needless to say, money is tight) I figured I had about a $10 budget. 🙂 Thankfully, my mother in law said I could use her treadmill, which was collecting dust in the shed of the last person that borrowed it. That was the first big expense, and it cost me $0. Well within budget.

The next hurdle was to get my desk, well, on the treadmill. Or in front of it, or something like that. This treadmill is on the small side, so I guesstimated it would fit under the desk, and I could just raise my desk up to accommodate the height of me standing on the treadmill. I guessed on how high it would have to go, and went to the lumber yard. I bought 12 cinder blocks. (Bricks, the kind you build houses with.) They were just over a buck a piece, so while I went over my $10 budget, it wasn’t by much. So here are the materials I had to work with:

Hauling bricks is hard work. I just want to put that out in the universe. Go hug a bricklayer or something, those folks work hard for a living. Anyway, I never really measured, but I sorta figured raising the desk by 3 blocks would allow the treadmill to fit underneath it. I had no idea if that would make the desk too high — and quite honestly, when I stacked the bricks, I was a little nervous.

As it turns out, I had to rearrange this really nice brick layout, because my electrical outlet is behind one of the bricks on the right. After asking Donna (my wife) to help me lift the desk, it was time to hook stuff back up and get the treadmill in place. Why did I ask Donna to help me? Because if it was a colossal failure, I knew she’d be kind. 🙂 Here is the finished treadmill desk:

How does it work? Well, I only walked on it for about two hours today, since I put it in place during my lunch hour. In those few hours though, I learned a few things.

  1. Converse All-Stars, while the most amazing and awesome shoe ever created, are not good for walking on a treadmill. I will be wearing my walking shoes to work from now on.
  2. Treadmills are rather loud. Probably not all of them, but this one is kinda noisy. For the price, I’m not complaining, and Donna says she can’t hear it out in the library, so I’ll live with the noise. It’s something to consider if your situation calls for more hush hush though.
  3. There are very few things that can’t be done while walking on the treadmill. Really. I’m surprised and amazed at how well I can manipulate my keyboard, mouse, etc. I can even drink coffee without spilling.
  4. I need a fan. Even walking slowly, it gets hot quickly. My office is always uncomfortably hot anyway, and walking doesn’t help. Since the treadmill is noisy anyway, I don’t think a fan will be too bad.
  5. So far, I’ve gotten many more compliments than rolled eyes. I suspected people would think I was crazy, or just playing in my office — but both students and adults alike thought it was a great idea. In fact, our phys-ed instructor was REALLY impressed with the idea.
  6. Oddly enough, I get a feeling of accomplishment when I work while walking on the treadmill. It’s not as if I’m doing anything differently, but while my “never get everything done” sort of job is often frustrating, the fact that I walked a few miles really makes the day seem more productive. It’s quite nice.

If you’ve been considering building a treadmill desk, or even just a standing desk, I’d recommend doing it similar to how I did. Try to be cheap. I have no idea if I’ll stick with this for a long time (I really hope I do), but since it cost me about $12 total — I’m not going to feel bad if I fail miserably. However, since Donna immediately claimed my awesome desk chair, if I do give up the treadmill, I don’t think I’ll get back my comfy chair… 🙂

Remember When We Killed That Bum?

by

I was sitting at work, happily working hours of overtime for no pay, when I got an instant message from a young lady that used to live with us. (She’s now in college, doing quite well — I’m incredibly proud of her, but that’s another story altogether…) Anyway, here’s how the conversation went:

Jess: hi
Jess: hw u doing?

Me: Eh.
Me: I’m alive. 🙂

Jess: i need your help fast

Me: What’s up?

[the next lines came faster than any human being can type]

Jess: I’m writing this with tears in my eyes, I came down here to London, United Kingdom for a short vacation unfortunately i was mugged at the park of the hotel where i stayed, all cash, credit card and cell were stolen off me but luckily for me i still have my passport with me. I’ve been to the embassy and the Police here but they’re not helping issues at all and my flight leaves soonest from now but am having problems settling the hotel bills and the hotel manager won’t let me leave until i settle the bills.

[I didn’t think it was a scammer, I actually thought it was Jess pretending to be a scammer, which was funny, so I played along]

Me: But you’ve got WiFi, so that’s good.

Jess: Please, all I need now is just lend me $900 or any amount you have at hand now and you can have it wired to my name via Western Union I’ll have to show my passport as ID to pick it up here and i promise to pay you back as soon as I get back home

Me: You know — you could probably hock that laptop you’re on for 900 bones.

Jess: am on someone elses computer system here in the hotel where i am

Me: And that’s a problem?

Jess: and i won’t stay here for long

Me: Even better! Grab the computer and go!

Jess: pls do something

Me: What are you talking about, anyway?

Jess: am serious
Jess: in UK now

Me: Your IP address does not trace to the UK

Jess disconnected

At which point I thought the fun was over. I texted the real Jess to let her know her Yahoo account was compromised, and went back to work. A minute later though…

Jess: are u there?

Me: Yes, I’m here. You want me to send money to your name, to Western Union in London?

Jess: yes

Me: Who went with you?

Jess: me alone

Me: Does Marge even know you left? I saw her yesterday!
Me: Jess?

[long pause, at which point “Jess” is obviously looking over our previous conversations]

Jess: dad

[Jess calls me Dad, true, but it wasn’t really an answer to the question!]

Me: Did you tell Marge you were leaving?

[oh yeah, there is no Marge, I was watching the Simpsons in the background]

Jess: no
Jess: am sorry
Jess: i never knew it will result all this

Me: I’ll let her know you’re OK. Do you have a local Western Union I can send it to?

Jess: yes
Jess: there is one close to the hotel

Me: I actually only have $750… perhaps the hotel will let you settle?

Jess: yes

Me: Otherwise it will be a day or so before I can get the rest, the bank is closed.

Jess: am scared
Jess: the hotel management is threatening to hand me over to the police

Me: I understand. Let me know the Western Union address, and I’ll go up to the Hippry Market and send it out.

[“Hippry” was actually a typo, I was going to make up some OTHER funny name, but since it was made up anyway, it didn’t really matter]

Jess: can u go and send it now

Me: Yeah, but they need to know where
Me: When I sent money to your sister for her boob job, they needed the address of the place it was going

[Jess has no sister. I also didn’t really say boob job, but I wish I had…]

Jess: just tell them u want to send it to the information i gave to u

Me: Sweety, you just said you’re in the UK. I’m sure you’re scared, but can you get more info?

Jess: this is the address to send it to
Jess: Name: Jessica , State: London W10 4AH, Country: United Kingdom
Jess: when u get there, send it like this
Jess: Dad…. are u there

Me: Yes, I’m here.

Jess: are u going to send it now

Me: I’m calling your sister to see if she has the other $150

Jess: why not send me the $750 u have with u
Jess: send it first, so that i can settle the hotel bills

Me: I don’t want the hotel to give you a hard time, those people in the UK can be nasty

Jess: i know

[at this point I started to get tired of the conversation, so I figured I should just have fun]

Me: I hear they kill Americans sometimes if they don’t pay!

Jess: if i get that,i can settle them and they will be patient with me

Me: I just want to get you home

Jess: i know
Jess: just go and send the $750 first

Me: Also, your sister just texted me, she’s in Amsterdam. She can fly to London and meet you.

Jess: I need to settle the hotel bills as soon as possible

Me: Marge is going to be really upset though… I can’t believe you didn’t tell her!

Jess: Dad,pls don’t tell her anything about it
Jess: Dad, pls act fast am scared and starving here

Me: Hmm… Who is letting you use their computer? Is it a private location?
Me: Remember when we killed that bum so he wouldn’t rat us out?
Me: Maybe you can do the same to this computer person… Take their computer, and if they chase you… you know what to do. It’s a foreign country, they’ll never find you.

Jess: Dad… I can’t believe u are saying such things now, that i really need your help the most

Me: I mean, don’t be as cruel as you were to that person that stole your identity… They never could identify the body…

Jess disconnected

Oh well, fun while it lasted. 🙂