Monthly Archive for June, 2008

Winds of Change

Published
by
John
on June 30, 2008
in General
. 1 Comment

So I was trying to find some witty song to post lyrics to that is titled “Winds of Change” but sadly couldn’t.

Yeah, the winds of change are evident in my life right now. I have a lot going on and I would love to write about it but just don’t feel ready yet. I had an awesome weekend. I found out some news (which I’ll eventually announce) and let’s just say that it eased my mind and I think that it’s going to work out to be something great.

I was able to see my friend Karen and her funny nephew Jacob. He’s such a character. I also got to see my Aunt and her family (they’re up from TN). I had an awesome breakfast with Katy and we were able to catch-up on life. It’s amazing how we can go for weeks without seeing each other and over some omlets at our “spot” and some iced tea we can spill everything from funny stories to the deepest of thoughts and feelings of what goes on in our minds and in our lives.

I hate to start the week but at least I can look forward to the fourth of July! I’m going to try and score some vacation so I can get a break from work and catch up on some yardwork I’ve been wanting to do. There are a few things that need done around the house as well so I’d like to get that done this week too.

So, I’m going to get off here and get to bed. It is 12:10 AM and I’m now no longer officially on-call for another 5 weeks. THANK GOD. If I got one more phone call or e-mail I was going to hurt someone… LOL.

Night,
-JM 

RHIIT Lessons Learned

Published
by
John
on June 28, 2008
in General
. 0 Comments

I’m sure this is what you’re saying right now after reading that title…

“WHAT? He’s only done this twice… Wasn’t it supposed to be nine… count them NINE times?”

Here are my lessons learned:

  1. RHIIT worked, I did start to experience the benefits claimed in the articles.
  2. Never try and and do RHIIT, HIIT or general fitness training OUTDOORS IN OHIO.

I had this good system going with the weather and my schedule then between my schedule and Ohio not wanting to be a team player with the weather… I’ve given up. It was like the weather was waiting for me to put running shoes on and I’d look outside and it would go from sunny to MONSOON.

Such is Ohio… So I am looking at signing up for a gym membership so I can continue my RHIIT in a “controlled environment” so I no longer have to worry about weather and natural daylight. Then I’ll continue blogging.

Working on some interesting stuff outside of work. I’ve taken back up Web Development in a more “public” role. I’m hoping to finish up two projects within the next month and start doing this part-time on the side on a consistent basis; that Mercedes-Benz isn’t going to buy itself.

Well, it is 3AM and I’m finally starting to get tired so I’m going to go to bed. Got a L O N G day tomorrow.

Night,
- JM 

I Think I Get The Message

Published
by
John
on June 23, 2008
in General
. 0 Comments

If God could write me a short e-mail right now I think it would go something like this…

Dear John,

Please stop asking the question. I’ve given you the answer. If the first few attempts at using fortune cookies, people, music, sermons wasn’t enough… I hope tonight’s viewing of Shrek 3 would get my point across.

Love,
God

 

As I’ve stated on my blog I’ve been work with God on some life changes. I’m not talking a little life change, but something much bigger. Something that will change my life forever. To die out to the person I was and become a new person.

During this time of prayer and “soul searching” as I so affectionately refer to it in blogging I’ve come up with so many ideas, found new passions, reignited old passions and explored many new areas of life. So then I’d come back all the time to God with fists full of ideas and “things” that I’d like my life to have/be. Then I’d ask God that ever magical question…
“How do I do this?”

So, I’d wait, like every good Christian for my answer. I’d pray fervently that God would provide some guidance and tell me what I need to do to get started. I must say that I’m slightly embarrassed at the answer that I’ve come up with.

I personally thought I needed some divine intervention and have some huge miracle played out for me to pursue a life changing experience. You know, one of those good ol’ fashioned “come to Jesus meet-ins” as some would say. When I found that God was trying to tell me all along in His way what I needed to do.

I got it in this Sunday’s sermon. I got it in some music I listened to on the way home that day and this morning on the way to work. Never really sank in until I finally sat down and watched Shrek 3 and Artie said the following line at the end…

“If there’s something you want to do, or someone you really want to be, then the only one standing in your way… is you. “

Leave it to me to find meaning in a comedic animated movie but that line really stuck with me. It’s the message that God’s been trying to tell me all this time. That I need no earth shattering revelation in life… I’m the only one holding me back. Yeah, I guess sometimes we can’t see the answer even when it’s in front our face.

So now that I’ve settled the question onto the action. Not sure really where I’m going to start I just know that I’m going to get moving and get on with my life that God has set before me. Stay tuned…

Night,
- JM

P.S. - RHIIT Part 3 is coming. Weather hasn’t permitted me to run outside. 

RHIIT - Round 2

Published
by
John
on June 19, 2008
in General
. 0 Comments

Dear John,

We will never forgive you for taking the hard trail again. We were not onboard with this “experiment” of yours from the get-go and frankly… we quit.

Sincerely,
- The Things Formerly Known as Your Legs

 

That would sum up about how my body feels right now. I’ve always done walking/jogging/running/sprinting but it’s always been in the gym or on relatively flat surface. The only thing that ever resembled a “hill” in my running was that speed bump in the road or the uneven sidewalk.

So, I just got back from my RHIIT and can I just say, I hurt. I stretched for an extra long time because I’ve been sore since the first round. So I stretched an abnormally long time and I took my time getting to this first monstrous hill. Now, in the original plan I was just going to take the easy trail… but I never found it the first time. Instead I found the “moderate to difficult” trail that is two miles long.

I debated with myself, since I found the easy trail, should I take that one instead? Then I thought that the only real “hard” thing about the other trail is these huge hills and the beginning and 3/4s way through the trail. Granted, one is up and the other is down but they both play a part in this whole training.

Try running down a hill that twists and turns gracefully and control your speed… Yeah it doesn’t happen. It is a miracle that I make it down the hill without falling flat on my face and eating a pound or two of gravel. So I decided I wanted the SUPER challenge of not only doing RHIIT and actually heavy exercise (for me at least) in general but no I wanted to take on the difficult trail to do this on.

I had no problems with my heart rate, breathing, or any other muscles except my calves. I felt that at one point, if I could rip them out of my legs… I would have. I had to keep stopping and using trees and something to push against so I could stretch. That seemed to help and I continued to do this throughout the whole workout but eventually near the end my legs decided they had enough and there was no way I was going to do running for the remainder of the course.

I made it back to the car and got home. I need to take a shower, dress for the grocery and get my butt out the door so I can do some much needed shopping. See, I say “much needed” because I discovered today that I had ONE roll of toilet paper. Yes… ONE. So my shopping trip went from just “shopping” to URGENT shopping.

Well, that’s my progress. This weekend is already starting to fill up with activities. Who knows what I will end up doing and not doing so we’ll see. Tomorrow is payday so that’s always good. 

Later,
- JM 

 

RHIIT

Published
by
John
on June 17, 2008
in General
. 0 Comments

So, I’m experimenting. I am an avid reader of Men’s Health magazine and MensHealth.com. Recently they published an article about how you can change your body in nine days (across three weeks) by doing HIIT or High Intensity Interval Training three times a week for three weeks.

Now, I have some weight to lose. So I figured I’d give this a shot. In the past I’ve been the guy who will spend an hour on a treadmill or elliptical machine. So Men’s Health is telling me by doing interval training that I can cut my actual workout down to 15 minutes and only have to do this three times a week.

So I decided to take them up on their challenge. I tried out my friend Josh’s Wii Fit and recently checked in on my progress (since I don’t own one, I’m doing my training the old fashioned way, by going to the park). I know how much I weigh and I will be interested to see how much this changes after my next nine workouts.

Wondering why there is an ‘R’ before the HIIT abbreviation. Well, I’m calling mine “random” HIIT. I workout to music and use cues that I’ve timed within a playlist to let me know when I should be running and when I should be resting. This combined with a fair amount of warm-up and cool down totals my workout around 45 minutes to warm up, cover 2 miles, cool down. Not too bad.

I’ll report in as I go to track my progress and to see if what Men’s Health is claiming will work or not. Stay tuned.

In other news. SPOILER ALERT FOR THOSE WHO DVR HELL’S KITCHEN. STOP READING IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW…

Can I just announce that I’m SO happy Jen went home. I never really liked her and tonight during elimination I was yelling at the TV… PICK JEN PICK JEN PICK JEN. As if Gordon Ramsey could hear me or something. Then when he said, “Corey, tell Jen goodbye.” I yelled again, WHAT? NO…. IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE JEN. Then he says, “Jen, take off your jacket.” Well, then I was celebrating. I was so happy I wanted to call everyone I know and throw a “Jen’s Not on Hell’s Kitchen Anymore” party. I did refrain from doing so since it is 10:30 PM.

So, that’s about it. I think I’m going to get off here and go to bed. Ready to start another day!

Later,
- JM 

It’s Gonna Be Alright

Published
by
John
on June 16, 2008
in General
. 0 Comments

Sometimes, in life, I just don’t know what’s going to happen next or where to go. Today, for whatever reason, I’ve just had that uneasy feeling all day long. I just can’t seem to figure out what is causing it or why I would be feeling like this.

Thankfully God, even without me asking, lead me to a song…

“God above all the world in motion
God above all my hopes and fears
And I don’t care what the world throws at me now
I’m gonna be alright…

Cause I know my God saved the day
And I know His word never fails
And I know my God made a way for me
Salvation is here.“

The song is titled “Salvation is Here” and I have the version Lincoln Brewster is singing. I would recommend picking it up from iTunes. It has given me great comfort as I sit and listen to it. Doesn’t necessarily answer the questions that I have in my heart about what I’m doing and where I’m going but it jut reminds me of the promise that God is above all my hopes and fears and I’ll be alright.

Why up so late, you might be wondering? I’m multi-tasking. Doing some late night maintenance at work via VPN and blogging while working with west coast co-workers. As with all testing there is “downtime” while the actual test runs. Figured I’d make the most of the time.

Well… testing is done. Time to sign off and get to bed and see what God has in store for me tomorrow.

Night,
- JM 

The Weeds

Published
by
John
on June 11, 2008
in General
. 1 Comment

So, in my attempt to control my stress level I decided to take up more outdoor hobbies. Tonight I got home, fixed some left overs (Home Made Alfredo Sauce with Fettucini Noodles) and drank some water. Which reminds me that my water is sitting on the front stoop. I’ll have to get that after I finish writing.

After dinner I was sitting on the couch thinking about forgetting my new idea of outdoor hobbies then thought I should at least try it. So I went outside and decided to cut the grass, simple. So I got the iPodTouch out and put it on shuffle and cut the grass. A half an hour later, the grass was cut.

Then I decided to keep going and get the trimmer out and trim all around the house. After fighting with it for a bit, I finally got the thing to start and was able to edge my whole lot. So I figured at this point I was on a roll and why not start pulling weeds and cleaning out the flower beds.

So I spent the next hour and half pulling weeds. It was funny as I began to pull weeds I found these awesome flowers that I planted a while back and realized that they were in bloom and looking great… but you couldn’t see them for the weeds.

There, in the mud, my awesome Odd Lots gardening gloves that I had to put two pair on just to keep stickers from going through the globes, in all my therapeutic gardening glory… God spoke.

Lately in life I’ve been pleading with God why I felt like life was going no where? Why I felt that I’ve hit some wall and there’s no door, window, or doggy door to get through it. I had yet to receive my answer when it suddenly clicked. 

Just as I was removing the weeds from the flowers in the flower beds so is God removing the weeds of my life right now. He tending to the soil and removing that which doesn’t belong and then I will be able to see the beauty that lies within. I have felt like God and I are working at life and we really are just doing that… working.

So, as I keep going I’m going to keep up this whole gardening thing. It was a nice break and I enjoyed the quiet while working. Maybe take a step back from your life and take a long hard look… are you standing in the middle of a flowering field or are you in the midst of a bed of weeds?

Night,
- JM

(Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve wrote something meaningful…) 

 

That’s How The Cookie Crumbles

Published
by
John
on June 4, 2008
in General
. 1 Comment

I have found a new love for Chinese food. Roughly six years I had my first encounter with Chinese food with really bad hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurants who served nothing but pure junk (or I had no one to guide me in ordering… one of the two). So I prided myself on the fact that I hated all Asian food. Fast forward about four years and I ran into this girl who insisted I try the Chinese buffet by her house. I obliged and did. Here is where I discovered two things - Crab Wontons and General Tso’s Chicken. At first I wasn’t “in love” with them but was something I could start eating and thus began the “once a month I eat Chinese food” rule.

Fast forward about another year and brings us to when I discovered Pei Wei. It was this odd sounding place that had one location on Sawmill and here I am with the same girl and this time her mother as well and we head over to this place, all the time they’re assuring me that I’ll love it. Now, first off, this really wasn’t when I normally had my monthly Chinese and any place that I could barely pronounce sounded like trouble to me.

I went along for the ride and sure enough we walked in. I thought, ok… they have to have General Tso’s… NOPE. Slight panic set in and I searched high and low when someone suggested for me to get Honey Seared Chicken, White Rice and Crab Wontons. I said sure and ordered just that… Year later, still ordering the same exact thing. Now, I frequent this place as much as possible. Like, right now, I could totally go for Pei Wei and then go next door to Starbucks and get a Shaken Green Iced Tea Lemonade. Yeah, John, talking about Green Tea AND Chinese food in the same paragraph… Am I really embracing my Asian side? Next thing you know I’ll be growing crazy Asian hair and trying to drift my Acura… Yeah, I drive an Acura too… ok, this really isn’t helping my case.

Returning to the point, I wrote this long story due to this small little piece of paper sitting on my desk. A few times ago at Pei Wei when I began to feel that life was due for a shake up and needed to change I decided to go out with some friends to Pei Wei and have dinner. As always, at the end of the dinner we picked up fortune cookies. Now, I don’t believe in the things, I just think they’re funny. Let me just throw that out there. Also, I can tell you that many times in my Christian walk God has used unconventional methods of grabbing my attention when I tend to not listen.

Well, here I am feeling down and continually asking God, “WHAT IS WRONG WITH MY LIFE?” I break this cookie and I sat in shock as I read the contents,

“Doors will be opening for you in may areas of your life.”

I then turned over the paper to see what my “word” was and it said

“Today”

Reminded me of a book I read called “When God Winks at You”. I saved this paper and it sits on my desk as a visual reminder that God’s still here and He’s still in control; no matter how much I feel like my life is spinning out of control.

I’ve decided to do more writing. Good or bad I think it will be a great way to reach others and if anything serve as a place for people to read that they’re not the only one feeling a certain way. I do find it interesting that the number one search result is people looking for my name. I wonder how many are people that know me? Since none comment it’s hard to know but I find it interesting none the less.

Be on the lookout for more posting here in the coming days just like this one. I’m returning to where I began in blogging and actually write.

Night and God Bless,
- JM 

Back Home

Published
by
John
on June 2, 2008
in General
. 0 Comments

I made it back home today. The drive back was nice and gave me some time to think. I found several surprises when I got to TN this time. My uncle has managed to acquire another Corvette (and to correct my last post, it’s a 1973 Corvette… not 74); I showed up and was confused as where to park since there was this Red 1994 Chevy Corvette in the driveway. Oh and yes, sitting at the end of the driveway as I pulled in was a 2008 Chevy Suburban LTZ; the biggest debate of the weekend was who’s car this was since technically they traded in my aunt’s Tahoe for this but my uncle hasn’t had a “new” car since 1988 so I’m not sure who’s car it really is.

I must say that the Suburban has come a long ways. The LTZ model is like a Cadillac Escalade with Chevy branding. I was impressed and it made me want to go out and get a Chevy Tahoe LTZ but then we drove past the gas station and I remembered why I don’t own a car with a V8.

I did get to ride in the Corvette which was fun. I forgot how low to the ground they are and the fact that you literally climb UP to get out of the car. My uncle is trying to talk me into buying one off of ebay, since they’re reasonably priced. I’m sure Nationwide Insurance (my current insurance company) would laugh if I called asking what my rate would be on the car.

Work again tomorrow, which I’m not looking forward to. It seems like if I get a small taste of not working then I never want to return. I’m debating if this is “normal” or not… I think it stems from the fact that I don’t do what I love. My job is just that, a job. I’m good at it and I can tolerate the work I do but I wouldn’t go as far as saying that I get “enjoyment” out of what I do. Still trying to figure out what I want to do in life that would make me want to return to work every day. I have a feeling Network Engineer isn’t that.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, still “soul searching”. I recently discovered a Matthew West song that I’ve fallen in love with. The lyrics that stood out to me upon the first listening was the following lines,

“I don’t want to go through the motions. I don’t want to go one more day without your all consuming passion inside me. I don’t want to spend my whole life asking, ‘what if I had given everything’, instead of going through the motions.”

I think that sums up my current prayer and plea with God. I feel like I’m not giving “everything” and I don’t want to ask for the rest of my life, what if. I’ve committed this week to sit down and do some serious analyzing in life and dedicate time to figure out what I’m doing, where I’m going, and where/who I want to be.

Prayers are always appreciated. In the coming days we’ll see what I find in searching for what God wants in my life. Hopefully by the end of the week I can share some of the things that I’m doing to change my life.

God Bless,
- JM