Valentine

So, I'm getting a puppy! Yay!

I went to the Galveston Island Human Society on Thursday, and saw a couple I really liked. The one that first piqued my interest online did not like me at all, but she's already adopted, sot that's ok. I went back this morning to finalize the process of adopting the one I had picked out. The web interface doesn't state it, but apparently this dog has heartworms. I called the non-profit clinic, and they said it'd cost about $200 to fix, which doesn't seem too bad overall. I talked to Matt and my Dad, and they both strongly advised against it, pointing out that it's not an insta-fix, and it's very possible to get this dog, commit to it financially and emotionally, only to have it not get healthy.

So, instead, I picked the 7 month old chocolate lab:

Her shelter name is Chloe, but I think I'm going to name her Valentine. I like to name my animals after literary characters that fit. Thus I had Puck the cat (when I got her as a kitten she was very mercurial), and we now have Scout the cat; Scout Finch is her full name.
I was originally going to go with Annabelle, so that I'd have my Annabelle Lee. I love the name, but I don't want to name a child with it, because the source is not very positive. But I realized that as fitting as the first stanza is, I really don't want to name a pet after it either... So I'm leaning towards Valentine (Wiggin), but am not 100% settled yet.

Wait, I guess I'm getting her on Valentine's weekend, aren't I? Guess that puts a lot of bonus points towards that name...

Exercise Update

42" circumference, 20mm calipers 222.0 lbs as of yesterday.

I really don't feel like I've done much this week. I haven't been cutting back on my grains as much as I should be, and I haven't been working out as much. I stopped wanting to do the Strength Training, and when I did make myself do it, I didn't feel very worked-out at the end of it.
I discussed this is Steve, and he suggested timing myself. This is something I did when I started it, just to get a baseline, but I had stopped. Instead, I've been watching TV and just kinda going through the motions. Next time I do Circuits I'm going to lock the door so that people will stop trying to talk to me, and I'm going to time myself so that I put forth some real effort.

On the other hand, I've been increasing my running. I went down to the beach the other day (last time it wasn't freezing or raining), and did 2.2 mi or so. Today though, I did 2.9. I'd have made it the needed 3.2, but I didn't want to half to walk through a parade crowd on my way back to the house, so I got off the beach at 27th instead of 23rd.
I really enjoy the beach! it provides some variation in scenery, it's softer on my feet, and I don't have to worry about traffic. The last "block" (44-45th) the beach was pretty much gone, leaving only the granite rocks. I decided to use that as a technical, natural area. I'm gonna need some obstacle-clearing ability for the Warrior Dash, and it's something good to do for the MovNat kind of exercise. I ran across them at a pretty good pace, and it was really fun! I think from now on, I'm going to incorporate running to the ends of the groins into my exercise; the first time will be a fast walk to test the safety though. I don't want to slip and fall into the ocean with my work iPhone, and I don't know how much I trust the Vibram's grip yet.

Seawall Parking Meters

First, the idea I had after the First Idea, since it probably makes more sense this way:

Now, considering the length of Seawall, and considering that metered parking should cover both sides of the street, from 61st back to 6th (right there at Wings I mean), then we have to minimize the equipment expense. I think this is simplest by having the actual meter devices at traffic-lighted intersection only. Signs notifying parkers of the need to use meters could be installed every 1/3rd block, or 100 ft - whatever distance is appropriate to make sure people have a reasonable chance of noticing without having a ridiculous number of signs installed.

Assuming Seawall Parking Meters would be installed as a "Phase 2" after the new WiFi meters are a huge, money-grubbing success on the Strand, a few things need to be clarified:

• The money needs to be going to the right place. If the Strand meters are being used to fund Strand-specific advertising, then this needs to be guaranteed by giving it to the Downtown Partnership, or other organization committed to doing this, not left in the city's coffers to be re-appropriated on a whim.
• The Seawall meters would therefore need to be given to an equivalent organization - the Seawall Partnership if you don't care about points for originality - for them to spend on advertising.
• Alternatively, all meter funds could be pooled, and used for advertising both of these area, or the island in general.

I personally like the private organization myself of course, with the caveat that the funds should work toward the betterment, as well as the advertising of said zone. For instance,

• Updating the silver map plaque on the Strand to the current century.
• Improving sidewalk, handicap access, benches, etc along Strand.
• Expanding the "painted benches" concept on Seawall.
• Paying for more porta-potties on Seawall.

Anyway, the First Idea:

On weekends such as the one we are currently entering (Mardi Gras), Fourth of July, and the like, where people are likely to want to park for extended periods of time on Seawall, I propose a Weekend Pass. This pass would be valued at $x+c, where x is how long the pass is good for in hours, times the standard rate (perhaps slightly discounted), plus a convenience/printing charge to cover not having to check your vehicle every 8 hours or so. This pass would be displayed just like a normal meter pass, but perhaps color-coded.

A few things I'm still undecided on: Should charge increase per axle? Per spot used? I know a lot of the extended parkers are RVs, and that they enjoy coming down here specifically because it's so cost-effective to do so, and I don't want to scare them away by milking them. By far the easiest thing to do would be to just have a flay dollar/hour charge on all vehicles, and leave it at that. I'm leaning this way just for the simplicity, and the users of the system would see the overall fairness. But, one could certainly argue that an RV taking up 3 spots should pay for 3 spots worth somehow.

Please offer your opinions.

Vibrams

So, I've had the Vibrams for 2 weeks now.

This is at the end of my jog on Wednesday, 01/27.

They took some getting used to, but only a couple days. At first, the sole under the outside of the ball and under the rear of the heel felt a little too thick, making it awkward and pushing my feet around. But after only one day of wearing them the whole day, I stopped noticing. Whether from breaking in, wearing down, or just fitting around my foot better, I'm not sure, but there you go.

I jogged in them only once so far. I adjusted to a mid-foot strike fairly quickly after thinking about it for the first block. I'd hit the heel every once in a while, but you really notice when that happens (ow), so I'd shift back quickly. But man, did my calfs ache afterwards. It was interesting that the ache was only in the top middle of my calf, just below the knee. It was obvious that it was that part of the muscle that was newly used with the mid-strike. The only reason I've only run in them once ties into my only gripe with them.

They have no insulation whatsoever. Intellectually, I knew this going in, but really, they have NONE. if it's less than 60 outside, they suck. Hell, they're cool on my feet even when I'm inside; I'm much better off wearing my loose fleece houseshoes, that let my feet form freely too. I look forward to running on the beach with them, but I'm really not gonna get a ton of use out of them for another month or so.

The only other gripe I have is that my right pinky toe still doesn't fit quite right. All toes slide in - though I still have to put them in place, since my toes curve outward. But once they're in, the fabric feels like it's pinching, or twisting on the right pinky, though not the left. I get used to it after 20-30 min, but it's very uncomfortable up till then. Hopefully as I wear them more, my feet will free up some, and the shoes will form up some.

Dual Monitor Bullshit

So, why the hell can I never just install Windows, and have both my monitors work?
It seems that the only way I can ever get them to work, in every iteration of dual-monitor setup I've had, is by unplugging the secondary, installing the drivers that are on the CD (god forbid you try and use updated ones), and reboot 3-5 times, then plug the 2nd in, boot into VGA mode, enable it, configure it, then finally go about my way.

I actually called ViewSonic yesterday; From what I read online, my issue is that my ViewSonic VA2012wb is not telling Win7 that that's what it is. Therefore, windows is pushing some unsupported resolution; This is corroborated because I can tell windows it trying to push to the monitor, because my mouse will go over there, though I can't see it. Also, when I have the widescreen plugged into port#1 on the card, It displays for the entire bootup. It even displays while Win7 is installing from disk, all the way until it reboots to do the 2nd step. As soon as it displays at greater than VGA/XGA/whatever, it shits on my face.
So anyway, I call ViewSonic, because I can't find drivers for the monitor. They tell me the monitor is too old, so they don't have drivers for x64Win7. Fair enough; I ask him if I can use newer drivers. He says yes. I download both the 'Signed Win7 x64' and the 'Unsigned Win x64' drivers. Neither work. The signed one says I don't have a monitor to use the drivers, so it refuses to install, while the unsigned one just errors out.

There's no way I'm going to buy a new monitor because it's "too old" it's a 20-bloody-inch widescreen that still works beautifully. I've never seen something this ridiculous happen before. Now, if I could find out how to specify frequency... Actually, I didn't check my nVidia control panel to see if I could do that. Ok, that's step 1 tonight. Step 2 is find nVidia phone support number...

Exercise Update #3

225 lbs, 41.75" circumference, 19mm fat pinch
These were taken Monday (it's now Wed).

I haven't been keeping up as well as I should have. I didn't do anything over the weekend, not even take the dog for a walk. Been spending too much time playing Mass Effect; feel like I have to "get my money's worth", since I bought it new. I worked out last Wed I think, then Monday. Yesterday, I told myself not jogging was ok, since it was nasty outside, and I took Matt to Wal-Mart instead.

What's really telling is that last Wed (01/27) was the last time I worked out, and last Thurs (01/28) was my best weigh-in yet, at 222.5 lbs. Then, I didn't work out at all till Monday, and my weight's been creeping back, sitting at 225-227 so far this week.

Monday was a shitty workout too; I took almost an hour to do my Pushup Challenge because I kept doing crap on my computer, then I only did 2 circuits of the NerdFitness beginner; When I finished, I really didn't feel worked out, but by then it was 8:45 or so, so I gave up.

After this weekend, I had to make a new rule for myself: I can't eat dinner until I work out. Ideally, I'd be getting into the morning routine, but between Mass Effect, and watching backlogged tv shows, I'm really not getting to bed at a decent hour.