About suffering they were never wrong,
The Old Masters;
W. H. Auden
Musee des Beaux Arts
Suffering is probably the best way to describe my experience on Day 2 of the Insanity program. Plain, simple, painful suffering. Yesterday was a rough day for me. Getting my big body moving after how many years of no significant activity put me in a place of anguish and pain. This morning, after 24 hours of letting that anguish and pain fester, it has evolved into morbid suffering.
I’ve been sore before. And this morning was really not the worst I’ve been sore, before. But it certainly was more sore than I have been in a long time and, guessing by my desire to not touch the DVD player, it is a good thing that I am working myself out like this.
So up I was, at 5:15 this morning, to get my Insanity on. I popped in the DVD and let it play. But there wasn’t much playing.
The exercise started pretty much right away, and opened with the warm up I described yesterday. Except this time, the warm up calisthenics were done not once, but three times through, each time getting faster and faster. That meant opening up this morning with about 10 minutes of extremely fast paced warm ups, and lots of sweating, before ever getting to the actual workout.
Which invariably leads me to admit that I don’t recall much of this DVD at all. After the warm up I spent most of the next 30 minutes on my face or jogging in place. I managed to do some of the exercises in the program this morning, but the truth is I was dead after the warm up and didn’t really get to too much of that actual plyometrics this morning. Which really is to say that not only did I not complete the program this morning, I ended up worse off than I was yesterday, in a much worse state of soreness and anguish.
I hope I can adjust to this quickly or I may find myself repeating the entire program after I get through it this time. Which might not be a bad idea, seeing as I should probably already be in that good of shape to even be considering doing this one.
Oh. My. God. What have I done?
I have been toying with the notion of buying the Insanity Workout from Beachbody and trying it out for some time now. My wife has actually accepted the idea and said she would get on board with me when I chose to do it.
Well, last week I chose to do it. I found a smoking deal on it on eBay, bought and received it this past week. I looked through the material and I have got to say, this scares the hell out of me.
The warnings are all over the place. I’m not sure if this is hyper-vigilance on the part of the Beachbody legal staff or if it is legit, but after a few lines of the material it becomes blatantly clear that the Insanity developers see this as an extreme workout that could possibly kill you if you are not in enough shape to actually perform the exercises. I think I fall very comfortably into that class.
Still, the very nature of the workout is attractive to me. I love cardio based, high intensity workouts that leave you exhausted, sweating and begging for more. I like to push myself physically beyond the limits I’ve set for myself. I like that I can do everything in the program without the need for anything other than a floor.
Of course, after I start the program I’ll probably be whining like a little girl, but that is for a different post. 
On a side note, sort of, I had a look at the day 1 exercise last night. The “Fit Test”, the baseline you use to measure your progress throughout the program, is freaking insane (no pun intended). Hell, the warm up before the fit test looks hard. I was feeling tired, scared and overwhelmed before I even saw what was in store for me on the first day. That has to be a good sign, right?
Getting back on target… over the next 60 days I will be tracking my exercise routine and progress with this program. I am hoping that I can stay on target with the exercises and eating program as they are outlined. And I hoping I will see some awesome results not only in my body but in how in shape I am from the inside.
We’ll see. I plan on taking you all with me. 
Yesterday, while doing some yard work I went into the back yard to handle some massive overgrowth in our lawn. Completely disgusted with our yard, and utterly frustrated with the growth of the grass that my push mower just could not cut, I decided that the yard would just have to wait a little while so I could focus on the front of my house.
My 12 year old daughter, Rebekah, had other plans. Always the entrepreneur, she actually offered to cut the grass for a mere $10. To which I promptly replied “thanks, but no thanks”. I was of the opinion that the grass was maybe a $3 job since I had already cut some of it and the lawn is not that spread out.
So Rebekah sweetened the deal a little bit, offering to not only cut the grass but straighten up the patio. After much back and forth over price and what the work would cover for that price, we agreed on the following:
- Cut the grass
- Clean up all dog poop
- Clean up all trash
- Straighten up all patio furniture and toys
- Clean up the tan bark areas
- Sweep the patio and sidewalks
- Do it all within three hours (from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM)
And the cost? $15, as agreed upon by the two of us, which to Rebekah was a bargain and to me was a steal.
So while I was out in the front yard working up a sweat she was out in the backyard earning her money. And you know what? For her, I discovered, money is an excellent incentive.
She managed to accomplish everything on the list of things to do (with the exception of cutting the grass completely, but this was no fault of hers). And she did it in two hours, not three. I was so impressed by her work ethic, her focus and her quality of work that I actually paid her $20 for doing such a fine job.
Looking back on this, I know there is a lesson in this. I could have asked the kids, all of the kids – you know, the ones that made that mess? – to clean the yard they helped dishevel. And I would have saved myself $20 in the process. But Rebekah, who has no problem working for her earnings approached me with a proposition of services rendered in exchange for payment. And ultimately it was that payment that drive her to accomplish such an impressive amount of quality in her work.
So if I take anything away from this, outside a clean yard of course, it will be that with the proper incentive, almost anyone can accomplish almost anything.
If it’s any indication as to my whereabouts and free time, this post was originally started on January 22, 2010. Crap.
I wish I could tell you where I have been and what I have been up to this year. The truth is, I can’t remember. It has been a whirlwind year so far, wrought with long hours at work, long hours working at home, cleaning the house, riding Bart, more cleaning the house, more long hours at work and all sorts of other goodies along the way. I can honestly barely remember the ball dropping to ring in the new year let alone what I have done since then. But the few things that stand out the most are:
- My car is getting fixed
After more than a year of trying to raise the money to buy my replacement engine and have it installed I have finally been able to get it done. Almost. My car is in the shop as I write this and the motor should be in within the next couple of days. This will be such an enormous stress relief for me because I am going to now be saving literally three extra hours a day on commuting. I so can’t wait.
- My career path is currently under review
For some strange reason I decided that I’d post my resume on Dice.com a couple of weeks ago. Holy crap, was that every a crazy thing. Within an hour I had two calls and by the end of the day I had eight calls and five emails. I guess the valley is in need of PHP developers. Whatever. All I can say is that it is nice to know that in this crazy economy my skill set can still provide for my family.
- My weight is still an issue for me
I have been trying hard to get my weight back under control for the last couple of months. I had lost about 35 pounds toward the end of last year then allowed myself to fall victim to the Christmas holiday. That was so stupid of me. I have put back on about ten pounds since then, but the worse thing is that I don’t feel as healthy as I did just a few months ago. I’m battling this every day, and I feel like I’m losing the battle. But still, onward I fight.
I’m pretty sure I’m forgetting about a boat load of things to mention for this year so far. I hope at some point I can slow down and remember enough of them to post about them. If not, just know that if I vanish again it isn’t because I have forgotten about my blog or have died or something heinous like that. It is probably because I am either at work or sleeping.
Mmmm, sleep.
I am forever blown away by the talents of my children. As we prepare to bid adieu to 2009, I’d like to share with you all something my daughter Sarah wrote. For the record, she is 13.
On the day of New Year’s Eve
The world is sitting, waiting
For the day we all believe
Has cause for celebrating.
Staying up till late at night
Watching on TV
Down pole to drop a ball of light
And then we scream, “Yippee!”
Another year is o’er and done
And we are satisfied
Recalling days of mirth and fun
And fear, and hope, and pride.
Another year has started up
A new age will begin
We drink from a newer cup
And cast the old to the wind.
May you find the cause to celebrate the ending of 2009 and the start of 2010. Happy new year from me and the rest of the Gonzalez family.
Merry Christmas from the entire Gonzalez family. As the end of 2009 approaches I hope you can look back and find the blessings in your life this past year. I also pray that you will be able to consider 2010 and what the new year holds for you.
I will be announcing shortly some changes to this web site and some of the projects that I have been working on recently. It will be sort of a refreshing of my online identity or, in more practical terms, a Christmas gift of a fresh outlook for me.
But that is for another post, at another time on a different day. Today, I am going to celebrate Christmas with my family. And I hope you do the same thing with yours.
It’s hard to believe that we are almost done with the first decade of our century. Even more strange to me is that we are within a month or so of 2009 coming to an end as a year. If I didn’t know better I’d say someone pushed the fast forward button on life toward the beginning of February and left it there until yesterday. And as I take a moment to look back on the year, and especially the day we are celebrating today, I can’t help but begin to think about some of the things I am thankful for.
Being thankful is not something that is reserved for one day a year in my house. In fact, it is something that I have tried to instill in my family through nightly “thankfuls” and through regular giving of thanks. It is a lifestyle that I think everyone should live lest we become bitter, cynical and “victimized” by circumstance. So for me and my house it is rather easy to recognize those things that I can be thankful for.
For example, I woke up early this morning and got out of bed to make a pot of coffee for my wife and I, and took a moment for myself to read my email, write a little in my blog and warm my legs with a little red fleece blanket. I was watching my dog sleep for a little while until my daughter Adriannah woke up, joined me in the living room, greeted me with a hug and kiss and began to watch TV.
In just the first few minutes of the day today I am thankful for:
- A beautiful, smart, funny, warm, loving wife
- An awesome tribe of beautiful, smart, talented children
- Having a home for my family
- Everyone in my family having a bed to sleep in
- Running water
- Coffee
- Cups to drink our coffee from
- Having a working computer
- The internet
- Email
- Warm blankets
- Wonderful, smart, loving, caring, beautiful children that love me
- Hugs and kisses
- A great dog
- A TV
- Electicity
Now of course these are more of the tangible variety of thankfuls. Still, these are all things I am thankful for just within the first few minutes of my day. There are so many other things to be thankful that extend beyond the tangible, like:
- Not having to go to work today
- Sharing today with family and friends
- Having the freedom and liberty that comes from living in the United States of America
- Being protected both at home and abroad by the most awesome of protectors ever, the US military
- Worshiping how I want, when I want and with whom I want
- The freedom and ability to have an opinion, and voice that opinion
The abundance of thankfuls in my life always seem to extend beyond the limits of one day a year. And while I am thankful for today and what it represents, I would offer this challenge to you: For the next 365 days, until next Thanksgiving day, see if you can find one thing every day to be thankful for and share that thankfulness with someone.
If you are anything like me, no matter how heavy life gets on you, you will always have something to be thankful for. May God bless you abundantly this day and all the days of your life.
Yesterday my daughter went to the doctor because she was running a rather high fever and was feeling generally unwell. Wrapped in a blanket most the day, she even got so far as to just lay down and cry from the pain in her throat so she had to be seen, in my opinion.
My wife set the appointment for the afternoon and took her in. A little while after the appointment I got the message that my daughter had been diagnosed with H1N1.
I was a little taken aback by this news at first. The thought that “swine flu” had made it into my family was a little unnerving to say the least. But as I thought about it a little more I realized that H1N1, as nasty as it has been portrayed in the media, is indeed just a flu. Yes, I said that. Just a flu.
Every year people get the flu. Lots and lots of people die every year from it. Yet for some reason our nation, in fact the world, has been duped into thinking that the swine flu is some megakiller virus that will consume you, your animals and everything you love in mere seconds if you don’t crawl under a rug and hide from it. I refuse to believe that.
And I refuse to believe that my daughter has that flu. In reading through the symptoms of swine flu, she does exhibit some of them. But for a doctor to look at my daughter for a few minutes and say she has H1N1 without so much as a throat culture or blood test is just silly.
Still, I will make sure my daughter takes her medication. But I am not buying into the hysteria surrounding swine flu. It is, after all, just a flu. It’s not like some cloaked pig adorned in a black grim reaper outfit will be knocking on our door anytime soon. And if he does, he better be prepared. This family loves bacon, blackened or otherwise.
Earlier today I ran across a tweet from Jon Brodkin (@JBrodkin) on Twitter that I thought was unusual, odd and somewhat counter to what Christianity teaches Christians:
are you Christian? Do you think Twitter has too many heathens? It’s time to start posting on Christian Chirp! http://www.christianchirp.com/
11:15 AM Nov 3rd from TweetDeck
Now I have no idea if Jon is a Christian, if he has something to do with the site or anything at all about him. I just want to make sure that I am clear about that in this post. Whatever I say here has nothing to do with him, his beliefs or anything at all related to him.
In looking at that site my first thought was “why would Christians want to further alienate and segregate themselves in a society in which few people see them in a positive light?”. Seriously, Christians have taken a bad rap for a lot of stuff over time and have given many people a lot of reasons for thinking the way they do about them. As a Christian I struggle sometimes with the call on me and the way that those that I look to for leadership represent that call. I wrote about that a few days ago and the struggle that I feel with how complacent Christians have become – in my opinion – and how far off the mark it seems that we have become in doing what we have been commanded to do.
In looking at ChristianChirp.com I can’t help but see that all over again. I can understand why Christians would want an environment for themselves. I mean, after all, churches have been doing that for ages. But why would Christians choose to run from “heathens” when there is a huge potential for ministry in social media? Hanging around a social site filled with other Christians seems totally counter to “going out into all the world and preaching the gospel”. I mean, Christians should be going into the dark places and pulling down strongholds, reaching out to those in need regardless of whether there might be heathens there, stepping into those areas where those that need the gospel the most are lurking.
The more I see things like this crop up the more I think that Christians are losing their collective minds as it relates to the great commission. I can’t save a single soul if I am trapped in a room full of saved Christians. And while I appreciate the need for Christians to have a place to mingle amongst themselves for a time, I still think that church should be that time and the rest of the time we have should be spent ministering first to our families then to those immediately around us.
And I can’t see at all how we can do that when we are only mingling with and interacting with Christians.
The other day, while doing some routine cleanup on my machine at work, I ran into a bit of a snag when trying to uninstall Windows Live Messenger. Unlike most common software packages that include an uninstall utility, Windows Live Messenger, in a move typical of the Redmond Beast known commonly as Microsoft, does not.
After searching for a tutorial on how to remove this piece of crap software from my machine I decided to just try something.
Quick sidebar: If you are ever at the point of not trying something yourself in favor of asking someone how to do what you need to do, slap yourself three times, repeat “I am not a n00b” to yourself three times, send me $10 then try something. Seriously, just try something.
What I did was launch my Add/Remove Programs utility from the control panel (Start -> Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs) then, after much searching, cursing and an increased disposition to hate Microsoft, finding, I decided to click on the Windows Live Essentials package and click the Change/Remove button.
From there I was presented a dialog box that gave me two options: Uninstall and Repair. I selected Uninstall and was then taken to a menu of currently installed Windows Live software. That list, for me, included one application: Messenger. I checked the box next to messenger and started the uninstall process (which I cannot show you because I was so excited to actually get this off my computer that I forgot to take screenshots… and no, I am not reinstalling it just so I can uninstall it again to get screenshots).
Anyway, after a few minutes of working and thinking and more working, Windows reported to me that the application had been successfully uninstalled. Which is way better than I can say for the instructions I found at these two links:
So if you are tired of having Messenger on your system this is the fastest and most efficient way of getting it off of there. Enjoy!