Rain Today

Weather forecasters say we're supposed to get rain today. Although, the heavy storms that, last night at bed time, stretched from Wichita to Oklahoma City and beyond, seem to have dissipated by this morning's radar. Right now it looks like a weak system that may or may not make it here with rain.

Sure enough, I just checked he forecast, and the chance of rain has been reduced since last night. Maybe we'll get some, maybe we won't. If we do, it's likely to be a lot less than at first predicted. At least, that's the way things look at 7:42 a.m. at my desk in my office in Bentonville, Arkansas.

This post will be a bunch of miscellaneous thoughts, the things running through my mind at the moment. I'm thinking of making a stock trade today, a one week option play on U.S. Steel. I ran the numbers a little while ago, and it looks good. Of course, I'll need to see how the market opens and what happens with the price before I place the order. Last night I read some in the Battle of Shiloh battle reports. Read one from a subordinate general on the Union side, but it was hard to follow what he meant without a battlefield map in front of me. Last night Lynda and I also listened to a stock trading webinar, a live one. It was good, but will take some more study before we can implement anything from it. So for now I'll keep going with what's working fairly well for me.

Yesterday was a busy day at work. I was asked to help out on two projects, which consumed most of the hours in the day. One was where a resident next to a large project which I served as contract city engineer on in Centerton has sent a letter with a bunch of questions on the drainage report. I checked the report, done by the company who now serves as regular contract city engineer (so they couldn't check their own work). I spent some hours looking back at the report, comparing it to the resident's questions, and formulating responses. This will take more time today. I'm enjoying it; it's a reminder of the type of work that once consumed half my work hours.

Just before 5:00 p.m. a man came to me with a question on a site lighting specification. I suggested to him how to handle the situation. He was back in my office a little after 5:00, still struggling with how much he needed to change the specification, which wasn't meeting the needs of the project. I pulled that guide spec up on my computer, and together we edited it, taking ten minutes to do so. He left with a nearly completed spec and his project in a position where he could send it out before the end of the day.

One negative of the day was how my knee is hurting. I don't remember if I posted it or not. About five or six weeks ago I quit taking my rheumatoid arthritis medicine because of how I became nauseous and frequently threw up in the days following when I took my weekly pills. The nausea stopped, but as the medicine worked its way out of my body the pain in my right knee came back. This isn't actually rheumatoid there; rather joint deterioration. A knee replacement awaits me somewhere in the future. But so long as the medicine was controlling the pain, the surgery was a long way off. After quitting the medicine the knee got progressively worse, until last week I could barely walk. I went to see my rheumatologist—actually his nurse—last Wednesday and was shown how to give myself the medicine by injection. I took a dose. Friday I puked twice.

So maybe the medicine does that to me even if I don't put it directly into my stomach. I've been taking up to six Aleve a day, which seems to have done nothing for the pain. I took my second injection on Wednesday. So far I've been okay. Had some nauseous feeling last night, but it passed fairly quickly as I walked it off around the house. Right now I'm feeling slightly nauseous. I'll have to get up and walk around the building here in a moment. In anticipation of this, I've been eating less over the last few days, trying to empty my stomach. The reason this medicine is causing that is because one of my diabetes meds, Byetta, delays the emptying of the stomach as a means of controlling blood sugar. So my stomach stays fuller than it should. Then when the methotrexate hits it, boom: vomit.

So, I'm still in the experimental stage with the injections. If I get through today without vomiting, I'll feel good about it. The pain in my knee may be marginally less. Or maybe that's wishful thinking, feeling what I'm hoping for. But for sure the reduced eating has helped in the weight loss department. Today I weighed-in at a 22 year low. I had kind of stalled at weight loss. Now I'm losing again. My blood sugar has been well under control. If I can just get my knee working properly, all will be right with the world once again. The strange thing, none of my joints that are bothered by rheumatoid have started hurting. So it's all very strange indeed.

Well, enough ramblings for one day, a day late from when I was supposed to post. Too busy yesterday, no gumption.

So Many Choices for Writing Today

Yesterday, as I was going about yard work and dog-sitting and writing, I looked ahead to what I would write today, and kind of settled on a health issue rather than my normal Sunday Christianity post. I'm in the midst of a health experiment, having stopped my rheumatoid arthritis medicine, and am feeling ill effects from that.

But today at church was such a wonderful day, both in worship service and in Life Group, I should probably write about them. Our pastor preached from Luke 14, about the cost of being a Christian, comparing this to the normal mode of evangelism that stresses how salvation is free. It is free; but costs come afterwards. Good stuff.

Or, I should probably write about our Life Group. This was Marion's week to teach, and he did so from Acts 17, about the Apostle Paul's time in Athens. This got us into a number of good discussions, which ended up, somehow, on works of charity, and how best to accomplish them in a way that we knew would do some good. The Samaritan's Feet event from last Wednesday had much discussion. Paul's changing methods to fit the situation he found himself in also took our discussion time.

Then, I thought about saying a little about my writing. My other blog is about my writing life, but, in case I have readers here who don't read there, from time to time I say something about my writing here. If I wrote about that, I'd say my latest novel, Headshots, will be available for pre-order at Amazon in a couple of days, and available for purchase as an e-book in a week to ten days.

Having such a wide range of topics to write on, and being unable to decide, I guess I won't write much more than what I already have. It's a good Sunday. I hope all my readers are well.

Apologies Once Again

Sorry, loyal readers, about not having a post yesterday. I was sick over the weekend, with nausea and vomiting (probably an on-going but suddenly more severe reaction to my medications). Also we have preparations for receiving grandchildren. All three of them, ages 6, 3, and 1, will be staying with us all week. They should be there when I get home from work.

I'll be taking vacation beginning tomorrow afternoon, to help out and spend time with them. It will be a stay-cation. Hopefully I'll find time to blog and write as well as do my grandfatherly duty.

It's Thursday, I'm Here

That's about all I can say about the start of the day. As I said in my last post, I was nauseous on Monday. I was able to keep my food down, but it was always there, ready to come back up. Tuesday and Wednesday, during the workday, had a little nausea, but not much. I actually felt pretty good.

Then I got home Wednesday night, and it all came back. Had a bowl of homemade soup for supper, and the nauseous feeling was immediately there. I finally decided I'd better walk and see if I could keep my supper down. Lynda walked with me. We returned some things to the neighbors. She stayed to visit while I walked on. I delivered some mis-delivered mail to the next neighbors, and kept going.

About 1/4 mile up the road it was no use. I stepped into a wide grassy area and lost everything, heaving for a long time. I turned around and walked back, and had another episode. Of course, after that I felt much better, though I was wiped out for the evening, and sat around doing nothing but light reading.

This nausea seems to be a reaction to a combination of medicines. I take methotrexate for rheumatoid arthritis and Byetta for type 2 diabetes. It wasn't till the Byetta was added that I started having the nausea. One thing Byetta does is mess with normal digestive system function. It delays the emptying of the stomach, which causes you to eat less and lowers blood sugar spikes. At lest, that's what the papers that come with the medicine, or what on-line sources, tell me.

The worst day seems to be Wednesday. Tuesday is when I take my methotrexate. I'm wondering if that is sitting on my stomach, and having that too long in the stomach, together with the stomach being full, is the problem. I used to take methotrexate on Monday and felt the nausea on Tuesday. As an experiment I changed the day, and the nausea changed. But the methotrexate isn't the problem, as I took it for over a year with no problems. It was only after the Byetta was added that the problem began.

I went a month or two this year with little nausea, May and June. It's come back in July. Coincidentally I've been eating a little more in July. My stomach is probably staying fuller, and the nausea persists.

Today I feel weak in body and mind. It's 8:26 a.m. right now. I need to be about my employer's business, so will end this and see what I can accomplish.

Once Again, an Idea Lost

"That would make a great blog post."

That's what I said to myself at some point yesterday. Knowing that today was my day to blog here, I was looking about for an idea of what to write about. Something came to me that I knew was a good idea for a post, and I spent a little time trying to lock it into my mind. I don't remember where I was, but I guess I was at a place where I couldn't write it down.

Then, last night at home, while I was fighting through a low blood sugar episode, and the usual stuff an evening brings, I realized the idea was gone. I tried to remember what it was, but nothing. I tried to remember where I was when the idea came to me, but nothing.

This is the second time I've written about this, the other time not so long ago. And to think that, just a little before that, I had been thinking that I was doing a good job of capturing ideas. I really do need to get some kind of notebook that I keep with me, to jot down important items that I want to act on at some point in the future, especially writing ideas.

So what do I write about today? I thought of the weather. I heard the wind in the night, which I thought would be a good first line of a haiku. Today it was cloudy and sprinkling as I left for work. I could write about my health, and the fact that my weight is down to the lowest it's been since 1992. Just another pound or two and I'll be passing through another weight loss milestone. With my blood sugar readings being mostly good, and the doctor putting me on a six-month appointment schedule instead of quarterly, there's much to tell about health. But how boring that would be for you all.

I could talk about writing. But that's what my other blog is for. I finished some song lyrics yesterday. I should say that I don't really write song lyrics. What I do is improve lyrics in songs that I think can be improved; I add verses to songs that need another verse; and I take rock and roll songs and write Christian lyrics for them, typically following the same theme of the original song. Some time ago (meaning perhaps a year or so), I began working on Christian lyrics for Chuck Berry's "My Ding-A-Ling". When I say "working" I mean when I'm walking, especially my noon walks on weekdays. I sing or hum, which is why I walk alone, I suppose.

Yesterday, after singing the usual songs on the first lap, I wanted to "write" on the second lap. That song came to mind, so I started working on it. By the end of the second lap I had recalled what I'd done with it before, and finished the five verses I wanted. All in my head, of course. I would have to write them out when I got to my desk after walking. At that time I first went to the break room and drank a glass of water to re-hydrate, then went back to my desk and...forgot that I had something to write down. Can you believe it? Two minutes and 50 feet to and from the break room, and I forgot what I had to do. Kind of like an idea for a blog post.

By mid-afternoon I remembered that I had forgotten to write the lyrics down, so I took a break and re-created them. As best I could. I'm sure they aren't the same as the brilliant ones I had when I was walking, but they aren't bad. Now that I have them on paper I can continue to refine them into perfect lyrics.

But, how interesting will it be to bore you all with the story of how I came up with some song lyrics? So, I apologize, everyone who reads this blog. I guess I don't have a post for today.

Milestones in the last week

That's what's happened to me: several milestones over the last five days. I don't know that my brain will allow me to make a lengthy discussion of these, so let me list then, then come back to them and see if I have the wherewithal to add commentary.

• Participated in my first 5K event last Saturday, April 5
• Was able to learn G.I.M.P. enough to be able to create a cover for a print book
• Had a good enough regular check-up at the doctor that he has reduced the frequency of my check-ups to every six months instead of three months.
• Figured out two sticky problems at work. Neither is done yet, but the way is clear to both of them.
• Had the book cover I created accepted by CreateSpace, and I was able to order the proof copy.

Concerning the 5K, I need to make it clear that I participated, I didn't run. One of the routes I take on one or two weekend days is 5K, so I knew I could finish it. Based on that route, I was hoping to beat 50 minutes in the competition. Then last week I went to the track and did a two mile hard run, to see how I might do. Based on that I had an unofficial goal of 48 minutes. I finished the event with a time of 45:44, last among men in my age group, but I felt good about it. I jogged about a minute or two during the race, maybe even three minutes, and that seemed enough to help me get my time down.

I discussed G.I.M.P. in my other blog, and won't take too long here. It's a graphics editing program, not at all intuitive to use. Over four days of the last seven I worked my way through it, and was able to put together a cover for the print version of Thomas Carlyle's Edinburgh Encyclopedia Articles. I turned that in Tuesday night, and Wednesday afternoon received the e-mail from CreateSpace saying that the cover (as well as the interior, which I had already formatted a few days before) met all specs needed for printing, and they could proceed. So my first print cover was acceptable. I ordered the print, and can't wait to see how it looks on the book.

With my blood sugar measurements as low as they've been for years, and still trending down, the doctor was wanting to give me four months between check-ups instead of the normal three. But that doesn't work so well for prescriptions filled on a quarterly basis. So I suggested that I continue to come in for my lab work quarterly, but that I see him every six months. If the labs show any sign of trouble, either his office or I can schedule a visit. He thought that was a good idea, so it's done. I won't see the doc again, except for the labs, until October, which will be my annual physical.

And, one other thing that's positive this week is getting up to three book sales for the month. I sold one e-copy of Documenting America, one print copy at work of Operation Lotus Sunday, and an e-copy of the Carlyle encyclopedia book. I'm not really expecting to sell many of this oddball, public domain book, and to sell even one so soon after publication is good.

So I'm feeling good about things right now. Next will be to finish my novel-in-progress, to make a proper cover for The Gutter Chronicles (including a print cover), and to do a print cover for In Front of Fifty Thousand Screaming People. Then it's onward to who knows what after that.

Unfathomable Energy

One summer evening in 1991, we were out walking as a family, on the London Road/Chelsea Road loop where we lived in Bella Vista. Down the hill, cross the ravine that drains a major area into Lake Windsor, then up a steep hill. From that point on it's fairly level, minor up and down hills until you get back on that part of London that led to our rental house. When we got to the flat-ish part, Sara and I decided to run, and did so up to Chelsea. Or maybe we did a little way on Chelsea also. I believe it was almost dark or may have already been dark by then. Two things she said at the end of the run that I still remember. "Wow, you have very quiet footsteps when you run," and "I can't believe how much energy I have."

Remembering that very clearly, even almost twenty-three years later, that got me thinking energy. Last week I came through a period where I had very little energy, and I didn't understand it. My routines were normal. To bed about as normal and up about as normal. All body functions functioning as they should. I little more pain in my right knee than usual, but not by any means excessive. My weight was down a couple of pounds in a week. Yet, at work and at home, I felt that I couldn't do another thing. This actually started around March 23, Sunday. I had gone for my 3.1 mile walk on Saturday, pushing it hard. That was after the usual morning chores. Sunday, however, I felt the lack of energy and didn't do the walk. I worked on writing tasks, but didn't get a whole lot done, if I remember correctly.

This continued in the next week, and even last weekend. I forced myself to be productive at work, and went for noon hour walks (typically 1 mile) most days.  I skipped my walk on Saturday, though on Sunday I again forced myself to do the 3.1 miles, not as hard as the previous Saturday. During the week I mainly worked on publishing activities rather than writing. I was formatting my latest book for e-book and then print book. On Saturday I did the final few tasks and actually uploaded it. I first didn't realize I failed to click the "Publish" box, and four hours later checked to see why it hadn't moved to the next phase. I did that, and almost immediately the Amazon review came back with an error needing correcting. I fixed that, and waited. By the time I arose Sunday morning, the book had published. And Sunday afternoon I found enough energy to go for that walk.

This got me thinking about energy: how we get it in our system and sense that we have it. What takes energy from us, what feeds it to us? We all know a huge meal saps energy as the digestive system parts talk back and forth. The over-full stomach alerts the small intestine that a slug of stuff to digest is coming, etc. But lack of food will also sap energy. Why should a 12 year old girl and a 39 year old man gain energy by expending energy (for I, too, remember that I had a lot of energy that evening, same as Sara) but a 62 year old man loses energy by doing very little? It's a mystery.

Maybe those publishing tasks were looming before me, and dislike of having to do them was what was driving the energy out of them. Then, once completed, I began to get my energy back. And it's not that I don't like the publishing tasks. I actually like formatting books, looking into the minutia of what makes a book look good, learning new tricks of the trade, getting it done. But it's not as much fun as the writing and editing. Now, I have the print book ready to go with the exception of the cover. I did the e-book cover, and will incorporate that into the print book cover. So far I've begged my print covers done, and did some hiring of it done. But I'm determined to learn how to do it. I'll never be artistic, and my covers may never be the best, but I will learn the mechanics of putting them together. Facing this, however, is continuing to pull energy from me. The last two nights I could have been working on it, and yet, I did other things, not even necessary things.

On Saturday I will participate in my first 5k event. I plan to walk it, although I reserve to job some at the end if I feel good. How much energy will I have? On Monday I went by the track and walked a mile at what I felt was a competition pace. I completed it in 15:22, and did another quarter mile at the same pace. That's faster than the 50 minute goal I have for this first 5k. Will I have enough energy to complete it? Maybe, if I find a way to do things that increase my energy over the next couple of days. If I work on that print book cover, I'm not sure what that will do to me.

And no, I'm not going to drink one of those hyper-energy drinks. I see no reason for monkeying with the artificial stimulant cocktail that they are, not give that I take a handful of medications. I need to figure this out by natural means. I'll have to see how I feel after the 5k. If I break 50 minutes, or even as low as 48 minutes, and still have plenty of energy for the tasks that I face over the next days, maybe I'll know something more about personal energy.

Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise

I figure one out of three of those, healthy-wealthy-wise, will be pretty good. Wise I hope for, and keep working toward by accumulating knowledge and trying to rightly apply it. Wealthy seems to be escaping me, though through frugality I'm working on that as well.

That leaves health. That's not totally within our control. Genes and environment have something to say about it. But more and more I'm learning that much of it is within my control, through eating, exercise, and daily regimen. I feel that this year I'm healthier than I've been for many, many years, at least a decade.

Last Tuesday, the day I left for Nashville and the annual conference of the IECA, I weighed in at 231 pounds, in jeans. This is the lowest I've been in years. In 2001, while trying to lose weight before out daughter's wedding, I got down briefly, for one day, to 230 before going back up to around 242 at the time of the wedding. Before that I have to go back to 1992 when, in contest with another man in the office, I got down to 222 before ballooning up again. I peaked at 304 in 2004, tried to get down and did, to about 259, but then went back up again to 304 in March 2006. At that point I said Enough, and began a program of trying to live healthier.

I started being more faithful at exercise, and more careful about what I ate. Slowly, over several years, the weight started coming off and I felt better. I purposely wanted the weight loss to be slow, to hopefully be more permanent. Also over these several years some rules for weight loss and better health came into focus for me. I'm sure I reported them to this blog before, but to make this an all inclusive post I'll repeat them. These did not come to me all at once, but over several years.

1. Eat a little better
2. Exercise a little more
3. Drink a little more water
4. Eat a little less
5. Get a little more sleep
6. Exercise a little better
7. Solve my "free food" problem.

Simple rules, but effective for me. I started my better health quest with eating a little better and getting a little more exercise, mainly walking. And it seemed to work. In 2006 I lost 20 pounds, kept it off in 2007, lost 10 more in 2008, etc. I had some challenges along the way. My pre-diabetes came into full Type 2 diabetes. I started taking medicines for it, some of which work against weight loss. I contracted ehrlichiosis, not once but twice, the second time causing a severe flare-up in my rheumatoid arthritis. This included an especially painful right knee, which my rheumatologist said will someday need to be replaced. I had a mild case of pneumonia once, the flu once, and more than my normal number of colds. I had a few ups and downs on weight, but mostly down, like stocks in a bear market.

January 2013 found me up a little in weight from twelve months before, my blood sugar again rising, and having a general lack of energy. I decided that was it, I was going to go back to my rules and re-apply them. It seemed to me that each one could be applied in any situation. If my weight loss stalled, I could eat a little better and a little less. I could exercise a little more and a little better (meaning, exercises that stressed the body more). It worked, and slowly through the year I went down from about 265 to 242 (I think; my weight log is at work, I'm typing this at home).

In November 2013, at a corporate leadership retreat, we had a couple of exercise ladies come in and put us through a set of exercises and talk with us about healthy lifestyles. They had us doing lunges, thrusts, and planks. I liked the lunges and planks, not so much the thrusts, and have incorporated those two into my regimen. Not a whole lot, but some. It seems to be working. I'm feellng better.

Also, my blood sugars have been excellent of late, which I think is a combination of eating better, exercising more and better, and a change in medications in January 2013. I'm now taking Byetta, which, as I understand it, delays the emptying of the stomach, which is supposed to equalize blood sugars. It is also conducive to weight loss, unlike other diabetes medicines. My sugars in 2014 have been mostly between 130 and 90, and for the last month have averaged around 104. In March so far they are 111-91-107. Even while I was out last week during the convention, with somewhat overeating, my sugars weren't bad.

So, I won't say I'm healthy at this stage, but I'm healthier than I was. I feel younger than I did eight years ago. I'm motivated to keep going. Next week or the week after I hope to weigh-in below 230 for the first time in 22 years. When I see the doctor in April I hope to be given six months before needing to come back to see him. That will be a moment of triumph if that happens. I need to get to 219 before I will be considered overweight rather than obese. That will be the next goal. The doctor set 200 as the upper end of my ideal weight goal, but I think 180 is a better goal for me, and what I'm working towards.

So, I'm now waiting for the weather to break a little more so that I can do more outside work. I saw up deadfall and fell dead trees and saw them up, all with a manual bowsaw. It's mainly for exercise, though we take some to Oklahoma City on some trips for the kids to burn. I'll get back on my 3.7 mile walks soon, and see how they affect me. And I'll walk a little more consistently on noon hours. All while eating a little better and a little less. Next time I report, hopefully I'll be reporting to you from south of 230.

Productivity—Not

The best laid plans of mice and men sometimes go astray.

Mine did over the snowy weekend. I left work on Thursday, the 5th, knowing that the storm that had already started was going to be major and that I would have a couple, or maybe a few, days at home of being shut in. What better things to do but write?

Alas, what I feared was also happening, which I didn't mention in my last post, came true. On Wednesday I felt the early stages of a cold coming on, but I ignored them. I get two colds a year, and I'd already had three in 2013 (including the flu back in January). So although the symptoms were there, I convinced myself it wasn't a cold.

But as the day progressed Thursday, the symptoms increased. By Thursday night I knew it was a cold, not as deep as some I've had, but still deep enough. Friday I did very little. The snow ended at noon, at 7 inches, just as was predicted. I got out and shoveled some of the driveway. Then I took a walk up to the highway, .65 miles away, to see conditions. The exertion may have been stupid, but I always think fresh air helps me to heal, so I did it. In the evening I was able to write a little on Headshots.

Saturday I was well somewhat improved, I thought. I shoveled some more of the drive, and again walked to the highway. Roads were awful, worse after a day of light traffic than they had been before. In the afternoon I was able to knuckle down and work some on my book. For the weekend I added about 2,400 words. That was below my goal, but given my physical status I wasn't unhappy with that. Our Christmas party that night was cancelled—not that we would have or could have gone.

Sunday we didn't try to go to church. I again shoveled on the driveway, finishing one lane up to the street. Then I walked down to the nearest convenience store, about 8/10th of a mile, picking up some things and finding somethings unavailable. I crossed the highway and the competitor didn't have those items either. I could see that roads were still really, really bad, and the decision to stay home was the right one. I called to the house and suggested Lynda walk out to join me on the return leg. She did so, but then decided to go on while I wen home. As she saw the condition of the roads she could see that my decision to not try to go to church was the right one.

By Sunday night the cold had moved into the coughing phase, and I coughed continuously. I knew I shouldn't be at work Monday. The combination of the cold and road conditions caused me to decide not to attempt going to work on Monday. I mostly rested on Monday, taking only a brief walk on the nearby streets to assess if I could get out on Tuesday. I concluded I could. Also my coughing was considerably better by the end of the day, so I knew I'd be going in on Tuesday. Got lots of rest on Monday, Sunday as well.

But I didn't do any new writing either of those days. As I was writing on Saturday I realized my writing has been so sporadic that I didn't remember what scenes I had. So I decided to print an read the whole book where it currently stands, doing light edits as I read, looking for overlap and gaps. I completed that by Monday evening: found a couple of gaps, and one area where there's a little overlap. Not as bad as I feared, but still some edits will be needed to fix it.

Tonight I typed all the edits to date, and closed one gap. I contemplated filling the other gap, but decided against it. That will be work for tomorrow night. Thursday is a Christmas party, so adding to the end of the book will have to wait until the weekend, hopefully Friday night. At last I feel like I'm getting warmed up. The word count stands at 19,108, which puts me well into the middle of the book. I have the next three chapters reasonably well planned out, so they should go quickly. With any luck I'll be over 25,000 words by this time next week.

Exercise a Little Better

I've lost a lot of weight, and I think improved my health in the process, but I've stalled of late.

Since 2006 I've lost 68 pounds. I was a little lower a month ago, but have bumped around in a five pound range since. My main exercise has been walking. I generally do between 10 and 15 miles a week, with a few weeks getting in as much as 20. As fall weather and busyness came on I reduced my walking some, but I've kept at it.

I knew, in order to resume weight loss, I would have to step up my game. I've been following some simple rules I created to guide my quest to better health which, for the moment, I define as carrying less weight around. The first five of those rules are:

1. Eat a little better.
2. Exercise a little more.
3. Drink a little more water.
4. Eat a little less.
5. Get a little more sleep.

Those I have been following with, I believe, success. The 68 pound have come off slowly, but as I've crossed barriers and gotten past previous sticking points (where the weight loss seemed to have stopped), I've kept it off. Now, to get past this barrier, I knew I needed to get to work on the next rule.

6. Exercise a little better.

I've been dreading this, but was about ready to get started. Then came our company leadership retreat this week. It was a short one, in nearby Branson. Thursday afternoon was scheduled to be include a 90 minute "exercise and nutrition" session. Our spouses were with us (well, for some of us), and they were invited to this session. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't what we got. Two exercise babes from World Gym were there. Rather than start with nutrition they started with exercise. Simple stretching, followed by lunges and dips, followed by enhanced lunges, followed by push-ups, then by "planks".

I thought my legs were in pretty good shape from all the walking I've done, but I quickly found out certain of my leg muscles really haven't been in much use. Less than 30 minutes into this routine I couldn't stand any more. Down on the floor to do some planks, I couldn't get up. When I finally did get up, my knees felt quite unstable, as if one minor misstep and I'd be flat on my keyster.

I'm writing this Saturday evening, two days after the exercising, and after a day of cleaning around the house and garage and just back from the weekly run to Wal-Mart. As expected, my legs hurt worse now than they did after the session. I've taken a few pain pills, which have done no good at all so far as I can tell. Tomorrow I should be feeling better, and by Monday I'll be close to back to normal.

Since this exercise awakened muscles that apparently aren't being used in my walking, I'd have to say that this must fall in the category of "exercise a little better. Maybe I can keep this up. The immediate pain will pass, and then I'll see how it will work. 68 pounds off, 52 still to go.

Stringing a Few Good Days Together

I've always though that a key to my losing weight was stringing a few good days together. By that I mean to do all the right things that contribute to weight loss for several days in a row: eating right, exercise, staying active. My experience has been that this works, and results in accelerated weight loss.

That seems to be part of the theory behind Weight Watchers. When I was in the program back in the 1980s the first week was almost draconian, but the weight fell off. It gave incentive to carry on the second week and beyond, when the eating restrictions were slightly eased. I don't know if their current program still follows this pattern. I do know it sure worked for me.

Health wise, I've been able to string together two good—not days, but—weeks. I'm down 10 pounds during that time. My blood sugar readings have almost all been within the normal range for a non-diabetic, never mind for a Type 2. And best of all, my Dawn Phenomenon is almost gone. This is when your morning blood sugar is higher than when you go to bed, and out of the normal range. In theory it should be the other way around. For the last ten days my morning blood sugars have been in the normal range, or very close to it. I hope this better eating helps that to continue.

Part of this has been a slight ratcheting up of my exercise. Normally I don't take a noon walk when the temperatures are above 95, so that I don't sweat and stink afterwards. The temp has been over 95 for a month now. But around July 1 I decided I needed the exercise, so I resumed my noon walks, right after eating. Instead of doing a two laps requiring a full twenty minutes, I just do one lap, at a slower pace. It takes about eleven minutes. I find that's what I can do without having to take a half hour to cool down. I suspect this is also contributing to improved weight and blood sugar.

Which brings me to writing. I think the same principle applies. If you can string a few good days together, by which I mean productive, at the end you will probably be surprised at how much you did. My good days of writing started about June 28, roughly corresponding with my good health days—probably not a coincidence. Since that time I have:

• Read through The Candy Store Generation twice, made edits, typed the edits, and brought the book to the brink of being self-published. Today I redid a few of the internal graphics. My book formatter won't be available till Wednesday, at which time I'll send him the file for the e-book and have that one up and published by Friday. Then I'll send him the file for the print book and have that submitted by Monday.
• Did some serious research on expanding The Candy Store Generation in two areas, as recommended by a beta reader. I don't think I'll be able to complete as much research as needed and have the book out in a timely manner. But it has given me an idea for a supplement to TCSG, which might tie-in well with a marketing plan.
• Completed the writing for the home school edition of Documenting America. Also I typed all but the last five chapters. Came up with a little bit of a marketing strategy for it as well.
• Wrote another chapter in my humorous workplace series The Gutter Chronicles. I'm sending chapters to a few select people at work, and it's well received so far. Since it parodies a civil engineering firm such as ours, I don't know that it would have wide appeal as an e-book, but I'm thinking about it.

I've also worked a little with my wife as she is re-reading Doctor Luke's Assistant. Since a reader remarked he found a few typos in it, and since she hadn't read it since I made some fairly major revisions, she says it's like a new book. She hasn't found many typos, but even the few she's found need to be corrected and the book uploaded again.

Which leads me to working toward stringing a few good weeks together. Four more weeks like this will find me another 10-15 pounds lighter, three more books self-published, and two more (e-short stories) underway.

A Health Update

They say arthritis pain is dependent on weather. I've never been able to tell if that's true. However, the last few days have been beautiful weather and my pain is less. I was in Little Rock on Wednesday evening through Friday noon, driving back Friday afternoon. I was in quite a bit of pain while there, and the drive back was difficult. It would have been almost impossible if I hadn't been able to set the cruise control and bend my right leg into a comfortable position.

Friday evening and yesterday I took it easy. I worked outside for just 45 minutes or maybe an hour. Rather than tackle larger logs and cut them to length or split them, I decided to get smaller deadfall, 3 to 4 inches diameter, and drag them to my cutting area, then cut them to length. No splitting was required. That short amount of work seemed to help my joints.

The rest of the day I spent doing easy inside things, such as filing months of financial papers, and cleaning various areas in the house, and eating meals, and reading forty pages in my current reading book. By bed time my joints were all feeling pretty good.

While my joints are better, my blood sugar was up last night. Just a few too many carbs during the day. That made me sluggish as I tried to figure out what to write next. I didn't feel like research reading for the next volume of Documenting America. I didn't feel like writing a blog post. I did some research of writing articles for Decoded Science, a web site where I know the owner and she invited me to begin writing for them. But I had a problem accessing the site, something I think I was doing wrong. Unfortunately I didn't have the brain power needed to figure it out. When I left The Dungeon and took my blood sugar, it was quite high. Perhaps that was the reason for my sluggishness.

Today has been a better day. Good life group class, good worship service, good meal at my mother-in-law's, a bit of rest watching football, and all systems seeming to be working well. I'm not sure I'm ready to write a lot, but perhaps that will come tomorrow. Time to write some articles, and research a new book.

Overdoing It

Last Saturday dawned cool and clear, with a touch of southerly breeze. I decided it was time to shake off my physical troubles of late and go outside and do some work. One thing I do for exercise is cut wood, the dead fall on the vacant lot south of us or from the common property east of us. We have lots of downed trees, from 3 inch diameter up to 12 inch that need cutting.

Well, they don't really need cutting, but it seems a good way to get some exercise. I finished cutting a large tree that came down and almost hit the house. The lower portions of the trunk were 12 inches diameter or a little more. I cut it into 24 to 30 inch lengths and piled them, not really planning to do anything with them. Then, last year our daughter and son-in-law in Oklahoma City began burning wood in their fireplace. Not for heat but for ambiance. The bought the starter logs and wood bundles you see at many stores in these parts.

So I decided to take the wood from my wood pile, cut it to shorter lengths, and split it. Then I figured Lynda could take a nice amount each time she went to OKC for grandmotherly duties. Well, that next time was Monday just passed, and Saturday dawned no only clear but also without any wood split. So I dragged out the maul and the wedge and set to my task.

What I quickly learned is my fingers and hands are much too weak to wield the maul with any force. So I got the sledge, a lighter instrument, and tried to split logs with just it and the wedge. I found this worked fine. A few taps with the maul seated the wedge, then a few good blows on the wedge split the log. I worked at it for two hours, resulting in the wood pile you see in the picture.

Now, this may not be much production, or much of an accomplishment, but for me it was great. I felt my hands working more or less the way they should. My knees were not hurting, and the longer I got into my work the less I felt any knee pain (that that, you ehrlichiosis bearing buggies). Of course, I was tired at the end of my work. A brief nap in my reading chair and a shower were most enjoyable. But I felt great.

Until about bed time, and the next day. My left knee felt pretty good, as if I popped something back in place as I mauled. But my right knee was pretty much toast. I got around on Sunday, but with knee weakness and pain. Slowly it improved through the day—faster than the muscles recover after playing baseball for the first time in the spring. I walked both Monday and Tuesday noon to no ill effects.

Then, last night I walked about two miles at a fairly fast clip so I could get it all in before dark. By bedtime I could sure feel it in my right knee, worse than it was Saturday night.

So, what should I do for this RA flare up, brought on no doubt by that useless tick? Exercise is supposed to be good for RA. Maybe just no quite so much exercise, and a little more gentle. I'll try that for a while. I skipped my noon walk today, even though the weather was gorgeous. I'll let my knee heal a little then try it again, at a gentler pace this time.

Health, Wealth, and Happiness

That sounds like a good title for a blog post, doesn't it? Health, wealth, and happiness.

Life is full of good stuff and bad. I've had my share of it this week. Here are some examples.

Yesterday I had a low blood sugar attack, late in the afternoon. Since I haven't bought glucose pills yet (will rectify that this weekend) all I could do was hit the vending machines. I had $1.00 so bought some chips for 80 cents. That didn't do the trick. So I borrowed 40 cents and bought a regular, sugared Coke and consumed it. I had to just sit back in my chair for more than half an hour till it all took effect. By then it was time to drive home. The worst part of it was it sapped my energy. After we tried out the new Mexican restaurant near us, I had no energy to write last night, one of my normal writing nights.

My knees feel better. I have good days and bad days, with the bad days getting progressively worse and the norm rather than the exception. One thing I'm doing, however, is paying more attention to how I put my legs when sitting. I find that I have a bad habit of twisting my legs in odd positions. An hour later when I stand up, I can barely move. So I've been trying to recognize when I'm doing that and keep my legs nicely bent, but relaxed. I learned that years ago with my shoulder and with my right leg. Is it helping? I don't know, but today my knees are significantly better. Is it greater awareness about small things such as just mentioned, or is it...

...better eating and slight reduction in weight? I've noticed this through the years: When I'm losing weight I feel better. When I'm gaining weight I feel worse. The exception to this seems to be when weight loss is fairly rapid I don't feel my best. I suspect that might be due to release of toxins stored in fat being broken down, but I haven't found reliable references for that. This week I've lost a couple of pounds. I've eaten well, in that I've cut back on portions for most meals and eaten better stuff. Maybe this is having an impact. Or maybe it's just the cooler, dryer weather.

My novel is only 5000-6000 words away from being finished! If I could have written last night, I'd have different numbers to report. But that is a very good position to be in. I haven't thought too much about the last two chapters—except for the last scene at the hospital (oops!), so I don't know how quickly the writing will go. Plus at this stage of the novel I have the point of view of six or so characters to juggle. But it's a good feeling. And that leads to...

...ideas for articles have been popping into my head. After the novel is finished, I'll take a week or two to write a few non-fiction articles about engineering and literature. I haven't written for Suite101 since February, and a couple of editors are looking for articles in their section. Plus the owner of Decoded Science has asked me to write for them, on a revenue share basis. In those two weeks I hope to get six articles written.

Among the bad things, unless something different happens today, I will have gone the entire month of September without a single e-book sale. I didn't promote much, since I'm sort of waiting on being able to finish the print version of Documenting America. While I see myself as a writer of books, writing articles also had a certain appeal. I'd like to keep both types of writing in my portfolio.

And, a good thing, I'm reading for pleasure again. For whatever reason I did very little reading from May through mid-September. About all I did was reading for my Wesley studies books, which are now on hold, and reading the many periodicals we get at home. But last year I began reading the book Mr. Baruch, about the life of Bernard M. Baruch, Wall St. speculator, advisor to presidents, statesman of another era. It's a scholarly book with many end notes, but an easy read. I've been reading 5 to 10 pages a night, more on the weekends. I still have a couple of hundred pages to go, so at this rate I won't likely finish till late October. But that's okay. I'm enjoying that part of the journey.

Time to post and go exercise my knees a little. I walked 14 minutes at noon, with little pain. As I've gone thither and yon in our office, I find I'm moving faster and with less pain, more like a 59 year old rather than an 80 year old (as I've been of late. It's a good feeling.

Still Trying to Get Healthy

Darn tick!

I don't know when it bit me. Or if more than one bit me. A couple of years ago I had the symptoms of tick disease, but didn't go to the doc and apparently my body fought it off, for all of the symptoms disappeared. Then around Independence Day this year they came back. By the third week of July I was a physical basket case. I went to the doc, got the normal anti-biotic treatment, and slowly got better. That is, the pains in my rib cage went away, my neck loosened up (though still not to pre-tick condition), and the drab feeling went away. The tests showed that I'd had the disease for more than six weeks. So how come it suddenly hit me again?

However, my rheumatoid arthritis has coincidentally flared up to the worst it has ever been, and has been getting worse by the week. I'm now being treated for it, which I never had to be before—except for occasional over the counter pain pills on the minor flare-ups and four steroid shots over two decades. This current treatment takes a month or so to bring relief, and I'm only about two weeks in, with no relief so far.

To contrast my current status, when we went to Chicago June 4-14 for Charles' graduation and hooding, I was feeling the best I'd felt in years. I hadn't had any RA symptoms for five or six years (except for the ring finger in my right hand, which flared up in Dec 2009 and has never subsided), and my weight was the lowest it had been since 2001, and still dropping. I was getting great exercise walking and working in my wood lot. My blood pressure was so low I had to cut my pills in half, then quit taking them all together.

Now, my fingers, wrists, elbows, rt shoulder, and both knees are extremely painful. The knees are the worst. My walking is greatly curtailed, even though we are having great walking weather. I've had to mostly give up my wood lot work. Sleeping has become a cycle of waking and turning to find a non-painful position. OTC painkillers don't seem to work, though I suppose it might be even worse without them. And my weight is back up almost fifteen pounds in three months. My blood pressure is still pretty good, however.

All because of a stinking little tick. At least, that's what I attribute this to. I suspect that sometime between June 15 and July 4 I had another tick bite, getting a fresh dose of ehrlichiosis chaffeensis, with my autoimmune system over-compensating and causing all the joint pain. I'm sure the weight gain is a combination of fluid on my joints and failure to cut back eating to match activity levels.

Today is a beautiful day. I'm going to walk twelve minutes no matter how much it hurts. I'm going to cut my normal lunch portion in half and just be hungry for the afternoon. I'm going to drink my water like a good boy, in the process cutting back a little on the coffee. By Wednesday of next week I hope to report a 2-3 pound weight loss, a little easing of joint pain, an increase in physical activity, and completion of my novel.

Wait, how did that slip in?

Ehrlichiosis Chaffeensis

As I said on a Facebook status update, the good news is I don't have Lyme disease (see the immediately previous post for discussion of this). The bad news is I have a different tick-spread disease, ehrlichiosis Chaffeensis, or e. Chaffeensis. This is something first identified at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas; hence the name. Lyme disease is not common in Arkansas. My doctor said in 33 years of practice he's only had one case of it. But e. Chaffeensis is quite common. He treats it many times a year.

The blood tests they do for these tick diseases includes two tests that tell whether the disease came on the previous six weeks or longer than that. My tests proved it was more than six weeks ago. So when I had similar symptoms a year or so ago, that must be when I got the durn thing.

The further good news is that the antibiotic he put me on ten days ago seems to be working. My symptoms have drastically improved. My neck is still a little stiff, my joints still hurt a little, my brain fog is just a little bit there. But for the most part, I'm feeling tons better.

So my self-diagnosis, aided by my friend Gary, was pretty much correct, just substituting one tick disease for another. The doc wants me to take antibiotics for a month instead of two weeks, and continue to stay out of the sun as much as possible. So no noon hour walks for a while. With the temperature over a hundred today that's fine with me.

I suspect I'll be back to normal in a week or so. It will be most welcome.

A Few Days of Sickness

Last Monday I felt awful. Over the weekend I had had little energy, and felt myself going downhill. My neck was stiff, my joints ached, my right shoulder and left knee especially hurt, and my energy level was down. I remembered having this some time ago, and my friend and commenter on this blog, Gary, suggested I might have Lyme disease. I did have three scabs on my back, in a place that I couldn't see them. I had Lynda look at them, and she said they looked more like pimples than bite marks—no concentric rings such as you get with a bad tick bite.

When I went to bed last Monday, my rib cage was hurting, or, to be more specific, it had gone from hurting to having a specific place that hurt, a pin point that felt awful almost no matter how I moved. Before then, every night when I got into bed and my body adjusted from being vertical to being horizontal, my rib cage hurt like the dickens for about thirty seconds. Once the adjustment was over, I was fine. But on Monday night, that small place superseded everything. The minute it hit the mattress the pain was much worse than the dickens. I'm not sure what two pain levels above "the dickens" is, but that's where I was. It felt like a broken bone sticking through my back. I simply could not lay on it.

With some work, I figured out how to get in bed and onto my side without having that spot touch anything. Needless to say sleep wasn't the greatest last Monday. Pain killers and herbal muscle relaxers had no effect. At work on Tuesday I did some investigation, and found that a stiff neck is one of the key symptoms of lyme disease. So I called the doc, he saw me late in the day, said lyme disease was very rare in Arkansas but that three other tick-borne diseases (each with an unpronounceable name that sounded much worse than lyme) were somewhat common. He didn't think I had this, but decided to draw large amounts of blood to test for it and to treat me for it with a tetracycline based antibiotic.

The next day the doctor's office called to say the first tests on my blood showed a high rate of something or other, and he wanted to see me for a follow-up in ten days. Meanwhile, either through natural body healing or the antibiotics I began to feel better—until Friday night. Something hit me then, and lasted all through Saturday and into early Sunday. This was a total loss of energy, an attitude of not wanting to do anything but sit in my reading chair and watch television.

That fog lifted sometime during the day on Sunday, and right now I feel pretty good. My neck is still somewhat stiff, my knee and should still hurt (thought not nearly as much), and my energy level has mostly returned. So hopefully I'll be back posting here at a more regular schedule. And at my writer's blog as well.

All-Consuming Activities

The problem with dieting is how all-consuming it is. Or maybe it's not dieting as much as it is weight loss. I'm on a losing streak right now. That's good. I was at a weight set point for the better part of a year and a half. It seemed that no matter what I did I couldn't get below 254 pounds. I inched a pound or two below it, then bounced back to 258; back to 254 then to 260; to 254 then to 263. I've read about these weight set points, that somehow the body gets comfortable at that weight and breaking through it is difficult.

I finally did that in March, however, even before I began a healthier diet on April 1. Whatever I was doing in February-March—probably just eating less and exercising a bit more—was working, for I slowly dropped below 254, ending March about 251-252. On April 1 I began a rigorous eating program to control my Type 2 diabetes, and the weight had dropped almost as fast as my blood sugar. I'm down to the 241-242 range right now, with no lower set point in sight. I was last at 240 in 2001, losing 30 pounds for my daughter's wedding. Can I break through that this time? I believe I can. I suspect the next set point is somewhere around 230.

But the problem is, this concentration on weight loss and blood sugar control is all consuming. It seems that every waking thought, and probably the dreams I don't remember, is on this. I talk about it, think about it, write about it, obsess about it. Even yard work isn't yard work: it's multi-tasking exercise. It's the same as with genealogy, same as with writing. I have had to put genealogy aside for a while, for my writing life is consuming whatever part of me is not being consumed by weight loss and establishing healthy eating habits.

The new writers critique group is consuming me. I'm thinking about it all the time, trying to figure out what I can do to put it on a footing that will be sustainable and valuable to all who attend and for our church that is sponsoring it. How to increase sales of my e-books is consuming me. The John Wesley small group study is consuming me.

Hopefully you get the picture. I need to just turn off for a while, think about civil engineering. No, that tends to consume me as well, whenever writing and critique group and health and genealogy aren't consuming me. I don't feel like I'm at an equilibrium. It's kind of like a short, light verse poem I wrote a few years ago.

The Desperate Prayer of a Man Without Enough Hours in the Day

Again
I offer You
this simple fix:
increase
the daily hours
to twenty-six.

Of course, that wouldn't really work, for then I'd be wanting twenty-eight or thirty. So I really need to reach an equilibrium. I'll put that on my to-do list.

A Few Words on Health

I'm in The Dungeon on a very rainy Sunday afternoon. Easter Sunday. He is risen! This is our fourth day of rain, with two more expected. Mostly it's been moderate rain. It was heavy on Thursday evening, but since then just wave after wave of light to moderate rain. The creeks are all full, with some out of their banks. Just taking a minute to write about my health before I get to my main writing.

On March 1 I went to the doctor for my quarterly appointment. The results were not good. My fasting blood sugar was up, as was my A1C (the long-term measure of blood sugar). He had told be to begin testing myself for blood sugar three months before that, but I had never done so. So on March 1, with very bad lab results, he put me on Lantus, a slow acting insulin given with a shot. That would be along with the two pills I already take for Type 2 diabetes.

This did not make me particularly happy. I went home with the Lantus samples he gave me, but didn't go right out and fill the prescription for the works. Lynda was in OKC with the kids, helping with Ezra's birth that morning. I wanted her around before I started shooting up, just in case I had an adverse reaction to it. Plus, I had no idea if I could really give myself a shot. I finally got the stuff for testing my blood sugar, but had a lot of trouble getting blood out of my fingers. It turned out I was missing the small apparatus that one uses to launch the lancet that pricks the finger that gives the blood that goes on the test strip that feeds the meter that measures the blood sugar and makes a display. Finally, on March 31, I had the contraption and all I needed to measure blood sugar and take my shots. The evening I had my first reading: 399.

Ouch. That was high. That week I was still at the very busy point, working late, not taking proper lunch hours or getting any exercise. My weight was beginning to go down some more, my body having finally passed through a weight set point. That was about the only good news for my health. But that high reading was like a light going off. That and the fact that, by measuring blood sugar several times a day, I was going to have knowledge of what my eating was doing to my body. April 1 I began a new regimen. Chips—gone, and not just for lent. Diet soda, which I think somehow feeds the carb beast—gone. Bread—gone. Other carbs, not just sugary things but any type of carb I could think of—gone. Exercise—increased.

This I have done. The next evening my sugar was still high at 379. I began taking Lantus, just two units at first, intending to step it up until I got down to the 100-140 range. To my surprise, the shot was easy and painless. That needle is so thin that I didn't feel it at all. I assume it's working, and some of the good stuff is getting through the needle and into my flabby tummy. The next evening it was down to 279, and I upped the dose to four units.

[Lost a bunch of this; not really wanting to have to re-create it.]
I'll give the short version. By the beginning of last week my Lantus dose, my blood sugar, and my weight had all "converged" at better numbers. Almost all my blood sugar readings are now between 100 and 140, with many of them 100-120. I had one reading below 100, prompting me to lower my Lantus dose from 10 to 9. My weight is down to 245, the lowest it's been in 10 years. My blood pressure, as measured at those stations at Wal-Mart, was 87/59 a week ago. I began cutting my blood pressure pills in half, and yesterday it was 110/61. I'm hoping to be off that completely in a month.

Meanwhile my energy level is up. On Saturdays I normally take an old saw and work on cutting up a tree that fell. Normally I can get one piece cut (7 to 8 inch diameter oak) before my arms give out. Last Saturday I was able to cut two pieces with no problem, and could have done more I think. I'm walking 20 minutes at lunch after eating, and almost that much evenings after supper. I think walking after eating is doing more for me than walking before.

Today my mother-in-law took us out to eat after church. This is the first time I've eaten out since my March 31 awakening. Chinese buffet. I ate too much, but the selections I ate were better than I normally do. No potatoes or heavily breaded items. Lots of vegetables, not much fried rice. It will be interesting to see where my blood sugar is before supper.

All of which is of little interest to my loyal blog readers, but I'm writing it anyway. My next doctor appointment is on May 24th. I'm actually looking forward to it. I'll probably post something here, saying what his expression was like to see a reformed, transformed patient.

Blog Topics Wide Open

The siege within the whirlwind is still winding down, enough so that I can at least begin a post during an afternoon break. I'm not sure how much time I have or when I'll post it.

My problem is what to blog about? What would hold the interest of my 13 followers and four or five regular viewers? I could blog about my writing: the new on-line magazine article assignment I received, or the problems at Suite101 due to the Google Panda update, or the little bits of progress on various projects. I could blog about my foraging half hour in a used book store this afternoon, coming away $17 poorer in cash but much richer in volumes. Or I could blog about the engineering work I'm doing. I could also blog about how my short story is not selling on Kindle, but I'd also have to say how I've been way too busy to do anything to promote it.

But instead, I think I'll talk about my health, because of the major change that occurred at my last doctor visit. I've had Type 2 diabetes for about 10 years, normally under control, but lately with blood sugar edging upward. Two visits ago he told me to begin testing sugar once or twice a day. I didn't get going on that however, and last visit (Mar 1) my blood sugar was very high, so he put me on Lantus, a long-acting insulin that I have to inject every evening. That wasn't what I really wanted, but I've only myself to blame for being so long about getting serious at fighting the disease.

I waited to begin until Lynda returned from her extended trip to Oklahoma City. Plus, as busy as I was at work, I didn't have time in the evenings to do my homework and know what I was doing. So it was March 31 before I began sticking myself and April 1 before I began taking the Lantus. The good news is that the shots are very easy, much easier than I imagined they would be. The bad news is the blood sugar testing procedures are a little harder than expected. I think I've finally got the routine down, but I lost a few days of proper testing.

My sugar is on the way down. I'm not where I need to be yet, and I'm not happy about taking the medication, but I think I'm on the right track. I made a recording form and am using it. Hopefully when I go for my next appointment on May 24, the results will be good.

In other health related news, I'm finally losing weight again. I reached some kind of set point at 254 pounds. It seemed that nothing I did would get me below that. I'd hit that then bounce up three pounds; hit it again and bounce up five; hit it again and bounce up two. It's been like that for more than a year. I've been bouncing around in a narrow range. Finally, two weeks ago (before the start of testing/insulin taking) I dropped just below that. In those two weeks I've lost 5 1/2 pounds, and I'm at my lowest weight since 2001.

I've read that everyone's body has these weight set points, and that dropping through them is difficult. I don't know if this is true; I haven't done real research on it, but it has seemed to be a reality in my weight loss attempts. I hit one around 280-282, and it took me time to lose to below that. The next one was 254, and I've hit that twice in the last decade. Finally I'm past it. It's time to lose twenty-five pounds in a year. I'm sure I have another set point, most likely around 230 or so pounds, at which I'll find it difficult to lose more. That's okay. I won't mind losing 25 pounds this year and leaving more for another.

All of which may be of no interest to anyone reading this except me. That's okay. It seemed a good topic on a day when I couldn't take a lot of time to write.