Tom's Diary

Today’s Activities

• Shower.  DONE.
• Cat duty. DONE.
• Set up automatic monthly bill payments for Mom’s medical insurance premiums.  IN PROGRESS.

Log

08:40 AM: I’m up. My weight did not change from yesterday.  It’s still 173.5 Lbs.    See   here   for a summary of the progress on this goal so far in 2010.

08:45 AM: Read more of    The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn    book overnight. 

09:45 AM Posted a piece,  here   for Ellen Goldfon,  to the   WPSBC Alumni Association’s web site. 

10:15 AM: Started tonight’s supper to cooking.  Yep, it’s another pork roast with vegetables.  I just love these things. 

12:30 PM: Wrote 700 words into upcoming pieces for   Tom’s Love Quest.

02:50 PM: Read the rest of    The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn    book.  Excellent work by Twain!  I recommend this writing to anyone who enjoys adventurous, historical apropos stories.  For a classic, this work was a quick read, and not hard to understand, though I wouldn’t read it if you’re much younger than seventh or eighth grade; it may bore you too much.   

03:40 PM: [Emmy] just called on her way home from her orthopedic surgeon.  He says he can do nothing more to alleviate the pain in her right palm and wrist.  The x-rays they snapped today showed no issues; her hand looks just as it did after the carpel tunnel surgery she had in 2007.  Since this discomfort is severe enough that she can’t go about her life using her hands normally (she’s right-handed also), we’ll seek a second opinion somehow. 

03:45 PM: My chain saw is done (sharpened) and is ready to be picked up.  So we’ll get it either tonight or Friday.  $33.80 is the cost. 

04:55 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless   on the DVR.  They’ve not yet revealed if it was Adam’s body found in the club basement after the explosion.  Vicki and Billy advanced their hate / love relationship, and Lauren strongly suspects that it’s her long-time nemesis, Sheila, who’s been terrorizing her family.  In the previews, Daisy says that Sheila is NOT dead.

05:00 PM: Looked in on the pork roast and added the seasoning packet.  The meat should be finished cooking in an hour or so.  At the moment, it’s still a little pink. 

06:00 PM: Watched today’s episode of   Dr. Phil.  Details   here.

06:10 PM: Had some of the pork roast for supper.  Yum!  It’s great to be able to consistently cook something that tastes consistently good. 

06:15 PM Nap time.

07:15 PM: I’m awake again, and have returned to reading the   Classics for Pleasure   book.

10:35 PM: Talked with [Emmy].  The orthopedic surgeon says he can do nothing more for the pains in her right hand.  So we’ll get a second opinion sometime in the next few months. 

10:45 PM: The days go by just too quickly these days, and already, I’m primed for bed.  Seems like I just woke up this morning.  So enjoy this warmest night of the year so far, and I’ll write more tomorrow.  Take care. 

Tom

Received Mail and Shipments

• Weekly coupon batch.
• Cash back offer from Chase bank.
• The 2010-04 issue of Analog Science Fiction magazine.
• Bank papers.
• The 2010-03, 2010-04 Talking Book Topics issue.
• Offer of medicine consultation from Mom’s medical insurance company.  We just may take them up on this.

Related Posts

• Book: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
• Book: Classics For Pleasure
• Today’s Diet: 2010-04-07
• The Ultimate FAT Debate
• Weight Loss: 2010

Today, I either added or modified the following posts in  the   Tom’s Diary   blog for improved brevity, clarity, categorization, decreased spelling errors, appearance,  and search-ability:

Tom

06:00 PM: Watched today’s installment of   Dr. Phil, which was part two of yesterday’s episode, titled:  The Ultimate FAT Debate.  Like twenty-four hours earlier, tempers heated up on this show as well; perhaps even more.  Primarily, the heavy argued with the thin panelists over the degree of the role in thinness that personal choice plays, and how negatively judgmental people generally regard the heavy.  They also discussed discrimination against the fat, and the current controversial business of airlines forcing larger people to purchase two airline seats when one small seat cannot contain them; else they deny them passage.

My take? I’m frustrated hearing some heavy folks defending their (scientifically shown to be unhealthy) body status, as though it should be regarded as equaly as idealstic and aspirational as thinness.  Then, they refer to those who refuse to see it like that as shallow, judgmental, and mean-spirited.  But the fact is: Being heavy is not healthy, and carrying lots of excess weight will never be healthy anytime in the near future centuries.  I’ve been heavier myself by twenty pounds, and observed firsthand the debilitating effects that just a few hundreds of extra ounces has on blood pressure, blood values like cholesterol and triglycerides, ability to sleep well, and overall feelings about living in general. 

That said, the thin proponents on the show nonetheless went too far today; blaming the heavy for their obesity way too much, and refusing to acknowledge  factors such as genetics, body chemistry, and parental upbringing; things that make maintaining a healthy weight impossible for some, and downright dangerous for others.  Some of them also claimed too much credit for themselves for their ability to keep thin.  Then, they ridiculed the heavy who had not chosen to be thin as they had.  In fact, one skinny fellow on the panel wore a black tee shirt that said   No Chubbies   in white letters across his chest.  Not good.  In my eyes, his choice to wear that inflammatory clothing completely undermined his credibility in his support for thinness; though I agreed with some of his other assertions; namely that there’s no such thing as a healthy, fat person. 

While I do wish that there were more thin women around to date, the thin should nonetheless avoid so harshly judging of the heavy in areas of business and friendship.  It is true for me that the thinner ladies excite me the most romantically on deep physical levels that cannot be decided with the will.  That is to say that I cannot force myself to find the heavy physically attractive.  However, this would be no reason for ridiculing and discriminating against the heavy.  Such behavior will not solve this fast-growing obesity epidemic.   While I can’t will myself to be attracted physically to the heavy, they do not deserve the mean treatment they get either from other, more insistent people than myself.  They need not be thin for me to consider them a good friend or business partner; though I must admit that I probably wouldn’t date someone with a BMI in the overweight range.   

Tom Hesley

Related Posts

• Today’s Business: 2010-04-07
• Tom’s Love Quest –> Obesity

Today, I consumed the following items:

• Herbal tea and diet caffeine-free Pepsi  throughout the day. 0 calories.
• 01:00 PM: 2 cups V8 vegetable juice.  100 calories.
• 04:00 PM: 2 cups V8 vegetable juice.  100 calories.
• 04:00 PM: 1 and 1/2 cups of Cheerios.  150 calories.
• 04:00 PM: 6 Oz. blueberries.  90 calories.
• 04:00 PM: 1 cup organic skim milk.  80 calories.
• 04:00 PM: 1/2 cup raisins.  260 calories. 
• 05:00 PM: Candy.  200 calories.
• 07:00 PM: Pork roast and vegetables.  800 calories.
• 07:00 PM: 1/2 cup raisins.  260 calories.

Total calories: 2040.

Tom

Related Posts

• Today’s Business: 2010-04-07
• Weight Loss: 2010