Tom's Diary

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty. DONE.
• Wet-wipe the kitchen floor.  IN PROGRESS.
• Wash all (2) pending loads of laundry.  Mom had a coat and a few Misc. items requiring cleaning when she got home.  DONE.  16 loads done in the new washer so far. 

Log

07:00 AM: I’m up.  

07:45 AM: Leaving now for our weekly shopping trip.  Back later.

12:00 PM: Back home once again, and all groceries have been put away.

01:00 PM: I used hot water to melt all that thick, slippery, and jagged ice on the walkway into the south entrance to the house.  Mom’s coming home later today and I wanted to be sure to have that path as ice-free as possible. Drew this water from the flush valve at the bottom of the water heater, as I haven’t given the heater a good flushing since we bought it last September.  But after drawing water for nearly a half-hour, I’d say that today, this heater has officially had its first real flushing.  Yep. 

01:30 PM: Apria Healthcare came to take their hospital bed back.  Now that Mom will be receiving hospice, a different vendor will provide the hospital bed.  Now waiting on that second vendor to deliver their bed.

03:30 PM: Dick’s Home Care brought Mom’s new hospital bed and set it up.

04:00 PM: Mom just came in the door.

06:00 PM: We sat in the kitchen for a while, catching up.  Then, I took mom to her easy chair in the sitting room and we watched Pittsburgh news about the Superbowl coming up this Sunday.

08:00 PM: Sister Jojo stopped down with her dogs.  They seemed happy to see Mom, and Mom was very happy to see them. 

10:00 PM: Talked with [Emmy] and listened to part of the Penguins hockey game with her.  They won tonight.  Hmmm.  The Pens and the Steelers make their fans very proud.  Now if the Pirates would only do the same.  I know, that’s greedy.  So I’ll say no more about that this year anyhow. 

10:30 PM: Mom was tired and so, requested to go to bed early.  Her meds have been dispensed and she’s now resting peacefully in her new hospital bed. 

02:45 AM: Helped Mom. 

03:35 AM: Had two large decaffeinated coffees at Dunkin’ Donuts yesterday morning at 10:00, and I’m still awake. Hmmm. I think they gave me regular coffee by mistake. Grrrrrr! I’ll know tomorrow for sure if they did that, because a nasty, dizzying headache will great me when I wake up. More grrrrrrrrrrr! Actually, this situation probably calls more for an arrrrrrgggggghhhhh! Good night.

03:55 AM: Yesterday I had a water heater needing flushed, and an ice-covered sidewalk. Brought these two together like chocolate and peanut butter by running a hose outside from the tank’s drain valve, and squirted the warm water at the hoarfrost. No chipping or chopping needed, as it melted just like summer M & M’s. Thus I now have a clean water heater and a clear side walk to boot (literally). Yeah!

06:45 AM: Awoke to Mom crying and screaming.  When I went to her, I found that she had half-fallen out of bed, and the bed was raised to its highest position, which put it at the top of my stomach.  Dangerous.  I got her back in, but will look into a more complete side rail system like the other bed had; one that extends from the top of the bed all the way to the bottom.  Yawn.  Okay, back to bed with me.  Good night.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

None today.

Related Posts

• Today’s Diet: 2011-02-04

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty. DONE.
• Pay all (6) pending bills.  DONE.

Log

08:00 AM: I’m up.  Less brrrrr this morning.  Temperatures have climbed up to 26 degrees F over the past 24 hours.       

11:35 AM: Registered our new washing machine with the manufacturer.  Had a little trouble locating the serial number.  But a call to thier automated customer experience line quickly instructed me on where to look.  It turned out to be printed on a sticker underneath the lid, between the hinges. 

12:30 PM: Spent my lunch hour talking with   [Emmy]   on the phone.  She received the Christmas gifts I mailed her last Friday, yesterday.  She  loves her new teapot although she has no permanent spot to sit it.  She has little counter space in her apartment.  So any time she goes to use an appliance, she must get it out, and then, when she’s finished with it, put it away again. 

01:40 PM: Paid all six pending bills.

02:00 PM: Balanced the   WPSBC Alumni Association‘s   checking account.  Light duty here, as we had no transactions this month except for a new monthly service charge of $3 for sending us a paper statement.  Gosh, free checking accounts are getting harder and harder to find. 

02:45 PM: Added the   2009-10   edition of Promo Only’s   Dance Radio   music series to my DJ music library (22 songs).

05:45 PM: Watched today’s episodes of   The Young and the Restless   and   Dr. Phil   on the DVR.

06:00 PM:  I have three similar programs in my DJ software, and one of them began crashing after I made what I thought were the  same changes to all three. Yet the other two still work. Hmmm. Time to pull out my UltraCompare program, to diff the files and see which change I flubbed in the crasher. I LOVE IDM Software (UltraEdit, UltraCompare, et al).

07:15 PM: Found this problem with UltraCompare and fixed it with Microsoft’s Visual Studio 2008.  In the crashing program, I had forgotten to copy the block of code that allocates memory for internal purposes.  I added this block, compiled, and tested, and I’m pleased to report that all is well now.  Hale to UltraCompare!

07:20 PM: I’m calling   [Emmy]   to listen to tonight’s Penguins hockey game.  We’ll catch the first two periods of it anyhow but will cut ver to the president’s address sometime during the third.  That’s going to kill   [Emmy]   as she rarely misses any part of a hockey game.  But in this case, what the president has to say is probably more important. 

08:30 PM: Added   Disney Pixar Greatest   collection to my music library (24 non duplicate songs).  Did this to get Randy Newman’s Toy Story movie classic: You Got A Friend in Me. Someone asked for this at the last gig and it surprised me to learn that I did not have it.  But, I do now, as well as 23 other Disney movie and show tunes. 

08:35 PM: Now,  We’re watching the State of the Union presidential address at 9:00 PM as well as the republican and TEA party reactions.

11:00 PM: We’ve seen all three speeches (the president’s, the republican response, and the TEA party’s response).  The republican response was civil and measured, and the TEA party speech was sensational and at times, wildly over the top. 

11:15 PM: Taking the garbage out.  Yep, it’s that time of the week again. 

11:45 PM: Watched tonight’s episode of   NBC’s Nightly News   on the DVR.

11:50 PM: Hmmmm.  I just realized that I’ve not experienced one headache this year, and to this, I attribute my omission of most sources of caffeine from the diet, such as black tea and regular coffee.  In fact, I’ve cut way back on the decaffeinated coffee as well, opting to drink only one or two large cups a week, and cut my chocolate consumption back to one square every two or three days.  Yep, as far as i’m concerned, more than a very small amount of caffeine causes nasty, mood-fouling headaches.

12:10 PM: Bed, I’m coming.  Good night all, good night   [Emmy],   and I’ll have more to write tomorrow.  Until then…

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

• Cable TV, Internet, and phone bill.
• HSBC credit card offer.  Not at this time, thanks.
• Whole life insurance offer from Mom’s bank.  No thanks.

Related Posts

• Today’s Diet: 2011-01-25

Today’s Activities

• Shower.  DONE.
• Cat duty.  DONE.
• Do all pending laundry.  IN PROGRESS.

Log

10:00 AM: I’m up.  Another hot one today.  So again, we’ll probably stay indoors until this evening.

10:15 AM: Today’s [Tad's] 50th birthday.  I wished him well on Facebook through [Morra].

10:30 AM: Getting the laundry going again today.  There’s a lot, that I hope to finish by this evening.

12:30 PM: Watched   KDKA TV’s Local News at Noon.

01:15 PM: Facebooked a while.  I now have 247 friends and my Facebook page has 32 fans.

02:45 PM: Watched today’s episode of    The Young and the Restless   on the DVR.

03:15 PM: There’s news from Philadelphia that a barge ran into a duck boat on the Delaware river, capsizing the duck boat.  No reports of injuries or deaths so far.  But thirty people are reported to have been thrown into the water from the smaller vessel.

06:00 PM: iPodded on the south porch.  It’s not quite as hot today as yesterday, but still, the air out there was quite warm nonetheless.

08:00 PM: Watched   KDKA TV’s Local News at 6:00 PM   and   The CBS Evening News   at 7:00 PM:  Then, I walked over to Sheetz to grab a little supper.

08:05 PM: This headache I got on the 4th is finally subsiding.  It felt like another caffeine headache.  Perhaps all that chocolate candy I had triggered it.  Boy, it seems that I can’t screw up at all without paying dearly.  That little bit of flavorful enjoyment cost me three days of nauseating pains in the head.  Grrrrrr. Yet though less frequently these days, I keep going back for more.  So to a degree, I can relate to Mom’s struggle with avoiding the wrong foods.  She knows that they’re bad for her but keeps eating them.  Sometimes, I judge her for this; though I try hard not to.  Why?  Because after all, I’m as guilty of this destructive behavior as she; though I believe I have cut way back on habitual eating of bad foods as compared to how I used to eat in the eighties.  She on the other hand has made few if any healthful and permanent dietary adjustments to her regimen.  So I think I’m doing better at this than she, but not as well as I’d like.  I’ll keep at it however.

10:00 PM: [Emmy] and I hung out here in the office, talking about nothing and everything else too.    Now, we’re watching   CNN’s AC 360   to learn more about today’s earthquake in southern California.

11:00 PM: That earthquake apparently was minimally severe; as it received less than a minute of coverage.  Now, we’re watching   KDKA TV’s Local News at 11:00 PM.

11:35 PM: Okay, we’re turning in. Just one more day of this really hot weather; then, some relief over the weekend.  *loud applause*  So good night, and I’ll catch you back out here tomorrow.  Take care now.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

• Weekly coupon mailer.
• Bill for co-payment to Mom’s foot doctor.
• Netflix membership offer.  Not at this time, thanks.  I already have more movies and books to watch than I’ll probably ever complete in my life time. 

Related Posts

• Audio Journal Information Page
• Today’s Diet: 2010-07-07
• Weight Loss: 2010

01:00 PM: If beliefs make reality, then spearmint tea quenches hunger. Too many headaches from green tea, though it worked well historically, and scientific studies support “going green.” But I must lose a few pounds. No headaches with the mint but less weight loss too. Yet, green tea is out. So I “know” that mint will melt… the pounds; proof notwithstanding. The scale readings in 30 days will tell for sure.

03:00 PM: Hmmm. If pictures are there, they’re likely to appear on Google Images as well. I’ve often wondered how Google associates people’s names with their pictures. Well, public Facebook would be one very easy to do it.

03:02 PM: You’ll never see that, since our culture is all about putting that best foot forward. Whether discussing humans or devices, conventional wisdom says that we should spend far more time describing what we (or it) CAN do than what we (or IT) cannot. But if people want the unvarnished lowdown on something, then they need to read something like Consumer Reports.

04:00 PM: Yes, many argue with that sort of unhelpful bluster and gusto, and as soon as they start, I excuse myself. You didn’t call him an Apple Drone to his face, did you?  

04:00 PM: Strawberries are really quite good this year. We got some fresh-picked specimens yesterday. Yum. Serioulsy. YUM!

10:08 PM: Immitation is NOT the sincerest form of flattery when it’s plagiarism!

11:21 PM: Don McLean.  Love that song Vincent, and have for decades.  In fact, I liked it more than American Pie; though hearing it still moistens my eyes to this day.

11:36 PM: Best-foot-forward is so old-school, and I just hate all the hype and puffing besides. Just give me the unvarnished truth immediately for goodness’s sake. I mean, I’m going to learn it sooner or later. So why delay? *sigh* I wish they’d publish a Consumer Reports that rates people like they do appliances! It’d sure make it easier to cut through all the … um … warm air.

11:57 PM: M-80s are my favorites; those king-sized fire-crackers that flash like a camera and boom like a cannon.  They’ll also shred a coffee can and pulverize a brick if placed properly.  So light ‘em, then run like … the dickens!

12:42 AM: Hawaii Five-0 returns to CBS this fall on Monday nights.  Hopefully, the cast will include a Jack Lord equivalent; though this could end up feeling a lot like the CSI shows, which I’m not crazy about due to all the fast-moving visuals.  But the theme music sounds similar so I’m eager to see if the show duplicates the success of the original, which ran for twelve seasons (1968 through 1980).

Tom Hesley

Related Posts

• Today’s Business: 2010-05-31

From audio journal episode: AJE-2010-01-30-11-05.

I wanted to talk today about green tea and caffeine a little.  You know, the last couple months, ever since I purchased this Mr. Coffee coffee machine, and then consumed copious amounts of coffee through the holidays, I often got headaches.  Even if I kept drinking the stuff daily, not allowing my body to begin the painful caffeine withdrawal process, I still got the head pains.  I’ve found also that when I don’t drink coffee, the headaches go away. Now it takes several days for all the effects of the caffeine to disappear, once consumption of it stops.  But in my case, they do stop.  Indeed, there have been months-long stretches over the years where I’ve not consumed java, and in those times, I practically never got headaches. 

It’s not just coffee either that affects me so.  Indeed, any beverage or food item containing caffeine makes me feel bad after a few days of consuming it.  Unfortunately, this includes green tea; my favorite appetite suppressant that I’ve relied upon through many diets to help keep my food cravings at bay.  Now ten years ago when I brewed several cups of green tea per day while dieting, I never thought that it would trigger the same sorts of headaches that coffee does.  Indeed, the amount of caffeine in green tea feels to be less per cup than coffee.  But green tea appears to cause the head to hurt as well; particularly on days that I skip having it.  In fact, earlier this week, I experienced lots of headaches.  Then on Tuesday, I suspended green tea consumption.  Though the headaches persisted another two and a half days, eventually, they went away and today, I really feel fine; just as I did when I wasn’t drinking caffeinated liquids. 

So this may be a key to assuring that I’m living up to my fullest potential: Avoid caffeinated foods and drinks, because the symptoms impair my abilities to concentrate, and the headaches irritate and make me irritable, and they’re just no fun to carry around for days on end.  Based on this latest find, it appears that to avoid the headaches, I must severely limit how much green tea I take in on a day.  I’m even afraid to drink the decaffeinated versions of either coffee or green tea, because I get headaches from them too. 

I know that lots of people have no problems with caffeine and these drinks.  But unfortunately, it appears that I do, and if I’m drinking a whole lot of the tea, I wake up the next morning not only with a headache, but I feel nauseous; a sort of tea hang-over.  Thus, I really should avoid these products and find other ways to curb my appetite.  Indeed, I’ve read that caffeine can increase the sensation of hunger, making overeating all that much more enticing and irresistible. 

I’ve also read that green tea is what they call a thermogenic, which means that it does rev up the body’s metabolism through the stimulation of heat production within the body, and that this is why it triggers weight loss, since it kindles the body to burn up more calories per hour.  But I’m wondering if this action occurs due to the caffeine in the tea?  Without the caffeine, would the tea still function as an effective thermogenic?  I don’t know, nor do I care to run any further tests on myself.    

I still have lots of green tea here.  So perhaps I’ll just drink one cup per day until I use it all up.  Then the rest of the day, I’ll drink the naturally caffeine-free teas such as the spearmint, peppermint, chamomile and other herbal concoctions.  These teas never give me headaches, and I’ve consumed five to seven cups of them per day without headaches in the past.  They’re just as effect-neutral as water, and so I think I could drink ten cups per day without ill effects.  They seem to diminish how good I feel, except that they force me to visit the restroom more often.  J   

While green tea does encourage greater weight loss for me, I have to cut way back on it and then, cut it out once I exhaust my supplies of it here.  I’ll make the necessary adjustments to enhance my work energies.  In fact, even without the tea, I still feel energized. If I find something to do that I’m impassioned to complete, I feel just as invigorated without the tea as with it.   Plus, without caffeine, I don’t get that madly-scurrying-about, spinning-wheel feeling that I experience when I’ve ingested too much caffeine.  You know that feeling where you have all kinds of energy, but you don’t gain any traction.  So you accomplish little because it’s hard to stay focused on one task for very long.  Let’s see.  Let me do this.  Then, let me do that.  Then let me come back to this, and so on.  I’m jittering and bouncing around when I have too much caffeine; that natural speed, and I end up getting less done because the subsequent headaches slow me down much more than that initial rush speeds me up. 

Now caffeine can indeed wake me up the morning after a restless night.  For the short-term, it works great.  But it makes directing and focusing that energy harder. This is the downside of caffeine.  True, I’ve sung the praises of green tea over the years.  But now, this downside of it I must acknowledge as well, and come up with a less painful way to help me keep the scale moving in the downward direction. 

Take care.

Tom Hesley

Related Posts

• Abstaining from Caffeine
• Today’s Business: 2010-01-30
• Today’s Business: 2010-01-31
• Weight Loss: 2010-01

Log

08:30 AM: I’m up, with a nasty headache.  I really think it’s the coffee — I’m drinking too much of it.  Going to go without it today and see if my head feels better tomorrow.

10:00 AM: Headed out the door to go   shopping   and to visit Mom at the hospital.  Click   here   for more details on that visit.

01:45 PM: I’m back home.  Taking a nap for a while.

05:30 PM: Set up a temporary ramp — just a piece of plywood over the steps and supported by several blocks.  I’ll attach it to the top step tomorrow when daylight returns.

06:30 PM: Watched yesterday’s and today’s episodes of   The Young and the Restless   on the DVR.

07:45 PM: Calling [Emmy].  We’re going to listen to some of the Penguins hockey game.

09:10 PM: Talked with Mom.  Sleepy, she was, and still sounded frustrated.  But not crying; perhaps just resigned. 

09:30 PM: Talked with sister Christine to fill her in on Mom. 

09:45 PM: I’ll probably watch TV for a bit but I won’t be too long out of bed.  So, I’ll catch you tomorrow, readers. 

Tom Hesley

Related Posts

• Mom’s Status: 2009-10-30
• Shopping Trip: 2009-10-30

[Mentat's] sister came and took him home.  I was sorry to see him go so soon.  But we’ll do another visit soon.  Mom always enjoys his wit and loves having him around as well.

Several hours on the phone, social networking.  Lots of people sent me messages and feedback.  Apparently, the ladies there are starting to know me and are feeling more comfortable about exchanging messages with me.

Posted the Hampsterdance song (a repeater song) to that site.  People got a kick out of that, and wondered why I liked such music.  I just told them that it’s my nature to like what I like.  That answer satisfied them.  Or at least, they did not feel compelled to harass me for my bizarre musical tastes further. 

Had a bad headache; probably due to caffeine withdraw. [Jack] and I had lots of soda over the past couple days that had caffeine, and now that I’m not drinking it, my head is complaining loudly.

Talked with [Emmy] on the phone.  However, I had to cut this short because my head was hurting so bad that I was dizzy and felt sick in the stomach.

Began a summary document on last Friday’s foot party.  That should be posted to the   Tom’s Love Quest   blog tomorrow sometime.

Went with Mom to sister Christine’s post July 4th lunch.  There were some burgers left over from yesterday, and I had two.  Couldn’t let them go to waste now could we?

Napped for a couple hours.  I didn’t get much sleep in Philly.  So I was dead tired.

Watched part of one episode of   The Young and the Restless,   but kept falling asleep.  So I put that aside until tomorrow, when I hope to be more awake.

Today was very sunny and dry.  Temps in the low to mid 70s; a great day to hang by the pool and have lots of low-key conversation.

Tom Hesley

Dear   [Lynn],

They were the pics you brought with you when you visited. I think they were of you, your house, [your daughter], and [your son]. There may have been a couple of Bella too.

It’s cool here today. 65-ish degrees. But very sunny and deep blue skies. kinda like it was when you were here.

If you ever hear of me consuming chocolate again, get on my case. I’m swearing off of it. I believe that consuming that chocolate soy drink on Tuesday night was what made my mood so foul yesterday. That seems to happen any time I drink hot chocolate, eat chocolate cereal, or eat more than a small parcel of chocolate candy. Maybe I’m developing an allergy to it or something. But yesterday, I had this headache that just wouldn’t quit, and was very sleepy. Like the days after I gave up coffee 11 years ago. Gotta be the caffeine.

Altoona is here for you babe.

Tom Hesley

Dear   [Lynn],

The tooth feels better this morning. But during the night was quite the temperamental sort. Lots of throbbing and dull aching. And, to complicate matters, I got a canker sore where they injected the novocaine last week and that’s throwing a bit of pain into the mix as well. But it is slowly getting better. Tonight should be a better one for sleep – I hope.

I woke up around 4:00 and did not get back to sleep until 5:30. Probably has lots to do with the tooth.

You were up very late last night for some unknow reason.

Looks like the rain is gone from here today, Beautiful blue, sunny skies. About 40 degrees right now.

On the caffeine: You wouldn’t have to go “cold turkey.” But you could wean yourself from it slowly. Start off by drinking your usual 8 cups of coffee, and back off by one cup each day until your drinking none.

Oh, and I wanted to say that it is nice to hear that you’re concerned about your weight. So many people are oblivious to the health ramifications of being too heavy. But with all the work you do outside, loosing those 4+ pounds should happen quickly once the weather gets nicer. Rich was telling me the other day that he gains 20 – 30 pounds during the winter, then loses it in the first month or two after he starts installing pools in the spring. He’s sort of like a bear, storing up all that energy for and during the winter, and then burning it off during the summer.

Well, to work with me. Have a nice day, sweetie.

Tom

Dear   [Lynn],

Good morning you.

I’m up. Just had to respond to email from my manager and a developer from another group who was asking numerous questions about my software.

Yes, I found the prism. The top of it was bent a little but it is straight now. You are just so thoughtful. Thanks.

Too much energy? Hmmm. Sounds like a caffeine-induced high.      Well, you were probably all excited to go on that job that got delayed. That’s a letdown to be sure. I’m going to have some herbal tea here in a bit. Spearmint today.

Hauled the boxes up here from the basement last night after we got off the phone. Today, packing proper begins after work.

Have a sweet day, whatever you end up doing. More later.

Tom