I joined the gym

After quite a while of sporadically working out at home, I decided to join 24 Hour Fitness today. I think that making exercise an event rather than something I squeeze in "if I have time" will make me be more regular. Besides, I'll feel like I'm wasting my membership fee if I don't go. I also figured out rather quickly last summer when I was in Pulmonary Rehab that I like exercising in a climate-controlled environment and that I like variety in my cardio (I only have an exercise bike at home).

Tidings from my corner of existence

This is going to be a stream-of-consciousness post. Be warned.

Work is going well, albeit a bit slow. I am enjoying what I am working on but it seems all those in charge of doling out work don't want to dole out too much. This can get frustrating but considering the position many are in, I feel fortunate with the relative job security I do have. At this point, it does not seem that Aerospace is going to have any layoffs in the near future. I must say, I do like my job and the people I work with.

I have kept up with my expense tracking and budgeting but got lazy and didn't do a February summary post. I kept within my bounds with two exceptions. I didn't budget for clothing and went shopping for a few more nice shirts. I ended up buying a really nice (alas, also expensive) tie as well sort of impulsively but I had been intending to get a nice tie that wasn't dated for a while. I also spent a good portion of the month fighting a nasty case of pseudomonas and had a fair number of doctor visits and medicines for which to make co-payments. My grocery/entertainment/etc. budget came out something crazy like 7 cents under if I remember right. I started an ING Direct high-yield (1.65% APY, which is arguably not very high) savings account and funded it with my upcoming due student loan interest. I got a $25 bonus for opening the account.

When I bought my car about a year ago, there were several upgrades that I intended to make so I bought a bunch of parts. Then they sat in my garage for several months. A couple weekends ago I decided to start installing this stuff (power windows, power locks, keyless entry). Naturally, some of the parts I bought were wrong since I have a coupe and most Corollas of that era were sedans. I am now awaiting official Toyota parts ordered with official Toyota part numbers from an official Toyota parts counter. I also decided I don't need remote start and paging so I got a simpler system that will be easier to install and meet my needs better. Getting all this stuff installed will serve a dual purpose - I will not only be improving my car and making my driving experience more enjoyable, I will be clearing clutter from my garage.

I also ordered the last two o-rings for my motorcycle. Now I can drop the engine, Loctite and tighten the two bolts, install the two o-rings, and put it all back together. I'm hoping to do this in two weekends (coinciding with my next Friday off) which means I have to get the garage cleaned to a certain point before then. This will be good because the weather is finally starting to get nicer and riding season is getting close.

My health has been mostly lousy for a couple months. More on that in the next couple days on my health blog.

I've been watching Twin Peaks episodes to occupy the time while I'm on the exercise bike. Twin Peaks was a David Lynch TV show from the early 1990s about a logging town in Washington state. It's a great show and I am bummed it only lasted 2 seasons.

I'm teaching Bible Chewing and Beyond (basically how to get the most out of scripture and how to get the most of it in you) lesson 1 to the Christian Education committee in about an hour. This is my first solo teaching outing so I'm a little bit nervous but mostly excited - Sanctify has been working on the curriculum for a couple months now and I like the direction the church leadership is pointing the congregation.

I started Moby Dick at my infusion last Friday. I think this is the third time I've started reading it. I read about 150 pages in around 3 hours, which is about half the rate that I generally read Harry Potter. Moby Dick does have smaller print, and the English is definitely more refined and ornate.

That's about it for now, I'm considering taking a different approach to blogging and just pop on and write a paragraph every couple days instead of writing tomes every couple months. We'll see.