Time to Hulk up

So, I'm halfway through the first day.  I'm feeling fine.  Stomach and intestines gurgle once in a while.  Occasionally, the desire for food pops in my head, mild cravings so far include: Taco Bell and lasagna.  I smash these thoughts and cravings as though I was the Incredible Hulk using his catch-phrase.  A couple of times I've even said "smash" outloud.  Midday time for the beet and cucumber juice.  I dislike the taste of beets; its my number one least favorite food item and I don't have a number 2 least favorite food item.  But, I accepted the beets into this fast because they are good for you.

Well.  So, it here goes.   Gross.  The most positive thing I can say is that the color of the juice is pretty.  Having added cucumber makes it taste less like a beet.  But that flavor does dominate the drink still.

Attempting a juice fast

Abdomen: 56.5"
Weight >320 lbs (my bathroom scales top out at 308.5, but was able to use a friend's scale last week and I was 321 pounds then and around 56")
Activity level: 14,200 steps today

I used to think that overeating differed from alcoholism and smoking addiction in that people with those habits could theoretically stop doing those things altogether and not die. Whereas one simply can not just stop eating. When it comes to my addictions, I only seem to only have an on/off switch, I don't seem to be able to just dial it down a bit.  Recently, I saw a documentary about juice fasting, which seems like the closest I can come to stop eating without completely ruining my health or productivity.

So I did some research before deciding to make this a part of my life.  There is a wealth of information available.  Many others have put forth their lessons learned, cautions, and recipes.  

Thursday, I picked up a juicer at Macy's, made by Breville, model JE98XL.  It was the last one and since some of the components came from the display unit, I requested and received a 10% discount.

Friday, I purchased the items I needed to do a 3 day juice fast.  It only cost $60, which is better than I expected.  $20/day isn't too bad since in the past I've spent as much $750/month.  Some of the recipes I found produced way too much juice while others produced very little so I made note of how many ounces I ended up with and adjusted the amount of ingredients since my machine may be more or less effective that then machine used by others.

While in the grocery store acquiring my items, I started to feel a little emotional about doing this juice fast.  I thought the random emotions and depression happened on the 2nd or 3rd day into it.  Apparently, I'm feeling something already.  These feelings remind me of the range of emotions Beatrix Kiddo was having at the end of Kill Bill II.  Are those laugh/cries of joy & sadness mixed together?  I guess what I'm feeling is that this fast represents my failure to control what I eat and keep from becoming obese.  Also, I feel some sense of elation over what I hope, I will accomplish through this diet reboot.

We shall see.

Subdivided receipt

It'd be great if grocery and department stores could subdivide our receipts into sections by product type with subtotals.  For instance, one grocery store that I use does group the purchases into categories like dairy, meat and bread but there's still only one total at the bottom.  Subdividing would be most beneficial at large department stores like Target or Walmart since they have a wide range of products from groceries to automotive.  For someone - and I'm sure there are many - who is operating on a budget, this would speed up the time spent tracking how much one is spending on different types of products. 

In the meantime, I'll continue to decipher the store codes on the receipt and add up each item in their separate categories on my own.

Camping at New Brighton State Beach, Capitola, CA

I like this place.  Especially after having been sand-blasted, wind-burned and subjected to 40 degree (F) wind chill factor at Jalama Beach.  When I first arrived though, I thought, 'oh great now I'm at a campground with 1,000 children and a campsite in the direct sun.'  I feel like I can't breath when the air is hot and was tired of being overexposed to the elements by this point.  However, I soon realized that with all the tall trees at this place, the sun would cast a shadow where I could easily seek shade.   Although the campground is up on a bluff, getting down to the beach was very quick and easy and totally worth it. 

The beach here is narrow, but its filled with lots of people clearly having a good time.  This is also an interesting beach since its on Monterrey Bay and there appears to be lots of driftwood and fire rings available.  A short walk heading northwest reveals a cliff face with several layers of shell fossils which was very cool indeed.  I wonder how many millions of years ago each layer represents and shall endeavor to learn about this some more.  Perhaps there's a book I should acquire.

I also realized that while there are many families around, most parents put their kids to bed early versus a campground filled with twenty-somethings staying up until 3 AM with their drunken drum circles.  So, this place suddenly got very quiet around 9PM, and since kids were sleeping, the adults were also being very quiet so as to not wake the kids.

The amenities include bathrooms, coin operated showers, plenty of dumpsters and recycling bins and the campsites are spacious.  The sites around the edges are enshrouded in trees while the central campsites are more open.  This campground isn't overly manicured so the grass is tall and has a rustic feel to it despite being near an urban are.

I stayed at site 69 which is tent only and there was a full family next to me.  The huge plus about this site is that its at the end of the line.  So there was only the forest and the things that lurk in there on the other side of me and very few passersby.  Everyone here is cordial and I felt safe.  Since most groups are families and I encountered no loaners I didn't strike up a conversation with anyone.  In the future I will seek a site similar to #69 by being on the periphery, however I will look for something that is a little closer to the bathrooms since I often have to go when enjoying bourbon by the campfire and it is far to quiet for me to get away with pissing in the woods near my campsite.

Spatial Temporal Organization

A while ago I was lamenting my lack of productivity.  Then it occurred to me that the place where I eat, watch TV, work and do pretty much everything are all the same spot; sitting in the same chair at the same desk and computer.  So this semester I decided to separate those things.

So far I at least get my work done at my desk at school.  Some entertainment does take place there (Hulu & Facebook).  I also save time on the commute, since I now spend half of my Mondays through Thursdays at school, working from 8 AM to 8 PM but at least it gets done there.  I view it as my job, since "student" is what I put on my tax return and its the reason behind my primary sources of money.

Now I need to separate it a little further.  Somehow separate the eating from the entertainment and work. This may be hard to do, but I'll try to figure something out soon.

Considerateness

I had a good friend who had one set of rules for his room mates, which were the three Cs; Cleanliness, Courtesy-ness and Considerateness.  These seem like a good philosophy to have when one has to share space with others in modern society.  This post of course is not for those that intend to live alone and not interact with others or only intend to interact with others who tolerate their every activity.  This post is for those that choose to live amongst other people especially in a populated area where many share public spaces.

There are too many that seem to be living in a vacuum, especially here in the Greater Los Angeles Area.  This attitude is surprising to me because I would assume that when one shares an area with 18 million others that people would be more accommodating but apparently the majority seem to more concerned with ignoring the others around them.  Or at the very least many seem to have a complete lack of concern over how their actions effect others.  There's much evidence of this on the highways which I'll be sure to expound upon in later posts.

Specifically, today I encountered two examples.  The first is a neighbor who, on Sunday morning, has her lawn sprinklers come on at 8 AM.  These sprinklers spray across each other, over the sidewalk and onto cars parked along the street.  I've observed people on their morning walk having to go out into the street to avoid getting soaked including a mother with a toddler in a stroller.  Perhaps this neighbor is unaware of when her sprinklers come on, or she doesn't know how to adjust them.  Whatever the reason may be, it seems to me that one should have awareness of how their possessions are affecting others.  For instance one wouldn't start mowing the lawn at 6:30 AM even though the sun has risen, I think many know that such an action would be considered rude.  So, why let other actions have an equally as rude of an effect.

The other example is one I'm sure many others have come across too and that is people who let their dogs take a dump without picking it up.  Someone then steps in this and then tracks dog shit into their car and apartment.  This is just wrong and rude.

Sometimes I wonder if these actions are just mindlessness or are people just being inconsiderate towards others because someone was inconsiderate towards them.

So what is the best way forward, should I become the one who polices everyone's actions?  Or send the neighbor a letter?  Should we establish laws or some other method of repercussions?  One thing I am working on is being more tolerant.  I try to let things wash over me; but must I always be the one who gives way to everyone else when so many seem to just take and take and take whatever others will give them.  Is it possible to become the kind of person that laughs at getting dog shit stuck in their sneaker?  Although I am working on being more zen about things, since I'm not there yet, hopefully bitching about inconsiderateness within the blogosphere will be enough to satiate my needs, otherwise I might snap and give one these people a verbal thrashing.

Time Travel Limitations

I just finished watching Slaughterhouse-Five, the 1972 film adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s novel (1969) of the same name.  Back when I used to get DVDs from those mail order clubs, this film was always prominently featured but I never ordered it.  So it was nice to finally see it.  The biggest thing that strikes me about watching these older flicks is how many ideas that I once thought as unique in more recent movies may actually have come from the older film.  For instance, the scenes with Billy Pilgrim in the dome being observed by the omni-present but unseen Tralfamadorians who wanted the humans to perform made me think of The Truman Show by Peter Weir, Andrew Niccol and Jim Carrey.  

But the main concept from Slaughterhouse that I wish to explore is this idea that our main character jumps through time but only within his own lifetime.  For Slaughterhouse-Five each time period is about the main character so it is relevant that the time travel be limited to his lifetime.  What I find interesting is that this concept is also the main theme to Quantum Leap by Donald Bellisario, Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell, where Dr. Sam Beckett jumps through time into other people's lives but only during his own lifetime.   

Why only during his own lifetime? 

Another show that comes to mind is Journeyman (2007) by Kevin Falls and Kevin McKidd.  This was a short-lived TV show where the main character jumps through time but unlike Leap he is seen as himself from his native time.  However, similar to Quantum Leap the protagonists' objective is to help someone. 

Donnie Darko is a little different.  This movie allows the viewer to witness parallel lifetimes and most of the events occur within one of the timeframes of Donnie's life but apparently events from this timeline can affect the other timeline.  Or Donnie has a superpower.  I need to re-watch this again to really get a grasp on what happens when.  However, I'm not so sure that this film applies to the question that I am attempting to address here.

There are plenty of websites that categorize the different time travel rules that have been established in Sci-Fi.  Such as the timeline is fixed and nothing can change it (Terminator) or you can go back change something that might erase your existence (Back to the Future), etc.  So I won't attempt to define all the different theories of time travel here. 

The reason for this posting

I'm sure there are other films and probably ten times the number of books with this common theme of jumping through time with the caveat of the time frame being limited to one's own lifetime.    I'd be interested in hearing from those who know better than I, what these other books and films are.  I'm curious as to where the idea for this limitation was conceived and how its been applied to help explain why this limitation should or should not exist.

It'd be uninteresting to find that this concept simply originated from Slaughterhouse-Five.  I suspect that it may have been suggested in a Star Trek episode or an even earlier sci-fi short story.  I suppose the immediate benefit of limiting travel to one's one lifetime is that there's less chance of one person completely altering life on Earth as we know it in the present, since one can only go back 20-60 years.  Plus it limits the vast majority of characters living in 2012, for instance, from going back to influence some profoundly significant event like Pearl Harbor or the JFK assassination.  Another benefit is that the traveler can never be certain of when they die since they could only theoretically travel up to that moment but not see beyond it to know for sure if that is when they ceased to breath.  Therefore, this limitation reduces the chance that a character would become motivated to prevent their demise .