New Book and Other Random Thoughts

I just finished Tale of Two Cities. I know there are some people that don't like it; I thought most of the book was fine and the last 3-4 chapters were incredible. I have to admit that it has been a long time since a book almost made me cry.

Going into it, I didn't know much about it other than the title and the very first line: "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times." I was impressed how all the seemingly random chapters pulled together near the end. Even more impressive was when I read that Charles Dickens wrote and published a chapter a week in the periodical he was the editor of. Simply amazing. I don't want to give too much of it away, but the two cities are London and Paris in the years/months/days before and during the bloody French Revolution.

Now I'm on to The Arabian Nights - or more specifically, an abbreviated edition of it (since the whole thing is several volumes long). It's still the original Richard Burton translation, though. First impressions: No paragraphs! Arrg! Just one gigantic wall of text with no convenient place to take a break. Not only that, but it didn't take me long to understand why there have been objections to it over the years. It can be a bit...umm...risque in some scenes. It's definately not a book for kids...even if there are kid cartoons based on many of the stories. It caught me a bit off guard.

On a completely separate topic, I haven't posted as much here as I might have because of Facebook. It's terribly easy just to toss up a one sentence update on little minor events (or not so minor sometimes) that there doesn't seem to be as much need for a long-winded post. (Or maybe there is...since I'm doing one right now.) On the other hand, maybe it will let me focus my writing a little more. Who knows?

Weightlifting/swimming is going great! I'm loving being able to push myself physically. My muscles don't get sore anymore, but I do get tired. I'm pretty sure it's helping me sleep better as well.

Last little item...okay, it's a big one. Early last week I was approached by my boss's boss. Due to a large decrease in revenue from our team, we are going to lose several people. Jobs aren't being cut, they are just being moved elsewhere. Long story short, I was asked if I would be interested in a Facilities Manager type position, as the person currently doing that type of work is the Executive Secretary and she no longer has the time availablity to do it. I said yes, and was officially offered the position yesterday. So, even though I had a recent promotion, I'm moving out of my current role into a completely different field.

I'm excitied but also have a bit of that "deer in the headlights" feeling. The transition doesn't happen until next week, so it has been massively chaotic around here as we scramble to reorganize the team. I'm finally out of customer service! Currently, the position is only for the building here in town, but it will grow to include all the other offices across the country. It's a big opportunity for me and one that I feel honored to have been thought of as being capable for the role. There are still a lot of details to work out; although the responsibilities aren't new, the actual position is. And I'm the first one to hold it!

Workout Wonder

My workouts are going well. I'm even keeping a workout log at a weightlifting website where I can track my progress. So what exactly am I doing? Well, it's called a 5x5 workout. You start with an empty bar (in most cases) and add 5 pounds each workout. So far it has been easy, except for the bodyweight exercises (push ups, pull ups, etc.). I've been trying to work on my form so I don't kill myself as the weights go up.

It has been extremely nice to know exactly what I'm going to do when I get there. I can go it, set myself up, do my workout, and leave...all under an hour. At some point I'm going to add cardio workouts (i.e. swimming), but for now I'm just working on increasing my strength. Now that I'm doing something, I don't feel like I have to get in the pool right now. That being said, I do have a bunch of swimming workouts planned - workout that I have collected from when I was in the swim conditioning class and participating in the Masters swimming at WSU. The question is which to start with; which one will make me look the least like a drowning rat?

If I Was Unbalanced, Could I Do...This? (::insert awkward pose here::)

As a youth, I was never considered a jock or a nerd. Yes, I was athletic and yes, I did think of myself a quite smart (even if my grades didn't reflect it), but I didn't fit into either category. (Looking back, I admit I wasn't smart enough to think there might be more than two possibilities.) I had heard the phrase "jack of all trades" fairly early in life and attached myself to that - only to later hate that I was never passionate about any one thing. But that is going in a different direction than I want to go right now.

In my first year in college, I came across the term "philosopher-king" in my classical reading. This is a concept of someone who is strong physically like a traditional strongman-type "king" but who also trains his mind to be an equally strong "philosopher." The idea was that a perfect ruler would combine both worlds of jock and nerd. At the time, it was a mind-opening concept for me. Even now, I love the thought of living a balanced life of the physical, mental, and spiritual.

So, with that in mind, I've found a gym that has a pool. Now, in addition to my classic reading kick I've been on lately, I'll have the opportunity to workout as well. I'll be alternating swimming workouts with free weights.

3 Month Goals:

• Squat 150 lbs (5 sets of 5 reps)
• Deadlift 225 lbs (1 set of 5 reps)
• Bench Press 115 lbs (5 sets of 5 reps)
• Overhead Press 75 lbs (5 sets of 5 reps)

6 Month Goals:

• Squat 195 lbs (5 sets of 5 reps)
• Deadlift 270 lbs (1 set of 5 reps)
• Bench Press 135 lbs (5 sets of 5 reps)
• Overhead Press 105 lbs (5 sets of 5 reps)

...and I'm starting tonight.

More Updates

Sheesh...seems like I've been playing catch-up too much lately. But, ah well. Here's the latest scoop:

I just finished reading Black Beauty, which I thought I had read before but apparently I haven't. I didn't realize (or forgotten) that it was written from the horse's point of view. It's one that I think I might have to read to my girls. They would absolutely love it.

Since I finished that, I've moved on to The Miracle of Forgiveness. I decided to move off the fiction again and go on to something a little more "weighty." I've read parts of this before, but never cover to cover. I'm only on the third chapter, but I realize I have some spiritual things I need to work on/fix in my life.

Along those lines, Leslie and I bought an exercise bike last week. With the exception of Sunday, we have both put in a half-hour a day so far. I found out a few months ago that I was officially overweight...not but much, but there it is. So I'm doing something about it.

Shape Up, Eh?

Today was the first day in a new exercise program I've started. It's called "5BX" meaning Five Basic Exercises. I came across it recently, but it is an old program that was used by the Royal Canadian Airforce. I honestly didn't even know the Canadians HAD an airforce. I guess I am just another ignorant American.

In any case, I won't go into all the details; you can click on the link above to read more about it if you're that interested. It was an easy start, so we'll see how it goes. More to come...