As I sit here typing this entry, I’m enjoying a fresh cup of Peet’s Guatemala Coffee (thank you Ken, Ken and Chris). I’m enjoying this fantastic coffee in a new Alterra coffee cup (thank you Mike), while I download free songs from Napster (thank you Holly). My new 40GB iPod is currently syncing 18.9GB of music upstairs on my main workstation (thank you Mom) and my new Scott eVest is hanging on the back of my chair (thank you NPUG). I don’t mean to gloat, but a little over a week ago was my birthday and I have to say I made out like a bandit!
For starters, my Mom flew us to Chicago for the weekend. We flew up late Friday evening so that we could get a good start on the day. Saturday morning we drove up to Woodstock, Illinois to pick apples. There was a Canadian cold front that made it breezy and chilly and the temperatures were down in the 40’s for most of the weekend. That didn’t stop us from picking three bags of apples though. 🙂 We picked Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Winesap and some others that I forget the name of. We then made our way further north into Wisconsin and made a stop for some cheese at the Mars Cheese Castle and for some apple pie at the Apple Holler. Before making our way up to Milwaukee, we took a side trip over to Waterford to see Waterford Precision Cycles. There wasn’t much to see since they are located in a business park, not to mention closed, but it was neat to see where these fantastic bicycles are made.
Month / October 2004
Sizing Myself Up
I’ve entered this weird state of limbo. I’m having a hard time defining my self-image because I don’t have my usual reference points. I’ve been through the South Beach program, I’m cycling more than ever, clothes are hanging off of me, yet my scale doesn’t yield. I seem to be hovering at the same weight even though by every indication, I appear to be losing weight. Couple that with other changes in my life and it’s become more and more difficult for me to “size myself up”.
At the prime age of 36, I had reached the pinnacle of my portliness and so I decided to do something about it. I was tired of having to move up a size every time I went shopping for new clothes. I was tired of my current clothes getting smaller and smaller. I had begun a little bit of excising at the gym during 2003, but I wasn’t really committed to it. So at the start of 2004, I got on the South Beach diet and kicked my exercise into high gear.
I lost some weight and my clothes were getting loose again. As I added more cycling to my workouts, I added back more and more carbs and sugars because my body needed them. As things currently stand, I’m out of phase 3 and have been for awhile, but my clothes still kept getting bigger, so I didn’t mind. If it wasn’t for that darn scale not budging, I probably wouldn’t be thinking twice about it, but as I look at the television and see football players who are taller than me and weigh less than me, I can’t help but think that I’m a long way from where I want to be. Am I really losing my love handles if the scale won’t budge? Am I still fat?
How we perceive ourselves is one of the most relative things in the world. There are hugely obese people that think they are super-sexy and there are anorexic people who think their fat. So it’s obvious that a person’s self image is not based on what is reflected in the mirror. My self image has changed several times over the years and I’ve never really settled into a comfortable grasp of what my true self looks like.
Have Handhelds Jumped The Shark?
On Monday pa1m0ne released their latest device, the Tungsten T5, and as I looked over the details I had a sudden strange thought. A la Carrie Bradshaw, I couldn’t help but wonder, have handhelds “jumped the shark?”
In case you’re not familiar with the term, “jumping the shark” refers to an episode of Happy Days in which Fonzie performs a water ski jump over a shark tank. That became the definitive episode which marked the beginning of the end for the popular television show. So, to put in another way, I guess what I’m asking is, do you think that handhelds have become passe?
I have to ask this question, because I’m simply too close to be objective. Since 1997, I’ve been a vocal evangelist for Palm OS handhelds having started the Kansas City Palm Users Group and the Nashville Palm Users Group, which is about to celebrate it’s 5th Birthday. I’ve also been active with InterPUG, the Palm OS User Council, not to mention countless online communities. My consulting firm has been involved with training, public speaking and even writing custom software for Palm OS and I’m now getting involved with a radio show on the subject.
With all of this involvement with Palm OS, you’d think that I would be the last one to suggest that handhelds are no longer relevant, but I think that’s what I find so shocking. If I’M thinking it, then perhaps the shark was jumped a long time ago. With my love affair being so strong, perhaps I’m the jilted lover and as such, I’m the last to know? So I need you to “give it to me straight” and tell me the truth.
My hope is that it’s just me. After eight years of involvement with Palm OS, I may be jaded. There’s very little out there that surprises me, having seen all that Palm OS can do (and it can do A LOT), so maybe I’ve become numb to handhelds in some way. When I first became involved with the operating system it was new and exciting, but like any relationship, things mellow and become familiar. Am I simply longing for the “new” for the sake of being new as Mike Rohde suggested, or has Palm OS simply run it’s course?
Can You Hear Me Now?
I know I haven’t posted here in a long time. I’ve been out of town a good bit and under a deluge of work, which is always a good thing, and I just got back from a two-day ride with my buddy Dan and I hope to have a travelogue posted one day, but in the meantime, you can at least see the route we took at this link.