Steady spinning & cholesterol

So I gave it a go yesterday. Thirty minutes on the stationary bike at the gym. A steady cadence of 96 rpm across levels 11 through 14. This is sort of the way my bike workouts have been for the past two months--lower intensity but faster spinning. A better deal for my foot. I'd say that I'm currently in maintenance mode until spring when I'll pick up the pace, and hopefully schedule some endurance events to take part in.

On a bad note, my cholesterol level is borderline high at 216. I rec'd my blood drive card last week from donating blood at work a month ago. The card listed my blood type and overall cholesterol level. I'll be receiving the full report, which shows the breakdown of my HDL, LDL, triglycerides, and other stuff, in the mail perhaps this week. Quite a bit disappointing since I thought I was taking care of myself rather carefully. I guess my family genetics is starting to show its influence (sigh).

BSG lesbo lovers rock!

Someone has got to give a raise to the guy who pitched the "lesbian" commercial during the Battlestar Galactica "Razor" episode last Friday. The station break immediately followed the implicit scene between the two women. Just 10 seconds and soooo funny:

"It's been revealed. Helena Cain and Gina Inviere are lovers. Brought to you by Quiznos."

Comet 17P/Holmes

So I saw the comet last night: 17P/Holmes. Space.com posted an article on it and I had to see if I could "naked eye" it from my backyard since the skies were clear. There was some light pollution from the moon and nearby Newark (boooo!), but there it was, below Cassiopeia and to the left of Mirfak. A fuzzy star-bright celestial body. Pretty cool.

Happy Halloween! :-)

Fix my g*dd*mn sole!

I've been so immersed in my new baby, my new job, and my year-long aching foot that I've pushed aside the workout interjections in my entries. Nonetheless, I really have been exercising.

Last Friday, Dr. W injected more cortizone into the heel of my foot. Geez, it grossed me out. I couldn't help but flinch. It went like this: he stuck in the needle, injected some juice, pulled out and reinserted at a different angle, injected more juice, pulled out and reinserted again, ... and again ... and again ... and again. Oh, and again. [wince]

The treatment was kinda like the way you would swish a drinking straw in an almost empty beverage container, searching for that last sip. But more painful.

The lesson for you all: for heaven's sake, have lots of sex / suck face take care of your plantar fascia!

"Math Doesn't Suck"

Thank you, Winnie Cooper Danica McKellar. I hope to give your book a read to get a glimpse of your "fun" perspective on arithmetic.

You go, Wonder Girl!

One, two, three, push!

She's here! She's here! She's here!

Sweet little Claire popped into the world Thursday afternoon. And after only less than three hours of labor -- a new family record! :-)

That's 6 lbs, 15 oz, and 20 inches of life-formed love.

Go baby go!

Pre-birth day

A cute little button and still in her mother's womb. This sonogram of little C's face was taken a week and half ago (Aug 6). Much sooner than that -- tomorrow, in fact -- she'll be popping out probably just around noon. Melinda is already at 40 weeks and at full term and still not contracting. Go figure.

Because of this and because she has gestational diabetes, she's scheduled to be induced soon after we check into the hospital bright and early at 7 am.

So yeah, tomorrow's the day. Baby 4 is on her way.

***

ps: We've already picked out the cutie's first name. Anyone want to take a guess? However, her middle name has yet to be decided, and my suggestion unfortunately has been denied by the mrs. (Sorry, Red Sonja 2.) So feel free to throw in your two cents.

Burning up the hills

A 39.5 mile hilly bike ride with Jay today. A casual conversational pace, as we normally prefer. Hit the road at 6:30 am, back at the parking lot at 9:30 am. And the whole day ahead to spend with our families. A transparent workout is what I call it; hardly anyone notices our time away. That's the way I like it -- minimal time impact.

The highlight of the ride was the culmination of my gym workouts in me tearing up the last and hardest hill of our route. A personal best as I perceived it -- upping to the big chainring and bigger gear ratio (53/19, I think), faster cadence, and a lower RPE of 13 (vs 20, last year). Yeah, baby!

Alpe d'Huez, here I come! :-)

My work toys

Yay, I get to play with a thinga-ma-scope! Actually, it's a portable patient monitoring device. And an ultra expensive one too. My coworker plopped it on top of my desk yesterday, since it'll be part of one of the projects that I'll be working on.

So I've been playing doctor with myself all yesterday and this morning. Been keeping my arm strapped to the device's accessories, which has been auto-reading my blood pressure and heart rate at intervals for hours. I averaged a BP of about 110/70 BP and a heart rate of 56 bpm. Ahhh, the cardiac benefits of road cycling are finally showing their colors. Now if only I could determine if my genetically ill-fated cholesterol level has lowered.

Can't wait to play with myself some more. ;-)

My career -- moving on

Yay, I got another job! A permanent position this time. With benefits. Yay, again! I start Monday.

It's been quite a busy few weeks. (I apologize for the lack of entries.) My consulting assignment ended today and I spent the afternoon sporadically visiting my coworkers' cubicles to say goodbye. I'd been consulting at that company since the end of February 2007.

Melinda says that I should have taken one or two days off before starting my new employment so we can have the family spend some time together. I agree, but after I set my starting date. What was I thinking?

Nonetheless, I'm excited. And Melinda and the kids are too. So celebrate we shall. Alrighty then ... Applebee's, here we come! :-)

Go job go!