Fun and Games Dept

269.365, originally uploaded by iMachias.

No matter what the economic climate is, we should always strive to make the world a better place. The pay cuts at work earlier this year sort of pissed me off. I have to admit that I was a little surprised to find out that the company was still having a United Way campaign.

Today I decided that I have it really good in life and to give back to the community, so I am continuing my United Way contributions next year. During the meeting kicking off the event, I answered a question correctly and won this t-shirt. It fits beautifully.

And it’s a reminder on how good my life really is.

268.365, originally uploaded by iMachias.

I have grown tired of trying eat healthy. Strike that. I have grown tired of eating food that is marked “healthy”. Protein shakes, snack bars, fiber nuggets, low carb this, no fat that, here a calorie, there a calorie, calorie digits four. I don’t know what that last one was but it seemed like it fit the rhythm.

Why do we obsess about what we eat these days? Am I alone in obsessing about this sort of thing? About a week ago I issued a household decree that I was going to eat normally. Another adjective that was fired off was ‘reasonably.’ I am going to eat a reasonable amount of normal food and be done with it.

Am I drinking sugar-laden soda pop? No. Am I eating a ton of junk food. Well, I’m trying not to but when McD’s is calling at 11 p.m. and you have two other willing people to ride through the drive thru with you sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. I compromised though, I didn’t get fries nor did I get a sugary soda pop.

A month ago my Twitter feed would read: “Eating lunch – a salad with a suggestion of dressing. Or maybe it’s just a hint of dressing. Either way the leaves are wet.” Now doesn’t that sound appetizing. For the past week I have eaten a homemade sandwich (usually turkey and mustard) on wheat, a small amount of chips and a couple of glasses of iced tea for lunch. Did I lose weight? No. Did I gain weight? No. Apparently I have been installed at 189.2 and the gods and scale have decided that my bulge ain’t budging up or down. I went on vacation for week. 189.2. I starved myself for two days. 189.2. I rode 10 miles on a bike. I rode 50 miles on a bike. I walked, I ran. I pooped.

189.2

I guess this is where I was meant to be. I might as well eat normally whilst I’m here.

Some pictures from tonight’s pumpkin carving. I decided to try to make a little movie.

Download Pumpkin Carving

258b.365, originally uploaded by iMachias.

They say we are under a Winter Storm Watch tonight with up to seven inches of snow expected. Earl and I readied the back patio and made sure we were ready by gassing up the snowblower.

Ironically, it is gorgeous today. I decided to take some photos in the back yard celebrating how I feel today. The big guy expressed his pleasure with my decision to go back to the big ‘stache.

This afternoon I am in Lynchburg, Virginia. I am currently sitting in a Panera enjoying a (relatively) healthy lunch and using the wi-fi for a bit. The drive has been spectacular today. I’m taking mostly back roads; the leaves are just starting to change in these parts and the sun is shining brightly. It’s around 65 degrees Fahrenheit.

I spent last night in Winchester with our friend Thom (see ‘Thoughts Made Bald’ in the blogroll). Thom and I have chatted for a number of years online and Earl and I  have met him in person before. We both enjoy cycling and more importantly, Thom holds the distinction of being the first reader of my blog to ever reveal himself to me, way back in 2001.

Thom has been feeling a little bit under the weather for the past couple of days so we didn’t go for as long of a bike ride as originally planned, but yesterday afternoon we took a respectable jaunt around the area. He has warned me over the years that he’s not a fast rider and was worried that I would be bored. The bike ride worked me out a little more than anticipated because if anything, he is not a slow rider by any means. Our ride went at a pretty good pace. It was good to ride with someone else.

After the ride we relaxed a bit and grabbed some dinner. It was a good night and he was an excellent host. Earl and I look forward to returning the favour the next time he’s passing through our area (he makes a yearly jaunt to Quebec every summer).

This morning I was up and about and on the road, opting to head through Central Virginia. Right now I’m on the route I believe we took back in 1976 when my family was down here bringing my aunt back home to Blackstone, Va.  ‘Tis true; I have roots in these parts (I told my friend Shirley that some of my kin lived here) and I’m enjoying the exploration off the beaten path.

It’s a well-established fact that I am a road geek. Driving the roads is what I do for enjoyment and this is what fuels much of my adventure time.  Today I walked on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. It wasn’t the first time that I have done this.

Here, I made a little movie for you.

After walking on that abandoned section of the Turnpike, I stopped at a lookout over where I was standing.   The view was beautiful.

By the way, I mention in the video that I would give the directions on how to get where I hiked up onto the road.  It’s pretty easy.  From Breezewood, Pa. (Turnpike Exit 161), take US Route 30 East to PA Route 915 NORTH. Take 915 NORTH a few miles to your first turn on the left, which will be Oregon Rd. This is a barely maintained road so you might want to have a sturdy vehicle. Go in a couple of miles to the Oregon Camp buildings and park along the left side of the road. There is a barrier to prevent motorised vehicles from entering the public trail, just follow the trail about 3/4 mile to the roadway. You’ll literally merge on as if you were merging into traffic.

Here’s the view from the hill atop the tunnel. I remembered to smile for the camera this time.

After heading back to Breezewood I jumped onto Interstate 70 south and then took US Route 522 South through that sliver of Maryland, a suggestion of West Virginia and now I’m in Virginia. I’m going to meet up with Thom in a little while for our ride; I’m hoping the weather clears up because right now it doesn’t look like ideal riding weather.

Ironically, one of my most favourite “Pet Shop Boys sounding” tracks is not by the Pet Shop Boys at all.

Here’s Electronic with “Disappointed”.

290B.365, originally uploaded by iMachias.

After the wild ride at work today, all I could do was relax when I got home. Now I’m going to bed.

Yesterday Earl and I decided to take a drive up into the Adirondacks. It’s fall foliage season in these parts and while it’s not quite peak season yet the colours are quite impressive. It wasn’t a long drive to our first stop, the hamlet of Old Forge.

An impressive display of colour in front of the old Howard Johnson’s in Old Forge.

Earl and I walked around town a bit, stopping at the various shops and admiring this and that. One of our stops included the “Life Is Good” store, which was quite busy.

Earl poses with a friend.

We also went to Old Forge Hardware which has much more than hardware, in fact, they bill themselves as the most general store in the Adirondacks. It’s here that I bought a new Whirley-Pop and some gourmet popcorn, as well as some treats for Tom. On our way out of the store I noticed some a wild selection of colours in the distance, so I had to snap a photo.

Colourful leaves in the background and by chance a hot biker in the foreground.

There were a lot of folks riding their bikes and dressed in full leather, if you happen to notice that sort of thing.

After Old Forge we headed north and drove through the Fulton Chain of Lakes and then headed further north into the more desolate area of the Adirondacks, winding our way through several hamlets and towns along the way.

Raquette Lake.

After driving north an hour or two we came across a sign that indicated we were pretty much in the middle of nowhere, so I turned left and made the 105 mile trek to Watertown. By then it was dark and rainy so we decided to catch a movie before heading home. We got to the theatre just in time to see “Fame”. I wouldn’t consider it a waste of money in any way but I felt like I was just skimming through a plot without any sort of depth at all. There were women in front of us who squealed before the show started that they were going to sing along with the soundtrack; it’s too bad there’s only one song from the original in the show and it doesn’t really lend itself to singing along. I’m glad they didn’t sing.

We got home around 12:30. All in all it was a good Jeep adventure.

Oh, naturally I took my obligatory 365 days photo along the way.

Earl runs the camera.

More pics from the trip are available here.