I bought a couple new bird feeders from Amazon. They are fine and all, but when you buy online you really can’t judge sizes and these things are really small. I am disappointed. Maybe I’ll go to Home Depot or Lowes and try again. Not until we get home from Florida though. These will do for now, even if the blue jays in the yard are pissed because they are too big to sit on the ledge. Sorry, blue jays.
Robin watched me hang the new bird feeders through the dirty window screen. She’s still sitting there but she’s chirping at the birds and the squirrels and the chipmunks. I think she wants to get out there and kill some stuff.
I can’t believe it has been two years. It simultaneously feels like yesterday and a thousand years ago.
Saturday (two days ago) was the two year anniversary of my weight loss surgery. The full gastric bypass procedure that my guts and I went through on May 4, 2022 has changed my life, health wise.
When I list off the best decisions I have made in my life, Marrying Jen is first by a landslide. It is first by a tidal wave. Not just marrying her, but going on that first date, moving in together, meeting the kids, all of it. That’s number one and nothing else even comes close.
It’s a close call for the second most important decision in my life. It might be going back to school in 1997 and everything that came with it over the following seven years or so that lead to my Bachelors degree. If it’s not that, then it’s getting the gastric bypass surgery. From a health care stand point, the surgery is definitely number one. Even after all of this time I still cannot believe how different I feel. It’s starting to become less impactful as I am more and more removed from my former self, but I’m still close enough to the changes that when I stop and think of it I still can’t believe it.
I weighed 452 pounds when I started the process. I weighed about 431 pounds when I actually went under the knife. On Saturday I celebrated the second anniversary by stepping on the scale. I weighed 211.2 pounds. One decimal point placement away from a Rush reference. Ah, hells. I am down 220.2 pounds since surgery and 240.8 pounds since deciding to have the surgery. My brain can’t wrap itself around the idea that I have lost more weight than I currently weigh. I lost the equivalent of a mildly overweight adult male.
It hasn’t been easy. It will never be easy. I am always at the mercy of my newly redesigned stomach. Every now and then it’s going to rebel and show me who’s boss. It happened last Friday and it destroyed me for about 18 hours. Here we are three days later and I am still not quite right. I had a plan for lunch today and I scrapped it because my stomach was feeling weird. It was a little pain, a little gassy discomfort, and a little bit just a sense of being wrong. I’m on edge right now for all things stomach so I errored on the side of caution and went with something very light and simple and small for lunch. We’ll see how I feel in a few hours when it comes to dinner time.
Would I recommend this surgery to everyone? I don’t know. I don’t think so. The variables involved are a combination of how bad is your situation and how difficult is the post-processing. I almost went through with this thing a few years before I did, but the idea of all of the restrictions post-op scared me away. Never eating sugar again? Never drinking soda again? No, I wasn’t up for that at the time. Then in 2022 I was in such a terrible state with my weight that suddenly those brutal restrictions (not to mention the changes to how you eat and when you eat and how you chew and how you swallow your food and all of that) seemed like a small price to pay.
It worked out for me. I don’t want to be the kind of guy who encourages people to go through this sort of thing. You need to come to that conclusion on your own. For me though… I would do it all again in a heartbeat. No question. No hesitation. It is the best decision I’ve ever made for my health. Apart from being with my wife and my family, it’s probably the best decision I’ve ever made, period.
Wish me and my new digestive system a happy 2nd anniversary. Many happy returns, you wild and crazy, temperamental stomach.
The first round of the 2024 NHL Playoffs wrapped up last night and the second round kicked off last night as well. Worlds colliding, the universe is spinning out of control! I need to write another predictions post!
Let’s review my picks from the first round, including my coin flip picks. The Bruins won so that’s all that matters, but we’ll review anyway.
In the East…
Panthers vs Lightning. I hate them both. I picked Tampa Bay and Florida won. Pricks. I am 0/1. The coin picked Tampa Bay too so we’re both 0/1.
Bruins vs Maple Leafs. Nothing else matters. The Bruins won and all was right with the world, even though it stressed me out like crazy over the last three games. Damn, Bruins. I clearly picked the Bruins so I am 1/2. The coin toss picked the Bruins as well. We’re both 1/2.
The Rangers vs the Capitals. Damn if I don’t hate both of these teams too. The Rangers won easy. I picked the Caps because I suck at this. The coin picked the Caps too because the coin sucks at this too. We’re both 1/3.
Whalers vs Islanders. Again… hate for both teams. I picked the Whale and the coin picked the Islanders. Finally some tension here! Who won? The Whale. I am 2/4 and the coin is 1/4.
On to the West!
Stars vs Golden Knights. This is the series that ended last night with a game seven. I picked Dallas and the coin picked Vegas. Who won game seven? Dallas. I was right, the coin was wrong. I am 3/5 and the coin is 1/5.
Jets vs Avalanche. I didn’t follow a single second of this series. I picked the Jets and the Avs won. The coin picked the Avs. Oh well. I am 3/6 and the coin is 2/6 and catching up to me.
Canucks vs Predators. I went with the underdog and I was wrong wrong wrong. I picked the Preds and the Canucks won. Fortunately for the predictions competition, the coin picked the Predators too. I am 3/7 and the coin is 2/7.
Oilers vs Kings. I like the Kings. I kinda like the Oilers. I picked the Oilers. So did the coin toss. The Oilers won. That brings me up to 4/8 and the coin is 3/8.
Two important statistical notes. First, I am at 50% which is really the best I can ever hope for. More importantly I beat the coin. Oh yeah, that’s what I am talking about. I’m better than blind random luck, babie! Nice!
Now for the second round, starting in the East…
Panthers vs Bruins. I am still so intensely pissed off over the Bruins choking last year and losing to the Panthers that I may never forgive them. A second round win this year will not erase last year’s shame… but it would be a nice start. Clearly I am picking the Bruins even though the Panthers are probably favored. The coin flip is tails. The higher seed is heads and the lower seed is tails, so the coin picks the Bruins as well.
Rangers vs Whalers. This is a little tough here. Game one already happened and the Rangers won. Does that color my choice? Nope. Even though I hate New York sports teams with the fiery passion of a million burning suns, I was going to pick the Rangers all along. Last night’s game doesn’t change anything. The coin flip is tails, so it picks the Whale.
Now we move over to the West…
Stars vs Avalanche. These two have a history, don’t they? Dallas vs Colorado always sees me siding with Colorado. Thanks to Ray Bourque, I think. I am picking the Avs out of loyalty. The coin also picked Colorado. That’s three tails in a row. Only one more to go.
Canucks vs Oilers. No question this time. Oilers all the way. The coin flip is finally not tails. The coin pics Vancouver.
There you have it, the third round will be Boston vs New York which is freakin’ epic in scope. The west will be Colorado vs Edmonton. You heard it here first, hockey fans!
I asked Google Gemini about the Boston/Florida series. Specifically, I asked the following:
Who do you think will win the playoff series between the Boston Bruins and the Florida Panthers
Gemini’s response?
Predicting the winner of the Bruins-Panthers series is tough! Here’s a breakdown to help you form your own opinion:
Regular Season: The Bruins swept the season series 4-0, with two overtime victories.
Recent Form: Boston needed a hard-fought Game 7 overtime win against Toronto, while Florida swept the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games.
Last Year’s Playoffs: The Panthers pulled off a massive upset, winning Game 7 in overtime after Boston led 3-1. This adds a revenge factor for the Bruins.
While the Bruins dominated the regular season matchup, playoff hockey is a different beast. Experts are leaning slightly towards the Panthers, but both teams have strong arguments.
The downside of being sick all night Friday and then spending the weekend away from home is that none of my regular weekend errands were done. This morning before work I had to go grocery shopping because our cupboards were bare and our ‘fridge was empty. I only had a short time because… yeah, I overslept a bit (sorry) but I got it done, babie
Speed shopping! Winning!
249/365
hehe redbox
Stoplight Theater
I tried to get a picture of a cat for today’s photo a day but she moved and I moved and I was left with a blurry mess. Oh well.
When I was in college, also in the dark days between college stints, I did a lot of temp work. Having jobs for one day only is something I have some experience with. It is not something I would ever chose to do again. In the interest of day dreams and this discussion though…
I could handle being a professional musician for a day. I mean, sure, I’ve been paid to play music a whole bunch of times in the past, but I’ve always been an amateur at best. Not even that, more like a hobbiest who got lucky a few times. I never played a gig that payed enough to consider a living wage. My pay outs have been more like beer money. It sure would be nice to make music for a living, even if it’s just for a day.
What else… It would be fun to be an astronomer for a day. Maybe pitch in on the search for the theoretical planet nine. It could be out there, somewhere. I could go for being a photographer for a living for a day. I have a day off this week and I was hoping to play photographer but… you guessed it… rain. I wouldn’t mind being a professional computer programmer for a day. Wait… what?
Okay. It’s Monday and I have a ton of stuff to get done before work. You know… work as a computer programmer. Har har har. Happy Monday everyone. May your job, school, responsibilities, whatever take it easy on you so that you can have a good day. Mondays suck, but let’s rise above it and get through it all.
I owe the universe two blog posts tomorrow. This is just a reminder to myself to not forget about them.
First, I didn’t write a happy two year gastric bypass surgery anniversary post. I mentioned it, but didn’t write anything about how I weighed in and was down a whopping 0.4 pounds over the last month. I will write something about that tomorrow.
Second, I have to write the next NHL Playoffs Predictions post. I knew the last game of the first round was tonight and I was waiting for that to wrap up, but I didn’t realize that the first game in the second round was also played tonight. I am technically both on time and late. That’s like some Schrödinger’s level shit right there.
So we all have that to look forward to tomorrow. I betcha all can’t wait! Also, game one of the second round series between the Bruins and the Panthers is tomorrow night. Revenge? We’ll see, Bruins fans. We’ll see.
190 miles, give or take, from our kids to our home…
And it poured rain the entire drive.
The.
Entire.
Drive.
We are home at last and the visit we had with the kids today was wonderful. One of them has a new significant other as well, and we met that person for the first time. No spoilers though.
Here’s hoping we get more chances to hear Bellana sing with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra in the near future. They are playing Stravinski’s The Firebird in the fall. Does that have a chorus section in it? I freakin’ hope so. (I once was quite the Stravinski guy, but it’s been a while)
The next road trip on our agenda will take us quite a bit more than 190 miles. Florida, here we come!
Inside the Red Head's Head 