It's 11:30pm here on Wednesday night, as I'm getting ready to shut down. The computer AND myself. Man, I'll be glad when my shifts change from 7 - 3:30 to 8 - 4:30. That 1 extra hour of sleep will be nice to get back. I am not a morning person.

Meredith's playing the news to the left of me, and the wife is on the couch to the right of me. I believe we're going to do the blog here a little bit differently now. Either one of us can log on and give our two cents worth anytime rather than both of us at the same time or else, you know? It'll just be easier. And there's no format to speak of. This was intended to be a quick update of what's going on. Instead, I'll take as long or short as I want to. Janice is free to do what she wants, too.

So... one thing I can say I'm proud of is that I've been hitting the gym 3 days a week, for 2 hours a session, doing cardio and weights since May. I've run into health issues, like a return visit from Cal the Kidney Stone, that stalled things for a week or two, but other than that I've been very faithful to my regimen. I would dare say I'm in the best shape of my life, or at least so my wife tells me. Janice has been going to, more like five days a week, three days for weights and five of them she does cardio. The pounds are falling off her at this point, as her and Alexandra have joined TOPS (Taking Off Pounds Sensibly), a cheaper, more realistic alternative to Weight Watchers etc. So far, Janice has dropped 9 pounds in her 2 weeks, and Alexandra is down 3. Lex, of course, has less to lose, thus her weight will come off slower, and it may be a bit more of a tough road for her, but she's determined. Both will go back to taekwondo sooner than later. I won't be going back though, my TKD days are over.

I do have my eye out for jobs, as I'm only kind of satisfied what I'm doing. It's rather limiting, really. My wages aren't going to go anywhere and it's actually quite redundant, but, it's a job. And I like my co-workers. But there's that nagging feeling that there's gotta be more to work life than this. Still, it's a day job, Monday to Friday, with all my weekends off.

I guess I'm not going to make this an epic post, but there is something I want to address before I sign off. I got an e-mail from a watchful bro of mine, looking out for his kid brother, but the e-mail came with a warning from Microsoft saying that it may contain a harmful message. Boy, were they right! Not a virus or anything, but it's an article from mercola.com, a health group in the States that, in my own humble opinion, is a bit shady and rather alarmist, bordering on health terrorists in some instances, like the following. Maybe that's why Microsoft warned me of it. Here is the link. It won't do anything to your PC or Mac.

Anyway, after reading that, I was like, "holy shit!! How long have I been ill or dead now??" I've had this love affair with Diet Pepsi and Diet Dr Pepper for something like 20 years! My wife even longer, if you include the wretched Diet Coke. And my ex boss/good friend Donnie Goguen drinks more diet pop than you could possibly imagine. TRUST me on that. I'm serious. So.... why, if any of this stuff is true, are we still here? And healthier than ever?! Or wait, maybe the clock is ticking.... any day now we're gonna keel over! See, that's the point. That's what these sites and so-called doctors try to incite with their frivolous claims: Fear, so that you buy into their schemes. Literally. Often with this Mercola crap, you'll find towards the end of an article, "just buy my book" or something similar to get the rest of the story.

I decided to do some research of my own from the much more reliable and reputable Snopes.com, and found a wealth of info countering the claims in that link:

Aspartame and the Internet
The following letter appeared in The Lancet on 3 July 1999. It is reproduced here with the permission of the publishers of this respected journal.
Sir - Patients at our diabetes clinic have raised concerns about information on the internet about a link between the artificial sweetener aspartame and various diseases. Our research revealed over 6000 web sites that mention aspartame, with many hundreds alleging aspartame to be the cause of multiple sclerosis, lupus erythematosis, Gulf War Syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, brain tumours, and diabetes mellitus, among many others. Virtually all of the information offered is anecdotal, from anonymous sources and is scientifically implausible.
Aspartame, a dipeptide composed of phenylalanine and aspartic acid linked by a methyl ester bond, is not absorbed, and is completely hydrolysed in the intestine to yield the two constituent amino acids and free methanol. Opponents of aspartame suggest that the phenylalanine and methanol so released are dangerous. In particular, they assert that methanol can be converted to formaldehyde and then to formic acid, and thus cause metabolic acidosis and neurotoxicity. Although a 330 ml can of aspartame-sweetened soft drink will yield about 20 mg methanol, an equivalent volume of fruit juice produces 40 mg methanol, and an alcoholic beverage about 60-100 mg. The yield of phenylalanine is about 100 mg for a can of diet soft drink, compared with 300 mg for an egg, 500 mg for a glass of milk, and 900 mg for a large hamburger (1). Thus, the amount of phenylalanine or methanol ingested from consumption of aspartame is trivial, compared with other dietary sources. Clinical studies have shown no evidence of toxic effects and no increase in plasma concentrations of methanol, formic acid, or phenylalanine with daily consumption of 50 mg/kg aspartame (equivalent to 17 cans of diet soft drink daily for a 70 kg adult) (1, 2).
The anti aspartame campaign purports to offer an explanation for illnesses that are prominent in the public eye. By targeting a manufactured chemical agent, and combining this with pseudo-science and selective reporting, the campaign makes complex issues deceptively simple. Sensational web site names (eg, aspartamekills.com) grab the browser's attention and this misinformation is also widely disseminated via chat groups and chain e-mail.
People consult the internet about medical issues for various reasons and many users regard online sources as being authoritative and valid. The medical profession has a role in teaching our patients to be discriminating consumers of the information offered there.
Anthony Zehetner, Mark McLeanDepartment of Endocrinology, Westmead Hospital,Sydney NSW 2145, Australia
References
Aspartame. In: Gelman C R, Rumack B H, Hess A J, eds. DRUGDEX® System. Englewood, Colorado: MICROMEDEX, 1998. Edition expires 1999.
Anon. ADA position statement: use of noncaloric sweeteners. Diabetes Care 1991.

OUCH. Now that's harsh. Lay the smackdown on Merc's candy ass why don't you!

Anyway there's more, if you care to read, here, here, and perhaps most entertainingly from Time magazine here.

Now excuse me while I get my can of decaf Diet Pepsi before bed.

Good night.

Summer Reign

It's been a while, hasn't it? I lie here in bed on the first day of August, officially about 28 minutes into it. My wife lays beside me and we're enjoying a nice breeze from the side to side motion of the fan, as it quells the damp, humid air in our room lit up subtley by a deskside lamp while Lisa LaFlamme gives us the news on TV. Squirt is in her room, attempting sleep. Marbles the kittycat is milling about, probably looking for his brother. Janice just informs me that it was three years ago to this day that Lexy broke her arm at Centennial Park, throwing our lives into a virtual tailspin for the months ahead as she developed a terrible infection from the compound fracture she suffered. Many nights were spent at the hospital over the next several weeks. Today, it's a different story; everyone's healthy and happy, despite a rain-soaked summer. Likely the worst summer weatherwise I've experienced in my lifetime, but considering how things were three years ago, I'd say it was just fine.

Did this year EVER start out tricky. I had a bad cold, got over it, then very quickly got a worse cold, followed by a sinus infection, then wisdom tooth was pulled- followed by a resulting dry socket, Easter week saw me develop kidney stones again, then a cracked root in a tooth that had to get pulled, and a sinus problem leaving me concurrently with the sensation of having my ear plugged constantly. For two months. But, that's cleared up this week. It sure is nice having complete health again, for the first time this year...knock on wood.

I've been training at the YMCA very faithfully now since May, doing weights and cardio three days a week, two hours a shot. I'll walk on a treadmill for 5 minutes, then run for 25; then I'll do weights, working my arms, chest, back, abs and legs, and stretch out after I'm done. Janice does her own thing too, which she'll explain to you. I feel good, but I have a ways to go before anyone might actually be able to spot a difference in me I think. Sleep has been better since I've been doing this. I'm very, very proud of Janice, for working out hard just about every day. Alexandra also goes and trains.

Speaking of Lex, it's been kind of a humdrum summer for her. We can't afford to send her to any camps or anything, and there aren't many kids around the neighbourhood. A lot of her time is spent hanging around the house, and I find that a bit heartbreaking. She has been going to the pool lately in the afternoons though. It's the last year for that pool before it's torn down and a baseball training building is built, as far as I know. Kiwanis ballpark is being rebuilt also, so there are no ballgames going on there for the first time since I can ever remember.

The workfront is stable. I get along fine with all my coworkers, and the conditions there are better than they were, but the pay just isn't there. The hours are good. It's all days, Monday to Friday, no weekends and holidays, although vacation pay is included in every payday instead of the 4% being put aside. So that sucks. I've got my eye out for something better, but I'm not optimistic.

Despite the weather, so far summer has gone well. Much of our days is consumed by work, then the gym, then cooking, followed by finally unwinding. That's the weekdays. The weekends we'll head out to the cottage and be with the Cook side of the family, where everyone always has a good time together. The weather hasn't allowed us an opportunity to have any beach time at all, though. Not one day. But, we have each other and that's good enough.

I've made a couple of new friends over the last little while, one of which we're trying to give a hand to. She's in a terrible situation, but not one that can't be rectified with a little attention from someone who cares, which the three of us are. She will get back on her feet again, because we won't let anything else happen to her. God knows she deserves a break. The other friend of mine is a woman who makes me smile ear to ear quite constantly. We can never have enough of those. I've also gotten back in touch with an old school friend of mine, from all the way back in, maybe, grade 1. It's amazing how much lives change and what paths they follow. I've even been in touch with a friend of mine from way back in grade 7, whose name is Larry. His mom passed away recently, and I went to pay my respects at her viewing. I spoke briefly with Larry and I was so heartened to hear how well he's doing. He sounded optimistic, but morose over his mother's passing, of course.

There's more to talk about, but I'll let this do for the time being. In the morning or afternoon, Janice will give her take on things. For now, we'll put this one to record.

Talk to you soon.

Janice says:

Well it has been a while since we have done a blog. I have been doing pretty good at work with all that is going on. I look forward to the weekends. On our days off we make the most of the time we get together. I do as Mike said kind of fell bad for Lex. Her friend that she spends most of her time with have not been around a lot at all. I hope that will change for the rest of summer. Vacation coming up soon. I am only taking one week this year because of the work situation. I have been going to the gym almost every day. I do at least 45 minutes on the treadmill. I also do some weights 3 days a week. I have to do this seeing as I do not do taekwondo at the time being. I am hoping that the fall will let me go back to it. We will see. I do know one thing, Lex needs to go back. I think she needs the discipline. I do as well for that matter.

The summer is half over and we have had what two or three really nice days. I think this is it forth summer now one nice day and then three or four of rain. Oh well I guess we have to make the best of it. Well it is time to shove off for the day as we are off to the gym.

Janice

Starting Up Again Soon... Hang in there!