Tuesday's Tantalizing Trough of Trivial Treasures

Okay okay -- so maybe tantalizing is too strong a word. But what the heck -- if it got you reading this far it did the trick.

BBT6 ?

AlCantHang, much to my amazement, recently sent an email to several bloggers, gauging interest in a new possible Battle of the Bloggers Tournament -- BBT6. Could it really be? Check out the info on Al's latest blog post. As we have so often said: "Al -- you da man!"

If This Only helps One Person ...

Yesterday I had an appointment with my cardiologist. Blood pressure, HDL, LDL, total cholesterol, triglycerides -- all great! Eight months after my mild heart attack I am in tremendously better shape. Outside of just the great numbers I mentioned -- due to exercise, a sensible eating plan, and medication -- I have also lost over 30 pounds and am very happy with what that has done for me in so many ways.

I really feel stupid that I let my life be determined by a plethora of bad habits I accumulated over the years -- mostly poor eating patterns (supplementing healthy foods with junk food and late-night fast food runs, using salt on everything) and lack of exercise (laziness coupled with fatigue and too much time on the computer). I also suffered from the most insidious of thoughts -- that it could not happen to ME. Well, it did!

If you are like I was -- eating the wrong stuff and not exercising properly -- get yourself to a doctor today and get checked out. I am fortunate that my artery that was clogged was not the widow maker. Had it been, this site would most likely be the be the lightning36 memorial blog site.

Don't be a chump like me. If you know you might be at risk for a heart attack or stroke or might have fallen into the same potentially deadly habits that I fell into, get some help today!

Prom and Beyond

I have told people that I did not go to my first prom until I was 34 years old. That is true. I also have stated that I went with a pregnant girl. Also true. Of course, she was my wife, so it is not like it was that much of a scandal at the time.

I find it hard to believe that my son has now attended two proms in high school. Not only that he is almost 18 years old, but that the socially awkward kid really hit his stride in high school, making lots of good friends and getting one heck of a cutie for a girlfriend.

Just over two years ago I wrote a post dealing with the challenges and successes in raising Rick. Little were we to know that within two weeks we would be confronted with the awful news that he had a rare form of cancer. We handled that challenge as a family. Rick has been cancer-free for over two years. He has finished his high school classes and will graduate tonight. He is starting college in the fall with as many as 30-45 college credits, mostly due to AP classes. He will major in Computer Science (of course he therefore thinks that my whole profession is just a load of bunk) and thinks he is smarter than his old man -- WRONG! Yeah -- he sponges money off me all the time, but I love him just the same!

Some days can be really crappy days. Other days, like today, I feel like I am the luckiest guy in the world.

Have a great Tuesday!